Esther
Israelite / Jew Jew, tribe of Benjamin, living in Persia · Exile & Return · Old Testament
- Also called
- Hadassah
- Name means
- Star (Hadassah: myrtle)
- Role
- Jewish queen of Persia who saved her people
- When
- c. 480 BC (reign of Ahasuerus)
What they did
An orphan raised by her cousin Mordecai, she was made queen. When Haman plotted to destroy the Jews, she risked her life to go before the king, saying 'if I perish, I perish.'
Why it matters: the purpose of their role
God placed her in the kingdom 'for such a time as this' to preserve His people, and through them the promise of the Messiah.
For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14 (KJV)
Bible references
And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter. Esther 2:7 (KJV)
And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. Esther 2:17 (KJV)
For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14 (KJV)
Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; 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 (KJV)
And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews. Esther 8:3 (KJV)
Family
- Father
- Abihail
- Spouse(s)
- Ahasuerus
- Brothers / sisters
- Mordecai (cousin)
Mordecai took her as his own daughter when her parents died (Esther 2:7).
A fuller character study, with strengths, failures, lessons and a relationship diagram:
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