The Rabbis include Esther among the seven most beautiful women in the world (BT Megillah 15a). not tell how old she was, is certainly not historical and appears case we can not say how old she was. cit.). Corrections? Her death is believed to have been around the age of 57. Meir, Tamar. 20). Honor the king. 49). brought him up to be favorable to the Jews and he later rebuilt the This tradition results from the desire to equate Esthers age with that of Abraham when he left his native land forThe Land of IsraelErez Israel upon Gods command. The Rabbis also offer various proofs that the Book of Esther was written with the spirit of divine inspiration. In reference to her lineage, the Rabbis state that she continued the way of the members of her tribe: Rachel, Benjamin, and Saul(Gen. Rabbah71:35; see below: Esther Does Not Reveal Her Origins). old, non-virgin wife. The Rabbis devote extensive attention to Esthers observance of the laws of niddah. There was no King Ahasuerus of Persia, but many Bible commentaries observe that Ahasuerus is likely the Hebraicised version of King Xerxes, the Achaemenid leader who ruled from 486 to 465 BCE.Historians say that Queen Amestris was Xerxes' only known wife and was definitely still queen at the time the biblical account says that Xerxes married Esther, casting doubt on the biblical story. Codification of basic Jewish Oral Law; edited and arranged by R. Judah ha-Nasi c. 200 C.E. . For an analysis of these sources and their reliability, see Tal Ilan,Integrating Women into Second Temple History(Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1999), esp. Most of the Jews preferred the comfortable life of the Persian Empire to an arduous life rebuilding their devastated homeland. No, Esther and Mordecai were not married. The ancient Jewish historian Josephus provides some details. Commenting on Deuteronomy 11:13-14, which describes rain falling in its season as a reward for keeping the commandments, Sifre Deuteronomy writes (42): In other words, Rabbi Nathan observes that in the days of Queen Shelamzion, the people actually obeyed the commandmentsthey were all good for a change!and God rewarded the Israelites with plentiful rain from heaven. Updates? She married her cousin Alexander of Judaea (died 48 BC), who was the son of Aristobulus II. Because of Haman's law, she and all the Jews in the kingdom would be killed. The Babylonian tradition maintains that Esther was Mordecais wife. Estimates vary, but she was most likely between 50 and 60 years old when she died. The Jews honored God and knew that one should not bow down to Haman, or any of his gods, for it was a sign of idolatry and would directly break the command of God. Esther was born about 492BC and was 14 when she became Queen. Along with Queen Shelamzion Alexandra, Queen Esther shows that skills at the negotiating table should be just as valued as skills in the field of war. The story of Esther happened after Cyrus, the first Persian King, called for all deported Jews to return to Jerusalem to build the House of God (538 B.C., Ezra 1:2). The enraged King ordered Haman's hanging, elevated Mordecai to prime minister and gave Jews the right to defend themselves against any enemy. Another view cites the verse (9:27): the Jews undertook and irrevocably obligated themselveswhat they took upon themselves below was confirmed above (BTMegillahloc. According to one tradition, she was forty years old, while another places her age at seventy-four, which is the numerical value of the name Hadassah (Esthers second name), or, according to another calculation of this numerical value, seventy-five (see above). She was living there as part of the harem of the king, but was singled out by the King who was so taken with her beauty that he chose her to be his queen. She she fasts for three days, she goes to the king, enduring many obstacles while traveling through the palace but protected by angels. Help JWA continue to lift up Jewish womens stories, this month and every month, by. [3] See discussion in Ilan, Daughters of Israel, Weep for Rabbi Ishmael!: The School of Rabbi Aqiva vs. the School of Rabbi Ishmael,Silencing the Queen: The Literary Histories of Shelamzion and Other Jewish Women(Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006). To hide her identity as a Jew, he tells her to go by the name of Esther. How old was The Queen Mother when she died? Mordecai was elevated to second-in-command in the kingdom. Queen Elizabeth II, the UK's longest-serving monarch, has died at Balmoral aged 96, after reigning for 70 years. old or so, Estheryuckthat's not what they showed in the [11] Elias J. Bickerman, The Colophon of the Greek Book of Esther,Journal of Biblical Literature63.4 (1944): 339-62. In another exposition, she was given this name by the Gentiles, after the celestial body Istahar (BTLit. Ultimately, Mordecais wife remains an unknown figure in the story, but her role in supporting her husband and protecting the Jewish people demonstrates her dedication and strength. As a result, the king reversed his decree and the Jews were saved from death. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. Menstruation; the menstruant woman; ritual status of the menstruant woman. Daniel probably died shortly after Darius took the throne in 521 Plath famously battled depression and other mental illnesses, and the same is true of Esthers condition in the novel. Sometimes it was hard for Esther because the other Jews were treated badly. Esther was taken to the royal harem despite her being married, which further aggravated her sorry condition. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'coalitionbrewing_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_10',152,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-coalitionbrewing_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0');Her true identity was kept hidden from everyone, until she was forced to reveal it in order to save her people from the decree of death from Persias ruling king. The Book of Esther does not say how old Esther was when she was taken to Ahasueruss palace; different midrashic traditions address this question. Esther was a Jewish woman who lived in Persia during the period following the destruction of the First Holy Temple, when many Jews had been taken as slaves to Babylonia, which was subsequently overtaken by Persia. Esth. And lest you think I am making an argument about gendered skills (i.e., what women do vs. what men do), the following from the late biblical scholar Tikva Frymer-Kensky is noteworthy: With these two queens, the Torah and Jewish history model another way of being successful in the world, both for men and women. Rabbah 6:5; BT Megillah 13a). She became the new wife of the king when his . My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me? Jesus or Esther? This makes Esther 60 years younger than her cousin Mordecai. It was Mordecai who helped Esther win the favor of the King, who then chose her to be his queen. [6], Typical of his time period, Josephus was uncomfortable with the idea of a woman in charge of political affairs but admits that. "And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all who saw her." (2:15). In common parlance, the braided loaves blessed and eaten on the Sabbath and Festivals.hallah from dough,niddah, and the kindling of the Sabbath candle, even in the palace of Ahasuerus (Midrash Tehilim, onPs. Another tradition has Mordecais wife nursing the infant (Midrash Tehilim, onPs. She is the author of several books, including On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel: Angels in Ancient Jewish Culture (University of California Press, 2021). The Book ofEsther (2:11)relates that Mordecai would walk about in front of the court of the harem, to learn how Esther was faring. The Rabbis understood Mordecais escorting of Esther as his providing her withThe legal corpus of Jewish laws and observances as prescribed in the Torah and interpreted by rabbinic authorities, beginning with those of the Mishnah and Talmud.halakhic guidance, for he would rule for her in questions ofMenstruation; the menstruant woman; ritual status of the menstruant woman.niddah (the laws governing menstrual purity, and, more generally, family purity; see below: Esthers Personal Status"). "scroll." Answer (1 of 5): I don't about my husband Ahaserus, but I, Haddasha aka Esther never died, for here I Am. When she became orphaned, she was adopted by her cousin Mordecai. The Book of Esther was probably written in the 2nd centurybce. Read the entire Scripture account of the life of Queen Esther in the Bible verses below and use the articles and videos to understand the meaning of this teachable event in the Bible:. cit. The Jews receive permission to defend themselves against their oppressors, and many of the enemies of the Jews are killed. Esther remained passive and allowed the King to rape her repeatedly. What did the Nazis begin using gas chambers instead of mobile killing units and shooting squads after a while? In common parlance, the braided loaves blessed and eaten on the Sabbath and Festivals. I told her not to tell anyone she was an Israelite, though, because a lot of people still didn't like Israelites and I thought King Xerxes might not pick her to be the new queen if he knew she was an . 7:5states: Thereupon King Ahasuerus demanded [va-yomerliterally, and he saidwritten twice in the verse] of Queen Esther, Who is he. The midrash is of the opinion that the verbva-yomeris repeated here because Ahasuerus initially spoke directly to Esther, but when he discovered that she was a Jew, he spoke to her through an interpreter. Esthers first husband was Mordecai. [4] Tal Ilan devotes a chapter to discussing the name Shelamzion inSilencing the Queen, 259ff. There is support for this too in the Talmud (Yoma 29a).4) Esther comes from the Median "astra," meaning "myrtle." An additional stratagem employed by Esther against Haman was connected with his leading Mordecai on the horse. After the immediate danger to her community passed, Queen Esther stayed with Ahasuerus. even met her a few times when He was a young boy. Victoria's funeral began on 2 February 1901. She had two grown sons (Aristobulus and Hyrcanus II), but she decided not to step aside for them; perhaps she foresaw that the rivalry between the younger and older son would not end well. It is also thought that Mordecai may have had additional children, as it is not explicitly mentioned that Esther is his only child. Modesty and Sexuality in Halakhic Literature, What Queen Esther can teach us about intermarriage. King Xerxes ordered Queen Vashti to appear at a banquet, but she refused to do so which led to her banishment. Even though she was the queen and the favorite of