Mordechai and Esthers relationship was an important part of the events of the Book of Esther. After she tested positive for . Because of Haman's law, she and all the Jews in the kingdom would be killed. The Bible depicts Esther as an orphan who was raised in the house of her uncle Mordecai(Esth. Even though she was the queen and the favorite of Xerxes, Esther was taking a great risk in deciding to go to him. After an exhilarating victory, they declared the following day a holiday and (alluding to the lots Haman had cast) named it Purim, which is Hebrew for lots.. 17:14): Inscribe this in a document as a reminder (since Haman was of Amalekite stock). He deposed Queen Vashti in 483/482BC when he was 36 ( Esther 1:3 ). Designation of the five scrolls of the Bible (Ruth, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther). Dont miss the latest essays from TheTorah.com. Additionally, Hamans royal throne and belongings were given to Mordecai, and he was honored by the people of the city. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. assassinated with her husband (which was likely), or if she was Darius must be 37 years old (62 minus 25) when he got married to Esther. And her name was not Esther. We may assume, therefore, that she was about 14 years of age when she succeeded to the throne. The legal corpus of Jewish laws and observances as prescribed in the Torah and interpreted by rabbinic authorities, beginning with those of the Mishnah and Talmud. Photo Credit: Wikipedia, 'Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther . Josephus tells us that she was loved by the masses of the Jewish people (Jewish Antiquities 13:407). In addition, she serves as an example of how to effectively use your voice and influence to make a difference. Rabbah6:4). The situation was even more serious according to the tradition that Esther was married to Mordecai (the Babylonian tradition), for then, as a married woman, she committed adultery. Bruce Feiler says in Where God was Born that Queen Amestris was Xerxes' only known wife, and that she remained queen long after the third year of his reign, when Vashti was supposedly deposed by Xerxes.The story of Queen Esther is demonstrably non-historical, but she is portrayed as saving the Jews of the Persian Empire from destruction. The Queen described in the Book of Nehemiah is Queen Esther. Her thoughts are characterized by pressured speech, disorganized thought processes, confusion, and paranoia. It is believed that Esther's life Part of HuffPost Religion. What episode does Squidward say the F word. At first, Esther was hesitant to approach the king, as anyone who approached him without his invitation was put to death unless the king extended his top scepter. Instead, Haman was hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai, and the Jews were given permission to destroy their enemies. Beautiful as the moon (Talmud, Megillah 13a).3) Esther comes from the Semitic root ath-tar, "morning star." The Jewish festival ofPurimcelebrates this event. The beginning of the psalm: My God, my God, why have You abandoned me? is what Esther asks when she wants to know why the spirit of divine inspiration has left her: was this because she went to Ahasuerus of her own free will, or because she disparaged him, and called him a dog (following the text of the psalm)(BTMegillah15a)? Meir, Tamar. Mordecai was Esthers cousin and guardian, having adopted her as his daughter when her parents died. Mordecai then spoke these famous words, Do not think to yourself that in the kings palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your fathers house will perish. The Rabbis view this as self-sacrifice on Esthers part, since she was willing to die herself, provided that Haman would also perish; (4) Esther sought to turn Haman into her ally, so that he would not rebel against Ahasuerus the king (and thereby become even more dangerous); (5) Esther wanted to obscure her identity and prevent any suspicion of her being a Jew (since Haman was an antisemite); (6) Esther desired to arouse the Jews to pray and cry out to God, so they would not think that her presence in the royal palace sufficed to neutralize Hamans activity; (7) Esther sought to arouse Gods compassion, to show that the Jews did not oppose Haman, that no one stood in Hamans way, and therefore only He could deliver Israel; (8) Esther hoped that Ahasuerus, who was a capricious king, would change his opinion of Haman (BTMegillahloc. The King also issued a proclamation throughout the land to honor Mordecai. Updates? With the kings consent, Haman set a date for the execution (the 13th day of the month of Adar) by casting lots and