2). Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. Additionally, he decreed that anyone hostile to the Jews would be punished. 100-105 and 127-154. 15 Facts About Queen Esther - Chabad.org Updates? The bleeding jar in Esthers story is significant because of the deep symbolism behind it. When Esther sought to deliver up Haman, she revealed her identity as a Jew in the act. With great courage, Esther fasts for three days, arranges a banquet with the king and Haman, then pleads with the king to save the Jews. Like many Jews today, she had two names, one Hebrew and one Greek. The Book of Esther reports that when Esther learned that Mordecai was wearing sackcloth, the queen was greatly agitated (4:4). Most of the Jews preferred the comfortable life of the Persian Empire to an arduous life rebuilding their devastated homeland. Her reign lasted less than a decade but still longer than a two-term presidency. 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. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Esther was a teenager in During the . When Esther's parents died, I adopted Esther and took care of her like she was my daughter. It is also thought that Mordecai may have had additional children, as it is not explicitly mentioned that Esther is his only child. Her son Charles, 73, is now king. The midrash tells that when Esther came to Ahasueruss palace the spirit of divine inspiration left her, and she then prayed to God. Continue Learning about Religious Studies. This status completely changed when Esther went to Ahasuerus of her own free will, in order to persuade him to cancel Hamans decree(Esth. Esther remained passive and allowed the King to rape her repeatedly. When she became orphaned, she was adopted by her cousin Mordecai. She was compared to a hind, for just as a hind has a narrow womb and is as desirable to her mate at all times as at the first time, so, too, was Esther as desirable to Ahasuerus at all times as at the first time. For an analysis of these sources and their reliability, see Tal Ilan,Integrating Women into Second Temple History(Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1999), esp. That being said, 25:49) because she was the niece of Mordecai and Israel was delivered through her (Esth. Ahasuerus promised Esther that he would grant her request, even to half the kingdom(Esth. See also Susan Niditch,A Prelude to Biblical Folklore: Underdogs and Tricksters(Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2000). "scroll." The Book ofEsther (2:7)relates that Esther had two names: He was foster father to Hadassahthat is, Esther. The Rabbis take two interpretive directions as regards these names. 10:2). Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The Coronation of Queen Esther, from the 1617 Scroll of Esther from Ferrara, Italy. Anyway, there's no record of whether Esther was In a 1957 Christmas Broadcast, the Queen promised the United Kingdom she would give her . "the written Torah." Esther despaired throughout her first six years in the palace. When Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman at the gate, Haman was extremely offended and sought to have Mordecai killed. Esther remained passive and allowed the King to rape her repeatedly. Please consider supporting TheTorah.com. Esther and her cousin Mordecai (who had once saved the king's life) later persuaded the king to cancel an order for the extermination of the Jews in his vast realm, which had been plotted by the king's chief minister, Haman. ), or her strength wanedPirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer[ed. Esther - Josephus All Her . Esther is also compared to a wolf, to the moon (see below: Esther as the Deliverer of Israel) and to a stove on which everyone places his pots (Midrash Tehilim, onPs. Queen Esther is the reluctant heroine of the Purim story. In their commentary on the Book of Esther, the Rabbis expand upon and add details to the Biblical narrative, relating to her lineage and history and to her relations with the other characters: Ahasuerus, Mordecai, and Haman. 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. 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. Her bravery earns her a spot among the seven women prophets, and she is remembered as the one responsible for the deliverance of Israel. Rabbah6:9). By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. Weird Things Nobody Told You About Queen Esther - YouTube According to other traditions, her bowels were loosened (BTMegillahloc. Read a brief summary of this topic. Why did she stay with him, rather than restart her life? The hero of the Book of Esther is a Jewish woman who lived in Susa and became queen when she was chosen to be the wife of King . The. When word of the planned massacre reachedEsther, she risked her life by going uninvited to the king to suggest a banquet that Haman would attend. 