Intro to esther biblica the international bible society. For many christians, the book of esther is the basis for a jewish festival that found no counterpart in the christian calendar. Title esther serves as the title without variation through the ages. 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. The book of esther says mordechai was exiled from judah with king jeconiah. The author of esther patterned much of his material on the events of the joseph story see notes on 2.
Jun 18, 2019 the book of esther is one of only two books in the bible named for women. Adopted and raised by her cousin mordecai, esther, whose name is derived from the persian stara, star, plays a crucial role in the event of persecution and deliverance of the jews in the ancient persian empire that the late biblical book or scroll of esther. Megillat esther, the book of esther in the form that we have it in the hebrew. Esther is part of a much larger story that runs all the way from abraham to christ and, through him, to the church. The author is unknown, but it is evident from the details of the record that he was well acquainted with the persian. Biblical stories were written under the inspiration of holy spirit to teach us about god. 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. Jews throughout the world, after 2,500 years, still celebrate this feast. The book of esther is one of only two books in the old testament that is named for a woman. Check out this biography to know about her childhood, family, personal life, achievements, and timeline. In the celebration, jews read aloud the megillah, a scroll containing the. Why is israel in the book of esther still so far from their promised land. Esther is written during the period of the captivity. 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.
This morning, we need to do a background study on the book of esther in order to understand the historical context and application of this book. Although we do not know who wrote the book of esther, from internal evidence it is possible to make some inferences about the author. The book of esther, also known in hebrew as the scroll megillah, is a book in the third. Megillat esther, the book of esther in the form that we have it in the hebrew bible, provides the story of the origin of purim, the blueprint for its celebration, and the authorization for its observance in perpetuity. The story itself is implausible as history and, as many scholars now agree, it is. Feasting is another prominent theme in esther, as shown in the outline below. The book of esther is read as part of the celebration of purim. Bible studies in the book of esther esther chapter 1. And what in the world does that have to do with us, living in the last days of the church age. Esther 4 background information with maps and images. Esther 4 background information with maps and images picture. The book of esther background and outline of the book. The events of the book of esther occurred between those found in ezra 6 and ezra 7 extending over a. 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.
The book of esther is one of only two books in the bible named for women. The book of esther background and outline of the book 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. The book of esther provides us with the greatest illustrations of the providence of god. All the letters of the hebrew alphabet are found in esther 3. T he story of esther reads like a novel and is full of great spiritual lessons. 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. Background for the conflict between mordecai and haman in esther. The book of esther records the institution of the feast of purim and the obligation of its perpetual observation. It was written after the death of king xerxes esth.
The book of esther belongs to ketuvim writings, which is the third division of the tanakh the hebrew bible. The books happy ending is the cause of the establishment of the feast of purim, which celebrates the jews deliverance from destruction. In spite of the cost, return to the place of gods blessing by obeying his revealed truth in scripture. Esther bible story summary what christians want to know.
This unlikely contestant for a beauty pageant was crowned queen of persia and renamed esther, meaning star. Like song of solomon, obadiah, and nahum, the nt doe. 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. 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.
We are shown a persian emperor, ahasuerus loosely based on xerxes, 485464 b. It was the last book to be accepted into the jewish scriptures. Most scholars today agree that the kjv ahasuerus was the xerxes who reigned 486 b. Tracing the history of the book of esther and jewish festival purim. The book of esther begins with the queen of king ahasuerusvashtisnubbing the kings request to meet with her. Well, i can now tell you that i have found you the particularly nasty villain you have been. Esther in the picture study bible the book of esther with. Esther this tv movie version of the esther story stars academy award winner f.
The book of esther this is the most recent movie production of the book of esther. Esther 1 now in the days of ahasuerus, the ahasuerus who. Neither mordecai, esther, nor the feast of purim is mentioned. Background for the conflict between mordecai and haman in. Esther, theology of bakers evangelical dictionary of. This is one book of the bible you could easily read while marinating in a bubble bath, without feeling particularly.
