![]() įollowing Esther's coronation, Mordecai learns of an assassination plot by Bigthan and Teresh to kill King Ahasuerus. The king falls in love with her and makes her his Queen. Even as she advances to the highest position of the harem, perfumed with gold and myrrh and allocated certain foods and servants, she is under strict instructions from Mordecai, who meets with her each day, to conceal her Jewish origins. Upon the king's orders, Esther is taken to the palace where Hegai prepares her to meet the king. She was the orphaned daughter of Mordecai's uncle, another Benjamite named Abihail. Įsther, a cousin of Mordecai, was a member of the Jewish community in the Exilic Period who claimed as an ancestor Kish, a Benjamite who had been taken from Jerusalem into captivity. ![]() Beautiful maidens gather together at the harem in the citadel of Susa under the authority of the eunuch Hegai. In the third year of the reign of King Ahasuerus of Persia the king banishes his queen, Vashti, and seeks a new queen. Narrative Įsther Denouncing Haman (1888) by Ernest Normand The name "Esther" probably derives from the name of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar or from the Persian word cognate with the English word "star" (implying an association with Ishtar) though some scholars contend it is related to the Persian words for "woman" or "myrtle". This name is absent from the early Greek manuscripts, although present in the targumic texts, and was probably added to the Hebrew text in the 2nd century CE at the earliest to stress the heroine's Jewishness. When she is introduced, in Esther 2:7, she is first referred to by the Hebrew name Hadassah. The book exists in two distinct forms: a shorter Hebrew version found in Jewish and Protestant Bibles, and a longer Greek version found in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles. The Book of Esther provides the traditional explanation for the Jewish holiday of Purim, celebrated on the date given in the story for when Haman's order was to go into effect, which is the day that the Jews killed their enemies after the plan was reversed. However, Esther foils the plan by revealing Haman's eradication plans to Ahasuerus, who then has Haman executed and grants permission to the Jews to kill their enemies instead, as royal edicts (including the order for eradication issued by Haman) cannot be revoked under Persian law. Consequently, Haman plots to have all the Jewish subjects of Persia killed, and convinces Ahasuerus to permit him to do so. Ahasuerus' grand vizier, Haman, is offended by Esther's cousin and guardian, Mordecai, due to his refusal to prostrate himself before Haman. ![]() Esther is chosen to fulfill this role due to her beauty. In it, Ahasuerus, the king of the Achaemenid Empire, seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Esther (originally Hadassah) is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther.
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