© David Staume 2007

Esther is set in the Persian empire. The author is unknown. Because there is no mention of God, this book was nearly excluded from the canon. Esther is not history; it is literary fiction.

1. King Xerxes ruled over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces from India to Cush. In his third year as king he gave a banquet for all his officials, and the wine flowed freely. While drunk, Xerxes commanded his eunuchs to bring his queen, Vashti, and display her in front of his guests. Vashti refuses the king's order and the embarrassed king is angry. Fearing her conduct will become known and lead to women disobeying their husbands everywhere (heaven forbid), Xerxes decides to make an example of her and decrees Vashti is no longer his queen.

2-3. Xerxes decrees that a search be conducted for beautiful young virgins and his new queen will be the one that pleases him the most. The young women are gathered, Xerxes spends the night with them all, and at the end of this process he proclaims Esther as his queen. Esther is a Jew but keeps her heritage to herself. Esther's cousin, Mordecai, uncovers a plot by two guards to assassinate Xerxes. No motive or detail of the plot are given other than Xerxes had made them angry. Mordecai tells Esther, Esther tells Xerxes, and the guards are hanged.

3. Mordecai refuses to bow before a government official, Haman, who becomes angry at his insubordination. When Haman finds out that Mordecai is a Jew he convinces Xerxes that the Jews have different customs, do not obey his laws, and should be exterminated.

4-6. When Mordecai tells Esther of Haman's plan to exterminate the Jews, Esther asks Xerxes and Haman to come to a banquet she is preparing. Meanwhile, Haman builds a gallows to hang Mordecai, and Xerxes discovers that Mordecai has not been honoured for his role in foiling the assassination. Xerxes asks Hanam what should he do for the man he wants to honour. Haman, thinking the king is referring to him, suggests a parade through the city on horseback. Xerxes instructs Haman to arrange this for Mordecai. Haman is mortified.

7-10. When this is concluded, Haman is brought to Esther's banquet where she reveals Haman's plan to kill 'her people'. Xerxes hangs Haman on the gallows that Haman built for Mordecai, and the decree to kill the Jews is rescinded. Esther asks Xerxes to also kill Haman's ten sons. The Jews in Susa turn the tables on their enemies and kill five hundred men, while the Jews in other areas kill seventy-five thousand. These events become a period of celebration for the Jews called Purim.

A story of vain kings, royal intrigue, racism, attempted genocide, and bloody revenge. In other words, your Old Testament stock-in-trade. Interestingly, God is not mentioned, although he would undoubtedly approve of all this. What this shows is that these things are attributes of the people and the times, whether a fictional God is brought into the picture or not.

Back to Nehemiah. Forward to Job.