Esther


Daniel in the City of Susa

Daniel in the City of Susa

Daniel’s vision in Daniel 8 is set in a distant city, Susa. Susa was in Babylonian territory, but on the very eastern edge. It was about 225 miles from where Daniel most likely had the vision, Babylon. Although some believe Daniel may have actually been in Susa at the time of the vision, the text allows that he may have only been there in his vision. “And I looked in the vision, and it came about while I was looking, that I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the......


Battling City to City in Esther

Battling City to City in Esther

Xerxes, the king of the Persian Empire in the days of Esther, granted the Jews the right to defend themselves from their attackers on the 13th day of Adar, 473 BC. Esther 9:16 indicates that on that day the Jews killed “75,000 of those who hated them.” How large was this number to Xerxes? One way to evaluate it would be to compare it to some of the battles that the Persian army fought in those days. Here are a few examples: Battle of Thermopylae, Aug 480 BC – about 20,000 Persians......


Two Days Fighting in Susa

Two Days Fighting in Susa

Purim, a celebration of the victory of the Jews over their enemies in the days of Esther, is celebrated for two days. In 2019, Purim was March 21 and Shushan Purim was March 22. The book of Esther explains that, although the Jewish populations were victorious throughout the land on Adar 13, in the capital city of Susa the fighting was extended an extra day (Esth 9:17-19). Why did the fighting in Susa take an extra day? There are two observations that may be helpful in answering this question. The first is......


How Far to Elephantine?

When Mordecai created a new edict allowing the Jews of the Persian empire to defend themselves from their attackers (Esther 8:11-12), he needed to send it throughout the kingdom. In fact, it went to the Jewish communities as well as to all the various governors throughout the empire, “from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces” (Esth 8:9). Once copies of the new edict were made, how far would it need to be taken, and how long would it take to get it to the farthest reaches of the  empire? After Nebuchadnezzar and the......


Haman's No Good, Very Bad Day

Haman’s No Good, Very Bad Day

Its amazing what a single day can bring. For Haman, his final day began with a sense of anticipation. He was waiting in the outer court of the palace at the crack of dawn to ask the king for permission to kill Mordecai. His plan was to impale Mordecai on a 75′ pole that he had set up in his front yard, and he was anxious to get quick approval. His first setback came with the king’s command to honor Mordecai by parading him around the city square, dressed in the king’s......


"What Honor or Dignity?"

“What Honor or Dignity?”

When Xerxes (Ahasuerus) heard again of how Mordecai the Jew had saved his life, he asked, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” (Est 6:3). The answer, of course, was that nothing had been done, an embarrassing situation for the king. From the tablets preserved in the Persepolis Fortification Archive, we know that daily events were initially recorded on small tablets that could easily be held in one hand. The tablets of this kind are shaped something like a capital D, with one end rounded and the other......


The King's Chronicles - What Language?

The King’s Chronicles – What Language?

Esther 6:1 records that Xerxes (Ahasuerus) could not sleep, so he called for the court records to be brought and read before him. What exactly did they bring, and in what language were such records kept? There are several places in the book of Esther where proclamations are made throughout the Persian empire, and it seems to have been standard procedure that they were issued “to every people according to their language” (Esth 1:22; cf. 3:12, 8:9). But what language and script was used in the royal palace for the official records?......


Haman's "Gallows"

Haman’s “Gallows”

There are a number of references to hanging in the book of Esther, which has traditionally been paired in English translations with the noun “gallows.” Esther 2:23 – the two conspirators were hung Esther 5:14 – Haman’s wife and friends suggest that he hang Mordecai Esther 7:9 – Haman was hung on the “gallows” he had built for Mordecai Esther 9:13 – Haman’s ten sons were hung However, the “gallows” was not a platform and cross beam as we think of it, for hanging a person by breaking their neck or by......


Esther and the Presumption of Innocence

Esther and the Presumption of Innocence

One of the founding legal principles of United States is the presumption of innocence. We are “innocent until proven guilty” in the eyes of the law. Although many American’s do not realize it, this is a principle that originates in the Bible. Two examples demonstrate this. Deut 17:6 requires that corroborated evidence must be used for a conviction, “on the evidence of two or three witnesses . . . not on the evidence of one witness.” An accusation alone is insufficient to condemn. There must be evidence of the strongest kind (multiple......


