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Esther

Woman living at the time of Exile and Return

Esther, also known as Hadassah, was a Jewish queen of Persia who saved her people from genocide.

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Also known as Hadassah

Esther, born Hadassah, was a Jewish woman who became the queen of Persia during the reign of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). She was an orphan raised by her cousin Mordecai (Est.2.7). Esther was chosen to be queen after Ahasuerus deposed Queen Vashti (Est.2.17). When Haman, a high-ranking official, plotted to exterminate the Jews, Esther risked her life by approaching the king uninvited to expose Haman's plot (Esther 4-5). As a result, Haman was hanged, and the Jews were given the right to defend themselves, leading to their deliverance (Esther 7-8). Esther and Mordecai instituted the Feast of Purim to commemorate this event (Est.9.29-32). Her story exemplifies courage, faith, and God's providence in protecting His people.

Family

Father
Abihail

Connections

Part of: Persian era: Esther and the return

Esther and Mordecai: cousin and guardian

FamilyStated in the text

Mordecai, a Benjamite exile in Susa, raised his orphaned cousin Esther (Hadassah) as his daughter. He told her to conceal her identity; he later asked her to approach the king, and was promoted after her intercession.

EstherDaughter of AbihailMordecaiEsther's adversary
Where the text shows it: Esth 2:7 — Mordecai brings up Esther, his uncle's daughterEsth 4:13-14 — "Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"Esth 8:2 — Mordecai set over Haman's houseEsth 10:3 — Mordecai second to the king

Sources: Esth 2:7 · Esth 4:13-14 · Esth 8:2 · Esth 10:3

Ahasuerus is Xerxes I

RoleWidely accepted

The Hebrew Ahasuerus (Ahashverosh) corresponds to Persian Khshayarsha, Greek Xerxes, who ruled 486-465 BC. Esther's reign, in the king's seventh year, falls about 479 BC. The Septuagint renders the name as Artaxerxes.

AhasuerusPersian emperorEstherDaughter of Abihail
Where the text shows it: Esth 1:1 — Ahasuerus reigns from India to Cush over 127 provincesEsth 2:16 — Esther taken in the seventh yearEzra 4:6 — "Ahasuerus" also named in the letter at the start of his reign

Sources: Esth 1:1 · Herodotus, Histories 7-9 (Xerxes' reign)

Mordecai and Haman: the Agagite

RoleStated in the text

Mordecai refused to bow to Haman, who plotted to kill all Jews; Esther exposed the plot at a banquet and Haman was hanged on the gallows he prepared. The text calls him "Haman the Agagite", and Mordecai is "son of Kish, a Benjamite", echoing Saul's failure to destroy Agag.

MordecaiEsther's adversaryHamanA Persian manEstherDaughter of AbihailAhasuerusPersian emperor
Where the text shows it: Esth 3:1-6 — Haman's promotion; Mordecai refuses to bowEsth 7:1-10 — Haman exposed and hangedEsth 2:5 — Mordecai son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish1 Sam 15:8-9 — Saul spares Agag
Ways people read this (1)
  • The Agag link is Jewish tradition, including Josephus (Antiquities 11.6), and widely followed, though "Agagite" could also mean a place or family name.

Sources: Esth 3:1 · Esth 2:5

More background: search Wikipedia ↗

Bible dictionary

Esther Easton Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)

The queen of Ahasuerus, and heroine of the book that bears her name. She was a Jewess named Hadas’sah (the myrtle), but when she entered the royal harem she received the name by which she henceforth became known (Esther 2:7). It is a Syro-Arabian modification of the Persian word satarah, which means a star. She was the daughter of Abihail, a Benjamite. Her family did not avail themselves of the permission granted by Cyrus to the exiles to return to Jerusalem; and she resided with her cousin Mordecai, who held some office in the household of the Persian king at “Shushan in the palace.” Ahasuerus having divorced Vashti, chose Esther to be his wife. Soon after this he gave Haman the Agagite, his prime minister, power and authority to kill and extirpate all the Jews throughout the Persian empire. By the interposition of Esther this terrible catastrophe was averted. Haman was hanged on the gallows he had intended for Mordecai (Esther 7); and the Jews established an annual feast, the feast of Purim (q.v.), in memory of their wonderful deliverance. This took place about fifty-two years after the Return, the year of the great battles of Plataea and Mycale (B.C. 479). Esther appears in the Bible as a “woman of deep piety, faith, courage, patriotism, and caution, combined with resolution; a dutiful daughter to her adopted father, docile and obedient to his counsels, and anxious to share the king’s favour with him for the good of the Jewish people. There must have been a singular grace and charm in her aspect and manners, since ‘she obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her’ (Esther 2:15). That she was raised up as an instrument in the hand of God to avert the destruction of the Jewish people, and to afford them protection and forward their wealth and peace in…