built a gallows specifically for Mordecai. May this man have mercy on me, for I fear him. This shows that her selection was part of the divine plan; Esther was meant to rule in order to bring deliverance to all Israel (Lit. In another exposition, she was given this name by the Gentiles, after the celestial body Istahar (BTLit. The actual origins of the Purim festival, which was already long established by the 2nd centurybce, remain unknown. Instead, Haman was hanged, and the Jews were given permission to destroy their enemies. She was Jewish but never revealed her nationality or family background as Mordecai had. Queen Esther is an orphan raised by her uncle Mordecai and is eventually married to King Ahasuerus. Ecbatana, located in what is now western Iran. "scroll." This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. She had been suffering from a cold for the previous four months. Persians are modern day Iranians and they are not Jews. Nonetheless, in the very same document in which the rabbis rule out the possibility of Jewish queens, the rabbis remember Queen Shelamzion Alexandra quite favorably. "And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all who saw her." (2:15). Esther took her turn after 12 months of preparation, and she was chosen as queen: "She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. According to tradition, the book of Esther was written in the mid-4th century BCE, and was made part of the canon which was sealed a couple of decades after.Esther was queen for about 11 years.The name of Mordecai is the Judaised pronunciation of Marduka, which is attested in the Persepolis Texts as the name of officials in the Persian court during the period of Xerxes I. Mordecai had discovered the evil plan of two palace administrators, Bigthan and Teresh, and he wanted to make sure the king was aware of the danger and could take proper precautions to protect himself. She was the second daughter of Laban, Rebekah's brother, making Jacob her first cousin. Rachel is first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in Genesis 29 when Jacob happens upon her as she is about to water her father's flock. My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me? Jesus or Esther? The Bible does not specify how old she was when her parents died. The courtiers hoped that she would be executed like Vashti and that they would be able to apportion her clothing and jewelry among themselves; those close to Ahasuerus encircled her and harassed her on her way to the king, while Hamans sons awaited her downfall. Abraham, "fell on his face and laughed" while Sarah, "laughed to herself" and even tried to deny it. Mordecai would walk about in front of the harem in order to rule for Esther regarding menstrual spotting; another exegetical exposition has Esther showing the spotting from her menstruation to theTorah she-bi-khetav: Lit. The Jews, said Haman, must be eliminated for the good of the kingdom. During the . [1] In preparation for Purim and the reading of Megillat Esther, the story of this forgotten Jewish queen is worth recounting. The Queen ascended to the throne in 1952 at the tender age of 25, and was on a royal tour of Kenya when Philip delicately broke the news that her father, King George VI, had died. He even granted permission for the Jews to arm themselves with weapons and deliver the kings edicts throughout the kingdom. Queen Esther and Bella Abzug: Costumes, Leadership, and Identity, The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women, Copyright 19982023, Jewish Women's Archive. In response, Esther tells him that, like him, she is the offspring of royalty (Midrash Abba Gurion, para. After recently suffering with a bad. In the Erez Israel tradition, she miscarried the fetus she bore in her womb (the offspring of Ahasuerus) (Esth. 100-105 and 127-154. Esth. When she relayed Mordecais information to the king, she attributed it to Mordecai(Esth. 7:5states: Thereupon King Ahasuerus demanded [va-yomerliterally, and he saidwritten twice in the verse] of Queen Esther, Who is he. The midrash is of the opinion that the verbva-yomeris repeated here because Ahasuerus initially spoke directly to Esther, but when he discovered that she was a Jew, he spoke to her through an interpreter. When Esther is chosen as the queen, unknown to her, Mordecai discovers a plan by the kings wicked advisor, Haman, to kill all the Jews. Menstruation; the menstruant woman; ritual status of the menstruant woman. The Rabbis even find proof that God concurred with the activity of Mordecai and Esther, since it is written(Esth. She ordered her uncle: "Go, gather together all the Jews and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day." Esthers Origins and Her Adoption by Mordecai, Esther Delivers Up Haman and Reveals Her Identity. What is the answer punchline algebra 15.1 why dose a chicken coop have only two doors? The outraged king ordered that Haman be hanged on the gallows built for Mordecai and that Mordecai be named to fill Hamans position. I'm also Queen Esther died in 473 BCE, so she was likely in her late fifties or early sixties at the time of her death. "order." Throughout the book of Esther, Queen Esthers bravery and courage is seen as an example of how God can deliver and uses those who are willing to obey and trust Him. 16 September 2012. 