Esther
The Jewish orphan who, in the book that bears her name, becomes queen of Persia and risks her life to save her people from destruction. The feast of Purim recalls the story.
Esther, whose Hebrew name was Hadassah, was the daughter of Abihail and was brought up by her cousin Mordecai after her parents died (Esther 2:7, 15). The book says that King Ahasuerus made her queen in his seventh year (Esther 2:16–17). When a decree went out to kill the Jews of the empire she went to the king unsummoned, at the risk of her life, exposed its author Haman, and obtained a second decree that let the Jews defend themselves (Esther 4:15–5:2) (Esther 7:3–6) (Esther 8:3–11). With Mordecai she established the feast of Purim (Esther 9:29–32).
No source independent of the book mentions her. On the question of its historical basis see Esther and the Origin of Purim.
In the timeline
- 483 BC to 473 BC, traditional dateEsther and the Origin of Purim
The book of Esther tells how a Jewish queen of Persia and her cousin Mordecai turned back a decree to destroy the Jews of the empire. The feast of Purim keeps the memory of that deliverance.