The Book of Esther is about a Jewish queen of Persia who exposed a plot to destroy her people and thus saved all the Jews in that country from destruction (Esther 3:11). The purpose of The Book of Esther is to display the work of God. The Book of Esther records the feast of Purim and it commemorates the great deliverance of the Jewish nation. In the process of analyzing The Book of Esther, the journey into the three worlds will be used. Overall this paper will discuss the fall and rise of the Jewish
The book of Esther is a narrative history. However, its author remains anonymous; many believe Mordecai, (Esther’s cousin and guardian), wrote it. The book was written around 470 B.C. in Persia. In 479 B.C., Esther became queen. The key characters in the book of Esther are Esther, Mordecai, King Ahasuerus (or Xerxes), and Haman. The purpose of the narrative is to demonstrate God’s love and sovereignty at all times and in all circumstances. It is a post-exile story about Jews who remained in Persia
Irony in the Book of Esther One must be particularly cautious when applying the techniques of contemporary literary scrutiny to any portion of the bible since the bible, as it is handed to us, is a mosaic of stories written, interpreted and edited by countless individuals over the course of thousands of years. It would therefore be unreasonable to apply the same standards of examination as it would to a literary work that was composed by a single person living during a particular time period
I was burning the mid night oil late last night. Not because I was working, watching movies or reading a good book. Not because I was up working on the mountain size pile of laundry sitting in the corner of my room that calls my name. I was on the phone with a friend. My friend was hurting. As my friend poured her heart out to me and ask questions I didn't really have answers to, as I sat there listening: I prayed. I prayed for my friend. That God would guide her and comfort her. I asked God
throughout this study of Esther 4. It is hard to put into words and describe what lit up in my head when it all made sense and came together. The book of Esther is about a brave girl who found the courage from God and from the people around her to rescue her people from destruction. The whole book shows God’s love and plans for the preservation of His people. He prepared Esther to believe and trust in Him at a critical moment where He could use her. Through this study of Esther I have learned that the
If the book of Esther could turn into a modern day movie the title could be called “Providence of Connection”. Why? Because it is shed’s light of how God’s chosen people were given retribution through Him by His divine protection from their enemies. The leading topic of Esther is deliverance of the Jews by Queen Esther. To describe Queen Esther let’s begin with her roots. She is a Jewish descendent whose cousin Mordecai raised her as his very own daughter. Her Jewish name was Hadassah. She was a
The book of Esther is full of mysteries that has grasped the attention of Biblical scholars and audiences throughout ages and still presents some challenges to the contemporary audiences. It is important to understand the purpose and theme of the book in order to better understand the text in its context. Many Christian scholars and audiences’ alike eisegesis the text instead of using exegesis therefore there have been many misconceptions regarding Esther. The book of Esther is a very important book
The book of Esther is a story of how Ester a Jewish woman comes to save the Jewish people from destruction by Persia. She is being raised there by her uncle Mordecai. When the King of Persia searches for a wife, she is selected because of her great beauty. Later she wins his favor and becomes his wife. This leads to her being able to influence the King when a plot to kill all of the Jews is revealed. Esther is portrayed as a wise, elegant and gracious woman. This book is a very interesting
Esther The person I chose to write about is Esther. Her birth name was Hadassah and she was born (492 B.C.–c. 460 B.C.). Esther was born in Jerusalem and raised primarily by her uncle Mordecai. Although Esther was born a Jewish exile she later went on to become the queen of Persia. Esther became queen when the king Xerxes banished his first wife for not “revealing” herself to him during his time of feast. When Esther is chosen she is only fourteen but the king is taken by her beauty. Upon becoming
even targeted for extermination. The book of Esther tells a story of an attempted extermination. It records a ten-year span during the 58-60 year interlude in the book of Ezra (ch.6-7) between the first return headed by Zerubbabel and the second return headed by Ezra. It also tells of the inauguration of a feast (Purim), which has endured over 2,000 years because of one woman, whose name the book is titled, said, “If I perish… I perish.” Moreover, Esther is a story of courage and communication
