View source for Book of Esther

{{short description|Book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament}}

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{{Tanakh OT|Ketuvim|historical}}
[[File:Book of Esther IMG 1826.JPG|thumb|A 13th–14th-century [[scroll]] of the Book of Esther from [[Fez, Morocco]], held at the [[Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac|Musée du Quai Branly]] in [[Paris]]. Traditionally, a scroll of ''Esther'' is given only one roller, fixed to its lefthand side, rather than the two used for a [[Sefer Torah|Torah scroll]].<ref name="RosselTorah212">{{cite book |last=Rossel |first=Seymour |author-link= Seymour Rossel |title=The Torah: Portion by Portion |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=AzZlANCOIRgC&pg=PA212|year=2007 |publisher=Torah Aura Productions |location= Los Angeles |isbn= 978-1-891662-94-2 |page=212}}</ref>]]

The '''Book of Esther''' ({{langx|he|מְגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר|Megillat Ester}}; {{langx|el|Ἐσθήρ}}; {{langx|la|Liber Esther}}), also known in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] as "the Scroll" ("the [[wikt:מגילה|Megillah]]"), is a book in the third section ({{Transliteration|he|[[Ketuvim]]}}, {{lang|he|כְּתוּבִים}} "Writings") of the [[Hebrew Bible]]. It is one of the [[Five Megillot|Five Scrolls]] ({{Transliteration|he|Megillot}}) in the Hebrew Bible and later became part of the Christian [[Old Testament]]. The book relates the story of a [[Jews|Jewish]] woman in [[Achaemenid Empire|Persia]], born as Hadassah but known as [[Esther]], who becomes queen of Persia and thwarts a [[genocide]] of her people.

The story takes place during the reign of King [[Ahasuerus]] in the [[Achaemenid Empire|First Persian Empire]]. Queen [[Vashti]], the wife of King Ahasuerus, is banished from the court for disobeying the king's orders. A beauty pageant is held to find a new queen, and Esther, a young Jewish woman living in Persia, is chosen as the new queen. Esther's cousin [[Mordecai]], who is a Jewish leader, discovers a plot to kill all of the Jews in the empire by [[Haman]], one of the king's advisors. Mordecai urges Esther to use her position as queen to intervene and save their people. Esther reveals her Jewish identity to the king and begs for mercy for her people. She exposes Haman's plot and convinces the king to spare the Jews. The [[Jewish holidays|Jewish festival]] of [[Purim]] is established to celebrate the victory of the Jews of the First Persian Empire over their enemies, and Esther becomes a heroine of the Jewish people.

The books of Esther and [[Song of Songs]] are the only books in the Hebrew Bible that do not mention [[God in Judaism|God]] explicitly.<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://www.js.emory.edu/BLUMENTHAL/EstherSong.html | title = Where God is Not: The Book of Esther and Song of Songs | first = David R. | last = Blumenthal | access-date = April 19, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190117232755/http://www.js.emory.edu/BLUMENTHAL/EstherSong.html | archive-date = January 17, 2019 | url-status = dead }}</ref> According to [[biblical scholars]], the narrative of Esther was written to provide an [[etiology]] for Purim's origin.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=A Dictionary of the Bible |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=2020-04-17 |date=2009 |editor-last=Browning |editor-first=W. R. F. |edition=2nd |page=7 |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199543984.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-954398-4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903144437/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199543984.001.0001/acref-9780199543984-e-56 |archive-date=2020-09-03 |quote=The story is fictitious and written to provide an account of the origin of the feast of Purim. |article=Ahasuerus |article-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199543984.001.0001/acref-9780199543984-e-56}}</ref>

The Book of Esther is at the center of the Jewish festival of Purim and is read aloud twice from a [[sofer|handwritten scroll]], usually in a [[synagogue]], during the holiday: once in the evening and again the following morning. The distribution of charity to those in need and the [[Mishloach manot|exchange of gifts of foods]] are also practices observed on the holiday that are mandated in the book.

== Setting and structure ==
=== Setting ===
The biblical Book of Esther is set in the Persian [[Capital city|capital]] of [[Susa]] (''Shushan'') in the third year of the reign of the [[List of monarchs of Persia#Achaemenid Empire (559–334/327 BC)|Persian king]] [[Ahasuerus#Book of Esther|Ahasuerus]]. The name ''Ahasuerus'' is equivalent to ''Xerxes''<ref name="Baumgarten">{{cite book
|last1= Baumgarten |first1= Albert I. |last2=Sperling |first2=S. David |last3= Sabar |first3=Shalom
|editor1-last= Skolnik |editor1-first=Fred |editor2-last=Berenbaum |editor2-first=Michael
|title= Encyclopaedia Judaica |edition=2|volume=18
|location= Farmington Hills, MI |publisher=Macmillan Reference|year= 2007 |page= 216}}</ref> (both deriving from the [[Old Persian|Persian]] ''Khshayārsha''),<ref name="larkin">{{cite book |first= Katrina J.A. |last=Larkin |title=Ruth and Esther (Old Testament Guides) |location= Sheffield, UK|publisher= Sheffield Academic Press |year= 1996|page= 71}}</ref> and Ahasuerus is usually identified in modern sources as [[Xerxes I]],<ref>{{cite book |first= Sidnie White |last= Crawford |chapter= Esther |editor-first=Carol A.
|editor-last=Newsom |editor-first2=Sharon H. |editor-last2=Ringe |title= Women's Bible Commentary| location= Louisville|publisher=Westminster John Knox |year=1998|page=202}}</ref><ref name="Between">{{cite book |first=Jill |last= Middlemas |editor-first=Bob E.J.H. |editor-last= Becking |editor-first2=Lester |editor-last2=Grabbe |title= Between Evidence and Ideology | location=Leiden|publisher= Brill |year=2010|page=145 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=DF7RzZJXM-UC&pg=PA145|isbn= 978-9004187375 }}</ref> who ruled between 486 and 465 BCE,<ref name= "Baumgarten" /> as it is to this monarch that the events described in Esther are thought to fit the most closely.<ref name="larkin" /><ref>{{cite book |first= Carey A. |last=Moore |title= Esther (Anchor Bible) |location= Garden City, NY |publisher= Doubleday|year= 1971 |page= xxxv}}</ref>

Assuming that Ahasuerus is indeed Xerxes I, the events described in Esther began around the years 483–482 BCE, and concluded in March 473 BCE.

Classical sources such as [[Josephus]], the Jewish commentary ''[[Esther Rabbah]]'' and the [[Christian theology|Christian theologian]] [[Bar Hebraeus]],<ref name="budge">E.A.W. Budge, ''The Chronography of Bar Hebraeus'', Gorgias Press, reprint 2003</ref> as well as the [[Koine Greek|Greek]] [[Septuagint]] translation of Esther, instead identify Ahasuerus as either [[Artaxerxes I]] (reigned 465 to 424 BCE) or [[Artaxerxes II]] (reigned 404 to 358 BCE).<ref name="budge" />

On his accession, however, Artaxerxes II lost Egypt to pharaoh [[Amyrtaeus]], after which it was no longer part of the Persian empire. In his ''Historia Scholastica'' [[Petrus Comestor]] identified Ahasuerus (Esther 1:1) as [[Artaxerxes III]] (358–338 BCE) who reconquered Egypt.<ref name="Comestor">{{Cite web | url=https://la.wikisource.org/wiki/Historia_Scholastica/Esther#De_Ocho_seu_Artaxerxe. | title=Historia Scholastica/Esther – Wikisource | access-date=2017-12-17 | archive-date=2022-07-05 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705054616/https://la.wikisource.org/wiki/Historia_Scholastica/Esther#De_Ocho_seu_Artaxerxe. | url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Structure ===
The Book of Esther consists of an introduction (or [[exposition (narrative)|exposition]]) in chapters 1 and 2; the main action (complication and resolution) in chapters 3 to 9:19; and a conclusion in 9:20–10:3.{{sfn |Clines|1984|p=9}}
[[File:Book of Esther a part of Cairo Geniza.jpg|thumb|The introduction of Book of Esther, hand written, part of Cairo Gniza, digital collections of Younes & Soraya Nazarian Library, University of Haifa]]

The plot is structured around banquets ({{langx|he|מִשְׁתֶּה|mišˈte}}, plural {{lang|he|מִשְׁתָּאוֹת}} ''mištāˈoṯ'' or {{lang|he|מִשְׁתִּים}} ''mišˈtim''), a word that occurs twenty times in Esther and only 24 times in the rest of the Hebrew bible. This is appropriate given that Esther describes the origin of a Jewish feast, the feast of [[Purim]], but Purim itself is not the subject and no individual feast in the book is commemorated by Purim. The book's theme, rather, is the reversal of destiny through a sudden and unexpected turn of events: the Jews seem destined to be destroyed, but instead are saved. In literary criticism such a reversal is termed "[[peripeteia|peripety]]", and while on one level its use in Esther is simply a literary or aesthetic device, on another it is structural to the author's theme, suggesting that the power of God is at work behind human events.{{sfn |Jobes|2011|pp =40–41}}

