It purports to explain how the feast of purim came to be celebrated by the jews. A little preking saul history is needed to understand why his disobedience was so incredibly colossal. The story gives us six powerful lessons about courage. One distinguishing characteristic is that its the only biblical book that does not mention god by name. Summary of the book of esther genuine leather bible. The absence of the name of god other than in some hidden way, along with other disturbing. 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 story of esther in the bible has always been one of my favorites.
The book of esther is one of the most exciting books in all the old testament and is nearly unique in employing a woman as its leading character. In megillat esther, gds name is never explicitly mentioned, which is entirely by design. In fact, the book of estherwhich tells how queen esther saved the persian jews from a genocidal plot designed by an evil minister named. The book of esther, which we read every year on purim, is one of the five scrolls contained in the ketuvim or hagiographa shir hashirim, ruth. Mordecai learned of a plot to kill the king and made it known to esther who passed the news to the king. In the book of esther this information is casually presented as. A beautiful, yet humble girl, raised by a cousin, and who saved a generation through her bravery. The events mentioned in esther therefore happened between ezra chapter 6 and chapter 7. He took in esther as the new persian queen, not knowing she was an israelite. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the jews will arise from another place, but you and your fathers family will perish. This fact has caused some to question its place in the biblical canon, but, in reality, the absence of gods name fits perfectly with the theme of the book. The book of esther itself, however, does not hide the origins of its names.
We are shown a persian emperor, ahasuerus loosely based on xerxes, 485464 b. 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. The book of esther in hebrew is secular in nature, in that the name of god, the temple, and prayer are not mentioned. The inspirational the book of esther was made into a movie, released in 20 and directed by david a. The book of esther begins with the queen of king ahasuerusvashtisnubbing the kings request to meet with her. This is a book describing the jews who have remained behind in persia, when they have been freed and commanded by god to return to their own land. Based upon the book of esther, this delightful retelling emphasizes the value of courage, faith and obedience. For example, when esther asks the jews to fast, we can assume this included prayer est. With jen lilley, linda bisesti, john clement, kass connors.
The book of esther reflects this idea, by referring to vashti as queen vashti 1. Not one time does the name of god appear in the book of esther. The book of esther in the bible is a dramatic account which can give us insight into gods special and purposeful plan for our lives. Naturally, being a rather unstable fellow, ahasuerus firesslashdivorces her. Its tough being a woman leader kit by beth moore helps a leader facilitate this womens bible study experience and contains all that is needed to conduct the 10 weeks of group sessions. It shows gods providential care of his people in spite of themselves. This is a book describing the jews who have remained behind in persia, when they have been freed and commanded by god to return to. The book of esther fabrication, faithfulness, fulfillment. I love this story in the bible because it so beautifully illustrates how god can use anyone for his plans and how we, especially women, can fight our fears and bring glory to god. All other books of the bible make it obvious who and what is influencing the actions of the characters, namely. Esther is read during the purim feast on 14th and 15th adar februarymarch.
But hamans plans include something horrible for mordecai and his people. The second unique aspect of the hebrew book of esther is the absence of any overt religious element. Xerxes, the persian king, who rejected his other wife queen vashti, fell in love with esther in the beauty contest. The providence of god is abundant throughout the book. 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. Esther commentary john gills exposition of the bible. He is hidden behind all of the seemingly normal events that resulted in the salvation of the jewish people. Even the bible story admits that estherishtar was not the real name of the elamitejewish queen. 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. As queen, esther hides her religious identity and maintains her jewish practices keeping kosher and observing the laws of shabbat and family purity in secret. The book of esther is a very realistic commentary on life, and it is possible that its author wanted to make his readers ponder carefully gods involvement in it. Xerxes, the persian king, rejected his wife queen vashti, and fell in love with esther at a beauty contest. The most popular traditions are mordecai a major character in the book of esther, ezra, and nehemiah who would have been familiar with persian customs.
Esther is a young and beautiful jewish girl, orphaned but cared for by her. It is up to mordecais niece esther to win the affection of the king, unmask hamans treachery and save the jewish people. In fact, the book of revelation in hebrew is called hitgalut. The biblical book of esther is a secularized elamite myth of ishtar esther and her consort marduk mordecai, who sacrificed to the god hammon, or amon haman.