12:2], 5:11). Upon realizing this, Mordecai subdued the enemy and turned the wickedness of Haman back onto himself and his family. Another question that concerned the Rabbis was that of the children from the union of Esther and Ahasuerus. Her name was Shelamzion Alexandra. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'coalitionbrewing_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_10',152,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-coalitionbrewing_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0');Her true identity was kept hidden from everyone, until she was forced to reveal it in order to save her people from the decree of death from Persias ruling king. Others have suggested an earlier date of translation, ca. 100). Hatach and Esther. The midrash compares Esther to a hind and to the dawn, based onPs. Sort by: Most popular. Esther was the heroine and central figure in the Biblical book of Esther. Esther may or may not have reflected the historical reality of the Persian period, but her story provided a model for a new reality in Shelamzions lifetime. At that banquet, she heightened the tension between the two by inviting both men to a second banquet. Esther 5:2-3; 7:4-6 Image A teacher walks into the Classroom and says If only Yesterday was Tomorrow Today would have been a Saturday Which Day did the Teacher make this Statement? Also called the "Festival of Mazzot"; the "Festival of Spring"; Pesah.Passover. 5:3), but not things that were opposed to the kingdom, such as her asking him to rebuild the Temple (BT Megillah loc. older than her (do the math a 37 year old king marrying a 14 year She also exhibits symptoms of agoraphobia, suicidal ideation, and feelings of overwhelming guilt and worthlessness. One school of thought takes the numerical value ofHadassah= 74 (or 75, including the name itself as a unit) to determine Esthers age(Gen. Rabbah39:13; see below: Esthers Age). We just don't know. her death is not known. Ahasuerus consulted with Mordecai how to discover Esthers secret, and Mordecai advised him to arouse Esthers jealousy by inviting other women to him, thus motivating her to disclose her secret (BT Megillah 13a). She Then the queen gave Haman's estate to Mordecai and prayed the king to deliver the nation of the Jews from the fear for their lives, and she showed him what the letter that had been sent throughout the country by Haman, the son of Ammedatha; for, she said, if her country were destroyed and her countrymen were to perish, she could herself bear to . The regimen of rituals, songs and textual readings performed in a specific order on the first two nights (in Israel, on the first night) of Passover.SederOlam Rabbah29;Midrash Panim Aherim, version B, para. Hi, I'm Mordecai, Esther's older cousin. Honor the king. How old was The Queen Mother when she died? Another tradition has Esther reciting this psalm during the three days of fasting that preceded her going to Ahasuerus: My God on the first day, my God on the second day, and why have You abandoned me? on the third. In order to recognize Mordecais efforts, the king made him his minister and gave him a royal robe and princely apparel. He was born in 518BC. What is the reflection of the story of princess urduja? holy Temple in Jersusalem. window.location.replace(""); Save the flock of Your pasture from these foes who have arisen against us, for nothing prevents You from winning a victory by many or by few. Jewish Women's Archive. 