The book of Esther has more [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] and [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] loanwords than any other biblical work and the names of the key protagonists, Mordecai and Esther, for example, have been read as  allusions to the gods [[Marduk]] and [[Inanna|Ishtar]], who, symbolizing respectively Babylonia and Assyria, were twin powers that brought about the fall of [[Susa]], where the narrative of Esther is set and  where the [[Elam]]ite god  [[Humban]]/Humman (compare Haman)<ref>[[Paul Wexler (linguist)|Paul Wexler]], ''Silk Road Linguistics,'' Studies in Arabic Language and Literature, [[Harrassowitz Verlag]] 2021 {{isbn|978-3-447-11573-5}} vol.10 p.694 notes an alternative derivation from [[Elamite language|Elamite]] ''Humpan>Human'', the divine name doubling as an [[anthroponym]].</ref> exercised divine sovereignty. Purim practices like eating “[[Hamantash|Haman's ears]]”, ear-shaped loaves of bread or pieces of pastry are similar to those in Near Eastern ritual celebrations of Ishtar's cosmic victory.<ref>Wexler p.695: ‘Any resemblance between Ishtar's ear-shaped pastries and Haman's ear-shaped pastries may be the accidental result of later practice, but a common denominator is also possible, in that the original function of sacrifice is thought to be partaking of, and eating, the god. The eating of Haman represents symbolically the eating of a slain enemy god in order to absorb his power, such as is expressed in the Cultic commentaries</ref> Likewise other elements in Purim customs such as making a racket with a [[Grager|ratchet]],  masquerading and drunkenness have all been adduced to propose that such a kind of pagan festival akin to rites associated with Ishtar of [[Nineveh]], which shares these same features, lay behind the development of this story.<ref>Wexler 2021 pp.694-695</ref>

== Summary ==
King Ahasuerus, ruler of the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]], holds a lavish 180-day banquet for his court and dignitaries from across the 127 provinces of his empire (Esther 1:1–4), and afterwards, a seven-day banquet for all inhabitants of the capital city, [[Susa|Shushan]] (1:5–9). On the seventh day of the latter banquet, Ahasuerus orders the queen, [[Vashti]], to display her beauty before the guests by coming before them wearing her crown (1:10–11). She refuses, infuriating Ahasuerus, who, on the advice of his counselors, removes her from her position as an example to other women who might be emboldened to disobey their husbands (1:12–19). A decree follows that "every man should bear rule in his own house" (1:20–22).

[[File:Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 129.png|thumb|Esther is crowned in this 1860 woodcut by [[Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld]]]]
Ahasuerus then makes arrangements to choose a new queen from a selection of beautiful young women throughout the empire (2:1–4). Among these women is a Jewish [[orphan]] named [[Esther]], who was raised by her cousin or uncle, [[Mordecai]] (2:5–7). She finds favour in the King's eyes and is crowned his new queen, but does not reveal her Jewish heritage (2:8–20). Shortly afterwards, Mordecai discovers a plot by two courtiers, [[Bigthan and Teresh]], to assassinate Ahasuerus. The conspirators are apprehended and hanged, and Mordecai's service to the King is officially recorded (2:21–23).

Ahasuerus appoints [[Haman]] as his [[viceroy]] (3:1). Mordecai, who sits at the palace gates, falls into Haman's disfavour, as he refuses to [[Proskynesis|bow down]] to him (3:2–5). Haman discovers that Mordecai refuses to bow on account of his being a Jew, and in revenge, plots to kill not just Mordecai but all the Jews in the empire (3:6). He obtains Ahasuerus' permission to execute this plan against payment of ten thousand [[talent (measurement)|talent]]s of silver, and [[Cleromancy|casts lots]] ("purim") to choose the date on which to do this{{snd}} the thirteenth of the month of [[Adar]] (3:7–12). A [[Decree|royal decree]] is issued throughout the kingdom to slay all Jews on that date (3:13–15).

When Mordecai discovers the plan, he goes into mourning and implores Esther to intercede with the King (4:1–5). But she fears presenting herself to the King unsummoned, an offense punishable by death (4:6–12). Instead, she directs Mordecai to have all Jews fast for three days for her and vows to fast as well (4:15–16). On the third day, she goes to Ahasuerus, who stretches out his scepter to her to indicate that she should not be punished (5:1–2). She invites him to a feast in the company of Haman (5:3–5). During the feast, she asks them to attend a further feast the next evening (5:6–8). Meanwhile, Haman is again offended by Mordecai and, at his wife's suggestion, has a [[gallows]] built to hang him (5:9–14).

That night, Ahasuerus cannot sleep and orders the court records be read to him (6:1). He is reminded that Mordecai interceded in the previous plot against his life and discovers that Mordecai never received any recognition (6:2–3). Just then, Haman appears to request the King's permission to hang Mordecai, but before he can make this request, Ahasuerus asks Haman what should be done for the man that the King wishes to honour (6:4–6). Assuming that the King is referring to Haman himself, Haman suggests that the man be dressed in the King's royal robes and crown and led around on the King's royal horse, while a [[herald]] calls: "See how the King honours a man he wishes to reward!" (6:7–9). To his surprise and horror, the King instructs Haman to do so to Mordecai (6:10–11).

[[File:Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 130.png|thumb|Mordecai is honoured in this 1860 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld]]
Immediately afterwards, Ahasuerus and Haman attend Esther's second banquet. The King promises to grant her any request, and she reveals that she is Jewish and that Haman is planning to exterminate her people, including herself (7:1–6). Overcome by rage, Ahasuerus leaves the room; meanwhile Haman stays behind and begs Esther for his life, falling upon her in desperation (7:7). The King comes back at this very moment and thinks Haman is sexually assaulting the queen; this makes him angrier and he orders Haman hanged on the very gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai (7:8–10).

Unable to annul a formal royal decree, the King instead adds to it, permitting the Jews to join and destroy any and all of those seeking to kill them (8:1–14).<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16481/jewish/Chapter-8.htm | title=Esther – Chapter 8 | access-date=2018-10-20 | archive-date=2018-09-26 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926070349/http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16481/jewish/Chapter-8.htm | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/esther-bible | title=Esther: Bible {{pipe}} Jewish Women's Archive | access-date=2018-10-20 | archive-date=2023-06-26 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230626091439/https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/esther-bible | url-status=live }}</ref> On 13 Adar, [[Sons of Haman|Haman's ten sons]] and 500 other men are killed in Shushan (9:1–12). Upon hearing of this Esther requests it be repeated the next day, whereupon 300 more men are killed (9:13–15). In the other Persian provinces, 75,000 people are killed by the Jews, who are careful to take no plunder (9:16–17). Mordecai and Esther send letters throughout the provinces instituting an annual commemoration of the Jewish people's redemption, in a holiday called [[Purim]] (lots) (9:20–28). Ahasuerus remains very powerful and continues his reign, with Mordecai assuming a prominent position in his court (10:1–3).

== Authorship and date ==
[[File:Göttingen-Esther.Rolle.0.JPG|thumb|Scroll of Esther (Megillah)]]
The ''Megillat Esther'' (Book of Esther) became the last of the 24 books of the [[Hebrew Bible]] to be canonized by the Sages of the [[Great Assembly]]. According to the [[Talmud]], it was a [[redaction]] by the Great Assembly of an original text by Mordecai.<ref>''Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Baba Bathra'' 15a</ref> It is usually dated to the 4th century BCE.<ref>NIV Study Bible, ''Introductions to the Books of the Bible, Esther'', Zondervan, 2002</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Jewish Study Bible |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195297515 |url-access=registration |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor-last1=Berlin |editor-first1=Adele |editor-last2=Brettler |editor-first2=Marc Zvi |editor-last3=Fishbane |editor-first3=Michael |isbn=978-0195297515 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195297515/page/1625 1625]}}</ref>

The Greek book of Esther, included in the [[Septuagint]], is a retelling of the events of the Hebrew Book of Esther rather than a translation and records [[#Additions to Esther|additional traditions]] which do not appear in the traditional Hebrew version, in particular the identification of Ahasuerus with [[Artaxerxes II]] and details of various letters. It is dated around the late 2nd to early 1st century BCE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Freedman |first1=David Noel |first2=Allen C. |last2=Myers |first3=Astrid B. |last3=Beck |title=Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |year=2000 |isbn=978-0802824004 |page=428 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA428 |access-date=2023-06-23 |archive-date=2023-06-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623090024/https://books.google.com/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA428 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>George Lyons, ''Additions to Esther'', Wesley Center for Applied Theology, 2000</ref> The [[Copts|Coptic]] and [[Christianity in Ethiopia|Ethiopic]] versions of Esther are translations of the Greek rather than the Hebrew Esther.

