According to Biblical tradition, a young Jewish woman named Esther became Queen of Persia during the reign of Xerxes the Great and saved her people, the Jews, from a terrible massacre. But how did she become queen anyway, and how did she succeed in saving her people?
Who was Esther who saved the Jews and is also mentioned in the Bible?
The Bible tells Esther’s story in the book that bears her name, the Book of Esther. It recounts how King Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes the Great) of Persia sought a new wife after divorcing his first queen, Vashti, sending men throughout his entire kingdom to find potential brides.
After a lengthy process, the king eventually chose a young Jewish woman named Hadassah in Hebrew, or Esther in Persian. She was an orphan, and her guardian was her cousin Mordecai, a court official to the king.
Esther concealed her Jewish identity upon becoming queen to protect herself, following the advice of her cousin Mordecai, because many in the Persian Empire harbored hatred toward the Jews.
The plot to kill the Jews
One of the most powerful men in the Persian Empire was a court official named Haman, who may have been second only to the king in authority. A conflict arose between Haman and Mordecai when the latter refused to bow down to him, infuriating Haman.
Since he knew that Mordecai was a Jew, Haman devised a plan to kill all the Jews throughout the Persian Empire. He went to King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) and informed him about a people in the empire who were allegedly causing trouble for the king. However, Haman did not disclose which nation this was, and at that time, no one knew that Esther was part of it.
The king permitted Haman to carry out this proposed massacre by making it law across all the provinces. Haman decreed that all Jews were to be killed on the 13th day of the 12th month, called Adar, which corresponds to the latter half of February and the first half of March in the modern calendar.
Queen Esther’s courage
Mordecai quickly learned of the planned extermination of his people. He sought the help of Queen Esther, imploring her to use her influence to save the Jews. Doing so required tremendous courage, as she would be risking her life.
Nevertheless, Esther courageously approached the king and requested a banquet with him and Haman. Haman arrogantly presumed that Esther intended to honor him. However, after two days of banqueting, Esther revealed that Haman was plotting to exterminate her people.
King Ahasuerus was outraged and demanded that Haman be executed. The execution was carried out, and his body was left hanging on a large stake, an early precursor to crucifixion. Ironically, Haman had originally arranged for this stake to be used for Mordecai.
How Queen Esther of Persia saved the Jews
Despite Haman’s execution, the Jews were still not safe. Because the decree for their extermination on the 13th of Adar had been formally written, there was nothing King Ahasuerus could do to reverse it. The Persians placed great emphasis on the law, to the extent that even the king could not overrule it at will.
Nevertheless, all hope was not lost. Esther, the Queen of Persia, implored the king to help her save her people, the Jews. Since Ahasuerus had appointed Mordecai as the new prime minister in place of Haman, the king encouraged Esther and her cousin to establish whatever laws they deemed necessary to protect their people.
Mordecai then established, with the full authority of the king, a law that legally entitled the Jews to defend themselves against anyone who attempted to kill them on the 13th of Adar, as recorded in the Book of Esther:
“In these documents the king granted permission to the Jews in all the different cities to gather together and defend their lives and to annihilate, kill, and destroy any forces of any people or province that might attack them.”
As a result, the Jews successfully survived the intended massacre on the 13th of Adar. Following this, Mordecai instructed the Jews to celebrate the subsequent two days of that month every year. This tradition continues to the present day, known as the Festival of Purim.
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