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ity of the book was questioned by some in ancient Judaism and early Christianity. It is one of five OT books that were at one time regarded as antilegomena (i.e., books “spoken against”). The problem with Esther was the absence of any direct mention of God. Some questioned whether a book that
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The book of Esther is one of the most exciting books in all the Old Testament and is nearly unique in employing a woman as its leading character. The book is set during the period after the Babylonian exile in which the nation of Persia (present day Iran) ruled Judah. Esther is a young and beautiful Jewish girl, orphaned but cared for by her
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days (Esther was taken to the harem [2:1–16]), their faithful obedience (Esther risked her life before the king [5:1–3]), and their victories (Esther revealed Haman’s plot and the Jews’ destruction of their enemies [7–9]). This message is clear: God is sovereign even when life doesn’t make sense. . . Life can be hard.
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The book of Esther is written in Hebrew. However, since itwas written by Jews who had been exiled in Persia and dealt with Persian courtproceedings, it is only natural that it borrows words from the vernacular. Someof these words are the hard-to-pronounce “achashdarpanim,”which means “satraps” (or “governors”), and dat,which means “law,” and is rel...
As per Mordechai’s instruction, the Megillah is read onPurim: once on Purim night, and again on the following day. The Megillahreading is preceded and followed by special blessings. It is a mitzvahto hear all of the Megillah reading. Thus,it is very important to be absolutely quiet during the reading, allowingeveryone to hear every word clearly. It...
The Megillah is among the only books in the scripture not tomention G‑d’s name at all. You may wonder what is so holy about it? In a sense,this omission itself is what makes the story of the Megillah unique. Hiddenunder the drama of palace intrigue and politics, G‑d’s hand is apparent. Fromthe very outset, He stacked the circumstances so that as so...
The title of the book derives from the main character in the book. The Persian name Esther means “star” referring to the. goddess Ishatar. Her Hebrew name Hadassah means “myrtle” which God uses as an illustration of Israel’s beauty when He. redeems her from exile (Isa. 55:13). Mordecai’s name is derived from Marduk, the lord of the ...
Jul 18, 2020 · Some scholars raised doubts about the authenticity of this book, based on the following points: (1)The name of the pagan king was mentioned several times, while there was no mention of the name of God (with the exception of the annex to the book of Esther which we shall discuss), nor of any prayer, or of any application of the Jewish law. This ...
The events of the book then correspond to 483 to 473 B.C. Divisions: The book of Esther may be divided as follows: I Esther’s Rise 1-2:18 A. Ahasuerus’s big 180 day feast 1:1-4 B. Ahasuerus’s little 7 day feast 1:5-9 C. Queen Vashti demoted 1:10-22 D. Ahasuerus searches for a new queen 2:1-4 E. Esther found and prepared 2:5-11
