Encyclopedia of World Biography. The higher the vote, the further up an answer is. , hypocoristic masculine proper name containing the theophoric element Marduk), name of two Biblical figures: Despite being the book's namesake, Esther's role is frequently overlooked. She left behind a legacy of strength, courage and compassion. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. "Queen Esther," hyperhistory.net, http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b1estherp1mw.htm (January 6, 2005). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. She was lovely to look at. Her real intention, however, was to take revenge on him. At a young age, she was taken to become a part of a harem in the citadel of Susa under the authority of the eunuch Hegai. See pages 171240. Since Esther is an Iranian heroine, it is not surprising that Iranian Jews have preserved her memory with great devotion. At the time, Esther was only fourteen years old, but she possessed remarkable beauty as well as charm and precocious tact. Halevy, Elimelech "Esther Say: King Xerxes was not angry any more. 10th century BCE)known also as Bilqis and as Makedafigures prominently in Judaic, Islamic, and, Solomon God blessed her greatly among the people, and she quickly rose to the position of queen. Esther reigned as the queen of Persia for a period of about 13 years. Many of the Israelites obeyed Gods call. (February 22, 2023). Early Life Doubly orphaned as a young girl, Esther was raised by her cousin Mordechai, a wise and saintly Torah scholar and the leader of the Jewish people. The king had become drunk on wine and commanded that his wife, Queen Vashti come out before everyone to show how beautiful she was. He had a war against Greece in 480-470BC, when he was 39-49. 6:114). Encyclopedia.com. He then started searching for a new queen from a selection of beautiful virgins from across the empire (2:14). ." The Queen had a strong faith. . 1. We may assume, therefore, that she was about 14 years of age when she succeeded to. The book of Esther is unique in that it is the only book in the Bible that does not mention God by name even once. The king was enraged and he stormed away from her. "Esther Her beauty, courage, and self-sacrifice are celebrated in numerous paintings, beginning with those in the third-century Dura-Europos synagogue and culminating with representations by famous Renaissance painters, such as Sandro Botticelli (c. 14451510), Filipino Lippi (c.14581504), Jacopo Tintoretto (c. 15181594), and Paolo Veronese (ca.15281588), who all tended to associate her with the cult of the Virgin Mary. Mordecai persuaded Esther to intervene with the king on behalf of her people. Esthers age is not specified in the Bible, but tradition and history put her at twenty-five when she became Queen. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Esther_haram.jpg, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ester_y_Mardoqueo_escribiendo_la_primera_carta_del_Purim_(Ester,_9-20-21)_-_Aert_de_GELDER_-_Google_Cultural_Institute.jpg. As a woman, she was not in a position of power, just as Diaspora Jews were not members of the power elite. . He has appointed me to build a temple for Him at Jerusalem in Judah. That was the month of Tebeth. 10th century BCE)known also as Bilqis and as Makedafigures prominently in Judaic, Islamic, A somewhat nebulous figure, the Queen of Sheba (fl. The story of Esther begins with a grand banquet at the palace of King Ahasuerus, also referred to as King Xerxes. R. 6:13; Meg. Tragically, Hadassah was orphaned at an early age. 3. In January 1938 she was arrested and imprisoned but refused to admit to the false charges proffered against her. Unless otherwise noted the Scriptures taken from: Holy Bible, New International Readers Version, (NIrV). She took an active part in founding a network of Yiddish schools, courses for teachers, and other educational institutions. Thats amazing! Esther teaches us life lessons by demonstrating the qualities that will carry us through our fights and lead us to victory over the enemy. This was done to commemorate the saving of the Jewish people from Haman. At the outset, the Persian ruler Ahasuerus has a grand feast that is spoiled when his wife, Vashti, refuses his demand that she perform before the assembled males. The king was humiliated and enraged, and he banished Vashti. 16 September 2012. Fishbane, Michael "Esther Well say this water stands for people. But, the GREAT news is, when we chose to put our trust in Jesus, He takes our sin away and makes us a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). The King was very determined to show his great wealth to everyone. 