31 December 1999. not tell how old she was, is certainly not historical and appears Queen Esther Hadassa of Persia (c.-505 - -425) - Genealogy She overtook Queen Victoria as the longest reigning monarch in 2015 - Victoria had served for 63 years and lived to the age of 81. In the midrashic reenactment, Esther sent a message to Mordecai in which she asked him whether Israel had transgressed one of the commandments of the Torah. The Rabbis were concerned about the question of Esthers marital status. The festival of Purim and the satirical setting of Megillat Esther may cause us to minimize the unusual story it preserves: the story of a young woman succeeding against all odds in foreign territory. The enraged King ordered Haman's hanging, elevated Mordecai to prime minister and gave Jews the right to defend themselves against any enemy. It is known that Esther was the daughter of Abihail, and she had married King Xerxes of Persia around the age of 18. Another view cites the verse (9:27): the Jews undertook and irrevocably obligated themselveswhat they took upon themselves below was confirmed above (BTMegillahloc. We read that: "The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. 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. TheTorah.com is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.We rely on the support of readers like you. Another angel pushed Haman onto Esthers couch (BTMegillahloc. In Jacobs blessing to his sons, he blesses Benjamin(Gen. 49:27): Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he consumes the foe, and in the evening he divides the spoil, which the Rabbis applied to Mordecai and Esther. Dont miss the latest essays from TheTorah.com. An additional stratagem employed by Esther against Haman was connected with his leading Mordecai on the horse. Queen Elizabeth II, the UK's longest-serving monarch, has died at Balmoral aged 96, after reigning for 70 years. Estimates vary, but she was most likely between 50 and 60 years old when she died. Esther probably didn't live to see the events of the book of 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. 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. What is the moral of the story of Esther? They derive this from the various verses that reflect the thought of the characters, or that attest to actions of which a normal person could not be cognizant, such as Haman said to himself(Esth. At the meal she pleaded for the Jews, thus revealing herself as Jewish, and accused thiswickedHaman of plotting the annihilation of her people. As a result of her mothers death, Mordecai had to care for Esthers nursing. Her reign is famous as 'The Golden Age', for its . This makes Esther 60 years younger than her cousin Mordecai. In the midrashic expansion, on her way to the king Esther encountered various obstacles and she had to pass through seven departments in the palace. Something went wrong while submitting the form. The matter became known to Mordecai, who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king: Mordecai's attitude wasn't "I'm a Jewish man in exile under a pagan king, so I do not care if he is killed.". Daniel probably died shortly after Darius took the throne in 521 She was compared to the dawn, for just as the dawn breaks at the end of each night, so, too, Esther [i.e., the miraculous delivery of the Jews] came after there had been no miracles [during the period of exile and darkness](BTYoma29a). 20). 6:6), or the definite statement, that could be known only to God: but they did not lay hands on the spoil (9:10). God used her to deliver His people from a wicked plan of total destruction. To hide her identity as a Jew, he tells her to go by the name of Esther. The Jews, said Haman, must be eliminated for the good of the kingdom. This, then, is the meaning of(Esth. King Ahasuerus, named Darius, who became King Darius II. Rabbah5:3). This book therefore has the same sanctity as the other books of Scripture. She understood that she had a mission and that she could shape reality rather than passively suffer through it. According to various traditions, at this time she recitedPsalm 22(For the leader; onayelet ha-shahar): in the Rabbinic exegesisayelet ha-shaharis Esther, and the content of the psalm is applied to her. He killed Haman in 473BC, when he was 45 ( Esther 3:7 ). Once upon a time a Jewish queen ruled the land. She was crowned about 55 years after the destruction of the First Temple, and fifteen years before the Second Temple was built. 