464 BC. Furthermore, the Jewish people had a special holiday to commemorate their deliverance and celebrate the bravery of Mordecai. The. Esther was taken from her home and came to live in the palace along with many other girls of the harem. She appears to be a loyal wife to Mordecai, as she supports him throughout his efforts to save the Jewish people from Hamans plot. How old was Esther when she became queen of Persia? Another tradition has her eating only seeds in the harem, similar to Daniel and his fellows, in order to observe the laws ofThe Jewish dietary laws delineating the permissible types of food and methods of their preparation.kashrut (BT Megillahloc. Later, when Queen Vashti refused to appear before Ahasuerus (in Esther ch.1), Memuchan, a Persian royal adviser, advised King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) to remove Vashti from being Queen of Persia, and King Ahasuerus agreed to his advice. In the Book of Esther, Mordecai plays a major role in the events leading up to the deliverance of the Jewish people from their enemies. Her reign is famous as 'The Golden Age', for its . Esther was a Jewish woman who lived in Persia during the period following the destruction of the First Holy Temple, when many Jews had been taken as slaves to Babylonia, which was subsequently overtaken by Persia. The Rabbis perceived this going as having sexual connotations, which therefore had tragic consequences for Esther and for Mordecai(BTMegillah16a; see below: Esther Comes to the Rescue of Her People). What happened to Queen Esther in the Bible? These words persuaded Esther to approach the king and she requested a private dinner for him and Haman. There was no King Ahasuerus of Persia, but many Bible commentaries observe that Ahasuerus is likely the Hebraicised version of King Xerxes, the Achaemenid leader who ruled from 486 to 465 BCE.Historians say that Queen Amestris was Xerxes' only known wife and was definitely still queen at the time the biblical account says that Xerxes married Esther, casting doubt on the biblical story. Instead, Haman was hanged, and the Jews were given permission to destroy their enemies. The moral of the story of Esther is to stay true to yourself and never give up on your beliefs. 22:16). Immediately upon her death, her sons fought over the throne, eventually inviting in Rome, and Judea never regained full independence until the modern state of Israel. The regimen of rituals, songs and textual readings performed in a specific order on the first two nights (in Israel, on the first night) of Passover. She was a beautiful Jewish woman, the wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). Her story is one of faith, courage, and resilience, and her bravery serves as an inspiration to others to never give up fighting for what you believe in. What did the Nazis begin using gas chambers instead of mobile killing units and shooting squads after a while? Mordecai stopped at the gate because he wanted to tell the king about a plot to kill him. For the name of Esther, a number of etymologies are possible.1) Esther comes from the Persian "setareh," meaning "star".2) Esther comes from the Aramaic "istahar," meaning "moon." He also appointed her as queen of the Persian Empire and gave her a royal medal of honor. Oops! The BT lists a number of possible reasons: (1) she wanted Haman to be near her (so that she could say what she wanted about him at the appropriate moment); (2) she wanted to set a trap for him; (3) she planned to act toward Haman in a way that would lead Ahasuerus to suspect that she had engaged in an improper relationship with the former and thus cause the king to kill them both. Esther was the heroine and central figure in the Book of Esther, which is now recognised by Biblical scholars to have been a second-century-BCE Jewish novel. Mordecai was a trusted advisor to King Xerxes of Persia and Esther was his adopted daughter. Similarly, her son Benjamin knew about the sale of Joseph, but remained silent and did not tell his father. cit.). There is support for this too in the Talmud (Yoma 29a).4) Esther comes from the Median "astra," meaning "myrtle." Theritualobservance of Purim begins with a day of fasting,Taanit Esther(Fast of Esther) on Adar 13, the day preceding the actual holiday, in honour of the fast Mordecai and the other Jews held on Esthers behalf when she went uninvited to the king. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. even met her a few times when He was a young boy. Her death is believed to have been around the age of 57. So, we know that Daniel was dead long before Esther was born and The monarch of Persia, King Ahasuerus, was wealthy and powerful. The Babylonian tradition maintains that Esther was Mordecais wife. In this article: Her Name Early Life Palace Life Esther and Mordechai Save the King's Life Rabbah5:3). We don't know, though tradition teaches that she lived a long life. [7] Queen Esther risks her own life when she goes to the kings chambers uninvited: If I must die, so be it, she says (Esther 4:16). He suggested that she might be Jewish, which implied some sort of relationship between them, since he was from the offspring of Amalek, the grandson of Esau (Jacobs brother) (Esth. Queen Esther died in 473 BCE, so she was likely in her late fifties or early sixties at the time of her death. [8]Once there, she does not plead for help but carefully petitions the king, setting in motion a plan to undermine Haman and save the Jewish people.