How long was Esther Queen of Persia?

Answer 1

There was no King Ahasuerus of Persia, but many Bible commentaries observe that Ahasuerus is likely the Hebraicised version of King Xerxes, the Achaemenid leader who ruled from 486 to 465 BCE.

Esther is unlikely to have been Xerxes'wife, because his only known wife, Amestris, continued in her role well beyond his third year as king (the date the text suggests Vashti was deposed). Other problems in the story call into question the story's reliability, for example Mordecai is identified as having been sent into exile by Nebuchadnezzar - an event that must have place over a century before Xerxes assumed power.

Answer 2

The Book of Esther places Esther during the reign of Xerxes, who was king of Persia from 486 to 465 BCE. However, scholars say there are good reasons to believe that the story is fictional and that there never was a Queen Esther of Persia.

Answer 3

The Book of Esther places Esther during the reign of Xerxes, who was king of Persia from 486 to 465 BCE. However, scholars say there are good reasons to believe that the story is fictional and that there never was a Queen Esther of Persia. There is no historical record of either Vashti or Esther, and Queen Amestris is accepted by historians as Xerxes' only wife for the first several years of his reign.

• Answer 2

According to Jewish tradition, Esther was queen for about 11 years.

(The Book of Esther makes it clear that this was not in the early part of Xerxes's reign.) *************** Esther was the heroine and central figure in the Biblical book of Esther. She was crowned about 60 years after the destruction of the First Temple, and ten 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.

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.

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."

**********

How reliable is the Hebrew record?

"Although critics contended that the Hebrew Bible is unhistorical and untrustworthy, time and time again, the archaeological record supports places, times, and events mentioned in Scripture. We now have archaeological information about a number of patriarchal towns mention in Scripture, including Bethel, Shechem, Jerusalem, Mamre, Gerar, Beer-sheba, and Dothan" (Professor John Arthur Thompson, The Bible and Archaeology). The personal names Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are names of the time and area mentioned in the Bible (ibid).

"One city after another, one civilization after another, one culture after another, whose memories were enshrined only in the Bible, have been restored to their proper places in ancient history by the studies of archaeologists" (Prof. Gleason Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction).

No parchment, scroll, or inscription has ever been found that would support the Bible-critics' JEPD (different sources) hypothesis, which remains a set of postulates. And those ancient writers who mention, describe, summarize or translate the Torah (Josephus, Samaritans, Targum, Septuagint etc.), describe it in its complete form.

Archaeological finds, such as the Ugarit documents and those of Nuzu, Mari, Susa, Ebla, and Tel el-Amarna, have repeatedly caused the critics to retract specific claims. The entire social milieu portrayed in the Torah, once criticized as anachronistic, has been shown to be historically accurate, including customs of marriage, adoption, contracts, inheritance, purchases, utensils, modes of travel, people's names and titles, etc. Professor Gleason Archer states: "In case after case where historical inaccuracy was alleged as proof of late and spurious authorship of the biblical documents, the Hebrew record has been vindicated by the results of excavations, and the condemnatory judgment of the Documentary theorists have been proved to be without foundation."

Answer 4

A:The Book of Esther places Esther during the reign of Xerxes, who was king of Persia from 486 to 465 BCE. The book says that the first wife of Xerxes, Queen Vashti, was banished in the third year of his reign and that Esther was selected as queen soon afterwards. Thus, the Book of Esther places her accession to the position of queen in around 483 BCE.

However, scholars say there are good reasons to believe that the story is fictional and that there never was a Queen Esther of Persia. There is no historical record of either Vashti or Esther, and Queen Amestris is accepted by historians as Xerxes' only wife for the first several years of his reign.

Answer 5

A:The Book of Esther says that Esther married Xerxes, who was king of Persia from 486 to 465 BCE, thus becoming queen of Persia. The book says that the first wife of Xerxes, Queen Vashti, was banished in the third year of his reign and that Esther was selected as queen soon afterwards.

Scholars that the Book of Esther is fictional and that there never was a Queen Esther of Persia. There is no historical record of either Vashti or Esther, and Queen Amestris is accepted by historians as Xerxes' only wife for the first several years of his reign. From a historical perspective, Esther was never really queen of Persia.

Answer 6

According to Jewish tradition, Esther was queen for about 11 years.
(The Book of Esther makes it clear that this was not in the early part of Xerxes's reign.)

Esther was the heroine and central figure in the Biblical book of Esther. She was crowned about 60 years after the destruction of the First Temple, and ten 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.

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 the Related Links.

Link: Reliability of the Hebrew record

Link: More about the Hebrew Bible

Link: Jewish history timeline

Answer 7

The Book of Esther places Esther during the reign of Xerxes, who was king of Persia from 486 to 465 BCE. However, scholars say there are good reasons to believe that the story is fictional and that there never was a Queen Esther of Persia. Esther 1:3 tells us that Vashti was Xerxes' queen during the first three years of his reign and that Esther became queen soon afterwards, yet there is no historical record of either Vashti or Esther, and Queen Amestris is accepted by historians as Xerxes' only wife for the first several years of his reign.
More information about Esther and her book can be found by clicking here.

Answer 8

The Bible does not give her age.But it says all the ladies were young and beautiful to look upon.

Answer 9

in babylon