2). Decades ago, the historian Elias Bickerman drew attention to a marvelous coincidence: a postscript in the Greek translation of Esther tells us that in 78 or 77 BCE, just one year before Queen Shelamzion began to rule by herself, Megillat Esther was translated into Greek and sent to the Jewish communities of ancient Alexandria. Furthermore, the Jewish people had a special holiday to commemorate their deliverance and celebrate the bravery of Mordecai. The Jewish festival of Purim celebrates this event. 5). Lesson 106: Esther - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 114 BCE: see Carey Moore, On the Origins of the LXX Additions to the Book of Esther,JBL92.3 (1973): 382-83. The Bible; the Pentateuch; Tanakh (the Pentateuch, Prophets and Hagiographia)Torah scholars. cit.). The night of their union, Ahasuerus loved Esther "above all women" and made her the Persian Empire's Queen. Alexandra the Maccabee. Laying the scene atSusa, a residential city of the Persian kings, the Book of Esther narrates thatKing Ahasuerus deposed his first wife, Queen Vashti, after she refused to display her beauty to the people and nobles at the kings feast. Esther was the best-looking woman, and Ahasuerus picked her to replace Vashti as Queen. Beautiful as the moon (Talmud, Megillah 13a).3) Esther comes from the Semitic root ath-tar, "morning star." Esthers secret was that she was a Jew, which she was able to hide from her adoptive family and community. Bibles] who ruled Persia from 486 to 465 BC. It is believed that Mordecai was married before the events of the book, as the King of Persia issues a decree for all unmarried women to come to the palace for beautification treatments. She married her cousin Alexander of Judaea (died 48 BC), who was the son of Aristobulus II. This exegesis casts the Biblical narrative in a different light. assassinated with her husband (which was likely), or if she was 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. You, O Father of orphans, stand at the right hand of this orphan, who trusts in Your compassion. Ahasueruss intimates attempted sorcery, so that her hands and feet would look like leather hides, but a miracle was performed for her and they began to shine like sapphires (Midrash Tehilim, onPs. The Book of Esther tells of Esther marrying King Ahasuerus of Persia and therefore becoming his queen. The Rabbis also relate to Esthers sexuality: if Ahasuerus wanted to find in her the taste of a virgin, he found it; if the taste of a non-virgin, he found it(BTMegillah13a;Esth. [3] Mordechai later adopted Esther as his daughter after her parents died. May this man have mercy on me, for I fear him. cit. Ahasuerus is moved by her words and instead orders Haman to be hung on the gallows he had built for Mordecai. Esther and Mordecai under Xerxes of Persia - Amazing Bible Timeline Others have suggested an earlier date of translation, ca. "order." She was in a foreign land without the protection and support of her people. Thisdevarbuilds on Ilans work: her oeuvre is well known to academics but is not as well known as it could be tothe reading public. cit.). Who Was Queen Esther - Story, History, and Significance - Crosswalk.com She never forgot her cousin Mordecai and she never forgot that she was one of God's children. Prof. Mika Ahuvia is Associate Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Washington and currently holds the Marsha and Jay Glazer Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies. Esther turns in prayer to God and compares the situation of the Jews of Persia to that of the Jews in Egypt: in Egypt the Jews cried out and were answered; and in Persia, they fasted, prayed and cried out over their tribulation and the decree that was harsher than that during the time of the Egyptian servitude. According to the Babylonian tradition, she saw menstrual blood (BT Megillah15a). Upset, the king stepped out into the palace gardens. This understanding of the Book of Esther is linked to the perception of Esther as a prophet: she is included in the list of seven women prophets(BTMegillah14a; Seder Olam Rabbah21). Do you, or does someone you know, demonstrate the same total commitment to a mission, even at the cost of sacrificing personal happiness? Codification of basic Jewish Oral Law; edited and arranged by R. Judah ha-Nasi c. 200 C.E. The Funeral of Queen Victoria by Wiliam Lionel Wylie (c) National Maritime Museum. He deposed Queen Vashti in 483/482BC when he was 36 ( Esther 1:3 ). 35 Queen Esther Bible Illustrations & Clip Art - iStock As a result, the king reversed his decree and the Jews were saved from death. Esther then initiated a covert plan to defeat Haman using her grace and beauty. Ultimately, Mordecais wife remains an unknown figure in the story, but her role in supporting her husband and protecting the Jewish people demonstrates her dedication and strength. script>. 