Intro to the book of Esther

Who wrote the book of Esther? Unknown. Mordecai, Persian Jew. Who are the main characters?

Esther - Heb name Hadassah “ Myrtle”: symbol of peace. Iranian for “star”; Akkadian goddess “Istar” goddess of love and war. Young orphaned jewish girl who’s cousin becomes her guardian. Due to Babylonian exile is in land of Susa. Because of her beauty, she gains great favor and become Queen of Persia. She hides her jewish ethnicity to do so but later uses it to save her people.

Mordacai - descendant of Kish, a Benjaminite. Became Esther’s legal guardian and assisted her with rescuing their people.

Haman - Persian official, called an “Agagite” to show his historical background from King Agag who was an enemy of Israel. He was a right hand man to Persian King.

Ahasuerus - Aramaic name for Khshayarsha, the king of Persia, whom the Greeks called Xerxes. he ruled 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. He ruled Persia from 486-465 BC

What is the book of Esther about?

How GOD protected His people from extinction in spite of being in exile.

Introduces Purim: Pur “dice”. This is a jewish festival held on the 14th or 15th day of Adar to commemorate the defeat of Haman’s plot to massacre the Jews.

When was the book of Esther written?

Around 460 BC - The period between the Persian conquest of Babylon and rule of exiled Jews

Where does the book of Esther take place?

Susa, capital of Persia. One of two major cities in the ancient nation of Elam, in modern southwest Iran. It was one of the great cities of the Elamites. Susa came under the control of the Persians sometime during the reign of Cyrus II and then became under the leadership of Persian capital during the reign of Darius I, the father of King Ahasuerus.

Extras

Esther is only one of two books of the bible centered around a woman, the other is the book of Ruth.

The book of Esther is the only book of the bible that never mentions the name of GOD but His fingerprints are all over it.

Key Verse; Esther 4:14-16