A Latin version of Esther was produced by [[Jerome]] for the [[Vulgate]]. It translates the Hebrew Esther but interpolates translations of the Greek Esther where the latter provides additional material. Predating the Vulgate, however, the ''Vetus Latina'' ("Old Latin") was apparently translated from a different Greek version not included in the Septuagint.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bellmann|first1=Simon|last2=Portier-Young|first2=Anathea|date=2019-08-21|title=The Old Latin book of Esther: An English translation|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0951820719860628|journal=Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha|volume=28|issue=4|pages=267–289|language=en|doi=10.1177/0951820719860628|s2cid=202163709|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-date=2021-02-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210031227/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0951820719860628|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Several Aramaic [[targum]]im of Esther were produced in the [[Middle Ages]], of which three survive – the ''[[Targum Rishon]]'' ("First Targum" or 1TgEsth) and ''[[Targum Sheni]]'' ("Second Targum" or 2TgEsth)<ref name="Sokoloff">Prof. Michael Sokoloff, ''The Targums to the Book of Esther'', Bar-Ilan University 's Parashat Hashavua Study Center, Parashat Tezaveh/Zakhor 5764 March 6, 2004</ref><ref name="Kaufman">S. Kaufman, ''Cal Targum Texts, Text base and variants'', The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon, Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion</ref> dated {{circa|500}}–1000&nbsp;CE,<ref>Alan J. Hauser, Duane Frederick Watson, ''A History of Biblical Interpretation: The Ancient Period'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2003</ref> which include additional legends relating to Purim,<ref name="Sokoloff"/> and the ''Targum Shelishi'' ("Third Targum" or 3TgEsth), which [[Abraham Berliner|Berliner]] and [[Moshe Goshen-Gottstein|Goshen-Gottstein]] argued was the ur-Targum from which the others had been expanded, but which others consider only a late recension of the same. 3TgEsth is the most manuscript-stable of the three, and by far the most literal.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Goshen-Gottstein|first=M. H.|date=1975|title=The "Third Targum" on Esther and Ms. Neofiti 1|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42610736|journal=Biblica|volume=56|issue=3|pages=301–329|jstor=42610736|issn=0006-0887|access-date=2021-03-02|archive-date=2021-03-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316044326/https://www.jstor.org/stable/42610736|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Kaufman"/>

== Historicity ==
[[File:Megillat Esther (1).jpg|thumb|235px|The opening chapter of a hand-written scroll of the Book of Esther, with reader's [[Yad|Torah pointer]]]]
The apparent historical difficulties, the internal inconsistencies, the pronounced symmetry of themes and events, the plenitude of quoted dialogue, and the gross exaggeration in the reporting of numbers (involving time, money, and people) all point to Esther as a work of fiction, its vivid characters (except for Xerxes) being the product of the author's creative imagination.<ref>{{cite book |last=Meyers |first=Carol |author-link=Carol Meyers |title=The Oxford Bible Commentary |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199277186 |editor-last1=Barton |editor-first1=John |page=325 |language=en |chapter=16. Esther |quote=Genre and Purpose |access-date=2019-03-24 |editor-last2=Muddiman |editor-first2=John |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DWUTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA325 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111154149/https://books.google.com/books?id=DWUTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA325#v=onepage&q&f=false |archive-date=2023-11-11 |url-status=live}}</ref> There is no reference to known historical events in the story; a general consensus, though this consensus has been challenged,<ref>David J. A. Clines, [https://books.google.com/books?id=GV2tAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA26 ''The Esther Scroll: The Story of the Story,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111154149/https://books.google.com/books?id=GV2tAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA26#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=2023-11-11 }} [[A&C Black]], 1984 {{isbn|978-0-905-77466-4}} pp. 26, 50, 155ff.</ref><ref>Tsaurayi Kudakwashe Mapfeka, [https://books.google.com/books?id=1MuiDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 ''Esther in Diaspora: Toward an Alternative Interpretive Framework,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111154154/https://books.google.com/books?id=1MuiDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA15#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=2023-11-11 }} [[Brill Publishers|Brill]], 2019 {{isbn|978-9-004-40656-8}}  pp. 2, 15, 28ff</ref> has maintained that the narrative of ''Esther'' was invented in order to provide an [[etiology]] for [[Purim]], and the name Ahasuerus is usually understood to refer to a fictionalized [[Xerxes I]], who ruled the [[Achaemenid Empire]] between 486 and 465 BCE.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|article=Ahasuerus|date=2009|article-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199543984.001.0001/acref-9780199543984-e-56|encyclopedia=A Dictionary of the Bible|editor-last=Browning|editor-first=W. R. F.|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780199543984.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-954398-4|quote=The story is fictitious and written to provide an account of the origin of the feast of Purim; the book contains no references to the known historical events of the reign of Xerxes.|access-date=2020-04-17|archive-date=2020-09-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903144437/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199543984.001.0001/acref-9780199543984-e-56|url-status=live}}</ref> Longman, Dillard, and Jobes feel that the historical issues in the Book of Esther are not insurmountable; they can be resolved with some thought and effort. Longman and Dillard also feel that the book should be read as a historical narrative since the author presents it as history.<ref name="y169">{{cite book | last=Jobes | first=Karen H. | title=Esther | publisher=Zondervan | publication-place=Grand Rapids, Mich | date=1999 | isbn=978-0-310-20672-9 | page=31}}</ref><ref name="g702">{{cite book | last1=Longman | first1=Tremper | last2=Dillard | first2=Raymond B. | title=An Introduction to the Old Testament | publisher=Zondervan Publishing Company | publication-place=Grand Rapids, Mich | date=2006 | isbn=978-0-310-26341-8 | page=218}}</ref>

Biblical scholar [[Michael Coogan]] further argues that the book contains specific details regarding certain subject matter (for example, Persian rule) which are historically inaccurate. For example, Coogan discusses an inaccuracy regarding the age of Esther's cousin (or, according to others, uncle) [[Mordecai]].<ref name="Coogan, Michael David Coogan 2009">Coogan, Michael David, ''A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in Its Context'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 396.</ref><ref name="Sidnie White Crawford 2003">Sidnie White Crawford, "Esther", in ''The New Interpreters Study Bible New Revised Standard Version'' with the Apocrypha, ed. Walter J. Harrison and Donald Senior (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), 689–90.</ref> In Esther 2:5–6, either Mordecai or his great-grandfather Kish is identified as having been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon by King [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] in 597&nbsp;BCE: "Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with [[Jeconiah]] king of Judah". If this refers to Mordecai, he would have had to live over a century to have witnessed the events described in the Book of Esther.<ref name= "Coogan, Michael David Coogan 2009"/> However, the verse may be read as referring not to Mordecai's exile to Babylon, but to his great-grandfather Kish's exile.<ref>New King James Version, translation of [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=esther%202:6&version=NKJV Esther 2:6] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220181600/https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=esther%202:6&version=NKJV |date=2019-02-20 }}</ref><ref name="ISBE">{{cite book |editor-last=Bromiley |editor-first=Geoffrey W. |title=International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume II |year=1982 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yklDk6Vv0l4C&pg=PA159 |page=159 |chapter=Book of Esther |isbn=9780802837820 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Wiersbe |first=Warren W. |url=https://archive.org/details/bibleexpositionc00wier |url-access=registration |title=Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament History |publisher=David C Cook |year=2004 |page=712 |isbn=9780781435314 }}</ref>

In her article "The Book of Esther and Ancient Storytelling", biblical scholar [[Adele Berlin]] discusses the reasoning behind scholarly concern about the historicity of Esther. Much of this debate relates to the importance of distinguishing history and fiction within biblical texts, as Berlin argues, in order to gain a more accurate understanding of the history of the Israelite people.<ref name="Adele Berlin 2001">[[Adele Berlin]], "The Book of Esther and Ancient Storytelling", ''[[Journal of Biblical Literature]]'' 120, no. 1 (Spring 2001): 3–14.</ref> Berlin quotes a series of scholars who suggest that the author of Esther did not mean for the book to be considered as a historical writing, but intentionally wrote it to be a historical novella.<ref>Berlin, 2001: 6.</ref> The genre of novellas under which Esther falls was common during both the Persian and [[Hellenistic period]]s to which scholars have dated the book of Esther (see for example the deuterocanonical [[Book of Judith]]).<ref name= "Coogan, Michael David Coogan 2009" /><ref name= "Adele Berlin 2001" />