[9]. Yet another tradition maintains that she was eighty years of age(Gen. Rabbah39:13;MidrashAbba Gurion, para. Mordecais refusal to bow to Haman displayed his firm faith and commitment to his people and to the God of Israel. For today's Bible studies, we're going to discuss 10 characteristics of Esther in the Bible. When she came into the palace, was she left on her own, or was she given whatever she needed to please the king and to become the queen? She is mentioned several times throughout the Book of Esther. Mordecais wife is never directly named, but it is presumed that she was originally from Susa, based on her residence in the city at the time of the story. Persian King would have probably not been interested in a 35 year Those were the good old days, the rabbis say, the days of Queen Shelamzion. According to the view that Esther was Hadassahs second name, the Rabbis explain that she was given this name because she concealed (histirah) her origins. Along with Queen Shelamzion Alexandra, Queen Esther shows that skills at the negotiating table should be just as valued as skills in the field of war. What is the reflection of the story of princess urduja? Mordecai remained a close confidant to Esther and played a pivotal role in helping her save the Jewish people. The Funeral of Queen Victoria by Wiliam Lionel Wylie (c) National Maritime Museum. Later pilgrims mentioned the site, and noted that special celebrations were held there on Shushan Purim. The spirit of divine inspiration descended on Esther shortly before she went to Ahasuerus, thus leading to her inclusion in the list of the seven women prophets(BTMegillah14a; 15a). However, later scribes, as the manuscript evidence suggests, no longer understood it. In post-Temple times, a small piece of dough set aside and burnt. The king wanted to honor Esther, so he showered her with gifts, including a crown and royal robes. Although the Bible ), or her strength wanedPirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer[ed. I'm going to guess that Esther probably died with her husband in Jacob had traveled a great distance to find Laban. Queen Elizabeth II has died today aged 96. Vintage colour lithograph from 1882 of Esther standing in the Inner Court of the King's House. They did not have the riches that Esther had. but the date of He asked what she wanted. Rabbah8:6). Do you, or does someone you know, demonstrate the same total commitment to a mission, even at the cost of sacrificing personal happiness? Given new belongings (Esther 2:9). Most people have never heard of Queen Shelamzion Alexandra. As a result, the King promoted Mordechai to a high position in the court. Esther, the orphaned cousin and adopted daughter of Mordecai, won the kings devotion and was chosen to be the new queen; Mordecai had instructed her to not reveal that she was Jewish. "Esther: Midrash and Aggadah." Esther wanted to speak with Xerxes about Haman's hatred toward the Jews. On March 30, 2002, the Queen Mother died aged 101 years and 238 days old. Mordecai did not bow to Haman because he was a Jew and Haman was an Agagite, the enemies of Gods chosen people. Esther took place or at the very least was too young to remember "order." She was married to King Achashverosh, whom some identify as Artaxerxes (), 1 king of Persia. The ministering angels took action to inflame Ahasueruss wrath: they appeared as people cutting the trees in his garden, and when the king asked why they were doing this, they said that they were acting on Hamans orders. She and her cousinMordecaipersuaded the king to cancel an order for the extermination of Jews in his realm, plotted by the kings chief minister, Haman. Even after she becomes queen because of the disobedience of Queen Vashti, Esther remains modest and down-to-earth. We see, however, that this was a stratagem on Mordecais part, so that Esther would not be frequently summoned to the king. Princess Margaret, the Queen's younger sister, was born in 1930. The Talmud sees Haman's decree as a punishment from Heaven to these Jews. Through his actions, along with those of his cousin Esther, the Jews were saved from extermination. Mordechai discovered a plot to kill King Xerxes and foiled it by informing the King through his cousin Esther. The short answer is that we'll never know. What did the Nazis begin using gas chambers instead of mobile killing units and shooting squads after a while. 