QUEEN OF PERSIA, WIFE OF KING AHASUERUS · EXILE & RETURN

Esther. Queen beside the king; she did not reign, yet wrote "with all authority".

QUEENi

Not given c. 479–478 BC (dates vary)

CAPITAL

Susa

HOUSE

Daughter of Abihail (Esth 2:15) 7th of 9 in Persia

SCRIPTURE SAYS

“Esther was queen as the king's wife, not as a reigning monarch: he "made her queen instead of Vashti", and…”

PROPHETS

None named

PERSIA: 9 RULERS CYRUS → NEHEMIAH

ON THE WORLD STAGE

The powers of the day

PERSIA

Ahasuerus

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE · —

Not named outside Esther

SUCCESSION

Before and after

THE REALM

Susa and the places of the account

Persia. Only places Scripture names are shown, each where the Atlas puts it.

WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS

What Scripture says of her

  • From the textEsther was queen as the king's wife, not as a reigning monarch: he "made her queen instead of Vashti", and the decrees went out "in the king’s name", sealed with his ring. Esther 2:17 Esther 8:8–10
  • Mordecai to Esther: "who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14
  • "And so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish." Esther 4:16
  • "Let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request." Esther 7:3
  • "Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim"; "the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book." Esther 9:29 Esther 9:32

HER PEOPLE

God's people in her time

  • The Jews fasted with her before she went to the king. Esther 4:16
  • Purim was confirmed by her decree "and it was written in the book". Esther 9:31–32
  • "The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour"; many of the people of the land "became Jews". Esther 8:16–17
  • The Jews "stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies" on the thirteenth of Adar. Esther 9:16–17

EVENTS

Wars, works and turning points

Each mark sits at the year of the reign the Bible gives for it.

UNDATED IN SCRIPTURE

DATES DIFFER

When was it?

SCRIPTURE'S NUMBERS

No years given

Made queen in the tenth month of the king's seventh year (Esth 2:16).

IF AHASUERUS IS XERXES I: HIS SEVENTH YEAR, 479/478 BC

c. 479–478 BC[3][22]

The tenth month, Tebeth, would fall about the turn of 479/478 BC on Parker and Dubberstein's tables; the identification is a view.

Amestris, Xerxes' queen in Herodotus

R. Dick Wilson (1915), as a possibility

Wilson suggests that if "Esther" answers to Ishtar, she "may well be the same as the Amestris of Herodotus". Herodotus makes Amestris the daughter of Otanes; Esther names her father Abihail. Esther 2:15 [11][9]

Artystone, wife of Darius I

James Ussher (1658), who took Ahasuerus to be Darius

Ussher held that Esther was the woman Herodotus calls the virgin Artystone, whom Darius loved above all his wives, though he admits Herodotus makes her a daughter of Cyrus.[25][8]

No: she is known only from Esther

John Urquhart (1915)

Urquhart: "Nothing more is known of her than is recorded in the book which Jewish gratitude has made to bear her name."[20]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 7

Esther 2 Esther 4 Esther 5 Esther 6 Esther 7 Esther 8 Esther 9

PASSAGES · 2

Esther 2:5–23 Esther 4:1–9:32

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Scripture does not say that Esther reigned or ruled in her own right; her writing "with all authority" was with Mordecai, about Purim.
  • Scripture does not say when or where she died, or whether she had children.
  • Scripture does not say how long she remained queen.

IDENTIFICATIONS THIS PAGE RELIES ON

  • From the text"Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter": Mordecai, a Benjamite, raised her as his own daughter. Her father was Abihail, Mordecai's uncle. Esther 2:5 Esther 2:7 Esther 2:15

