Esther

Background and History

The chapters above are the King James text. This essay is the setting of Esther: who is said to have written it, when and where, what happens in it, and how the text has been copied.

At a Glance

Who Wrote It

The book is anonymous. Esther 9:20Esther 9:20 · King James VersionAnd Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far,Esther 9:20 · King James VersionOpen the Source says Mordecai wrote letters to the Jews, and some later readers credited him with the book. The Talmud in Bava Batra 15a says the men of the Great Assembly wrote Esther. (2) Critical scholars date it to the Persian or Hellenistic period and see it as a story that explains Purim. Many still note its accurate details of Persian court life.

Who It Is Not

Mordecai writes letters about Purim in the story, not necessarily the book. The Greek Additions to Esther, which add prayers and the name of God, are not part of the Protestant canon.

When and Where

Bible Gateway gives about 400 BC. (7) The story is set under Ahasuerus, in Esther 1:1Esther 1:1 · King James VersionNow it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)Esther 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source (1), usually identified as Xerxes I.

Audience and Setting

Jews in the Persian diaspora and after. The purpose is to show God’s hidden providence protecting his people and to explain Purim, in Esther 9:20–32Esther 9:20–32 · King James Version^9:20 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far, ^9:21 To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, ^9:22 As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. ^9:23 And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them; ^9:24 Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them; ^9:25 But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. ^9:26 Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them, ^9:27 The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year; ^9:28 And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed. ^9:29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim. ^9:30 And he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth, ^9:31 To confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry. ^9:32 And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.Esther 9:20–32 · King James VersionOpen the Source.

Rulers at the Time

Ahasuerus king of Persia. Reign dates were not checked for this essay and are omitted.

Places in This Book

What Is Happening

Esther 1–2 tell how Esther became queen. Esther 3–5 are Haman’s plot and Esther’s courage. Esther 6–8 are the reversal. Esther 9–10 are the deliverance and the feast of Purim.

Key Themes

Providence in Esther 4:14Esther 4:14 · King James VersionFor if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?Esther 4:14 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Courage in Esther 4:16Esther 4:16 · King James VersionGo, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.Esther 4:16 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Reversal of the proud.

Apologetics Questions

The Hebrew text of Esther never mentions God. Readers see providence in the story’s reversals instead. Historians debate Esther’s identity, since Greek sources name Xerxes’ queen as Amestris.

How the Book Points to Christ

God preserves the people through whom the Messiah would come. Esther, who risks her life to intercede, is read as a picture of mediation. Jesus is God.

Text and Manuscripts

The IAA says every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther was found at Qumran. (4)

Canon Reception

Esther was the most debated book of the Hebrew canon in the early church. Melito’s list, preserved by Eusebius, does not name it. (5) Athanasius places it among books to be read rather than in the canon. (6) Josephus’s twenty-two books are generally thought to include it. (3) The Jewish canon and the Protestant canon include it.

Further Reading

How Was the Bible Canon Decided? and What Is the Apocrypha?.