This is not a book that describes faith and obedience, but disobedience. The book of esthers unique perspective on jewish life in the. Because the book doesnt specifically say the word god at all, many christian simply find no value in the writing. Do not think that because you are in the kings house you alone of all the jews will escape. One unique aspect of the book of esther is that it states within the book the. The unique feature of the book of esther is that it is the only book in the prophets and writings that takes place completely outside of israel.
However, while the word god is not written, there are implications and. It belongs to the third section of the judaic canon, known as the ketuvim. The book of esther 6 powerful life lessons from the bible. This is why many presume that the book was written in the second half of the fifth century bc. What is the unique contribution of the book of esther to the canon of. The book of esther is about a jewish girl adopted by her uncle, mordecai, after her parents died. The book of esther says mordechai was exiled from judah with king jeconiah.
Esthers repeated receiving of and desire for favor esther 2. Esther 1, new international version niv the bible app. The book of esther is about a jewish girl, adopted by her uncle mordecai after her parents had died. Esther with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. Here are few less know facts about the book of esther. The literary technique of foreshadowing is also employed in the book of esther. Esther is described in the book of esther as a jewish queen of the persian king ahasuerus.
In the hebrew bible the book of esther is placed in the third main part, that is. Overview of the book of esther third millennium ministries. The nature of purim the uniqueness of megillat esther the jewish. The righteous jew mordecai and the despicable haman square off for control of the young persian king xerxes. The old testament book of esther is very different from most books in the bible. Bible our library commentaries john gills exposition of the bible esther. 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. 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. Jewish girl esther is chosen as the new queen consort to king xerxes of persia.
The fate of gods chosen people is at the very center of the story, but god. This is unfortunate, since his works contain priceless gems of information that are found nowhere. It is one of the five scrolls megillot in the hebrew bible. Appendix the names of the main characters in the book of. Join beth in a very personal examination of the old testament story of esther as she peels back the layers of history and shows how very contemporary and applicable the story is to our lives today.
The book of esther tells a story of the deliverance of the jewish people. The book is set during the period after the babylonian exile in which the nation of persia present day iran ruled judah. The book of esther is the only one not found in the dead sea scrolls. In esther s story, gods involvement is implicit rather than explicit. Book of esther, in the hebrew bible and the christian old testament. The book of esther is located in the old testament and is one of two books in the. Hence it belongs to the bestknown otbooks with the jews and it is also the book, which has the oldest copies. Will she be able to stop the evil lord hamans plot to exterminate the jews. Esther was placed in a royal position, not by chance, but for a purpose. The greek septuagint remedied this situation by adding six passages which include the name of god. Yet most people today have never heard of john gill.
The book of esther does not specifically name its author. Most striking is the prediction by hamans wife that he would surely come to ruin because mordecai was a jew esther 6. On the mystical level king achashverosh alludes to gd, the king of the world. The book of esther is a hodgepodge of different genres. It is a blueprint of the dangers jews face when in exile, at the hands and mercy of nonjewish rulers. The book of esther would also encourage them to worship the god of israel, though he is not mentioned by name in it ibid. Childs notes the typology which the writer uses in identifying haman and mordecai through genealogies when he writes, haman, the enemy of the jews, is portrayed as the son of hammedatha, the agagite 3. The words megillat esther can be taken to mean the revelation of the hidden. The prayers of esther and mordecai are especially noteworthy. A queen under control when esthers words were reported to mordecai, he sent back this answer. Illuminations year one the book of esther family study guide illuminations year one the book of esther from the old testament family study guide by maggie hogan weeks 1 and 2 preparation and supplies you will need the following to get the most out of this family study guide. It is the one book in the bible that does not mention the name of god.
Here are the four principles ive observed from the story of esther. What is the unique contribution of the book of esther to. Yahweh was never mentioned, because the jews of elam worshipped marduk, not yahweh. What is the importance of the book of esther, and why is. One of the unique characteristics of the book of esther is the absence of any mention of god. The book of esther has served the jewish people as support of their national hope and especially so. The book of esther is the 17th book in the old testament. Esther risking her own life, approached the king with a plan of her own in order to save her people. The book of esther and it happened in the days of ahasuerus this is the ahasuerus who reigned from india even to ethiopia, over a hundred and twentyseven provinces. Esther is ishtar, the femme fatale of mesopotamian goddesses, and marduk mordecai is the creator of the world and king of the gods according to babylonian myth. Add to that a flavor of steampunk youve likely never tried before, blend it all up but keep it kosher. He took esther as the new persian queen, not knowing she was an israelite.
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