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

  • R. W. Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament (1912), pp. 380–384 (the Cylinder of Cyrus, lines 12–35).
  • R. F. Harper (ed.), Assyrian and Babylonian Literature: Selected Translations (1901), pp. 168–171 ("The Annals of Nabonidus").
  • R. A. Parker and W. H. Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C.–A.D. 45 (Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 24; dates cited as facts only) (1942), pp. 11–15 (kings' reigns) and the tables of years.
  • L. W. King and R. C. Thompson, The Sculptures and Inscription of Darius the Great on the Rock of Behistûn in Persia (1907), Persian text, §§ I–IV and X–XIII, pp. 1–13.
  • A. Cowley, Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C. (1923), No. 6, pp. 15–16 (introduction and translation).
  • A. Cowley, Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C. (1923), No. 30, pp. 108–114 (introduction and translation).
  • Herodotus, tr. G. C. Macaulay, The History of Herodotus, vol. 1 (1890), Book I §§191, 214.
  • Herodotus, tr. G. C. Macaulay, The History of Herodotus, vol. 1 (1890), Book III §88.
  • Herodotus, tr. G. C. Macaulay, The History of Herodotus, vol. 2 (1890), Book VII §§4, 61, 114; Book IX §§109–112.
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Darius", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections (1)–(3).
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Ahasuerus", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections 1, 2 and 4.
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Artaxerxes", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections (1)–(3).
  • T. G. Pinches, "Cyrus", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections 9, 10, 12 and 14.
  • Burton Scott Easton, "Xerxes", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915).
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Zerubbabel", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections 1, 3 and 4.
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Tirshatha", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915).
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Nehemiah", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections 3 and 5.
  • James Crichton, "Gedaliah", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), (1), sections 2–3.
  • John Urquhart, "Vashti", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915).
  • John Urquhart, "Esther", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915).
  • George L. Robinson, "Isaiah", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), the sections on chapters 40–66 and on the critical view.
  • Gerson B. Levi, Kaufmann Kohler and George A. Barton, "Ahasuerus", Jewish Encyclopedia vol. 1 (1901), biblical data and critical view.
  • Emil G. Hirsch and Isaac Broydé, "Ezra the Scribe", Jewish Encyclopedia vol. 5 (1903).
  • Joseph Jacobs, M. Seligsohn, Morris Jastrow Jr. and D. S. Margoliouth, "Ezra, Book of", Jewish Encyclopedia vol. 5 (1903).
  • James Ussher, The Annals of the World (English translation of the Annales) (1658), The sixth Age of the World, pp. 108–112 and 118 (read from the page scans, leaves 59–64).
  • L. McFall, "A Translation Guide to the Chronological Data in Kings and Chronicles", Bibliotheca Sacra 148 (facts only) (1991), numbered texts 1–68; page numbers of the author's PDF.
  • W. F. Albright, "The Chronology of the Divided Monarchy of Israel", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 100 (facts only) (1945), Chronological table, pp. 20–22.
  • C. F. Keil, tr. M. G. Easton, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel (Keil and Delitzsch) (1872), note on Dan 9:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. S. Taylor, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Keil and Delitzsch) (1873), note on Ezra 1:8 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. S. Taylor, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Keil and Delitzsch) (1873), note on Ezra 6:14 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. A. Harper, The Books of the Chronicles (Keil and Delitzsch) (1872), note on 1 Chr 3:17–19 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. D. Patrick, The Prophecies of Jeremiah (Keil and Delitzsch) (1880), note on Jer 41:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. E. Ryle, The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1893), note on Ezra 1:8 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. E. Ryle, The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1893), note on Neh 2:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. J. Ellicott (ed.), Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers: 1 Chronicles (c. 1878–1884), note on 1 Chr 3:19 (read on Bible Hub).
  • S. R. Driver, The Book of Daniel (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1900), note on Dan 5:31 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), Pulpit Commentary: Daniel (1880–1897), note on Dan 6:28 and the "Excursus on Darius the Mede" (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), Pulpit Commentary: Esther (1880–1897), note on Esth 2:6 (read on Bible Hub).
  • A. W. Streane, The Book of Esther (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1907), note on Esth 2:6 (read on Bible Hub).
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1748–1763), note on Esth 2:6 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), Pulpit Commentary: Jeremiah (1880–1897), note on Jer 41:1, reporting H. Graetz (read on Bible Hub).
  • A. W. Streane, The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1881), note on Jer 41:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818), note on Jer 41:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), Pulpit Commentary: Isaiah (1880–1897), note on Isa 44:28 (read on Bible Hub).

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