The Book of Esther is a history of Israel while the Jews were in the lands of their captivity. It is a historical chronicle that centres around the life of two people, and particularly around the fate of all Jews who lived throughout the Persian Empire.
Esther’s story takes place in the Persian Empire during the reign of Ahasuerus, known more familiarly to us by the Greek form of his name, Xerxes I. He was the son of Darius the Great and reigned from 486-465 B.C., Ezra 4:24 / Ezra 5:5-7 / Ezra 6:1-15 / Daniel 6:1 /Daniel 6:25 / Haggai 1:15 / Haggai 2:10. He ruled over a vast empire that extended from India to Ethiopia, Esther 1:1.
Esther was a descendant of the tribe of Benjamin, which had been part of the kingdom of Judah. Her ancestors were among the Jews who had been carried captive to Babylon nearly one hundred years earlier.
After the death of Esther’s parents, she was brought up in Susa by her uncle, Mordecai, Esther 2:7, who served in the Persian ruler’s palace. She was a Jewish orphan girl who eventually became the queen of Persia.
The book, which is named after Esther, is purely historical, and what’s unique about it is that the Name of God doesn’t appear anywhere within it. However, just because the Name of God isn’t mentioned, this doesn’t mean that God is absent. Whilst reading through the book, we can clearly see God’s fingerprints throughout.
This book is named after Esther, whose Jewish name was Hadassah. Some believe that she was Queen Amestris, whom the historian Herodotus mentioned as the queen during the reign of Xerxes, that is, Ahasuerus, the king of Persia. Her name means ‘a star,’ which was possibly given to her because of her unique beauty.
No one knows who wrote the book, but it must have been written after the death of Ahasuerus, the Xerxes of the Greeks, which took place in B.C. 465. Some commentators believe that because of the historical details within the book, the writer was contemporary with Mordecai and Esther. Hence, they conclude that the book was written probably about B.C. 444 and that the author was one of the Jews of the dispersion.
The exact date of the book is difficult to determine; however, some commentators suggest that because Ahasuerus is generally linked to Xerxes I, 486-464 B.C., the events of the book correspond to the dates 483-473 B.C.
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