Golden Scepter of Ahasuerus

Golden Scepter of Ahasuerus

Queen Esther made an uninvited visit to King Ahasuerus, also known as Xerxes, when she went to plead for the lives of her people. She had previously mentioned the law that anyone who appeared before the king without having first been summoned would be put to death, unless the king held out his golden scepter (Est 4:11). Esther’s courage was rewarded, as Ahasuerus did in fact extend the golden scepter to her when she appeared before him, sparing her life (Est 5:2). When we hear of a “golden scepter,” we might envision......


Mordecai in the City Square

Mordecai in the City Square

Twice in the book of Esther we find Mordecai in the city square. It would be easy to imagine that this was a marketplace in the center of town like is usually seen in Greco-Roman cities a few centuries later. However, enough detail is given in the book of Esther to identify the city square of Susa, and it was not in the center of town. Rather, it was an open plaza in front of the palace, the nearest most people could come to the palace without an official invitation. You can......


Esther's Thirty Days (Esther 4:11)

Esther’s Thirty Days (Esther 4:11)

After discovering that an edict had been issued for the extermination of the Jewish people, Mordecai urged Esther to take action by making an appeal to the king. Esther’s response was that, as everyone knew, going before the king without a summons was very risky. Unless the king extended his golden scepter, any such person would be put to death. Esther then makes a very interesting statement: “I have not been summoned to come before the king for these thirty days.” Although this could be taken as a simple observation, the way......


Mordecai at the King's Gate

Mordecai at the King’s Gate

The palace at Susa as seen from an artist’s perspective. Archives de la Maison Archéologie & Ethnologie, René-Ginouvès, JP_V03_37 © Mission de Suse. Délégation archéologique française en Iran / Daniel Ladiray. Esther 2:19 describes Mordecai as “sitting at the king’s gate” in Susa. Although excavations have been carried out at Susa since the mid-1800’s, archaeologists only discovered the King’s Gate in 1970. It is located about 260 feet to the east of the palace. The gate was set at the edge of a moat that separated the palace complex from the royal......


Esther's Rise as Queen

Esther’s Rise as Queen

There are some interesting deductions that can be made with regard to the date and time of Esther’s being chosen as the new queen of the Persian Empire. Although the timing of these events is not obvious to a casual reader of the book, closer inspection does allow for the creation of a fairly precise timeline. Note the following: Both the Hebrew and Persian calendars were lunar-based, and their New Year began in about March/April in the Julian calendar (the exact time fluctuated from year to year, as the date for Easter......


Drinks in Golden Vessels

Drinks in Golden Vessels

When Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes I) held a banquet in Susa at the end of his military planning party, he served drinks in “golden vessels of various kinds” (Esther 1:7). Over the years, archaeologists have recovered a whole variety of these kinds of vessels from the royal palaces of Persia. Many of these drinking vessels, called “rhytons,” are fashioned in the shape of an animal, seamlessly attached to a flared drinking cup. The one shown in this photo is made of pure gold, as are many others known from this period.......


Hidden In Plain Sight

Hidden In Plain Sight

In the introduction to his commentary on Esther entitled “Inconspicuous Providence”, Bryan R. Gregory points out five literary techniques that show us God in the book of Esther. He titles these techniques, “coincidences, peripeteia, naming, point of view, and allusion,”.  I would like to take a few moments to explore the technique called “peripeteia” as I think it highlights how we can learn more than we think by simply observing closely. What is peripeteia? Quoting Gregory: “In literary terms, peripeteia is the sudden or unexpected reversal of a situation.”  The first of......


Esther & Chronology

Esther & Chronology

A quick read through the book of Esther might leave the impression that all of the events in the book transpired within six months. However, there are three references in the book to specific dates in the reign of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). The first banquet took place in the third year of his reign, 483 BC (Est 1:3). Esther became queen in the seventh year of his reign, 478 BC (Est 2:16). Haman hatched his plot to destroy the Jews in the 12th year of Ahasuerus. Because this happened in the......


God Keeps His Promises

God Keeps His Promises

Sunday in our introduction to Esther we saw that our God is a covenant keeping God. He is a God whose word can be trusted and relied upon. One of the examples mentioned was Joseph, who believed God would return Israel to the promised land. His belief was so firm that he forced the sons of Israel to promise to take his bones with them when they left Egypt. “Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from......