However, there are certain elements of the book of Esther that are historically accurate.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Revisiting the Book of Esther: Assessing the Historical Significance of the Masoretic Version for the Achaemenid History |journal=[[Persica Antiqua]] |last=Sarbanani |first=Morteza Arabzadeh |issue=4 |volume=3 |pages=19–32 |doi=10.22034/pa.2022.344449.1009 |year=2023}}</ref> The story told in the book of Esther takes place during the rule of Ahasuerus, who [[Ahasuerus#Historical identification|amongst others]] has been identified as the 5th-century Persian king [[Xerxes I]] (reigned 486–465 BCE).<ref name= "Between" /> The author also displays an accurate knowledge of Persian customs and palaces.<ref name= "ISBE" /> "Levenson claims that it is 'best seen as a historical novella set within the Persian empire'".<ref name="j111">{{cite book | last=Carruthers | first=Jo | title=Esther Through the Centuries | publisher=Wiley-Blackwell | publication-place=Malden, MA ; Oxford | date=14 January 2008 | isbn=978-1-4051-3213-8 | oclc=123539343 | url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/123539343 | access-date=13 April 2025 | page=50 | quote=Some recent scholars seek to maintain a fruitful tension between fiction and truth in their claims for Esther. Clines asserts the ‘current consensus of opinion’ that Esther is a ‘historical novel’ (1984a: 256; also Moore [1971] 1984: lii). Levenson claims that it is ‘best seen as a historical novella set within the Persian empire’, endorsing Fox’s claim that Esther’s frame of historical reference may be different to a modern reader’s: ‘How exactly an ancient religious community – or a modern one – understands “actual historical events” is a complicated epistemological and hermeneutical issue’ (1997: 26).}}</ref> ''The New Oxford Annotated Bible'' (2018) states "Esther is not a work of history but a historical novella, that is, a fictional story set within a historical framework."<ref>{{cite book|first=Mary Joan |last=Winn Leith |editor-first1=Michael David|editor-last1=Coogan|editor-first2=Marc Zvi|editor-last2=Brettler|editor-first3=Carol Ann|editor-last3=Newsom|editor-first4=Pheme|editor-last4=Perkins|title=The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T05WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA716|date=1 March 2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-027605-8|page=716}}</ref> [[Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones]] agrees (in 2023).<ref name="f001">{{cite book | last=Llewellyn-Jones | first=Lloyd | title=Ancient Persia and the Book of Esther: Achaemenid Court Culture in the Hebrew Bible | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | date=9 March 2023 | isbn=978-1-78672-629-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z4OmEAAAQBAJ&dq=%2522Esther+is+not+a+work+of+history+but+a+historical+novella,+that+is,+a+fictional+story+set+within+a+historical+framework.&pg=PA5 | access-date=13 April 2025 | page=5}}</ref> ''The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia'' (1939) offers a dissenting opinion, stating that "research has heaped up confirmation of the historical character of the book."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Urquhart |first=John |title=Esther, Book of |url=https://www.internationalstandardbible.com/E/esther-book-of.html |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Online |language=en|year=1939|editor-first=James|editor-last=Orr}}</ref> Baldwin (1984) sees the Book of Esther as true and historically accurate, quoting Robert Gordis: “There is nothing intrinsically impossible or improbable in the central incident when the accretions due to the storyteller's art are set aside.”<ref name="t721">{{cite book | last=Baldwin | first=Joyce G. | title=Esther | publisher=Apollos | publication-place=Leicester | date=1984 | isbn=978-0-87784-262-0 | page=24}} Also, see page 33 for a list of other scholars who have viewed the book of Esther as historical.</ref>

In the mainstream academia, the consensus is that "the book is fictional, a kind of historical novella written to provide an etiology, a narrative explanation, for the Jewish festival of Purim."<ref name="l185">{{cite book | last=Coogan | first=Michael David | title=The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures | publisher=Oxford University Press | date=2006 | isbn=978-0-19-513910-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gSdVAAAAYAAJ&q=%2522consensus+of+modern+scholars+that+the+book+is+fictional%2522 | access-date=13 April 2025 | page=527}}</ref> According to Noss (1993), the historicity of the work is supported by the precision with which the author locates his story within time; the inclusion of the Persian names of the months is part of the author's case for historical authenticity.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Noss|first=Philip A.|year=1993|title=A Footnote on Time: the book of Esther|journal=The Bible Translator|volume=44|issue=3|pages=309–320|issn=2051-6770|doi=10.1177/026009359304400302|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/026009359304400302|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

== Historical reading ==
[[File:The Feast of Esther - Jan Lievens - Google Cultural Institute.jpg|thumb|280px|''The Feast of Esther'' (''Feest van Esther'', 1625) by [[Jan Lievens]], [[North Carolina Museum of Art]]]]

Those arguing in favour of a historical reading of Esther most commonly identify Ahasuerus with [[Xerxes I]] (ruled 486–465&nbsp;BCE),<ref name= "Between" /> although in the past it was often assumed that he was [[Artaxerxes II]] (ruled 405–359&nbsp;BCE). The Hebrew ''Ahasuerus'' (''ʔaḥašwērōš'') is most likely derived from [[Persian language|Persian]] ''Xšayārša'', the origin of the Greek ''Xerxes''. The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] wrote that Xerxes sought his [[harem]] after being defeated in the [[Greco-Persian Wars]]. He makes no reference to individual members of the harem except for a domineering [[Queen consort]] named [[Amestris]], whose father, [[Otanes]], was one of Xerxes's generals. (In contrast, the Greek historian [[Ctesias]] refers to a similar father-in-law/general figure named Onaphas.) Amestris has often been identified with [[Vashti]], but this identification is problematic, as Amestris remained a powerful figure well into the reign of her son, [[Artaxerxes I]], whereas Vashti is portrayed as dismissed in the early part of Xerxes's reign.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Esther|1:19|NKJV}}</ref> Alternative attempts have been made to identify her with Esther,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Vashti, Amestris and Esther 1,9 |journal=Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft |last=Hubbard |first=Robert L. |issue=2 |volume=119 |pages=259–271 |doi=10.1515/ZAW.2007.020 |year=2007|s2cid=170144015 }}</ref> although Esther is an orphan whose father was a Jew named Abihail.

As for the identity of Mordecai, the similar names ''Marduka'' and ''Marduku'' have been found as the name of officials in the Persian court in over thirty texts from the period of Xerxes I and his father [[Darius I]], and may refer to up to four individuals, one of whom might be the model for the biblical Mordecai.

The "Old Greek" Septuagint version of Esther translates the name Ahasuerus as ''Artaxerxes'',<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/17-esther-nets.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327112355/http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/17-esther-nets.pdf |archive-date=2014-03-27 |title=A New English Translation of the Septuagint |chapter=Esther}} Note on two Greek versions of the book of Esther.</ref> a Greek name derived from the Persian ''Artaxšaθra''. [[Josephus]] too relates that this was the name by which he was known to the Greeks, and the [[Midrash]]ic text ''Esther Rabba'' also makes the identification. [[Bar Hebraeus]] identified Ahasuerus explicitly as Artaxerxes II; however, the names are not necessarily equivalent: Hebrew has a form of the name ''Artaxerxes'' distinct from ''Ahasuerus'', and a direct Greek rendering of ''Ahasuerus'' is used by both Josephus and the Septuagint for occurrences of the name outside the Book of Esther. Instead, the Hebrew name Ahasuerus accords with an inscription of the time that notes that Artaxerxes II was named also ''Aršu'', understood as a shortening of ''Aḫšiyaršu'' the Babylonian rendering of the Persian ''Xšayārša'' (Xerxes), through which the Hebrew ''ʔaḥašwērōš'' (Ahasuerus) is derived.<ref name="Hosch">Jacob Hoschander, ''The Book of Esther in the Light of History'', Oxford University Press, 1923 {{page needed|date=September 2021}}</ref> [[Ctesias]] related that Artaxerxes II was also called ''Arsicas'' which is understood as a similar shortening with the Persian suffix ''-ke'' that is applied to shortened names. [[Deinon]] related that Artaxerxes II was also called ''Oarses'' which is also understood to be derived from ''Xšayārša''.<ref name="Hosch"/>

Another view attempts to identify him instead with Artaxerxes I (ruled 465–424 BCE), whose Babylonian concubine, Kosmartydene, was the mother of his son [[Darius II]] (ruled 424–405 BCE). Jewish tradition relates that Esther was the mother of a King Darius and so some try to identify Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes I and Esther with Kosmartydene.

Based on the view that the Ahasuerus of the [[Book of Tobit]] is identical with that of the Book of Esther, some have also identified him as Nebuchadnezzar's ally [[Cyaxares]] (ruled 625–585&nbsp;BCE). In certain manuscripts of Tobit, the former is called ''Achiachar'', which, like the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''Cyaxares'', is thought to be derived from Persian ''Huwaxšaθra''. Depending on the interpretation of Esther 2:5–6, Mordecai or his great-grandfather Kish was carried away from [[Jerusalem]] with [[Jeconiah]] by [[Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon|Nebuchadnezzar]], in 597 BCE. The view that it was Mordecai would be consistent with the identification of Ahasuerus with Cyaxares. Identifications with other Persian monarchs have also been suggested.

