Background of the book of esther

The book of esther background and outline of the book. The massacre had been plotted by the kings chief minister, haman, and the date decided by casting lots purim. When i wrote my study on the book of ruth 1, i started by saying that it was a fantastic book that had it all well, apart from a nasty villain, but we cant ask for everything. Shea in this study of esther for the anchor bible series, c. Most scholars today agree that the kjv ahasuerus was the xerxes who reigned 486 b. The book is named for the star of the story, a young jewish girl named hadassah who was taken from her guardian, mordecai, and forced to compete for the affection of the king. The book of esther provides us with the greatest illustrations of the providence of god.

A jewish orphan, she had been raised by her fatherly cousin mordecai. Satans work through the nephilim of which hamaan was a descendent was continuing, and. Background for the conflict between mordecai and haman in. It is one of the five scrolls megillot in the hebrew bible. T he story of esther reads like a novel and is full of great spiritual lessons. Esther, the beautiful jewish wife of the persian king ahasuerus, and her cousin mordecai persuade the king to retract an order for the general annihilation of jews throughout the empire. Although we do not know who wrote the book of esther, from internal evidence it is possible to make some inferences about the author. This is one book of the bible you could easily read while marinating in a bubble bath, without feeling particularly. It purports to explain how the feast of purim came to be celebrated by the jews. The book of esther is one of only two books in the old testament that is named for a woman. The book of esther tells a story of the deliverance of the jewish people.

Biblical stories were written under the inspiration of holy spirit to teach us about god. Background to the book of esther the story of esther takes place in the persian empire during the reign of ahasuerus, known more familiarly to us by the greek form of his name, xerxes i. As his epithet agagite indicates, haman was a descendant of agag. Tracing the history of the book of esther and jewish festival purim. One night when mordecai was sitting by the kings gate, he overheard two guards named bigthana and teresh conspiring to assassinate king xerxes. Esther 4 background information with maps and images. According to recent research, the book of esther was written in the middle of the 4th century bce during the reign of artaxerxes iii 359338 bce. The hebrew word mishteh, meaning banquet, occurs 20 times in esther which is equal to the total of all the other times it is found in the rest of. The book purports to explain how the feast of purim came to be celebrated by the jews.

The book of esther belongs to ketuvim writings, which is the third division of the tanakh the hebrew bible. Esther in the picture study bible the book of esther. The book of esther may remind you of a classic, once upon a time childrens story with a wealthy king, his beautiful queen, and an evil villain. Neither mordecai, esther, nor the feast of purim is mentioned. The book of esther is renowned for its literary artistry, which functions as the principal vehicle for the books.

Esther, according to the book of esther, was a hebrew woman from persia, who became the queen of king ahasuerus, also known as xerxes i. The book of esther records the institution of the feast of purim and the obligation of its perpetual observation. Moore divided the arguments against the historicity of the book into three groups. Although his name is never mentioned, we see his providence in each page of this wonderful little book. All the letters of the hebrew alphabet are found in esther 3. Its also heavy on action, drama, and game of thronesstyle intrigue, while being notably lacking in legal codes, commandments, theologyall that kind of thing. It is in this passage in the book of esther that we see a father grieving for his daughter and a daughter, selflessly giving herself for the sake of her people. Tracing the history of the book of esther and jewish.

He was the son of darius the great and reigned from 486465 b. The book of esther was read at the feast of purim to commemorate the great deliverance of the jewish nation brought about by god through esther. He may not always do it in the way we think he should, but the book of esther shows that he is in control even when we dont see him. In the story of esther, youll meet a beautiful, young queen who risked her life to serve god and save her people. A story of the providence of god in a pagan land page 4 introduction to the book the book of esther is the only book in the bible that does not mention the name of god.

The author is unknown, but it is evident from the details of the record that he was well acquainted with the persian. It is a short story similar to the book of ruth, starting in the palace of shushan susa, one out of the three capitals of the persian empire. This is appropriate given that esther describes the origin of a jewish feast, the feast of purim, but purim itself is not the subject and no individual feast in the book is. The book of esther was written some 50 years after this decree allowing the jews to return to their homeland. The book of esther says mordechai was exiled from judah with king jeconiah. Overview of the book of esther third millennium ministries. The postexilic books of 12 chronicles, haggai and zechariah were written to encourage the remnant who had returned to the land of yahwehs covenant with his people. The book of esther, also known in hebrew as the scroll megillah, is a book in the third section ketuvim, writings of the jewish tanakh the hebrew bible and in the christian old testament. Book of esther overview insight for living ministries. Additionally, the book of esther contains no direct reference to god. The events of the book of esther occurred between those found in ezra 6 and ezra 7 extending over a.

