Jewish history and its overall themes are expressed through The Book of Esther, which is in The Holy Bible. This sacred text takes place in 486 BC, when King Xerxes I ruled Persia. This story is an historical interpretation of the life of Queen Esther along with the lives of the Jewish people. Even though The Book of Esther is only ten chapters, it contains many rich themes. Also, the characters exercise many different traits such as: fortitude, empathy, and divine providence. The Book of Esther explores many themes, such as faith, manipulation, and courage in order to show the Jews, who are living in exile, that it is possible to gain success in the country of one’s exile without showing one’s true identity. Esther’s faith was tested and strengthened at a young age when her cousin, Mordecai, became her spiritual guide. Even when Esther became Queen of Persia, Mordecai was still there to help guide her in the right direction. Wayne Grudem, who is the editor of The Holy Bible: English Standard Version for Crossway Bibles, talks about how God is not mentioned in the book, but He clearly designed all of its events. Although God is not a character in The Book of Esther, his actions are still visible and He appointed Esther to save His covenant people. Despite fear, Esther knew that by putting her faith in God was the only way she could save the Jews. In The Book of Esther, the meaning of God’s sovereignty is shown. Koeller, who is the author of Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought,
The Persian Empire is arguably one of the greatest and largest empires ever in the history of the world. It was in place from approximately 550 to 334 BCE in Asia Minor and Persia. Throughout the time the empire was in place there were multiple kings that ruled it changing the cultures of the people living in the empire. The Book of Ester is a book from the Hebrew Bible written during the fourth century BCE that tells the story of a Persian king Achashvairosh. In the story information is given on how Persian Kings were able rule their vast empire for such a long period of time. The Persian Kings that ruled the Persian Empire were able to do their job successfully, deal with problems they faced, and keep their empire culturally vast because
Also seen in the Old Testament, Esther parallels Joseph by assimilating from being a passive commoner to a queen, the highest royal position for a woman. Her life entirely changes when she marries King Ahasuerus
The book of Esther is full of mysteries that has grasped the attention of Biblical scholars and audiences throughout ages and still presents some challenges to the contemporary audiences. It is important to understand the purpose and theme of the book in order to better understand the text in its context. Many Christian scholars and audiences’ alike eisegesis the text instead of using exegesis therefore there have been many misconceptions regarding Esther. The book of Esther is a very important book for it is the only book in the bible to be without the name of God in its entire text. Though there is no reference to God or Torah in the text does not necessarily mean that God is not revealed through circumstances and challenges faced by His
The third person that illustrated the theme of the book was Esther. Esther showed the theme of the book by the ability to accept change and her love for her family, which held them together. For instance, when she was forced for her home on the train she was scared and she did not know what the future held for her but she pursued on. She even did not even complain in situations that other people would. In addition, she also had to endure not having her own space, new roommates, even different schools, and making new friend. However, even through all
Slowly declining from the mental strain of school and work and relationships, Esther begins to question her reason for being here, introducing a more obvious form of her mental state, “How could I write about life when I’d never had a love affair or a baby or even seen anybody die?” (Plath 121). Esther realizes that she hasn’t really lived life. During her downfall into depression, she begins to realize that she doesn’t have control over herself and that the future that she envisioned for herself isn’t the future she will in fact
To begin with Esther was a jewish girl that was hiding her jewish identity(Esther: Bible). She became Queen of the Persian Empire because of her youth and beauty and married King Ahasuerus. Esther's cousin, named Mordecai, was trying to gain power from Haman who was an enemy of Israel. Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman. Haman got angry and made a plan to put Mordecai to death along with all
The book of Esther tells the faithfulness of one woman and her uncle. It is only one of two books that contain the heroism and bravery of a woman heroine. The story of Esther accomplishes two profound things, the first: “To demonstrate God’s providential care of his people, even those outside the land of Israel, and 2) to commend the observance of the feast of Purim by relating how it originated” (Breneman 289).Unlike the rest of the Bible the story of Esther does not directly state or talk about God, but instead shows God’s plans for all of our lives and how in all frightening moments of life, He remains faithful to those who trust and have faith in Him. “In spite of the omission of any name for deity, there is no other book in all the
Esther was an orphan who was raised by her cousin Mordecai (Leath, 2010). There came a time that she would go from orphan to queen. Esther lived in Persia, where King Ahasuerus ruled. A day arrived that Queen Vashti refused to obey King Ahasuerus and was soon replaced by Esther (Leath, 2010). During this time, the King held ultimate power and everyone was subject to the king’s authority. Consequently, Queen Vashti displayed disobedience by not obeying the King and was punished by being removed as queen (Leath, 2010). However, the removal of Queen Vashti paved the way for Esther and she was purposefully placed in position as queen. This seized
Nurse Esther was the nurse that would listen to Ishmael’s stories and she helped him become the person he was meant to be instead of the kid soldier. She was important because she makes Ishmael feel relieved by telling his stories. She was always there for him after he was brought to the hospital. She was like his brother Junior.
