![]() He worried about her terribly, walking back and forth every day near the courtyard of the harem to discover how Esther was faring. They took many young women (they had no choice), including Esther, who was described as “ lovely in form and features.” (2:7) She immediately became a favorite, received special food, seven maids to attend to her, and moved “ into the best place in the harem.” (2:9)Įsther hid her Jewish background because her cousin Mordecai feared for her safety and forbid her to reveal it. ![]() They would bring them to the palace and spruce them up with 12 months of beauty treatments. The king’s advisers proposed to round up beautiful young virgins from throughout the kingdom. “ There will be no end of disrespect and discord.” (1:18b) So a royal decree went out declaring every man ruler of his own house and included a provision for the removal of Vashti. Queen Vashti’s actions, they impulsively decided, would cause other women to act in the same way. On the seventh day, the King, “ in high spirits from the wine”, instructed his servants to bring the Queen to him so he could flaunt her beauty to all.īut Queen Vashti refused- it went against Persian custom for women to appear before a public gathering of men.įearing the fallout from his wife’s refusal, the King huddled with his advisors. Queen Vashti, meanwhile, was holding her own banquet for the women of the palace. (He was preparing to invade Greece and needed to flex some muscle/show off…) We read about Xerxes’s 180-day display of wealth and majesty, followed by a 7-day banquet where the “royal wine was abundant” (1:7) and free flowing. ![]() History of EstherĮsther’s rise to Queen begins with the Persian King Xerxes’ problems with his present Queen, Vashti. It is one of the many times we see how God worked behind the scenes to provide for her, and her people. Losing her parents at a young age must have been very difficult for Esther. And Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died.” Esther 2:7 NIV. “Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother…. Her parents both died at some point, and her cousin Mordecai adopted and raised her. Esther Family TreeĮsther’s father’s name was Abihail and her parents named her Hadassah at birth- (it was a common practice of the Jews to have double names).¹ But Esther’s parents were among those who opted to stay. By decree, the Jews had been given permission to return to Jerusalem. So what made Esther so special? Her book is one of only two named for women!įacts about Queen Esther Where did Esther Live?Įsther was living in exile in Persia, as were many Jews scattered throughout this vast empire. The story of Queen Esther kept popping up and the #1 thing I remembered was God’s name is never mentioned. I’ve written about a few- Mary and Martha, Hannah, Lydia, etc., and wanted to get back to the topic. The Bible is full of encouraging stories about the lives of women, which is quite amazing considering their second-class status of their day.
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