80). She was the last of the house of Hanover and gave her name to an era, the Victorian Age. Answer Esther is the Jewish maiden who became queen of Persia and rescued her people from a murderous plot to annihilate them. But when the former queen, Vashti, fell into disfavor with her husband, Ahasuerus, the king chose Esther to be his wife and queen. Encyclopedia.com. ." "Esther." (31-5) Esther 2:10. Esther then planned to appeal to the king on behalf of the Jews, but this would require that she reveal to her husband the king that she, too, was Jewish. When the king returned, he mistakenly assumed Haman had assaulted his queen and had him hanged on the same gallows where he decided to hang Mordecai. For performances of Racine's play at the Comdie Franaise during this period the choruses were composed by several undistinguished musicians; later contributions include those by Reynaldo *Hahn (1905) and Marcel Samuel-Rousseau (1912). Esther is the lucky girl, but she hides the fact she's Jewish. Every day for 180 days he showed his guests the great wealth of his kingdom. Verse 12 says, He burned with anger.. After the Babylonian empire was itself conquered by the Persians under Cyrus the Great, the exiled tribes were allowed to return to Jerusalem. The Jewish Feast of Purim celebrates this particular deliverance of the Jews. She also thought that by being friendly to Haman she would rouse the king's jealousy to such an extent that he would kill both of them (Meg. But before she made her request, she waited for three days and spent the time in fasting and prayer. Meanwhile, one of the viziers, Haman, is elevated to a position of high power. But this too was in vain (Meg. Remember how Jesus said we should affect those around us, but they should not affect us? Reprint, Philadelphia, 19371966. When King Ahasuerus repudiated Vashti, his first wife, because she had disobeyed him, Esther was among the virgins brought to the court and Ahasuerus chose her as his next queen. ." Obviously, the Jews were greatly distressed by the decree, and Mordecai turned to Esther for help. The people break the laws God has given. When Haman appeared before the king to seek permission to hang Mordecai, the king asked Haman how he could honor a man who had been of great service to him (6:46). Please note that Kidadl is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon. Encyclopaedia Judaica. It would be final. She was married to King Achashverosh, whom some identify as Artaxerxes (), 1 king of Persia. Esther was faced with many challenges as queen. (February 22, 2023). See pages 335342. people from KingHerod evil wrath to hurt them. - Esther 2:1 NET. Mordecai is presented as descended from Saul, the Benjaminite, and Haman, from Agag, the Amalekite; in this way, the novella dramatizes a typological repetition of the episode reported in 1 Samuel 15 and recalls the divine exhortation never to forget the destructive deeds of Amalek (Dt. ESV - ." In The Jewish Study Bible. Mordecais family had been from the land of Judah to Babylon years before by military force (Esther 2:6). Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. Retrieved February 22, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/esther. In addition, everyone took her to be one of his own people (Meg. Subscribe for virtual tools, STEM-inspired play, The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. From 1921 to 1930 she was a member of the education department of the *Yevsektsiya. 22 Feb. 2023 . Mordecai suggested that maidens be again assembled as if the king wished to remarry and that Esther, aroused by jealousy, would comply with his wishes. Haman, in great fear, remained to plead for his life from the queen. "Esther put on royal apparel" (Esth. ." The Bible depicts Esther as an orphan who was raised in the house of her uncle Mordecai ().The A type of non-halakhic literary activitiy of the Rabbis for interpreting non-legal material according to special principles of interpretation (hermeneutical rules). There would have been thousands of people there. When we talk about Esther in the Book of Esther, we can't ignore many other characters in the book as they seem to play roles almost as important as hers. This counteredict was addressed to all of the governors in the Persian kingdom, and it informed them that the Jews had been authorized to defend themselves against their persecutors and to kill all those who would attack them. Rubens and Jan Steen painted Esther Before Ahasuerus, and Jan Steen also executed a spirited, almost farcical, Wrath of Ahasuerus (1660). Thus Esther became responsible for deliverance from extinction not only of herself but also of her entire people. Application: King Xerxes took advice from those around him, and that advice changed the lives of himself, his wife, and everyone in the kingdom. Well