Old Testament

Nobody knows for sure because The Bible does not say. All the commentaries and tithe-preachers say that he was either commanded to so or else freely chose to do so.

A better suggestion comes from 14:21. The law of the land all around Abram's world of 2000 BC taught that one must give spoils of war to one's local king-priest. That is what I believe is the context.

Why? The king of Sodom asked Abram for the persons because he knew that rightfully Abram could keep them as slaves If the law of the land controlled the 90% of 14:21 then it also controlled the 10% of 14:20.

The first four* of the Ten Commandments are religious instructions. The fifth commandment is a useful social rule, but arguably not a moral guide. the last five commandments are moral guides.

1. The first says to have "no other gods but me", which should be a straight forward commandment for Christians to keep.
2. The second commandment, not to make carved images or any likeness of anything and not to worship that image if you do make it, was originally interpreted so narrowly by the Jews that they would not allow faces on their coins, would never decorate their homes with the pictures of animals or humans, and even threatened rebellion if the Roman army marched into Jerusalem with its standard, an eagle, uncovered. This interpretation would rule out even photographs or drawings, but biblical interpretations do change and the commandment is no longer seen as prohibiting statues, dolls or pictures. You can now follow the second commandment as long as you do not worship statues or pictures.
3. The third commandment, not to take the name of the Lord in vain, should also be a straight forward commandment for Christians to keep.
4. The next commandment says to do no work on the Sabbath, nor to require or request others to do so or even allow an animal to do so, and is almost never honoured.
5. The fifth commandment is to honour your father and your mother, although the meaning of this may be unclear. The early Jews imposed the death penalty on a son who even struck his father or mother.
6. "Thou shalt not kill" is a commandment you should have no trouble keeping.
7. "Thou shalt not commit adultery" is not as obvious as it seems. It does not prohibit conduct such as polygamy, premarital sex or mistresses. Fortunately there are laws against polygamy and the other sexual issues can be resolved by your own sense of right and wrong.
8. "Thou shalt not steal" should be interpreted as including equivalent behaviour, such as tax evasion, fraud, petty theft, fare evasion or any unfair financial advantage.
9. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour" is a very narrow definition of lying, protecting only the reputation of others. I prefer to see this as an admonition against all forms of lying, as do many others. All falsifications with intention to deceive qualify as lies, including even the intentional withholding of information that another person expects you to provide. The problem, with which Christian theologians have wrestled for almost the entire history of Christianity is whether it is permissible to lie in order to prevent a greater wrong - for example to save a life. You will have to make your own decision on what is 'acceptable' lying.
10. The tenth commandment requires us not to even covet, or secretly wish for, what belongs to another man - his goods, his wife or his female slave. Hopefully no one we know keeps slaves any more, so this becomes an easier commandment to keep.

Bear in mind that there are many useful moral guidelines that are not covered by the Ten Commandments, and that a moral person would expect to live up to much more than the last five of the Ten Commandments.

* There are slight differences in the ordering of the Catholic and Protestant Ten commandments, but the wording is unchanged.

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.

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

The next commandment says to do no work on the Sabbath, nor to require or request others to do so or even allow an animal to do so, and is almost never honoured. Once again, this is not a moral guide, but a religious instruction.

The fifth commandment is to honour your father and your mother, a useful social rule, but arguably not a moral guide.

The last five commandments do indeed define some important moral ideals: do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness against your neighbour, do not covet that which belongs to your neighbour, including his wife or slave. Although only stated in general terms, they provide a foundation on which moral guides can be built.

The fact that the tenth commandment acknowledges the rights of a slave-owner is hardly a good moral guide, and was one of the biblical references used by Christians for many centuries to justify this inhumane practice.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are they who suffer persecution for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The Beatitudes are all noble statements, worthy of a great religion, but are they all moral guides? "Blessed are the merciful" certainly is, as are "Blessed are the pure of heart" and "Blessed are the peacemakers". "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice", provides comfort for those who have not received justice, a noble sentiment, but lacking in imperatives. "Blessed are they who suffer persecution for righteousness sake" should not be interpreted as encouraging us to suffer persecution, although the pursuit of righteousness or justice is a worthwhile goal. Another ambiguous Beatitude is "Blessed are they who mourn", since it is unclear what moral imperative this provides.

While spiritually satisfying and noble, they clearly do not provide a comprehensive moral guide for modern times. There is no injunction, nor in a patriarchical society was there intended to be, against a woman coverting her neighbour's husband. Adultery was seen by the ancient Jews as a man having sex with a married woman other than his own wife, thus protecting the rights of her husband, but what about the rights of a woman whose husband is unfaithful. There is no stipulation of monogamy, and both the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes are silent on the issue of premarital sex.

The limitationsof the Bible in setting out moral guidelines has created an entire field of study for Christian morality, whereby theologians seek to put their stamp on what Christians should do when faced with moral dilemmas. Nevertheless, the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes, along with the Golden Rule, are a start.

This is an attempt to say "God's spirit" in Hebrew, but the word Yahweh is not real Hebrew. It is an invented word that supposedly reconstructs the name of God.

If you really want to say God's spirit in Hebrew, it is:

Ruach Elohim

רוח אלהים