King Xerxes was a ruler of over 170 providences stretching from India to Cush. As a great king over a vast empire, he showed his wealth by throwing long and large parties [1:4]. His display of wealth is the first thing that we see within Esther’s story [1:3-5]. This is important because it emphasizes how many people Xerxes was humiliated in front of when Vashti refused to come to him [1:12]. Due to the fact that his deposed wife Vashti disobeyed a command, he was counseled by advisers and then forced
version the story found in the Book of Esther. Esther, a young Jewish girl, lives during the reign of King Xerxes, ruler of Persia. When Queen Vashti, Xerxes’s wife, refuses to attend his royal banquet, Xerxes is
before the inebriated quests of the somewhat “merry with wine” King. This sets the stage for a story of excess, irony, reversals and a captive Jewess who would become queen and the savior of a nation. Mentored by her cousin and guardian Mordecai, Esther leads the reader through a tale of intrigue that deliver a people on the brink of annihilation resulting in the celebration of deliverance that exists until the present day. Although the characters are colorful and information on the reason behind
1 Bible as Literature 10 March 2016 Esther Courage, irony and hypocrisy are traits that are each expressed in the book of Esther. In fact, it is partially what makes the book so interesting to its readers. People like Mordecai and Haman have brought irony and courage to the book through their various actions. There were also individuals like Xerxes who exhibited hypocrisy in the story. However, Esther expressed courage as well. The people in the book of Esther each expressed either courage, irony
The book of Esther tells the faithfulness of one woman and her uncle. It is only one of two books that contain the heroism and bravery of a woman heroine. The story of Esther accomplishes two profound things, the first: “To demonstrate God’s providential care of his people, even those outside the land of Israel, and 2) to commend the observance of the feast of Purim by relating how it originated” (Breneman 289).Unlike the rest of the Bible the story of Esther does not directly state or talk about
groups and among the Israelites themselves. The Prophets seem to have become a closed collection of books and status equal to that of the Law. Kethuvim (the Writings) "…contains the most diverse material…" (Harris, 6), is a miscellaneous repository for all the books accepted later. It contains books of history, prophecy, wisdom, and poetry randomly tossed together in a mixed bag. Jewish books written in Greek such as the Apocrypha were not included as part of the canon of the Hebrew Bible. Apocalypses
escaped total annihilation thanks to the bravery of Queen Ester. Purim occurs on the 14th of Adar, (or in certain walled cities like Jerusalem, the 15th of Adar.) which this year falls on the 21st of March. The story of Purim is recounted in the Book of Esther, found in the Hebrew Bible. Set in Persia roughly 2,300 years ago, the story tells of how a series of events came together to save the Jewish people from genocide. The Persian empire is taken over by King Achashverosh and to mark the three year
influential and inspirational Jewish women, such as Esther, for guidance and strength. A Bat Mitzvah is a Jewish ritual in which a female immediately upon the age of 12 becomes an adult or a “daughter of the mitzvah” (Cahabad.org, 2016) (Pelaia, 2014). This ritual marks the beginning of a lifetime of devotion to the Jewish religion and with this comes the exploration of your own personal purpose that was given to you by God (Rich, 2011). Esther, a woman of the scripture, exemplifies what it means
The Identities of Joseph and Esther from the Old Testament The Bible is full of common themes, yet there one prominent underlying thread that runs constant throughout is that in order to be influential, people are placed in positions where they are able to assimilate to the common culture, but are still set apart from other ordinary people. Assimilation is defined as the process where a group adopts the customs of the prevailing culture, whereas consecration refers to someone who is set apart
The book of Esther tells of a courageous young woman who uses her mind to please God. She becomes the wife of a great king and allows for protection of her own people, the Jews. Esther is a great role model for women of modern day times because of her strength, nobility, and honesty. She portrays a woman with power that most women of that day did not have. The story of Esther has empowered women of all backgrounds and will continue to do so well into the future. This story originates in the country