let this food coloring represent sin. At first she was reluctant, since anyone who went into the kings presence without being summoned faced the death penalty unless he extended his gold scepter to them. Encyclopedia of Religion. Some Yiddish and Hebrew poems of the early 18th century were published with the indication "to be sung to the tune of Haman in the Ahashverosh play" (see Idelsohn, Music, 437), but this tune has not yet been recovered. This change was due in part to the fact that Esther was now the most powerful woman in the kingdom, and also because she had saved the kings life on more than one occasion. Remove your spoon and allow the water to settle while you say the next few lines. In the end, Queen Esther and her Uncle Mordecai succeed in saving their . . History records nothing about 'Queen Esther', who many scholars But she refused to come. 15a), though some say that she was of sallow complexion but endowed with great charm. She knew that she had a great responsibility, and she was ready to meet it. We hope you love our recommendations for products and services! But God promised, through the prophet Jeremiah, that one day He would gather the Israelites together again and restore their land (Jeremiah 30:1-4). Teacher: Take the large clear pitcher and fill half full with water. She was rector of the Jewish section of the "Communist University of the National Minorities of the West" (kunmz) from 1925 to 1936. She was eventually put to death, and her reign came to a tragic and untimely end. 22 Feb. 2023 . Some Jews chose not to return to Jerusalem as God had commanded. A good answer provides new insight and perspective. Updated on January 29, 2019 One of the most well-known heroines in the Jewish Bible is Queen Esther, who became the king of Persia's consort and thereby had the means to save her people from slaughter. To her adopted father, Mordecai, she was a dutiful daughter who was obedient to his wishes and heedful to his counsels. At the end of the two days, the Jewish warriors successfully defended themselves, and a catastrophe had been averted, thanks to Esther's intercession. God wanted the Jews to leave Persia and return to Jerusalem in the Promised Land. ), born as a Jewish exile named Hadasseh, eventually became the queen of Persia, which during her lifetime was the greatest empire in the known world. Encyclopedia.com. World Encyclopedia. However Esther's spiritual characteristics surpass her physical ones, the latter being mere reflections of the former. Retrieved February 22, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/esther. Worked into a full oratorio 12 years later, with additional words by Samuel Humphreys, it had a triumphant reception at the King's Theater in London in 1732. The monarch of Persia, King Ahasuerus, was wealthy and powerful. A royal decree meant the King could never change his mind. Even if "the setting of the Persian court is authentic the events are fictional" as no corroborating sources of the events has ever surfaced (Berlin and Brettler 2004, pp. Later, the anger of King Xerxes calmed down. Historia de Esther y Mardocheo (1781). Why did Esther's story mean so much to Jews? S. Schwarz, The Jews in the Soviet Union (1951), index; lnyl, 1 (1956), 1413. Two early works on this theme were La Representatione della Reina Hester (c. 1500), an Italian verse mystery that went through several editions during the 16th century, and the last of the 43 plays of the French Mistre du Viel Testament, a work of the later Middle Ages. He appointed Esther as the new Persian queen. If Esther had not become queen, she would have continued to live a life of relative obscurity. Haman regarded Mordecai as an upstart who did not show him the proper respect. He was born in 518BC. ESTHER (pseudonym of Malkah Lifschitz , whose names by marriage were Frumkin and Wichmann ; 18801943), communist leader, writer, and educator, born in Minsk; one of the most original women in the Jewish labor movement. Thus Esther herself is of royal blood, a descendant of King Saul, worthy of royal marriage. The book suggests that Esther, born to Abihail, was orphaned as a child and was thereafter adopted and raised by her cousin, Mordecai. The following evening, when the king and Haman attended Esther's second banquet, the king promised her to grant any request that she made. In the amazing story of Esther, we will see that God is FAITHFUL to keep His promises, no matter what people choose to do. However, till that time, she had not disclosed her Jewish background to the king. King Xerxes plan of controlling Greece had failed. She saved her people, the Jews, from destruction by revealing the plot of Haman, the Kings vizier, to kill them all. Rather than growing rebellious and