Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(star). Persian name of Hadassah, Mordecai’s cousin, who married King Ahasuerus, and saved the lives of her countrymen. Her book, seventeenth of O. T., tells her story.
Concise Bible Dictionary:
In the article on ESTHER the principal events of the book are glanced at, but a few remarks are needed as to the object of the book. It has been a sad puzzle to Christians. It looks very much like a tale, they say; and how can it be inspired, they ask, without the name of God from beginning to end? How different is Mordecai from Ezra or Nehemiah, captives like him, but who were not content to spend their lives at the gate of a heathen’s palace when they had the opportunity of returning to Jerusalem.
That it is a true history is manifest. The great feast with which it opens is just such as a Persian monarch would celebrate with the nobles and princes of the various provinces. If Xerxes was the Ahasuerus of the book, as is generally supposed, it quite agrees with his character, that when elated with wine he should send for the queen; and, on her refusal to be thus exposed, to cast her aside, and seek another queen. The way this was accomplished was exactly Persian. The posts also, on horses, mules, camels, and young dromedaries, according to the nature of the country traversed—from India to Ethiopia—was also the method adopted.
The main teaching of the book is that God was watching over and caring for His ancient people during their captivity, altogether apart from their faithfulness to Him, or their desire to return to the land of promise. They were scattered over the entire kingdom, and it is not revealed what sort of lives they were living: the only two described in the book are Mordecai and Esther. God was their God, and they were His people, and, without His name being mentioned in the book, He was surely secretly watching over them, and making things work together for their protection. The king being unable to sleep on the very night when it was needed he should remember Mordecai is a signal example of His watchfulness. Esther and Mordecai may not have acted well in wishing a second day of vengeance, and in killing the sons of Haman, and petitioning to have them hanged on the gallows; how few can have power over their enemies without abusing it! The good behavior of the Jews forms no part of the book; they are cared for whether good or bad. God in His government would in due time set all that right. We have a good illustration of how God cared providentially for His earthly people, when they were under the Lo-ammi sentence, and He was unable to own them publicly as in relationship with Himself.
Historically Esther comes in between the beginning of Ezra and its close; that is, at the end of Ezra 6 the Artaxerxes of Ezra 4:7 being the pseudo-Smerdis; and the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7:1, being Artaxerxes Longimanus. The Ahasuerus of Esther (Xerxes) comes in between them. For a list of the kings see PERSIA.
There are several apocryphal additions to the book of Esther in the LXX and the Vulgate. The principal of these are
1. A preface containing Mordecai’s pedigree, his dream of what was about to happen, and his appointment to sit at the king’s gate.
2. In Esther 3 a copy of Artaxerxes’ decree against the Jews.
3. In Esther 4 a prayer of Mordecai, followed by a prayer of Esther, in which she excuses herself for being the wife of an uncircumcised king.
4. In Esther 8 a copy of the king’s letter for reversing the previous decree, in which Haman is called a Macedonian! and the statement made that he had been plotting to betray the kingdom of Persia to the Macedonians!
5. In Esther 10 Mordecai shows how his dream had been fulfilled, and gives glory to God. Some parts of these additions are declared to be “thorough Greek” in style, and the patchwork is very manifest elsewhere.
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NAME IN HISTORY
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NAME IN SCRIPTURE
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Cyrus
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Cyrus, Ezra 1, etc.
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Cambyses
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Ahasuerus, Ezra 4:6
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Smerdis
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Artaxerxes, Ezra 4:7-23
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Darius Hystaspis
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Darius, Ezra 4:24, etc.
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Xerxes
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Ahasuerus, Esther 1, etc.
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Artaxerxes Longimanus
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Artaxerxes, Ezra 7; Neh. 2:1
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Bible Handbook:
521 B.C. – 10 Chapters – 167 Verses
Probably not above 60,000 of the people availed themselves of the permission granted by Cyrus to return to the ruined cities and towns of Judah — so poorly was Jerusalem inhabited that Nehemiah appointed one of every ten of the people to reside in the holy city (Neh. 11:1). During a residence of seventy years — two generations — in Babylon, the mass of the people originally deported died out, and those born during the period of servitude were, as a rule, totally indifferent to Jehovah and His land and interests.
This book, therefore, shows the care of God exercised secretly towards those of His people who, utterly indifferent to the hopes of their fathers, deliberately preferred remaining in the land of their exile. The grace of God is boundless, and His care unwearied, and so He watched with deep and tender solicitude over His apostate people. It is the book of God’s secret providence. He is here as it were hidden from His people, hence His name does not once occur in the book. Ahasuerus, the Persian monarch of this book, is usually regarded as the celebrated Xerxes of profane history, and whose invasion of Greece so stirred up the rage of the mighty Macedonian monarch, Alexander (Dan. 8:7). Certainly what is said of Ahasuerus — of his riches (chap. 1:4), of the extent of his vast empire (chap. 1:1), of his sensuality and feasting (ch. 1:5-10), of his arbitrary and tyrannical conduct (Esther 1:13-22, etc.) — agree with the character and historical account furnished by profane authors of Xerxes. The feast of Purim or lots (Esther 3:7), was instituted in commemoration of the deliverance of the people from the wicked plot of Haman, who designed their thorough extermination and destruction; this festival is termed ‘Mordecai’s day’ in the books of the Maccabees, and is even still observed in these modern times by the Jews throughout the world. The last three of the historical books of Scripture are Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, the latest of all being Nehemiah, which closes Old Testament history.
As to the typical bearing of the book, Vashti represents the Gentile wife who, failing to show her beauty was deposed, and Esther, the Jewish wife and queen, taken into high favour; Mordecai sets forth the blessed Lord exalted to the headship of the world and Israel; all this pointing forward to the coming future.
General Divisions
Chapters 1-2 — Vashti the Gentile deposed, and Esther the Jew exalted.
Chapters 3-7 — Haman’s wicked devices brought to naught, and he and house ignominiously destroyed.
Chapters 8-10 — Mordecai (type of the Lord in the end) exalted to the right hand of the then imperial power, and using his authority to effect the deliverance of, and also to securely establish the blessing of the people.
Persian Sovereigns
The following are the Persian monarchs specially named in the post-captivity books. As a rule the Persian sovereigns were generally kindly disposed towards the Jews: —
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