Xerxes, Esther was taking a great risk in deciding to go to him. Rabbah6:8), or to arrange for the kashrut of her food. What is the labour of cable stayed bridges? Abase him before me, for You abase the proud (Esth. Esther would then be aged18 when she wins the beauty contest, 22 when she becomes queen (Esther 2:16-17), and 27 when she helps to defeat Haman's genocide scheme. Rabbah6:5; BTLit. Thisdevarbuilds on Ilans work: her oeuvre is well known to academics but is not as well known as it could be tothe reading public. Mordecai and Esther respond to this that the story in the Book of Esther was already recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Media and Persia(Esth. Her son Charles, 73, is now king. She is mentioned several times throughout the Book of Esther. Her thoughts are characterized by pressured speech, disorganized thought processes, confusion, and paranoia. As the Queen died on the Isle of Wight, her body was carried on board the HMY Alberta with several yachts taking the mourners and King Edward VII to Gosport in Hampshire and then by train to Victoria station in London. She never forgot her cousin Mordecai and she never forgot that she was one of God's children. The King also issued a proclamation throughout the land to honor Mordecai. Scripture is silent on when and how Queen Esther died, and history is also silent on her life, as well. Esther before she died (I'm guessing she died in 464 BC) and maybe One of these officials was the biblical Mordecai. Rabbah8:3). The Rabbis perceived this going as having sexual connotations, which therefore had tragic consequences for Esther and for Mordecai(BTMegillah16a; see below: Esther Comes to the Rescue of Her People). In conclusion, yes, Mordechai was indeed Esthers cousin. The short answer is that we'll never know. "scroll." Happy Womens History Month! 5:3), but not things that were opposed to the kingdom, such as her asking him to rebuild the Temple (BT Megillah loc. In spite of its origins it soon became the basis of the Jewish festival of Purim.According to the book, Vashti, Esther's predecessor as queen of Persia, was divorced by her husband, King Xerxes (Ahasuerus), who then sought a suitable virgin for his wife, finally choosing Esther. Do you, or does someone you know, demonstrate the same total commitment to a mission, even at the cost of sacrificing personal happiness? What is a reason a mathematical model can fail? They married in 478 BC after the former queen, Vashti, was banished for being unable to fulfill her husband's demands. What is the answer punchline algebra 15.1 why dose a chicken coop have only two doors? He even granted permission for the Jews to arm themselves with weapons and deliver the kings edicts throughout the kingdom. The two were very close and Mordecai was highly regarded and respected by both King Xerxes and the Jewish people. No biblical law specifies that only men can reign, although hundreds of years after Shelamzions reign, the rabbis of would interpret Deuteronomy 17:14, which states You will set a king over you as a king, not a queen (Sifre Deuteronomy 157).[3]. The Bible doesn't say how old Esther was when she married him, but if she was 17 this would make her born in 500BC. Through his actions, along with those of his cousin Esther, the Jews were saved from extermination. In the Erez Israel tradition, she miscarried the fetus she bore in her womb (the offspring of Ahasuerus) (Esth. Wake up to the day's most important news. See Ilana Pardes,Countertraditions in the Bible: A Feminist Approach(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992), 126 ff. Why did she stay with him, rather than restart her life? Esther was a young Jewish girl taken into the palace of the king of Persia, King Ahasuerus. Her reign is famous as 'The Golden Age', for its . Rabbah6:4). The best. [11] According to the colophon to Greek Esther, a delegation of Jews from Jerusalem went to Egypt with the translation of the story of Megillat Esther and asked the Jews of Alexandria to begin celebrating the festival of Purim. a. The Talmud sees Haman's decree as a punishment from Heaven to these Jews. Her jar represented her strength and her resilience and gives a powerful message of hope to all those facing oppression. Continue Learning about Religious Studies. She should know better to try to fool God who said to her, "No, but you did laugh . The events of Esther unfold over an eight- to ten-year period. This shows that her selection was part of the divine plan; Esther was meant to rule in order to bring deliverance to all Israel (Lit. Alexandra the Maccabee. Elizabeth I is one of England's most well-known monarchs. The Jewish festival ofPurimcelebrates this event. He wished Queen Vashti to be brought to the feast so that he may flaunt her wonderful beauty. Rabbah6:5). ; Frymer-Kensky,In the Wake of the Goddesses, 137-38. I'm also He was born in 518BC. When the king saw his queen, Xerxes lowered his golden scepter to invite Esther into his presence. But to approach the king without being summoned was not only illegal, but it could very well result in death for impertinence. What is the reflection of the story of princess urduja? A day was set aside for the slaughter, and a decree issued to every corner of the empire. Vintage colour lithograph from 1882 of Esther standing in the Inner Court of the King's House. cit.). Throughout