Is Queen Esther a saint

Answer 1

An explanation of Jewish concepts is warranted prior to answering the question itself.

When discussing Jewish religious concepts, the preferred language is Hebrew as the Tanach (Jewish Bible) is in Hebrew. In Hebrew, there is the title 'Tzadik', a Tzadik is a righteous person. The root of 'tzadik' is 'tzedek' which means justice or righteousness. Therefore, the title Tzadik is refers to a person who seeks justice.

Sometimes, when discussing a subject with English speakers, English words will be used. In this case, the title of 'saint' is used in place of the word 'tzadik'. Obviously though, in this context, the word 'saint' does not have the same meaning as the Christian use of the word.

Now, to answer the question itself. Although Queen Esther is a prophet in Judaism, she was not a tzadik. It was her uncle Mordechai who was a tzadik.

Answer 2

The title of 'saint' is a Christian concept. Esther, if in fact she existed, was a Jew and would not become a Christian saint. It appears certain that the Book of Esther is not really historical and that Queen Esther did not really exist, making it even less feasible that Queen Esther was a saint.

Answer 3

She was a superlatively pious and righteous woman, and merited prophecy (Talmud, Megillah 14a). 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." However, the word "saint" is not used in Judaism.

More about Esther:

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.

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

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