Very popular among the Jewish people, Esther was one of the very last books to be accepted into the bible, and was accepted only because of its relationship with the festival of Purim. The Lord is not mentioned once in this book of the bible, and the only Jewish religious practice talked about is fasting. (Esther 4:16). The rabbis were conflicted by Esther’s failed ways to live as a Jew. She had sexual relationships and married a man and lived in the Persian society, and did not follow the Jewish laws. In addition, Esther had been taken to assignment by both female and male presenters for her willingness to participate in Persian customs, and by Christian commentators for her noticeable murderous in destroying people. (Esther 9:1–15). All these disapprovals, however are unsuccessful to grasp the true purpose of the book.
The depiction of Persia, namely that of the Achaemenid dynasty, has largely been favorable in the Tanach. They are presented in the Books of Esther, Daniel, Ezra/Nehemiah, Chronicles, and Isaiah as agents of G-d to preserve the nation of Israel. Yet despite on this commonality they differ on the details. The Book of Esther tells the story of a Jewish girl named Esther and the possibility of the genocide of the Jews. The Book of Daniel tells the story of the rise to power of the Medes and Persians against the Babylonians. The Book of Ezra/Nehemiah tells of how Cyrus the Great was benevolent and permitted the Jews to return to the Land of Israel to rebuild their destroyed temple. The Book
Esther is the seventeenth book of the Old Testament that is ascribed to Mordechai and is wrote in Hebrew. The name Esther means star. She becomes king Ahasuerus’ queen for thirteen years. She becomes Ahasuerus’ queen by sacrificing herself for her people the Jews. She says, “If I perish, I perish.” The Jews are persecuted because a man named Haman dislikes all Jews and tries to prove to the king of Persia that all Jews are disloyal. He tries to have Mordecai sent to his death, but after Esther sacrifices herself, Haman becomes trapped and is hung on the very scaffold that he plans to have Mordecai sent to death on. Mordecai saves the kings life and he becomes a servant for the king. A very important feast that takes place in this book that
The book of Esther is a story of a young, beautiful, Jewish girl who ultimately became queen. At the time, King Ahasuerus reigned over the Persian Empire. He threw lavish banquets for his officials as well as all the people in Susa. The night of the seventh banquet, he called for Queen Vashti so he can flaunt her in front of the people but she refused to come. He sought council on how to handle the queen’s actions, he gave a decree and then ordered her to leave the kings presence and her position is to be given to someone more deserving.
At first read the book of Esther is a story of a Queen who was able to achieve a heroic act that saved her people from being destroyed. However as you examine the story it’s more than a historic story of triumph, but through the actions of the characters in the story it becomes a blueprint for many aspects of leadership. By examining the different dimensions of the leadership traits of King Ahasuerus, Haman, Mordecai and Esther will represent the different facet of developing into a leader.
She was a lowly girl who was chosen by the king to become his queen. Esther was excited to be the queen, but she was tremendously worried because she was a Jew, living in secret amongst a pagan society. When Haman convinced the king to command that all Jews be killed, Esther was troubled. She cried out to the Lord and revealed to the king that she was a Jew, which put her in severe danger. But God heard her pleas for her people and convinced the king to write new laws that protected the Jewish people. With the Lord’s help, Esther bravely stood up to the King and saved herself, her family, and the Jewish people.