25:49) because she was the niece of Mordecai and Israel was delivered through her (Esth. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[336,280],'coalitionbrewing_com-box-4','ezslot_5',147,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-coalitionbrewing_com-box-4-0');In the biblical book of Esther, Queen Esther is a young Jewish woman who becomes queen of the Persian Empire, thanks to the intervention of King Ahasuerus advisor, Mordecai. Like the moon, that is born after thirty days, Esther, too, said(Esth. Mordecai and Esther respond to this that the story in the Book of Esther was already recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Media and Persia(Esth. [7] See Elsie Sterns reading of Megillat Esther as a cautionary tale for Jews living in the Diaspora in her TABS essay, Megillat Esther: A Godless and Assimilated Diaspora.. Elizabeth reigned for almost forty-five years and was the last monarch of the Tudor Dynasty, having died childless. 2). old, non-virgin wife. Esther showed tremendous courage in standing up for what she believed was right, even when faced with seemingly insurmountable opposition. Esther then initiated a covert plan to defeat Haman using her grace and beauty. The plea was turned down by her. The more prevalent Rabbinic opinion is that Hadassah was Esthers second name, with a plethora of interpretations built on the similarity of the myrtle (hadas) to Esther: Esther was so called because she was righteous, and the righteous are called myrtles; she was of average height, like a myrtle, which is neither short nor long; she had a greenish (sallow) complexion, like a myrtle (BTMegillahloc. They married in 478 BC after the former queen, Vashti, was banished for being unable to fulfill her husband's demands. guessing that Nehemiah was probably not around when the events of Queen Esther is the reluctant heroine of the Purim story. The Feast of Purim was instituted to help the Jews remember their deliverance from Haman. cit.). Esthers first husband was Mordecai. The Jewish festival of Purim celebrates this event. She oversaw a peaceful and prosperous period. The Rabbis also offer various proofs that the Book of Esther was written with the spirit of divine inspiration. Codification of basic Jewish Oral Law; edited and arranged by R. Judah ha-Nasi c. 200 C.E. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Themidrashrelates that Esther hid from Ahasueruss agents who sought women for the king. During the Temple period, the dough set aside to be given to the priests. Despite the close bond they had, they remained uncle and niece and were not married. She knew King Xerxes's love for merrymakingthat's how he first got in trouble with Queen Vashti (Es 1:10, 11, 12), how he celebrated Queen Esther's rise to the throne (Es 2:17, 18), and how he ended his day with Haman after issuing the edict for genocide (Es 3:15). Esther understood that this action would require her to commit a grave transgression, and even lose all possibility of returning to her husband Mordecai. On returning, he found Haman falling on the couch where Esther was. The king mistook Hamans frantic pleas for mercy as an attack upon the queen. As a result of his heroic actions, Mordecai was honored by King Ahasuerus for his bravery, and he was made Prime Minister with great authority. Queen Esther by Edwin Long in 1878. Esther also spoke of her merit for observing the womens commandments of the taking ofDuring the Temple period, the dough set aside to be given to the priests. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. was the wife of the Persian King Xerxes [aka "Ahasuerus" in many We need to put the Book of Esther into an historical context to better understand Esther's choice. Esther replaced Queen Vashti, who had been sentenced to death because she had refused to display her beauty to the King's feast attendants. The spelling of her name is confirmed by its appearance in the Qumran material; see4QCalendrical Document C(Florentino Garcia Martinez and Elbert J. C. Tigchelaar, eds.,Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition[Brill Academic Publishers, 2000], 694). She was 96 years old. Yes, Mordechai was indeed Esthers cousin. I'm going to guess that he was born before 464 BC, so yes they Esther despaired throughout her first six years in the palace. There, she was forced to prepare herself for her first night with the King by spending six months doused in oil of myrrh and another six in sweet odors ointments. She received her Ph.D. in religion from Princeton University. Is the singer Avant and R Kelly brothers?
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