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......
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?......
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......
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
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 city. A bridge across the moat ended at this gate, thus ensuring that it controlled access to the entire palace complex. This gate was massive. It measured 130 by 100 feet,......
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......