Jacob Hoschander has argued that the name of Haman and that of his father Hamedatha are mentioned by [[Strabo]] as ''Omanus'' and ''Anadatus,'' worshipped with Anahita in the city of [[Zile|Zela]]. Hoschander suggests that Haman may, if the connection is correct, be a priestly title and not a proper name.<ref name="Hosch" /> Strabo's names are unattested in Persian texts as gods; however the Talmud<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sanhedrin 61b|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.61b|access-date=2021-02-17|website=www.sefaria.org|archive-date=2021-04-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416082338/https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.61b|url-status=live}}</ref> and Josephus<ref>{{Cite web|title=Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews, Book XI|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-11.html|access-date=2021-02-17|website=penelope.uchicago.edu|archive-date=2023-07-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702203529/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-11.html|url-status=live}}</ref> interpret the description of courtiers bowing to Haman in Esther 3:2 as worship. (Other scholars assume "Omanus" refers to [[Vohu Mana]].)<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Matassa|first1=Lidia D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xc9MAwAAQBAJ|title=Text, Theology, and Trowel: New Investigations in the Biblical World|last2=Silverman|first2=Jason M.|year=2011|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=978-1-60899-942-2|access-date=2021-02-17|archive-date=2023-11-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111154150/https://books.google.com/books?id=Xc9MAwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MWiMV6llZesC&q=%22omanus%22+%22vohu+manah%22&pg=PA264|title=Handbuch der Orientalistik: Der Nahe und der Mittlere Osten|date=1991|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-09271-6|access-date=2021-05-13|archive-date=2023-11-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111154150/https://books.google.com/books?id=MWiMV6llZesC&q=%22omanus%22+%22vohu+manah%22&pg=PA264#v=snippet&q=%22omanus%22%20%22vohu%20manah%22&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Dhalla|first=Maneckji Nusservanji|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XtYVloWlvUgC&q=%22omanus%22+%22vohu+manah%22&pg=PA187|title=Zoroastrian Theology: From the Earliest Times to the Present Day|date=1914|publisher=s.l.|archive-date=2023-11-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111154155/https://books.google.com/books?id=XtYVloWlvUgC&q=%22omanus%22+%22vohu+manah%22&pg=PA187#v=snippet&q=%22omanus%22%20%22vohu%20manah%22&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

In his ''Historia Scholastica'' [[Petrus Comestor]] identified Ahasuerus (Esther 1:1) as [[Artaxerxes III]] who reconquered Egypt.<ref name="Comestor" />

== Interpretation ==
In the Book of Esther, the [[Tetragrammaton]] does not appear, but some argue it is present, in hidden form, in four complex [[acrostic]]s in Hebrew: the initial or last letters of four consecutive words, either forwards or backwards comprise YHWH. These letters were distinguished in at least three ancient Hebrew manuscripts in red.<ref>[http://www.therain.org/appendixes/app60.html The Name of Jehovah in the Book of Esther.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303224342/http://www.therain.org/appendixes/app60.html |date=2016-03-03 }}, appendix 60, ''Companion Bible''.</ref><ref group=note>These are Est 1:20; 5:4, 13 and 7:7. Additionally, Est 7:5 there is an acrostic referring to the title of God of Exodus 3:14.</ref>

[[Christine Hayes]] contrasts the Book of Esther with [[Apocalyptic literature|apocalyptic writings]], the [[Book of Daniel]] in particular: both Esther and Daniel depict an existential threat to the Jewish people, but while Daniel commands the Jews to wait faithfully for God to resolve the crisis, in Esther the crisis is resolved entirely through human action and national solidarity. God, in fact, is not mentioned, Esther is portrayed as [[cultural assimilation|assimilated]] to Persian culture, and Jewish identity in the book is an [[Jewish peoplehood|ethnic category]] rather than a [[Judaism|religious one]].<ref name="oyc">{{cite web |first=Christine |last=Hayes |author-link=Christine Hayes |year=2006 |url=http://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studies/rlst-145/lecture-24 |website=[[Open Yale Courses]] |publisher=[[Yale University]] |title=<!--RLST 145: -->Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible): Lecture 24{{snd}} Alternative Visions: Esther, Ruth, and Jonah |access-date=2016-01-05 |archive-date=2023-08-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230809174408/https://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studies/rlst-145/lecture-24 |url-status=live }}</ref>

This contrasts with traditional Jewish commentaries, such as the commentary of the [[Vilna Gaon]], which states "But in every verse it discusses the great miracle. However, this miracle was in a hidden form, occurring through apparently natural processes, not like the Exodus from Egypt, which openly revealed the might of God."<ref>Commentary of the Vilna Gaon to the Book of Esther 1:1</ref> This follows the approach of the [[Talmud]],<ref>Chullin 139b</ref> which states that "(The Book of) Esther is referenced in the Torah in the verse 'And I shall surely hide (in Hebrew, 'haster astir,' related to 'Esther') My Face from them on that day.<ref>Deut. 31:18</ref>

André Lacocque also sees the Book of Esther as being fundamentally theological and that its main message was to correct the mistakes of ancestors. These mistakes included being lenient against Amalekites and plundering goods, which [[King Saul]] was guilty of. Another message was that diasporic Jews were responsible for the welfare of their host community, who held unpredictable views about Jews. These views ranged from violent antisemitism to passionate [[philosemitism]], where Jews are arbitrarily promoted to higher positions due to being 'sexy'. Lacocque compares this to [[Joseph (Bible)|Joseph]]'s governance of Egypt in the [[Book of Genesis]], which benefitted native Egyptians and Hebrew immigrants.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Lacocque |first=André |date=1987 |title=HAMAN IN THE BOOK OF ESTHER |url=https://kb.osu.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/5084b1af-994a-58d0-96eb-1ae79a4e985f/content |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240616065136/https://kb.osu.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/5084b1af-994a-58d0-96eb-1ae79a4e985f/content |archive-date=June 16, 2024 |website=The Ohio State of University}}</ref>

Although [[Interfaith marriage in Judaism|marriages between Jews and Gentiles]] are not permitted in [[orthodox Judaism]], even in case of [[Pikuach nefesh]], Esther is not regarded as a sinner, because she remained passive, and risked her life to save that of the entire Jewish people.<ref name="shurpin">Yehuda Shurpin: [https://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/628769/jewish/How-Could-Esther-Marry-a-Non-Jewish-King.htm ''How Could Esther Marry a Non-Jewish King?''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023034355/https://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/628769/jewish/How-Could-Esther-Marry-a-Non-Jewish-King.htm |date=2020-10-23 }}, [[Chabad.org]].</ref>

Azīz Pajand, a Persian Jew, published "Purim" in 1966, which offered an Iranophilic interpretation of the Book of Esther. Here, Haman was the Amalekite enemy of 'pure-blooded Iranians' and Jews. Thus, Purim became a holiday that celebrates salvation for all Iranians from the 'Hamanites'. He also emphasizes the role of Jewish-Persian cooperation in realizing the Book of Esther's denouement. Pajand justified his interpretation to dispel accusations that the Book of Esther was anti-Iranian and because he believed that Iranians were "travellers in the way of truth". In contrast, Haman violated the [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] ideal of “Good thoughts; Good words; and Good deeds”.<ref name=":142">{{Cite book |last=Silverstein |first=Adam J. |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/10288/chapter-abstract/158005696?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=true |title=Veiling Esther, Unveiling Her Story: The Reception of a Biblical Book in Islamic Lands |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0198797227 |pages=39–63}}</ref> Lacocque likewise observes that the "enemies of the Jews" were never arbitrarily branded as Amalekites before being killed, in comparison to Haman and his sons, which discredits any motive of Jewish ultranationalism.<ref name=":1" />

[[Albert Barnes (theologian)|Albert Barnes]] similarly argues that the [[Philosemitism|philosemitic]] Persian establishment was perplexed at Haman's decree ({{Bibleverse|Esther|3:15}}),<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=Esther 3 Barnes' Notes |url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/esther/3.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213005602/https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/esther/3.htm |archive-date=February 13, 2024 |website=Biblehub.com}}</ref> and that they were supportive of Esther's efforts against the "enemies of the Jews". The latter were mostly found "among the idolatrous people of the subject nations", whom the Persians did not care for.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=Esther 9 Barnes' Notes |url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/esther/9.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240212110948/https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-deliberately-flawed-divine-torah |archive-date=February 12, 2024 |website=TheTorah.com}}</ref> The ones in Susa, however, consisted of Haman's faction, led by his ten sons,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=Esther 9 Gill's Exposition |url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/esther/9.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240212112631/https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/esther/9.htm |archive-date=February 12, 2024 |website=Biblehub.com}}</ref> and fugitives who believed they were free to kill the Jews once the latter's "privileges have expired", thus why they were killed the next day.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=Esther 9 Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary |url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/jfb/esther/9.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240212115033/https://biblehub.com/commentaries/jfb/esther/9.htm |archive-date=February 12, 2024 |website=Biblehub.com}}</ref> [[Matthew Poole]] sees the subsequent hanging of Haman's sons as a cruel Jewish and Persian custom that punishes offenders for 'abusing' the king.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=Esther 9 Matthew Poole's Commentary |url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/poole/esther/9.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711212910/https://biblehub.com/commentaries/poole/esther/9.htm |archive-date=July 11, 2021 |website=Biblehub.com}}</ref>