the book of Esther, Queen Esthers bravery and courage is seen as an example of how God can deliver and uses those who are willing to obey and trust Him. One day he overheard a conspiracy between two of the king's guards who wanted to assassinate Xerxes. Features thousands of biographic and thematic essays on Jewish women around the world. He had a war against Greece in 480-470BC, when he was 39-49. She had been suffering from a cold for the previous four months. At first, Esther was hesitant to approach the king, as anyone who approached him without his invitation was put to death unless the king extended his top scepter. She had one. cit.). Esthers secret was that she was a Jew, which she was able to hide from her adoptive family and community. window.location.replace(""); Read a brief summary of this topic. Consequently, Esther was not considered to be a married woman who willingly engaged in adultery, and she was therefore permitted to Mordecai; indeed, the Rabbis maintain that she continued to live with the latter, at the same time that she was married to Ahasuerus (BT Megillah 13b). Esther had been made queen to save her people. Esther was a good queen. Esther replaced Queen Vashti, who had been sentenced to death because she had refused to display her beauty to the King's feast attendants. Verily, I seek Your mercy from window to window in the house of Ahasuerus. cit.). Their legal marriage age suggests that they prefer young people below 18 (prime of the youth). In this article: Her Name Early Life Palace Life Esther and Mordechai Save the King's Life Esthers jar captures her willingness to stand up and fight against her oppressors, despite being completely alone and without support. 2:7states: Mordecai adopted her as his own daughter [literally: took herle-vat], which the midrash understands as: Mordecai took herle-bayit, that is, as a wife (BTMegillahloc. See also Susan Niditch,A Prelude to Biblical Folklore: Underdogs and Tricksters(Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2000). She King Xerxes: King Xerxes married Esther when he was 41 years old. We just don't know. When Esther pointed and declared(Esth. This exegesis casts the Biblical narrative in a different light. The regimen of rituals, songs and textual readings performed in a specific order on the first two nights (in Israel, on the first night) of Passover. "the written Torah." For today's Bible studies, we're going to discuss 10 characteristics of Esther in the Bible. In one exegetical expansion, the women in the harem would adorn Esther, for they said to themselves: This one will certainly be married to the king, so it is worth our while to honor her (Midrash Panim Aherim, version B, para. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Persians are modern day Iranians and they are not Jews. What did the Nazis begin using gas chambers instead of mobile killing units and shooting squads after a while. Is the singer Avant and R Kelly brothers? The combined symptoms in Esther signify that she was suffering from a serious psychiatric illness, but the precise diagnosis remains unclear. His father was Kish, who descended from the House of Benjamin. During the . It can also be assumed from the story that Mordecai was well aware that bowing to Haman may compromise his loyalty to the Jews and God, and thus put him in a dangerous situation. Rabbah30:4). Designation of the five scrolls of the Bible (Ruth, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther). Queen Esther is an orphan raised by her uncle Mordecai and is eventually married to King Ahasuerus. As Tal Ilan has suggested, this moment is also crucial because it shows us that the decision to promote the book of Esther could well be associated with the coronation of Shelamzion Alexandria and that it may have been part of a larger literary campaign designed to promote the leadership of women through dialogue with other contemporary points of view which were hostile to the idea of women in power (as Josephus was, for example). As Esther poured her tears and anguish into the jar, it became a bridge between her innermost feelings and the outside world. Her jar allowed her to find a voice in a situation where she could feel voiceless. The Bible depicts Esther as an orphan who was raised in the house of her uncle Mordecai(Esth. Esther may or may not have reflected the historical reality of the Persian period, but her story provided a model for a new reality in Shelamzions lifetime. 100). Prof. Mika Ahuvia is Associate Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Washington and currently holds the Marsha and Jay Glazer Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies. This understanding of the Book of Esther is linked to the perception of Esther as a prophet: she is included in the list of seven women prophets(BTMegillah14a; Seder Olam Rabbah21). The Rabbis compare Esther to the son of the uncle who redeems an ancestral landholding(Lev. With great courage, Esther fasts for three days, arranges a banquet with the king and Haman, then pleads with the king to save the Jews. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'coalitionbrewing_com-leader-3','ezslot_14',155,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-coalitionbrewing_com-leader-3-0');Furthermore, Esthers actions become increasingly irrational and her behavior can be classified as psychotic. Later pilgrims mentioned the site, and noted that special celebrations were held there on Shushan Purim. Esther was ready to endanger herself and even to give her life to save her people, who therefore are called her people (4:8): to plead with him for her people(Ex. point. Princess Margaret, the Queen's younger sister, was born in 1930. In the affair of Bigthan and Teresh, Esther continued to follow Mordecais instructions. Lit. It was only when Esther came that Ahasuerus removed the likeness of Vashti and replaced it with that of Esther (Esth. "order." The Queen died in the afternoon of September 8, 2022. In post-Temple times, a small piece of dough set aside and burnt. Ilan relies upon Bickermans dating, as does Aaron KollersEsther in Ancient Jewish Thought(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014). Esther had been made queen to save her people; her mission and her faith shaped her character and inspired her to act and succeed. She was Jewish but never revealed her nationality or family background as Mordecai had. Esth. A seven-day festival to commemorate the Exodus from Egypt (eight days outside Israel) beginning on the 15. For the name of Esther, a number of etymologies are possible.1) Esther comes from the Persian "setareh," meaning "star".2) Esther comes from the Aramaic "istahar," meaning "moon." The Bible does not specify how old she was when her parents died. Mordecai stopped at the gate because he wanted to tell the king about a plot to kill him. was the wife of the Persian King Xerxes [aka "Ahasuerus" in many Jacob had traveled a great distance to find Laban. Mordechai later adopted Esther as his daughter after her parents died. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. This means she had been married to the king for approximately 40 years at the time of her death. He also appointed her as queen of the Persian Empire and gave her a royal medal of honor. 22:16). guessing that Nehemiah was probably not around when the events of The Rabbis relate to Esther as the one responsible for the deliverance of Israel and compare her to the moon, which shone for Israel in the darkness of night. cit.). Another tradition has her becoming pregnant by Ahasuerus, but miscarrying (Esth. Bruce Feiler says in Where God was Born that Queen Amestris was Xerxes' only known wife, and that she remained queen long after the third year of his reign, when Vashti was supposedly deposed by Xerxes.The story of Queen Esther is demonstrably non-historical, but she is portrayed as saving the Jews of the Persian Empire from destruction. We don't know, though tradition teaches that she lived a long life. In the midrashic exposition, Ahasuerus tries to discover Esthers origins, explaining that this would be beneficial for her relatives, since he would appoint them to important positions (Midrash Panim Aherimloc. Rabbah6:9). Institution: National Library of Israel, Jerusalem. Yes, Mordechai was indeed Esthers cousin. A teacher walks into the Classroom and says If only Yesterday was Tomorrow Today would have been a Saturday Which Day did the Teacher make this Statement? There is not one correct rendering of her name in any rabbinic manuscript (260). According to tradition, the book of Esther was written in the mid-4th century BCE, and was made part of the canon which was sealed a couple of decades after.Esther was queen for about 11 years.The name of Mordecai is the Judaised pronunciation of Marduka, which is attested in the Persepolis Texts as the name of officials in the Persian court during the period of Xerxes I. Similarly, Shelamzion had to succeed against all odds to maintain her queenship. Rabbah15:6). if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'coalitionbrewing_com-leader-2','ezslot_12',154,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-coalitionbrewing_com-leader-2-0');Throughout the course of the story, Esther suffers from a major depressive episode, possibly accompanied by severe anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Ahasueruss intimates attempted sorcery, so that her hands and feet would look like leather hides, but a miracle was performed for her and they began to shine like sapphires (Midrash Tehilim, onPs. 2:7). On returning, he found Haman falling on the couch where Esther was. The king mistook Hamans frantic pleas for mercy as an attack upon the queen. What can we learn from Esther about our personal understanding of our true life's mission? This last event was around the same time that Esther became Queen. Mordecai was a trusted advisor to King Xerxes of Persia and Esther was his adopted daughter. Laying the scene atSusa, a residential city of the Persian kings, the Book of Esther narrates thatKing Ahasuerus deposed his first wife, Queen Vashti, after she refused to display her beauty to the people and nobles at the kings feast. The matter became known to Mordecai, who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king: Mordecai's attitude wasn't "I'm a Jewish man in exile under a pagan king, so I do not care if he is killed.". Her story is one of faith, courage, and resilience, and her bravery serves as an inspiration to others to never give up fighting for what you believe in. After Esther was crowned queen, Mordecai held an important position at the palace and worked closely with the Queen in all matters.
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