What was Esther's relationship with God?

Answer 1

Actually, even though the name of God is never mentioned in the book of Esther, His presence and divine providence are evident. He allowed Esther to become the Queen of Persia, even though, as a Jewess she was an unlikely candidate. God also gave her protection and favor with the King when she asked to enter his presence, because in those days you could very well be killed for seeing the King without being asked to be seen. And thirdly, the circumstances by which Haman's plot was discovered and he was brought to justice show evidence of a God who was very much concerned with and involved in the situation of Esther.

Answer 2

The Book of Esther tells the story of the salvation of Persia's Jewish community. The story says that Esther, the cousin and adopted daughter of Mordecai the Jew, became the wife of King Ahasuerus [Xerxes] of Persia. Although the story shows deep familiarity with the Persian court, it has fundamental problems that call its historicity into question.

The name Esther is considered likely to have been derived from that of the Babylonian god Ishtar.Mordecai was derived from Marduk, the name of a Babylonian God. These adaptations seem to reflect Jewish life in the diaspora. Apart from this, God is not mentioned in the story, and the central characters show no kindness or forgiveness.

In conclusion, there are serious doubts as to whether Esther really existed. If she did live, we can not say what was her relationship with God.

Answer 3

According to tradition, Esther was very righteous; enough so to be one of the seven Israelite Prophetesses (Talmud, Megillah 14a). More information:

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).

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. The Jewish festival of Purim celebrates this event.

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.

See also:

Debunking Biblical-criticism

Why was Esther chosen as Queen?

More about the Hebrew Bible

Archaeology