10 Characteristics of Esther in the Bible: The Courageous Queen Like the moon, that is born after thirty days, Esther, too, said(Esth. Who killed Queen Esther and King Xerxes? - Quora In the midrashic account, Ahasuerus initially ruled the entire world. [2] But Shelamzion remained queen and lived up to her name, maintaining the peace of Zion with a strong army, careful diplomacy, and the support of the Jews of ancient Israel and beyond. How old was Queen Esther when her parents died? - Quora Their grandfather was Alexander Jannaeus, the second eldest son of John Hyrcanus. assumed in to the next King's harem (also possiblealthough a Enduring Word Bible Commentary Esther Chapter 2 She trusted in the goodness and power of God, and in the end He delivered her and her people, the Jewish people, from destruction. Esther: Midrash and Aggadah | Jewish Women's Archive He asked what she wanted. Her death is believed to have been around the age of 57. Abase him before me, for You abase the proud (Esth. 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 Book of Esther was probably written in the 2nd centurybce. Similarly, her son Benjamin knew about the sale of Joseph, but remained silent and did not tell his father. Mordecai did not bow to Haman because he was a Jew and Haman was an Agagite, the enemies of Gods chosen people. A type of non-halakhic literary activitiy of the Rabbis for interpreting non-legal material according to special principles of interpretation (hermeneutical rules). Most people have never heard of Queen Shelamzion Alexandra. The answer is yes. 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. She was the last of the house of Hanover and . That day, Esther told the king about Haman's plan to massacre all Jews in his kingdom, and she acknowledged her own Jewish ethnicity. The King of Persia, Ahasuerus, had appointed Haman to be his prime minister and a decree was issued ordering the annihilation of all Jews. Later, when Haman planned to hang Mordecai, the king found out that it was Mordecai who had uncovered a plot to assassinate him, so he reversed the orders, hanged Haman instead and gave Mordecai the harem. The moral of the story of Esther is to stay true to yourself and never give up on your beliefs. How old was Esther when she became Queen? - eBible Who Was Esther and Why Was She So Important? - Crosswalk.com She died peacefully on Thursday afternoon at her Scottish estate, where. Corrections? Horev], chap. When events took a turn for the worst and Esther learned that Prime Minister Haman planned to kill all Jews in the Persian Empire, on a single day, she decided to act quickly to prevent the genocide. The Scroll of Esther is read on Purim from a parchment scroll. Esther was ready to endanger herself and even to give her life to save her people, who therefore are called her people (4:8): to plead with him for her people(Ex. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered flags at the Capitol to be flown at half-staff following the queen's death. It was Mordecai who helped Esther win the favor of the King, who then chose her to be his queen. Esther understood that this action would require her to commit a grave transgression, and even lose all possibility of returning to her husband Mordecai. 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. Because of Haman's law, she and all the Jews in the kingdom would be killed. Part of HuffPost Religion. Just as a wolf seizes its spoils, so did Esther seize the throne; similarly, Mordecai and Esther divided Hamans spoils among them (Gen. Rabbah[ed. Furthermore, he commanded all the provinces of his realm to provide special favors and tax exemptions to Esther and her people, the Jews. The Feast of Purim was instituted to help the Jews remember their deliverance from Haman. The Talmud reveals that Esther's relationship with Ahasuerus wasn't a romantic one. How old was Esther when she became queen? 20). [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]. Help JWA continue to lift up Jewish womens stories, this month and every month, by. We rely on the support of readers like you. The Bible depicts Esther as an orphan who was raised in the house of her uncle Mordecai ( Esth. Unlike the other women, who wanted to be chosen, Esther tried to evade the king, but she was the one picked to be queen. Seeking a new queen, the king appointed commissioners to bring all the beautiful young virgins from every province into his harem for a year of cosmetic treatments so that he might select a new bride. Consequently, Esther was not considered to be a married woman who willingly engaged in adultery, and she was therefore permitted to Mordecai; indeed, the Rabbis maintain that she continued to live with the latter, at the same time that she was married to Ahasuerus (BT Megillah 13b). Haman (the bad guy) represented the Jews' first enemy Ernest Normand/Wikipedia Esther's story is full of symbolism, which really helped the case for being accepted into the Bible. 