John Gill sees the conversion of Persian allies ({{Bibleverse|Esther|8:17}}) as an example of '[[Forced conversion|conversion under duress]]' but does not discount alternative explanations. They include being impressed by the 'Divine Providence' working in the Jews' favor and seeking the favor of Esther and Mordecai, who gained immense power.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=Esther 8 Gill's Exposition |url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/esther/8.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301085645/https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/esther/8.htm |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |website=Biblehub.com}}</ref> But ultimately, the Persian allies and Jews celebrated Purim together and taught their children to read the Book of Esther ({{Bibleverse|Esther|9:27}}).<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Esther 9 Gill's Exposition |url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/esther/9.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423022220/https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/esther/9.htm |archive-date=April 23, 2024 |website=Biblehub.com}}</ref>

According to Rabbi Mordechai Neugroschel, there is a code in the Book of Esther which lies in the names of Haman's 10 sons. Three of the Hebrew letters—a tav, a shin and a zayin—are written smaller than the rest, while a vav is written larger. The outsized vav—which represents the number six—corresponds to the sixth millennium of the world since creation, which, according to Jewish tradition, is the period between 1240 and 2240 CE. As for the tav, shin and zayin, their numerical values add up to 707. Put together, these letters refer to the Jewish year 5707, which corresponds to the secular 1946–1947. In his research, Neugroschel noticed that ten Nazi defendants in the Nuremberg Trials were executed by hanging on 16 October 1946, which was the date of the final judgement day of Judaism, [[Hoshana Rabbah]]. Additionally, [[Hermann Göring]], an eleventh Nazi official sentenced to death, committed suicide, parallel to Haman's daughter in Tractate Megillah.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org.il/Megillah.16a.11?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en|title=Tractate Megillah 16a|website=www.sefaria.org.il|access-date=15 July 2018|archive-date=10 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710164826/https://www.sefaria.org/Megillah.16a.11?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://www.timesofisrael.com/french-best-seller-unravels-nazis-cryptic-last-words-about-purim/ French bestseller unravels Nazi propagandist's cryptic last words about Purim] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610131811/http://www.timesofisrael.com/french-best-seller-unravels-nazis-cryptic-last-words-about-purim/ |date=10 June 2015 }}, Times of Israel 28 December 2012</ref>

== Additions to Esther ==
{{Anchor|Additions to Esther}}<!--[[Additions to the Book of Esther]] redirects here-->
An additional six chapters appear interspersed in Esther in the [[Septuagint]], an early Greek translation of the Bible. This was noted by [[Jerome]] in compiling the Latin [[Vulgate]]. Additionally, the Greek text contains many small changes in the meaning of the main text. Jerome recognized the former as additions not present in the [[Tanakh|Hebrew Text]] and placed them at the end of his Latin translation. This placement is used in Catholic Bible translations based primarily on the Vulgate, such as the [[Douay–Rheims Bible]] and the [[Knox Bible]], with chapters numbered up to 16.<ref>[http://catholicbible.online/knox/OT/Est/ch_16 The Holy Bible – Knox Translation: The Book of Esther, Chapter 16] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231071238/http://catholicbible.online/knox/OT/Est/ch_16 |date=2022-12-31 }}, accessed 31 December 2022</ref> In contrast, the [[Nova Vulgata]] incorporates the additions to Esther directly into the narrative itself, as do most modern Catholic English translations based on the original Hebrew and Greek (e.g., [[Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition]], [[New American Bible]], [[New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition]]). The numbering system for the additions therefore differs with each translation. The Nova Vulgata accounts for the additional verses by numbering them as extensions of the verses immediately following or preceding them (e.g., Esther 11:2–12 in the old Vulgate becomes Esther 1:1a–1k in the Nova Vulgata), while the NAB and its successor, the NABRE, assign letters of the alphabet as chapter headings for the additions (e.g., Esther 11:2–12:6 in the Vulgate becomes Esther A:1–17). The RSVCE and the NRSVCE place the additional material into the narrative, but retain the chapter and verse numbering of the old Vulgate.

===Contents===
These additions are:<ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Greek+Esther+1&version=NRSV the NRSV online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429001428/https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Greek+Esther+1&version=NRSV |date=2022-04-29 }} for the additions</ref>
* an opening prologue that describes a dream had by Mordecai, printed ahead of chapter 1 in RSVCE
* the contents of the decree against the Jews, included within chapter 3 in RSVCE
* an extension to the dialogue between Hathach and Mordecai, placed after 4:8 in RSVCE
* prayers for God's intervention offered by Mordecai and by Esther, both in chapter in RSVCE
* an expansion of the scene in which Esther appears before the king, with a mention of God's intervention, included in chapter 5 in RSVCE
* a copy of the decree in favor of the Jews, added to chapter 8 in RSVCE
* a passage in which Mordecai interprets his dream (from the prologue) in terms of the events that followed, added to chapter 10 in RSVCE
* a colophon appended to the end of chapter 10, also referenced as 11:1, which reads:
{{blockquote|text=In the fourth year of the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, Dositheus, who said that he was a priest and a Levite, and his son Ptolemy brought to Egypt the preceding Letter about Purim, which they said was authentic and had been translated by Lysimachus son of Ptolemy, one of the residents of Jerusalem.|source=(NRSV)}}
It is unclear to which version of Greek Esther this colophon refers, and who exactly are the figures mentioned in it.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Angiolillo|first=Patrick|date=2019|title=Lysimachus|journal=Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception|volume=17|pages=273|doi=10.1515/ebr.lysimachus|doi-access=free}}</ref>

By the time the Greek version of Esther was written, the foreign power visible on the horizon as a future threat to Judah was the kingdom of [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]] under [[Alexander the Great]], who defeated the Persian empire about 150 years after the time of the story of Esther; the [[Septuagint]] version noticeably calls Haman a "Bougaion" ({{langx|grc|βουγαῖον}}), possibly in the Homeric sense of "bully" or "braggart",<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bougaean – Encyclopedia of The Bible – Bible Gateway|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Bougaean|access-date=2021-03-01|website=www.biblegateway.com|language=en|archive-date=2021-03-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316003952/https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Bougaean|url-status=live}}</ref> whereas the Hebrew text describes him as an [[Agagite]].

===Canonicity===
The canonicity of these Greek additions has been a subject of scholarly disagreement practically since their first appearance in the [[Septuagint]].{{snd}} [[Martin Luther]], being perhaps the most vocal [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]]-era critic of the work, considered even the original Hebrew version to be of very doubtful value.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bush|first=Frederic W.|date=1998|title=The Book of Esther: ''Opus non gratum'' in the Christian Canon|url=https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/bbr/esther_bush.pdf|url-status=live|journal=[[Bulletin for Biblical Research]]|volume=8|pages=39–54|doi=10.5325/bullbiblrese.8.1.0039 |jstor=26422154|s2cid=64672092 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820023836/https://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/esther_bush.pdf|archive-date=20 August 2008}}</ref>

The [[Council of Florence|Council of Basel–Ferrara–Florence]] confirmed its status as canonical between 1431 and 1445.<ref>{{cite web | last=Fathers | first=Council | title=Council of Basel 1431-45 A.D. Council Fathers | website=Papal Encyclicals | date=2024-01-31 | url=https://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/ecum17.htm | access-date=2024-08-12}}</ref>

The [[Council of Trent]], the summation of the [[Counter-Reformation]], reconfirmed the entire book,<ref>{{cite web | last=Fathers | first=Council | title=General Council of Trent: Fourth Session | website=Papal Encyclicals | date=2024-01-31 | url=https://www.papalencyclicals.net//councils/trent/fourth-session.htm | access-date=2024-08-12}}</ref> both Hebrew text and Greek additions, as canonical. The Book of Esther is used twice in commonly used sections of the Catholic [[Lectionary]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Lectionary: Scripture Index - Deuterocanonical Books |url=https://catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/Index-Deuterocanonicals.htm |website=catholic-resources.org |access-date=24 August 2024}}</ref> In both cases, the text used is not only taken from a Greek addition. The readings also include the prayer of [[Mordecai]], and nothing of [[Esther]]'s own words is ever used.{{clarify|date=December 2022}} The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] uses the Septuagint version of Esther, as it does for all of the Old Testament.

