Esther

Esther, book of the Old Testament, one of those constituting the third part—the Writings—of the Hebrew canon (see Bible); it was one of the last books to be accepted as canonical by both Jews and Christians.

The Book of Esther tells of the deliverance of the Jews of Persia from destruction and of the institution of the feast of Purim as the annual commemoration of this event. Esther is an orphaned Jewish maiden raised by her older cousin Mordecai. She is selected from among the most beautiful maidens of the Persian Empire to be the queen of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I), replacing the banished Queen Vashti. Angered by Mordecai's refusal to pay him homage, Haman, the king's ambitious chief minister, plots to destroy Mordecai and all his people. He persuades the king to issue an edict authorizing a massacre of all the Jews in the realm on the grounds that they do not keep the king's laws. Mordecai urges Esther to persuade Ahasuerus to reverse the decree. Esther, risking execution by appearing unbidden before the king, exposes the intrigues of Haman, whereupon Ahasuerus orders Haman hanged and appoints Mordecai as his chief minister. The king then reverses his edict, allowing the Jews to destroy their enemies throughout the empire. On the appointed day, they carry out a bloody vengeance. Finally, to celebrate their delivery, Mordecai and Queen Esther decree the annual feast of Purim.

Although the events of the Book of Esther show little correlation with those of the actual reign of Xerxes I, the story does reveal considerable knowledge of Persian customs, and it may be based on the deliverance of Jews from a local persecution in Persia. In its present form, however, it is essentially a secular historical romance, expressing a strong concern for Jewish patriotism and national survival. God is not mentioned, and religious practices are scarcely mentioned.

Recent scholarship indicates that the Book of Esther was composed in the 2nd century bc. Because of its vindictive tone and secular character, early Jewish commentators were reluctant to include it in the Hebrew canon, but it was finally accepted in response to popular demand and because it offered an account of the origin of the feast of Purim. The Greek version of the Book of Esther contains 107 additional verses that are not found in the Hebrew original. They were composed in Greek, probably in the 1st century bc, with the intention of making the story more religious in character and more relevant to the situation of the Jewish people. In Protestant Bibles, these passages are included as a separate book in the Old Testament Apocrypha. In most editions of the Bible used by Roman Catholics they are included with the original version of the book.