Can you explain the history behind Esther and King Xerxes?

Answer 1

This is a biblical story which seeks to entrench Jewish influence in Persian history. There is no firm historical base for this, and it should be regarded as on a par with the stories which exist in each culture. Julius Caesar's claim of descent from the goddess Venus is typical of the stories which people repeat. It is interesting that ancient Roman historians warned against the descent claims in Rome; the same applies in many cultures and families then and today.

Answer 2

The plot The Book of Esther tells the story of the salvation of Jewish community in Persia, and begins with Esther, the cousin and adopted daughter of Mordecai the Jew, becoming the king's new wife. Mordecai seems to have been a member of the king's court, where he soon uncovered a plot to kill the king. Esther told her husband of the plot, but did not say who gave the information.

The king was tricked into ordering the killing of the Jews, but when the plot was uncovered, he ordered the Jews to defend themseleves and made Mordecai his prime minister. When the time came, the Jews fought back, killing more than 500 people in one day. Esther asked the king to allow the Jews to kill for a second day, and by the time the fighting had ended, the Jews had slain more than 75,000 people.

Mordecai ordered the Jews to celebrate a festival of Purim. The festival, which is held on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar, is regarded as a period of deliverance, or second Exodus, and is still observed around the world.

Critical Analysis The Book of Esther seems believable, but fundamental problems in the story call into question its reliability. For example, Mordecai is identified as having been sent into exile by Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled Babylon more than a century before Xerxes assumed power.

Critics have lambasted its debauchery, the cruelty of its characters and the fact that the central characters show no kindness or forgiveness. Anti-Semites have used the book to claim that Jews massacre their neighbours once they assume power.

Theological Responses There is no mention of God anywhere in the story. Ancient Jewish sages actually argued against its inclusion in The Bible.

Martin Luther said that he wished the book did not exist, and that it lionised the Jews too much.

Answer 3

Esther was the heroine and central figure in the Biblical book of Esther. She was crowned about 55 years after the destruction of the First Temple, and fifteen years before the Second Temple was built. The Jews were in the Babylonian exile. A few of them, such as Nehemiah, Mordecai and Daniel, rose to positions of prominence under the Babylonian kings.
The last of the Prophets of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) were still living.
King Cyrus had recently made his famous proclamation (2 Chronicles 36:22-23) allowing the Jews to resettle Judea (Israel), and some had gone up with Zerubavel, but the enemies of the Jews had then slandered them (Ezra ch.4), causing the Babylonian king to put a stop to the rebuilding and resettlement of Judea. This last event was around the same time that Esther became Queen.

When she became orphaned, she was adopted by her cousin Mordecai.

Later, when Queen Vashti refused to appear before Ahasuerus (in Esther ch.1), Memuchan, a Persian royal adviser, advised King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) to remove Vashti from being Queen of Persia, and King Ahasuerus agreed to his advice.

In Esther Chapter 2, royal eunuchs advised Ahasuerus to look for a new queen. Esther was the best-looking woman, and Ahasuerus picked her to replace Vashti as Queen.

Esther and her cousin Mordecai (who had once saved the king's life) later persuaded the king to cancel an order for the extermination of the Jews in his vast realm, which had been plotted by the king's chief minister, Haman. Instead, Haman was hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai, and the Jews were given permission to destroy their enemies in self defense. The Jewish festival of Purim celebrates this event.

Note that tradition states that, at the start, Ahasuerus hated the Jews as much as Haman. This could not be recorded in the book of Esther since the book was promulgated by the Persians themselves (at Esther's bidding).

According to tradition, the book of Esther was written in the mid-4th century BCE, and was made part of the canon which was sealed a couple of decades after.

Esther was queen for about 11 years.
The name of Mordecai is the Judaised pronunciation of Marduka, which is attested in the Persepolis Texts as the name of officials in the Persian court during the period of Xerxes I. One of these officials was the biblical Mordecai.

The grave of Mordecai and Esther still stands in Hamadan; and the Jews of Iran, to this day, are referred to as "the children of Esther."

For the name of Esther, a number of etymologies are possible.
1) Esther comes from the Persian "setareh," meaning "star".
2) Esther comes from the Aramaic "istahar," meaning "moon." Beautiful as the moon (Talmud, Megillah 13a).
3) Esther comes from the Semitic root ath-tar, "morning star." There is support for this too in the Talmud (Yoma 29a).
4) Esther comes from the Median "astra," meaning "myrtle." The book of Esther (2:7) states that she had both names, Esther and Myrtle (Hadassah in Hebrew).

See also:

Why was Esther chosen as Queen?

More about the Hebrew Bible

Jewish history timeline