Well, i can now tell you that i have found you the particularly nasty villain you have been. Esther is written during the period of the captivity. It relates the story of a hebrew woman in persia, born as hadassah but known as esther, who becomes queen of persia and thwarts a genocide. Bible studies in the book of esther esther chapter 1. The events in the book of esther occurred from 483 bc to 473 bc, during the first half of the reign of king xerxes, who chose esther as his queen. Esther continued to hide her jewish background as mordecai had instructed her to do because he knew it would be dangerous for her if anyone found out she was a jew. Introduction esther was a jew from the tribe of benjamin who grew up as an exile in persia. For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes. The hidden name of god in esther the background the book of esther has 167 verses there are 192 references to the king, kingdom, or name of ahasuerus. The book of esther was likely written between 467 and 350 b.

Now in shushan the palace there was a certain jew, whose name was mordechai who had been carried away from jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with jeconiah king of judah, whom nebuchadnezzar the king of babylon had carried away esther 2. Check out this biography to know about her childhood, family, personal life, achievements, and timeline. The events in the book of esther occurred from 483. Like song of solomon, obadiah, and nahum, the nt doe. It was written after the death of king xerxes esth. Esther bible study chapter 1 the invitation of the king. We are shown a persian emperor, ahasuerus loosely based on xerxes, 485464 b. The genre of the book of esther is narrative history. The book of esther is the story of gods covenant faithfulness to a people who had long been in captivy because they were covenant breakers. Intimate knowledge of the topography of susa and the persian royal palaces 10. Haman, the conniving chief minister at ahasuerus court, decreed to kill all the. Introduction from the niv study bible go to esther. Although we do not know who wrote the book of esther, from internal evidence it is.

Esther introduction united states conference of catholic bishops. Esther is the only book in the scripture which does not mention gods name. Esther bible story summary what christians want to know. It was the last book to be accepted into the jewish scriptures. The book of esther reveals a very untraditional persian queen. The larger theme of the book is the providence of the almighty god iii. We started our study of the book of esther last week with a general survey of the book. Growing up, she may have had thoughts of marrying a devoted jew with mordecais blessing and raising a house full of children. Intro to esther biblica the international bible society. The book explains the origin of the jewish feast of purim februarymarch.

The book of esther has a james bondish, tickingtimebomb plot. It is possible that the author was someone like mordecai, who had access to historical. This summary of the book of esther provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of esther. Title esther serves as the title without variation through the ages. Book of esther, in the hebrew bible and the christian old testament. First was king cyrus, who began his rule by the overthrow of the babylonian empire in 539 or 538 bc and issuing his famous decree that the captive jews be allowed to return to jerusalem to rebuild the temple.

The writer of esther clearly intended the book to explain the origin of the celebration of purim, to institutionalize it as a commemoration of the great deliverance of the jews during the persian period see note on esther 9. Background study how did israel end up here, so far from gods place of blessing. This book and the book of ruth are the only ot books named after women. The book reflects the background of the jewish dispersion.

List out the people mentioned in esther and what you know about them. The author of esther patterned much of his material on the events of the joseph story see notes on 2. In spite of the cost, return to the place of gods blessing by obeying his revealed truth in scripture. The book of esther is one of only two books in the bible named for women. This unlikely contestant for a beauty pageant was crowned queen of persia and renamed esther, meaning star. Feasting is another prominent theme in esther, as shown in the outline below. It had never occurred to me to think about possible background reasons for the antipathy haman had toward mordecai i had merely thought that mordecai wasnt bowing before haman because it would be in some way giving honor to a man that should be.

Because haman, the son of hammedatha the agagite, the enemy of all the jews, had plotted against the jews to annihilate them, and had cast pur that is, the lot. It belongs to the third section of the judaic canon, known as the ketuvim, or writings, and also appears in the protestant canon and in the roman catholic canon. If we were to pick a passage from the book which could serve as a summary of the whole story, it would be from chapter 9. It was written to memorialize, to commemorate the gods deliverance that formed the basis of the feast of purim. Her life took a different turn when the king issued a decree that all beautiful. In hebrew the title is rtsa which may be derived from the persian word for star, stara1. But while the characters might resemble a fairy tale, the book of esther depicts actual events that shaped jewish history and instituted the festival of purim. What is book of esther about and why should i care.