According to tradition, the book of Esther was written in the mid-4th century BCE, and was made part of the canon which was sealed a couple of decades after.Esther was queen for about 11 years.The name of Mordecai is the Judaised pronunciation of Marduka, which is attested in the Persepolis Texts as the name of officials in the Persian court during the period of Xerxes I. Given new belongings (Esther 2:9). What is the answer punchline algebra 15.1 why dose a chicken coop have only two doors? Queen Esther died in 473 BCE, so she was likely in her late fifties or early sixties at the time of her death. Prof. Mika Ahuvia is Associate Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Washington and currently holds the Marsha and Jay Glazer Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies. The Book of Esther reports that when Esther learned that Mordecai was wearing sackcloth, the queen was greatly agitated (4:4). 22:1: For the leader; onayelet ha-shahar[literally, the hind of the dawn], which the Rabbis apply to Esther. Her jar represented her strength and her resilience and gives a powerful message of hope to all those facing oppression. The Book of Esther, which does But she does not reveal her Jewish heritage to the king and learns of a plan to kill all Jews by the kings advisor, Haman. Their grandfather was Alexander Jannaeus, the second eldest son of John Hyrcanus. Mordechai had a cousin named Esther, who was the daughter of Abihail, a Benjamite. It seems unlikely that Esther was ever Queen of Persia, so we can not say at what age Xerxes married her. The Rabbis relate to Esther as the one responsible for the deliverance of Israel and compare her to the moon, which shone for Israel in the darkness of night. . See Ilana Pardes,Countertraditions in the Bible: A Feminist Approach(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992), 126 ff. The day before, the 96-year-old queen pulled out of a virtual Privy Council meeting after her doctors advised her to rest. She reigned in the first century BCE, sixty years after the Hasmoneans achieved independence from the Seleucid Empire and a few decades before King Herod. "scroll." The king agreed, not knowing that Esther, his beloved queen, and Mordecai, the man to whom he owed his life, were both Jews. The king held a party in his honor one day. She remained passive to the moody King and obedient to her authoritarian uncle, Mordecai. 464 BC. Themidrashrelates that Esther hid from Ahasueruss agents who sought women for the king. point). Rabbah6:5). She was alone, alone with her grief and trauma. He deposed Queen Vashti in 483/482BC when he was 36 ( Esther 1:3 ). Esther, on the other hand, was taken every day and, like them, she requested miracles. cit.). She had one. It was only when Esther came that Ahasuerus removed the likeness of Vashti and replaced it with that of Esther (Esth. [7] See Elsie Sterns reading of Megillat Esther as a cautionary tale for Jews living in the Diaspora in her TABS essay, Megillat Esther: A Godless and Assimilated Diaspora.. Seeking a new queen, the king appointed commissioners to bring all the beautiful young virgins from every province into his harem for a year of cosmetic treatments so that he might select a new bride. This book therefore has the same sanctity as the other books of Scripture. Esthers jar captures her willingness to stand up and fight against her oppressors, despite being completely alone and without support. Oops! probably lived at the same time. Torah and history converge in a remarkable way in the life of Shelamzion. The festival of Purim and the satirical setting of Megillat Esther may cause us to minimize the unusual story it preserves: the story of a young woman succeeding against all odds in foreign territory. [5] Ilan discusses variants of the same traditions inSilencing the Queen, 35-42, drawing attention to how later rabbinic sources gradually eliminate Shelamzion from this tradition and replace her with her contemporary Shimon ben Shetach. Furthermore, he commanded all the provinces of his realm to provide special favors and tax exemptions to Esther and her people, the Jews. was the wife of the Persian King Xerxes [aka "Ahasuerus" in many old or so, Estheryuckthat's not what they showed in the The Scroll of Esther is read on Purim from a parchment scroll.Megillah loc. It is believed that Esther's life In conclusion, yes, Mordechai was indeed Esthers cousin. The Book of Esther relates that Esther told no one of her Jewish origins, as Mordecai had ordered her. book of Nehemiah began, although her husband, King Xerxes was On March 30, 2002, the Queen Mother died aged 101 years and 238 days old. How old was King Xerxes when he married Esther? Nonetheless, it is clear that Esthers mental state was severely compromised and debilitating. The Book ofEsther (2:7)relates that Esther had two names: He was foster father to Hadassahthat is, Esther. The Rabbis take two interpretive directions as regards these names. For today's Bible studies, we're going to discuss 10 characteristics of Esther in the Bible. She oversaw a peaceful and prosperous period. missed each other by at least 50 years. She was a beautiful Jewish woman, the wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). For an analysis of these sources and their reliability, see Tal Ilan,Integrating Women into Second Temple History(Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1999), esp. That being said, The spelling of her name is confirmed by its appearance in the Qumran material; see4QCalendrical Document C(Florentino Garcia Martinez and Elbert J. C. Tigchelaar, eds.,Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition[Brill Academic Publishers, 2000], 694). Ahasuerus is moved by her words and instead orders Haman to be hung on the gallows he had built for Mordecai. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'coalitionbrewing_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_3',146,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-coalitionbrewing_com-medrectangle-3-0'); Queen Esther was a brave and courageous woman who risked her life many times to save the Jewish people. Even though she was the queen and the favorite of Xerxes, Esther was taking a great risk in deciding to go to him. Elizabeth reigned for almost forty-five years and was the last monarch of the Tudor Dynasty, having died childless. When the king saw his queen, Xerxes lowered his golden scepter to invite Esther into his presence. Rabbah6:11). assassinated 20 years earlier (he was probably bout 20-25 years How can a woman test for infertility at home? How Did Queen Esther Die? 22:23). Her reign lasted less than a decade but still longer than a two-term presidency. The answer is yes. When Esther's parents died, I adopted Esther and took care of her like she was my daughter. Additional traditions maintain that not only did Esther become pregnant by Ahasuerus, but she was also the mother of the last Darius (idem) or of Cyrus (Kallah Rabbati2:15). The moral of the story of Esther is to stay true to yourself and never give up on your beliefs. The night of their union, Ahasuerus loved Esther "above all women" and made her the Persian Empire's Queen. The regimen of rituals, songs and textual readings performed in a specific order on the first two nights (in Israel, on the first night) of Passover. During Jacob's stay, he fell in love with Rachel . Esthers jar is a visual representation of her emotional turmoil and her suffering. 2). Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. That day, Esther told the king about Haman's plan to massacre all Jews in his kingdom, and she acknowledged her own Jewish ethnicity. She knew King Xerxes's love for merrymakingthat's how he first got in trouble with Queen Vashti (Es 1:10, 11, 12), how he celebrated Queen Esther's rise to the throne (Es 2:17, 18), and how he ended his day with Haman after issuing the edict for genocide (Es 3:15). 2). "order." She was the wife of the Persian King Xerxes [aka "Ahasuerus" in many Bibles] who ruled Persia from 486 to 465 BC. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered flags at the Capitol to be flown at half-staff following the queen's death. Rachel was silent when she saw that Jacob married her sister instead of herself. At first, Esther was hesitant to approach the king, as anyone who approached him without his invitation was put to death unless the king extended his top scepter. She understood why she had to suffer through her relationship with this irritable king. 10:3) was able to have interceded for the welfare of all his kindred (Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer, chap. For the name of Esther, a number of etymologies are possible.1) Esther comes from the Persian "setareh," meaning "star".2) Esther comes from the Aramaic "istahar," meaning "moon." Bruce Feiler says in Where God was Born that Queen Amestris was Xerxes' only known wife, and that she remained queen long after the third year of his reign, when Vashti was supposedly deposed by Xerxes.The story of Queen Esther is demonstrably non-historical, but she is portrayed as saving the Jews of the Persian Empire from destruction. The Talmud reveals that Esther's relationship with Ahasuerus wasn't a romantic one. The Rabbis even find proof that God concurred with the activity of Mordecai and Esther, since it is written(Esth. . Routing number of commercial bank of Ethiopia? guessing that Nehemiah was probably not around when the events of 10:2). Just as a wolf seizes its spoils, so did Esther seize the throne; similarly, Mordecai and Esther divided Hamans spoils among them (Gen. Rabbah[ed. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'coalitionbrewing_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_10',152,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-coalitionbrewing_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0');Her true identity was kept hidden from everyone, until she was forced to reveal it in order to save her people from the decree of death from Persias ruling king. It can also be assumed from the story that Mordecai was well aware that bowing to Haman may compromise his loyalty to the Jews and God, and thus put him in a dangerous situation. Rabbah26:8;Lam. In common parlance, the braided loaves blessed and eaten on the Sabbath and Festivals.hallah from dough,niddah, and the kindling of the Sabbath candle, even in the palace of Ahasuerus (Midrash Tehilim, onPs. The historical reality of this biblical episode, and whether or not Esther actually existed, has often been questioned. With great courage, Esther fasts for three days, arranges a banquet with the king and Haman, then pleads with the king to save the Jews. Mordechai and Esthers relationship was an important part of the events of the Book of Esther. The Rabbis devote extensive attention to Esthers observance of the laws of niddah. Esther was a teenager in TheA type of non-halakhic literary activitiy of the Rabbis for interpreting non-legal material according to special principles of interpretation (hermeneutical rules).Midrash adds that Esthers father died during her mothers pregnancy, and the latter died during childbirth (Esth. The events of Esther took place between 483 and 473 BC, during the first part of King Xerxes's reign when he appointed Esther as his queen. Fear strikes in the hearts of many, including Mordecai, as he realizes Hadassah will be taken. Esther 7:1-6, 9-10. 2:7). The hero of the Book of Esther is a Jewish woman who lived in Susa and became queen when she was chosen to be the wife of King . does not give many details of Esther's life, Persian records do. 2:22): and Esther reported it to the king in Mordecais name, from which the Rabbis learned that whoever properly attributes a statement brings redemption to the world, since, by merit of this act, the king wished to give honor and advancement to Mordecai, which began Hamans downfall (Codification of basic Jewish Oral Law; edited and arranged by R. Judah ha-Nasi c. 200 C.E.Mishnah Avot6:6). The Jews receive permission to defend themselves against their oppressors, and many of the enemies of the Jews are killed.