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Esther Smith Smith’s Bible Dictionary (1863)

(a star), the Persian name of Hadassah (myrtle), daughter of Abihail, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. Esther was a beautiful Jewish maiden. She was an orphan, and had been brought up by her cousin Mordecai, who had an office in the household of Ahasuerus king of Persia—supposed to be the Xerxes of history— and dwelt at “Shushan the palace.” When Vashti was dismissed from being queen, the king chose Esther to the place on account of her beauty, not knowing her race or parentage; and on the representation of Haman the Agagite that the Jews scattered through his empire were pernicious race, he gave him full power and authority to kill them all. The means taken by Esther to avert this great calamity from her people and her kindred are fully related in the book of Esther. The Jews still commemorate this deliverance in the yearly festival Purim, on the 14th and 15th of Adar (February, March). History is wholly silent about both Vashti and Esther.

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Esther Hitchcock Hitchcock’s Bible Names Dictionary (1869)

secret; hidden

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Esther Hastings Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible (1898)

ES'THER (star), called also in Hebrew HADAS'SAH (the myrtle), an eminent Jewess, wife of Xerxes. She was an orphan child of the tribe of Benjamin, and cousin to Mordecai, who adopted her and brought her up very tenderly. When Ahasuerus — who was Xerxes — put away Queen Vashti, he chose Esther, who had already been selected, on account of her beauty and her worth, to fill the vacant place, b.c. 479. Having learned through her cousin, Mordecai, who held some office in the palace of Shushan, or Susa, the winter and favorite palace of the Persian kings, that Haman, the prime minister, had procured the royal permission to kill all the Jews in the kingdom, Esther had the faith and the courage to carry out the plan suggested by Mordecai, and succeeded not only in executing the author of the infamous plot, but in getting permission for the Jews, upon the appointed day of slaughter, to defend themselves and take vengeance upon all who dared molest them, and for the Jews in Shushan to repeat the slaughter on the next day. Esther, Book of, a narrative of the startling deliverance of the Jews through the agency of Esther and her cousin, Mordecai, and of the origin of the Purim festival. Haman, prime minister of Ahasuerus, had formed the wicked design to extirpate the Jews in the empire in revenge upon Mordecai, who refused to pay him the customary homage, and whom he had been compelled by the king to lead through the streets in recognition of Mordecai's services in saving the king's life. But his design was frustrated by the bravery of Esther, and the day fixed for the Jews' slaughter was for them a day of revenge. In memory of this deliverance the festival of Purim ("lots") was instituted, and so called in remembrance of Haman's casting of lots. Esth 3:7; Dan 9:24, Jer 9:26. It…

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Esther Schaff Schaff’s Dictionary of the Bible

ES'THER (star), called also in Hebrew HADAS'SAH (the myrtle), an eminent Jewess, wife of Xerxes. She was an orphan child of the tribe of Benjamin, and cousin to Mordecai, who adopted her and brought her up very tenderly. When Ahasuerus — who was Xerxes — put away Queen Vashti, he chose Esther, who had already been selected, on account of her beauty and her worth, to fill the vacant place, b.c. 479. Having learned through her cousin, Mordecai, who held some office in the palace of Shushan, or Susa, the winter and favorite palace of the Persian kings, that Haman, the prime minister, had procured the royal permission to kill all the Jews in the kingdom, Esther had the

faith and the courage to carry out the plan suggested by Mordecai, and succeeded not only in executing the author of the infamous plot, but in getting permission for the Jews, upon the appointed day of slaughter, to defend themselves and take vengeance upon all who dared molest them, and for the Jews in Shushan to repeat the slaughter on the next day. Esther, Book of, a narrative of the startling deliverance of the Jews through the agency of Esther and her cousin, Mordecai, and of the origin of the Purim festival. Haman, prime minister of Ahasuerus, had formed the wicked design to extirpate the Jews in the empire in revenge upon Mordecai, who refused to pay him the customary homage, and whom he had been compelled by the king to lead through the streets in recognition of Mordecai's services in saving the king's life. But his design was frustrated by the bravery of Esther, and the day fixed for the Jews' slaughter was for them a day of revenge. In memory of this deliverance the festival of Purim ("lots") was instituted, and so called in remembrance of Haman's casting of lots. Esth 3:7; Dan 9:24, Jer 9:26. It…

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Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.

Where Esther appears

45 verses in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H0635

Esther45

Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.