The book of esther tells a story of the deliverance of the jewish people. Esther is the only book in the scripture which does not mention gods name. The jewish community, and its areas of residence, outside erez israel. It purports to explain how the feast of purim came to be celebrated by the jews. In 2012, a graphic adaptation of the book of esther was illustrated by j. The book reflects the background of the jewish dispersion. Esther bible study chapter 1 the invitation of the king. The book is never alluded to in the new testament or dead sea scrolls, and even comments about it by the church fathers are rare. Naturally, being a rather unstable fellow, ahasuerus firesslashdivorces her.
The book of esther was written some 50 years after this decree allowing the jews to return to their homeland. In fact, god is not directly mentioned by name in the book of esther. List out the people mentioned in esther and what you know about them. It is one of the five scrolls megillot in the hebrew bible. The book of esther has a james bondish, tickingtimebomb plot. 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. Tracing the history of the book of esther and jewish. Overview of the book of esther third millennium ministries. 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. Background study how did israel end up here, so far from gods place of blessing. The illfate of the book of estherthe greek versionthe apocr. The book of esther tells how a jewish girl became the queen of persia and saved her people from a plot. The book of esther was likely written between 467 and 350 b.
In the story of esther, youll meet a beautiful, young queen who risked her life to serve god and save her people. Mar 19, 2017 the book of esther belongs to ketuvim writings, which is the third division of the tanakh the hebrew bible. 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. Although we do not know who wrote the book of esther, from internal evidence it. Waldman and appeared in volume one of the graphic canon, edited by russ kick and published by seven stories press. For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes. 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. Esther in the picture study bible the book of esther. This book and the book of ruth are the only ot books named after women. 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. 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. According to schellekens interpretation, the book of esther is a fanciful family history of a rich and powerful jewish family in 4th century b. 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. The book of esther is renowned for its literary artistry, which functions as the principal vehicle for the books.
The book of esther 6 powerful life lessons from the bible. 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. Haman, the conniving chief minister at ahasuerus court, decreed to kill all the. 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. Charles fensham, the books of ezra and nehemiah, 1416. The larger theme of the book is the providence of the almighty god iii. 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.
Shea in this study of esther for the anchor bible series, c. Intimate knowledge of the topography of susa and the persian royal palaces 10. If haman had succeeded, the jewish people as a whole would have been destroyed, and the story of gods saving work in and through abrahams descendants would have. Additionally, the book of esther contains no direct reference to god.
Tracing the history of the book of esther and jewish festival. 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. 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. He was the son of darius the great and reigned from 486465 b. The name esther means star and is a derivation of the root name of the goddess ishtar. It was written to memorialize, to commemorate the gods deliverance that formed the basis of the feast of purim. The genre of the book of esther is narrative history. 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.
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. 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. 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. Book of esther, in the hebrew bible and the christian old testament. What is book of esther about and why should i care.
The events in the book of esther occurred from 483. May 02, 2020 the book of esther records the institution of the feast of purim and the obligation of its perpetual observation. Much of this debate relates to the importance of distinguishing history and fiction within biblical texts, as berlin argues, in order to gain a more accurate. Introduction esther was a jew from the tribe of benjamin who grew up as an exile in persia. The heroine of the book named for her, esther is a young jewish woman living in exile in the persian lit. 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. 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.
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. Its also heavy on action, drama, and game of thronesstyle intrigue, while being notably lacking in legal codes, commandments, theologyall that kind of thing. We started our study of the book of esther last week with a general survey of the book. The book of esther is a 20 movie starring jen lilley as queen esther and joel smallbone as king xerxes. Satans work through the nephilim of which hamaan was a descendent was continuing, and. 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. Book of esther overview insight for living ministries.
Moore divided the arguments against the historicity of the book into three groups. 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. The book explains the origin of the jewish feast of purim februarymarch. Now he needs to pick a new queen and eventually manages to select esthera comely, young secretly jewish woman who is a part of his harem. As his epithet agagite indicates, haman was a descendant of agag. Although his name is never mentioned, we see his providence in each page of this wonderful little book.