bitter as a result of her difficult upbringing, Esther was obedient to Mordecai and a strong believer of God, according to the Bible. Familiar with both the biblical and rabbinic narratives, Shhn composed his own version of the Books of Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah by creating an audacious link between Esther's marriage and the fate of the Jewish people. Encyclopedia.com. ." The Septuagint version is a much longer version of the narrative and contains six large additions as well as a number of details not found in the Masoretic text. https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/esther-0, "Esther Mishkinsky, Moshe; Spector, Shmuel "Esther This meant he would have returned to Susa very disappointed, ashamed, and frustrated - AND without a queen. ." It became a frequent pilgrimage destination for Iranian Jews. To which she replied: "Jewish elder! Queen Esther by Edwin Long in 1878. The Kidadl Team is made up of people from different walks of life, from different families and backgrounds, each with unique experiences and nuggets of wisdom to share with you. SOLOMON She risked death with her refusal, but the king only banished her, using this as an example to all wives living in his empire. "Esther," Daily Bible Study,http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/estherb.htm (January 5, 2005). We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Esther first appears in the story as one of the young virgins collected into the king's harem as possible replacements for Vashti, the banished wife of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I, reigned 485465 B.C.E. Persians are modern day Iranians and they are not Jews. "Esther," Unitarian Universalists for Jewish Awareness, www.uuja.org/holidays/sermons/sermonesther.html (January 6, 2005). Take your spoon, and carefully get a spoonful of oil from the top inch. In fact, he burned with anger. She was crowned queen in place of Vashti. Contemporary scholars prefer to read the Book of Esther as a comedy, romance, even a fairy tale, downplaying any verisimilitude to ancient (Achaemenid Empire) or medieval Persian (Islamic/oriental) court life and deeming the story's plot to be "structured on improbabilities, exaggerations, misunderstandings, and reversals." From the late 17th century onward the Esther story attracted the attention of many serious composers. While imploring, he fell on Esther's couch and was found in this compromising situation on the king's return. None of the women would return to the king unless he summoned her by name (verse 14). She would enter in the evening and return in the morning to the second harem, where she was kept in the care of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines. In 473 B.C., Esther managed to save the Jewish people of the kingdom from a massacre, a liferisking accomplishment that made her famous. Jerome (d. 420) added the larger segments at the end of his translation of the book. Esther is one of the Tanakh's few true queens. He had raised her as his own daughter, after her father and mother died. She is once called Hadassah (Esth. Esther was a descendant of King Saul. He directs it like a stream of water anywhere He pleases. ." That is, King Ahasuerus had ordered Queen Vashti to expose herself in front of his male guests. New York, 1967. Asked April 23 2017 We do not choose to sin. The myrtle tree was native to Babylonia, but Jewish exiles who returned to Jerusalem took the tree with them, and it became a symbol of the nation of Israel. The festival begins on the very day that Haman had marked for the slaughter of the Jewish people. In a matter of days, Esther went from being the most powerful woman in the kingdom to being a prisoner in her own palace. ." https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/esther, JOHN BOWKER "Esther Ask: How do you respond when things dont go your way, or when youre embarrassed in front of your friends? Just like the color did not get into our oil, our lives must remain pure. ELIZABETH KNOWLES "Esther https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/esther, MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE "Esther Encyclopedia.com. When we sprinkle salt on bland food, the salt changes the taste of the food. They planned to gather all the young women who were not married, take them to a special part of the palace, and give them beauty treatments. With King Ahasuerus, she had one son, named Darius II, who would later rebuild the holy Temple in Jersusalem. Everyone was watching King Xerxes to see what he was going to do. However, the tradition is evident in Isaac Offenbach's play Koenigin Esther (manuscript dated 1833, at the Jewish Institute of Religion, New York), which includes