In contrast, the additions are included in the [[Biblical apocrypha]], usually printed in a separate section (if at all) in [[Protestant bible]]s. The additions, called "The rest of the Book of Esther", are specifically listed in the [[Thirty-Nine Articles]], Article VI, of the [[Church of England]] as non-canonical, though "read for example of life and instruction of manners".<ref>Church of England, [https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/articles-religion#VI Articles of Religion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227100234/https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/articles-religion#VI |date=2019-02-27 }}, accessed 31 December 2022: they are included in the section headed: "And the other Books (as Hierome saith) the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine; such are these following:..."</ref>

== Modern retelling ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year
!Type
!Cast or creator
!class=unsortable|Description
|-
|1511
|Painting
|[[Michelangelo]]
|There are several [[:Category:Paintings of Esther|paintings depicting Esther]] and her story, including ''The Punishment of Haman'' by [[Michelangelo]], in a corner of the [[Sistine Chapel ceiling]].<ref>[[:File:The Punishment of Haman.png|''The Punishment of Haman'']]</ref>
|-
|1660
|Painting
|[[Rembrandt]] van Rijn
|In 1660, [[Rembrandt]] van Rijn's painting of ''Esther's Banquet'' depicts how Esther approached the men at their level to make the request of erasing the decree.
|-
|1689
|Poem
|[[Lucrezia Tornabuoni]]
|The [[Italian Renaissance]] poet [[Lucrezia Tornabuoni]] chose Esther as one of biblical figures on which she wrote poetry.<ref>{{cite book |author=Robin, Larsen and Levin |title=Encyclopedia of women in the Renaissance: Italy, France, and England |page=368}}</ref>
|-
|1689
|Stageplay
|[[Jean Baptiste Racine]]
|[[Jean Baptiste Racine]] wrote ''[[Esther (drama)|Esther]]'', a [[tragedy]], at the request of [[Louis XIV]]'s wife, [[Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon]].
|-
|1718
|Stageplay
|[[Handel]] 
|[[Handel]] wrote the oratorio ''[[Esther (oratorio)|Esther]]'' based on Racine's play.
|-
|1881
|Poem
|[[Christina Rossetti]]
|The eighth poem of 14 in Rossetti's sonnet-of-sonnets sequence ''Monna Innominata'' portrays Esther as brave, beautiful, wise and witty, as 'subtle as a snake', and the woman who 'built her people's house that it should stand'.
|-
|1958
|Book
|[[Gladys Malvern]]
|In 1958, a book entitled ''Behold Your Queen!'' was written by [[Gladys Malvern]] and illustrated by her sister, [[Corinne Malvern]]. It was chosen as a selection of the Junior Literary Guild.
|-
|1960
|Stageplay
|[[Saunders Lewis]]
|The play entitled ''Esther'' (1960), written by Welsh dramatist [[Saunders Lewis]], is a retelling of the story in [[Welsh language|Welsh]].
|-
|1960
|Movie
|[[Joan Collins]]
|A 1960 movie about the story, ''[[Esther and the King]]'', starring [[Joan Collins]].
|-
|1978
|Miniseries
|[[Victoria Principal]]
|A 1978 [[miniseries]] entitled ''[[The Greatest Heroes of the Bible]]'' starred [[Victoria Principal]] as Esther, [[Robert Mandan]] as Xerxes, and [[Michael Ansara]] as Haman.
|-
|1979
|TV movie
|[[Olivia Hussey]]
|A 1979 [[television film]] entitled ''The Thirteenth Day: The Story of Esther'' and aired on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC-TV]], starring [[Olivia Hussey]] as Esther, [[Tony Musante]] as King Ahasuerus, and [[Harris Yulin]] as Haman.
|-
|1981
|Animation
|[[Superbook (1981 TV series)|Superbook]]
|Episode 25 of the 1981 [[anime]] series [[Superbook (1981 TV series)|Superbook]] involves this story
|-
|1983
|Musical
|[[J. Edward Oliver]],<br>[[Nick Munns]]
|The 1983 [[Musical theatre|musical]] entitled ''[[Swan Esther]]'' was written by [[J. Edward Oliver]] and [[Nick Munns]] and released as a concept album with [[Stephanie Lawrence]] and [[Denis Quilley]]. ''[[Swan Esther]]'' has been performed by the [[Young Vic]], a national tour produced by [[Bill Kenwright]] and some amateur groups.
|-
|1986
|Movie
|[[Amos Gitai]]
|Israeli film directed by [[Amos Gitai]] entitled ''[[Esther (1986 film)|Esther]]''.
|-
|1987
|Book
|[[Tomie dePaola]]
|Children's book titled ''Queen Esther'' written and illustrated by award-winning American author [[Tomie dePaola]] and published by [[HarperCollins]].
|-
|1992
|Animation
|[[Helen Slater]]
|In 1992, a 30-minute, fully animated video, twelfth in [[Hanna-Barbera]]'s ''[[The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible|The Greatest Adventure]]'' series, titled ''Queen Esther'' features the voices of [[Helen Slater]] as Queen Esther, [[Dean Jones (actor)|Dean Jones]] as King Ahasuerus, [[Werner Klemperer]] as Haman, and [[Ron Rifkin]] as Mordecai.<ref>{{cite web |author=Books of the Bible Christian Bookstore |title=I Have A Song – Shannon Wexelberg |url=http://www.booksofthebible.com/p1958.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928063806/http://www.booksofthebible.com/p1958.html |archive-date=2011-09-28 |access-date=2007-05-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Internet Antique Shop – The Web's largest antiques & collectibles mall serving collectors since 1995 |url=http://www.earthling.com/cgi-bin/google.fcgi/itemKey=1923000071 |access-date=2007-05-31 |archive-date=2007-10-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021035836/http://www.earthling.com/cgi-bin/google.fcgi/itemKey=1923000071 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|1999
|TV movie
|[[Louise Lombard]]
|TV movie from the ''Bible Collection'' that follows the biblical account very closely, ''[[Esther (1999 film)|Esther]]'', starred [[Louise Lombard]] in the title role and [[F. Murray Abraham]] as Mordecai.<ref>{{cite AV media | people=Mertes, Raffaele (director) | date=1999 | title=Esther | series=The Bible Collection | publisher=[[Pure Flix Entertainment]]}}</ref>
|-
|2000
|Animation
|''[[VeggieTales]]''
|''[[VeggieTales]]'' released "[[Esther... The Girl Who Became Queen]]".
|-
|2005
|Book
|Ginger Garrett
|''Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther'' by Ginger Garrett. 2005, NavPress.{{importance inline|date=July 2015}}
|-
|2006
|Movie
|[[Tiffany Dupont]],<br>[[Luke Goss]]
|A [[Film|movie]] about Esther and Ahasuerus, entitled ''[[One Night with the King]]'', stars [[Tiffany Dupont]] and [[Luke Goss]]. It was based on the novel ''[[Hadassah: One Night with the King]]'' by [[Tommy Tenney]] and [[Mark Andrew Olsen]].
|-
|??
|??
|??
|Esther is one of the five heroines of the [[Order of the Eastern Star]].{{importance inline|date=July 2015}}
|-
|2011
|Song
|[[Maccabeats]]
|On March 8, 2011, the [[Maccabeats]] released a music video called "Purim Song".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Maccabeats – Purim Song | date=8 March 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgJInVvJSZg&feature=player_embedded |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211108/kgJInVvJSZg |archive-date=2021-11-08 |access-date=2011-08-09 |publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
|-
|2012
|Book
|J. T. Waldman
|In 2012, a graphic adaptation of the Book of Esther was illustrated by J. T. Waldman and appeared in volume one of ''[[The Graphic Canon]]'', edited by [[Russ Kick]] and published by [[Seven Stories Press]].
|-
|2013
|Movie
|[[Jen Lilley]]
|[[The Book of Esther (film)|''The Book of Esther'']] is a 2013 movie starring [[Jen Lilley]] as Queen Esther and Joel Smallbone as King Xerxes.<ref>{{Cite AV media | people=White, David A. R. (director) | date=11 June 2013 | title=The Book of Esther | publisher=Lux Vide}}</ref>
|-
|2015
|Book
|Angela Hunt
|Hunt, Angela "Esther: Royal Beauty" (A Dangerous Beauty Novel) (2015)
|-
|2016
|Book
|Rebecca Kanner
|Kanner, Rebecca, "Esther" (2016)
|-
|2011
|Book
|Joan Wolf
|Wolf, Joan,"A Reluctant Queen: The Love Story of Esther" (2011)
|-
|2011
|Book
|Roseanna M. White
|White, Roseanna, M. "Jewel of Persia" (2011)
|-
|2020
|Book
|Jill Eileen Smith
|Smith, Jill, Eileen."Star of Persia: Esther's Story" (2020)
|-
|2013
|Book
|H.B. Moore
|H.B. Moore."Esther the Queen" (2013)
|-
|2014
|Movie
|CJ Kramer
|"Megillas Lester", an animated comedy loosely based on the Book of Esther, where a boy named Daniel Lesterovich (a.k.a., "Lester") is knocked out and travels back in time to the story of the Megillah, and nearly changes history by accidentally saving Queen Vashti. (2014)<ref>{{cite AV media | people=Kramer, C. J. (director) | date=2014 | title=Megillas Lester | publisher=Kolrom Multimedia}}</ref>
|-
|2020
|Book
|Elizabeth Mack
|Mack, Elizabeth. "The Queen of Persia" (2020)
|-
|2019
|Book
|Diana Taylor
|Taylor, Diana, Wallis."Hadassah, Queen Esther of Persia" (2019)
|-
|2020
|Stageplay
|[[Sight & Sound Theatres]]
|Sight & Sound Theatres produced "Queen Esther," a stage production (2020)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-07-29 |title=First Ever Live Broadcast of a Sight & Sound Theater Show to Air Labor Day Weekend - Live! |url=https://www1.cbn.com/television/first-ever-live-broadcast-sight-sound-theater-show-air-labor-day-weekend-live |access-date=2022-10-13 |website=CBN.com - The Christian Broadcasting Network |language=en |archive-date=2022-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013031954/https://www1.cbn.com/television/first-ever-live-broadcast-sight-sound-theater-show-air-labor-day-weekend-live |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sight & Sound Theatres {{!}} Bible Stories Live on Stage |url=https://www.sight-sound.com/shows/branson/queen-esther/2023 |access-date=2022-10-13 |website=www.sight-sound.com |language=en |archive-date=2022-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013031945/https://www.sight-sound.com/shows/branson/queen-esther/2023 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|}