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. 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. Abraham, "fell on his face and laughed" while Sarah, "laughed to herself" and even tried to deny it. She invited both Haman and Ahasuerus to a private banquet, stirring up jealousy in the King's mind. The best. 7 Amazing Things You Should Know About Queen Esther's Life The Jews were in the Babylonian exile. "order." [12] Queen Shelamzion Alexandra certainly stood to benefit from Esthers precedent. Nehemiah, unless she survived the assassination, in which case she TheA type of non-halakhic literary activitiy of the Rabbis for interpreting non-legal material according to special principles of interpretation (hermeneutical rules).Midrash adds that Esthers father died during her mothers pregnancy, and the latter died during childbirth (Esth. 22:26). The king held a party in his honor one day. Her name was Shelamzion Alexandra. She understood why she had to suffer through her relationship with this irritable king. window.location.replace(""); . This also leads to a different understanding of Mordecais involvement, as he walks about in the royal courtyard out of concern for his wife. They were in no way penalized for being ruled over by a queen rather than a king.[5]. How old was King Xerxes when he married Esther? Even though she was the queen and the favorite of Xerxes, Esther was taking a great risk in deciding to go to him. // Javascript URL redirection Esther is noteworthy for her beauty, intelligence, and courage, along with her humility. The verse (5:1) Esther put on royal apparel is interpreted as her assuming the spirit of prophecy (BTMegillahloc. Rachel was silent when she saw that Jacob married her sister instead of herself. She recognizes that she needs to personally plead the king to save her people but knows this act is a grave transgression. However, just because you don't know when Her jar represented her strength and her resilience and gives a powerful message of hope to all those facing oppression. 7:6): The adversary and enemy, she first pointed to Ahasuerus, but the king moved her hand in Hamans direction. After she came to the fourth department, Ahasueruss ire was aroused and he remembered Vashti, who did not come into him despite his repeated requests, while Esther came into him without permission, like a harlot. Did Esther have sex with Xerxes before they were married? Esther was given seven maids to serve her in the harem; the Rabbis comment that she used them in order to count the seven days of the week [to know when the Sabbath fell, so that she could observe it even in the harem]. Hi, I'm Mordecai, Esther's older cousin. 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. Queen Esther and Mordecai were given Haman's estate. 22:5). In various sources the Rabbis relate to the question of the Book of Esthers acceptance as Scripture and to the establishment of the holiday ofPurim. Designation of the five scrolls of the Bible (Ruth, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther). Rabbah28:6). 49). [4] Tal Ilan devotes a chapter to discussing the name Shelamzion inSilencing the Queen, 259ff. She was married to King Achashverosh, whom some identify as Artaxerxes (), 1 king of Persia. Despite the close bond they had, they remained uncle and niece and were not married. Buckingham Palace's website announces the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022. guessing that Nehemiah was probably not around when the events of He also appointed her as queen of the Persian Empire and gave her a royal medal of honor. Esther was a good queen. 464 BC. Fortunately, the king was able to get to the bottom of the plot and expose the would-be assassins before any harm came to Mordecai or the king. BC (he would have already been well over 90 years old at this Esther was born about 492BC and was 14 when she became Queen. Esther 5:2-3; 7:4-6 Image 2). She appears to be a loyal wife to Mordecai, as she supports him throughout his efforts to save the Jewish people from Hamans plot. The king agreed, not knowing that Esther, his beloved queen, and Mordecai, the man to whom he owed his life, were both Jews. 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). The Rabbis even find proof that God concurred with the activity of Mordecai and Esther, since it is written(Esth. One advantage to welcoming Shelamzion back into Jewish memory is making space for a role model of diplomacy and peace. Lit. Esther, heroine and central figure in the Book of Esther of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Rabbah15:6).