Esther Introduction (2)
Esther is set about 55–65 years after the end of the Babylonian exile of the Jewish people. The narrative occurs in Susa, in the court of King Ahasuerus—better known as Xerxes, who ruled the Persian Empire from 486–465 BC. Susa was located about 150 miles north of the Persian Gulf, near the western border of modern-day Iran. Cyrus took Susa from the Elamites probably not long before he conquered Babylon in 539 BC. Darius I, father of Ahasuerus, made Susa the main capital of the Persian Empire. The book was likely composed sometime between 400–200 BC, primarily to explain the origins of the Jewish festival Purim.
The book of Esther sits oddly in the Old Testament. It does not mention God, which is very odd! Not only is God not named, but we find God’s people left behind in exile, with no references to Jerusalem, or its temple, and no quotations from other books of the Old Testament. And it does seem odd to have an additional Old Testament feast added by such minor figures such as Esther and Mordecai, when all the others were instituted under Moses!