==See also==
*[[Crypteia]]
*[[Grager]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group="note"}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book
 |last         = Clines
 |first        = David J.A.
 |title        = The Esther Scroll
 |year         = 1984
 |publisher    = A&C Black
 |url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=PBediPzesQ0C&pg=PA9
 |isbn         = 9780567157133
 |access-date  = 2017-08-30
 |archive-date = 2023-11-11
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20231111154150/https://books.google.com/books?id=PBediPzesQ0C&pg=PA9#v=onepage&q&f=false
 |url-status   = live
}}
* {{cite book
 |last         = Jobes
 |first        = Karen H.
 |title        = Esther
 |year         = 2011
 |publisher    = Zondervan
 |url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=P-LPe-LlivkC&pg=PA40
 |isbn         = 9780310872146
 |access-date  = 2017-08-30
 |archive-date = 2023-11-11
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20231111154150/https://books.google.com/books?id=P-LPe-LlivkC&pg=PA40#v=onepage&q&f=false
 |url-status   = live
}}
* [[Timothy Beal|Beal, Timothy K]]. ''The Book of Hiding: Gender, Ethnicity, Annihilation, and Esther''. NY: Routledge, 1997. Postmodern theoretical apparatus, e.g. [[Jacques Derrida]], [[Emmanuel Levinas]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060114082336/http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Purim/TO_Purim_History/Esther_830.htm Extract from The JPS Bible Commentary: Esther by Adele Berlin]: Liberal Jewish view.
* Grossman, Jonathan, ''Esther: The Outer Narrative and the Hidden Reading'', Winona Lake, IN.: Eisenbrauns, 2011.
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7YTSRwAACAAJ |title=Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther |isbn=9781608994953 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |last1=Fox |first1=Michael V. |year=2010 }}
* {{cite book |title=Ancient Persia and the Book of Esther |last=Llewellyn-Jones |first=Lloyd |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2023 |isbn=9781786736352 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RYSmEAAAQBAJ |access-date=2023-10-29 |archive-date=2023-10-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029150445/https://books.google.com/books?id=RYSmEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}
* Sasson, Jack M. "Esther" in Alter and Kermode, pp.&nbsp;335–341, literary view
* [http://www.aishdas.org/toratemet/en_esther.html The Historicity of Megillat Esther] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927011437/http://www.aishdas.org/toratemet/en_esther.html |date=2011-09-27 }}: Gil Student's survey of scholarship supporting a historical reading of Esther
* Thespis: Ritual, Myth, and Drama in the Ancient Near East by [[Theodor Gaster]]. 1950.
* White, Sidnie Ann. "Esther: A Feminine Model for Jewish Diaspora" in Newsom
* [http://www.chabad.org/library/archive/LibraryArchive2.asp?AID=15782 Esther (Judaica Press)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060219180810/http://www.chabad.org/library/archive/LibraryArchive2.asp?AID=15782 |date=2006-02-19 }} translation [with [[Rashi]]'s commentary] at Chabad.org
* Cumming, Rev. J. Elder DD ''The Book of Esther: Its spiritual teaching'' London: The Religious Tract Society, 1913
* Fischer, James A. ''Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther''. Collegeville Bible Commentary. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1986.
* Hudson, J. Francis ''Esther: For Such a Time as This''. From ''Character and Charisma'' series. Kingsway, 2000.
* {{cite book |title=The Book of Esther between Judaism and Christianity |last=Kalimi |first=Isaac |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2023 |isbn=9781009266123 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HvnAEAAAQBAJ |access-date=2023-10-29 |archive-date=2023-10-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029150447/https://books.google.com/books?id=HvnAEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}
* Levenson, Jon D. ''Esther''. Old Testament Library Series. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1997.
* McConville, John C. L. ''Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther''. Daily Study Bible Series. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1985.
* Moore, Carey A. ''Esther''. Anchor Bible, vol. 7B. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971.
* [[Lewis B. Paton|Paton, Lewis B]]. ''A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Esther''. International Critical Commentary. Edinburgh, Scotland: T&T Clark, 1908.
* [[Yoram Hazony|Hazony, Yoram]]. ''God and Politics in Esther''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
* Shurpin, Yehuda, [https://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/628769/jewish/How-Could-Esther-Marry-a-Non-Jewish-King.htm ''How Could Esther Marry a Non-Jewish King?''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023034355/https://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/628769/jewish/How-Could-Esther-Marry-a-Non-Jewish-King.htm |date=2020-10-23 }}, [[Chabad.org]].
* {{cite NIE|wstitle=Esther, Book of|year=1905 |short=x}}
* {{cite NIE|wstitle=Esther, Apocryphal Book of|year=1905 |short=x}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
*{{Cite journal|last=Bush|first=Frederic W.|date=1998|title=The Book of Esther: ''Opus non gratum'' in the Christian Canon|journal=Bulletin for Biblical Research|volume=8|pages=39–54|doi=10.5325/bullbiblrese.8.1.0039 |jstor=26422154 |s2cid=64672092 |issn=1065-223X|doi-access=free}}
*{{cite book|chapter=[[s:A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture/LXXXI. Esther|Esther]]|title=A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture|year=1910|publisher=B. Herder|author=Friedrich Justus Knecht}}
*{{Cite Catholic Encyclopedia |wstitle=Esther |volume=5 |first=Arthur Lawrence  |last=McMahon}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Book of Esther}}
{{Wikisource|Esther (Bible)|Esther}}
{{Wikisource|Bible (King James)/Rest_of_Esther|The King James Version of Rest of Esther}}
* [[Eliezer Melamed]], [https://ph.yhb.org.il/en/category/zemanim/05-15/ Purim and Reading the Megillah] in [[Peninei Halakha]] site.

=== Text and translations ===
* Jewish translations
** [http://www.chabad.org/library/archive/LibraryArchive2.asp?AID=15782 Esther (Judaica Press)] translation [with [[Rashi]]'s commentary] at Chabad.org
** [http://www.torahvort.com/torah-topics/purim Purim insights to Megillat Esther]
** [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/i/t/t33.htm Mechon Mamre] Full text, [[Aleppo Codex]]: text of Esther in Hebrew
* Christian translations
** [http://www.vts.edu/ftpimages/95/download/FM.Crawford.Esther.pdf ''Introduction to the Book of Esther''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906131449/http://www.vts.edu/ftpimages/95/download/FM.Crawford.Esther.pdf |date=2015-09-06 }}
* {{librivox book | dtitle=Bible: Esther| stitle=17: Esther}}

=== Physical relics ===
* [https://cja.huji.ac.il/esther/browser.php?mode=main Catalogue of Illuminated Esther Scrolls by Dagmara Budzioch], the Bezalel Narkiss Index of Jewish Art, the [[Center for Jewish Art]] at the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]].
*[https://cja.huji.ac.il/browser.php?mode=set&id=1106 Scroll of the Book of Esther], illustrated, Italy, 1747.

{{Book of Esther}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Book Of Esther}}
[[Category:Book of Esther| ]]
[[Category:4th-century BC books]]
[[Category:Deuterocanonical books|Esther (parts)]]
[[Category:Esther]]
[[Category:Ketuvim| 08]]
[[Category:Purim]]
[[Category:Historical books]]
[[Category:Genocide]]
[[Category:Religion and race]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of ancient Persian people]]