some "couplets" and in which the court jester seems a more important figure than the biblical personages. Esther did this by fasting and praying for guidance from God. Esther must have been a "teenager" based on the historical and Biblical facts above. Retrieved February 22, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/esther-0. How old was Terah when he became the father of Abraham, 70 or 130? bible: See bibliography to *Scroll of Esther. The name Esther itself means star and happiness. Now, the king ordered that Haman be executed, along with his ten sons, on the very same gallows. She had brought the 14-year-old Princess Elizabeth to live with her but Thomas soon began indulging in intimate horseplay with the teenager and the behaviour became more outrageous after Katherine became pregnant at the end of 1547. Esther replaced Queen Vashti, who had been sentenced to death because she had refused to display her beauty to the King's feast attendants. In doing so, she placed her own life at great risk. Who was Esther in the Bible? Esther's memory is also preserved in two fourteenth-century Judeo-Persian (Fars in Hebrew letters) epics, Ardashr-nma (The book of Ardashr [Ahasuerus]), and Ezra-nma (The book of Ezra) by the Iranian Jewish poet Mowln Shhn. creative tips and more. Please ensure your answer MEETS all our guidelines. She also edited the Moscow Yiddish daily, Emes. 7:18:17), so that a day of national fasting and sorrow is turned into a time of joy and gladness (Est. But this is the norm for MENA until the Mandates. To prove the superiority of their guardianship over that of the Jew, they decided to kill the king. Moore, Carey A. 726. 7B. 1 After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. - Esther 2:16-17. Second, Esther, as a "hidden" Jew (together with the frequently noted absence of an explicit reference to God in the scroll), symbolized in mystical circles the hiddenness of the Shekhinah (divine feminine presence) in the world and in the Jewish exile. They had formed a bond based on love and trust, which when combined produces faith. Spiritual & Religious Leaders. She persuades him to stop the slaughter of her people. Translated by Henrietta Szold et al. Her story is recorded in the Old Testament book bearing her name. The Book of Esther was also popular with 17th-century artists in the Netherlands. When King Xerxes reigned over the Persian Empire, he had a beautiful queen named Vashti. A search was conducted throughout the empire for a new queen, and Esther, a young Jewish woman, was chosen. Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender: Culture Society History, The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, ESTHER Esther was also a great queen who cared deeply for her people. Regret of what he did, missing Vashti Ask: Have you ever regretted something you did in the midst of being angry or upset? When her opportunity finally came to appear before the king, Ahasuerus was immediately taken with Esther's attractiveness, and he made her his new queen. When Mordecai refused to do so (3:25), an infuriated Haman decided to kill Mordecai as well as all the Jewish exiles across the Persian Empire (3:6). ." https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/esther, Halevy, Elimelech "Esther We dont know from the Megillah. She was taken captive. The Persian Empire stretched the world from India to Egypt during this point in history. 2:118). She would have probably been married off to some other man and would have had a few children. At the time, she was only 25 years old a 25-year-old woman . In a way that the children can see, pour the oil into a clear glass to show the oil is still clear. In August 1940 she was sentenced to eight years in detention and died in the detention camp in Karaganda. Esther, ESTHER ESTHER (Heb. After the Persians took control of Babylon, the Lord gave a message to King Cyrus. Another change was that Esther began to take a more active role in the running of the kingdom. He told them to bring Queen Vashti to him. Assume Esther is born that same year, 537 BCE. That's exactly what happened to Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 when her father, King George VI, died and she was appointed to the throne. Handel's masque Haman and Mordecai, with a text by John Arbuthnot and (probably) Alexander Pope based on Racine's drama, was first performed at the Duke of Chandos' palace near Edgware in 1720, and was Handel's first English composition in oratorio form. One of these included Esther. Another challenge Esther faced was dealing with her evil stepmother, who constantly tried to undermine her. Esther's adopted uncle Mordecai remained constantly near the palace, so that he would be able advise her in all matters.