Esther

The assembly Xerxes called lasted for 180 days, during which he displayed the splendor of his wealth. It culminated in a seven-day feast of luxurious dining and drunkenness. The opulence of the Persian court is described to indicate the vast resources and power of the king.

In a drunken stupor, the king called for Queen Vashti to "display her beauty" before his guests. Her refusal, probably out of decency, threatened the king's reputation. At Memucan's advice, the king deposed her. Xerxes' action is a parody on Persian might, for the powerful king could not even command his own wife.

The second section of the story concerns the exaltation of Esther and the evil plot by Haman to exterminate the Jews. The role of Mordecai as Esther's cousin and Haman's hated enemy links the two episodes.

Queen Esther's Rise (2:1-23). Xerxes, at his attendants' advice, ordered a search for Vashti's successor. The narrator revealed Esther's nationality by first identifying Mordecai's lineage as a Benjamite of the family of Kish. Mordecai was Esther's foster parent and elder cousin. Esther ("Hadassah," her Hebrew name) was among those brought to the king's palace because of her exceptional beauty. At Mordecai's advice she concealed her nationality, a factor that figured in her advantage over the enemy Haman.

One year of purification was required for an audience with the king. Esther was received by the king four years after the deposition of Vashti (479 b.c.; 2:16; 1:3). She won his approval and became queen. The western expedition against the Greeks by Xerxes' Persian ships ended in disaster at Salamis in 481 b.c. His selection of Esther occurred after this debacle.

Mordecai, who may have been in the king's service as a gatekeeper, discovered a plot to kill Xerxes (perhaps because of disaffection over his losses at Salamis). The two culprits were hanged on gallows, and Mordecai's heroism was recorded. From this incident Mordecai learned of Esther's new power at court. The concealment of her identity and the record of Mordecai's deed would lead to Haman's eventual undoing (6:1-2; 7:3-6). The traitors' gallows anticipated Haman's own death for the same crime of treachery (7:10).

Haman's Plan (3:1-15). The theme of power is continued by the introduction of Haman as second in position to the king. This incident took place about five years after the installation of Queen Esther (2:16; 3:7). Haman is identified as an "Agagite," perhaps a descendant of the Amalekite king, Agag, who was defeated but spared by King Saul (1 Sam. 15). Israel and Amalek were enemies from Moses' time (Exod. 17:8-16). For the author, the contention between Haman and Mordecai, a descendant of Kish (as was Saul), typified the enmity between Israel and the Gentiles. This Agagite, however, would not be spared.

While others bowed to Haman, Mordecai refused to worship him because of his Jewish faith—as Daniel had declined to worship Darius (Dan. 6). Haman masterminded a plot to exterminate all the Jews. The divinely appointed day and month was determined by the casting of the pur, meaning lot (Akkadian). The king was persuaded to permit the mass murder by official decree and sealed by the king's own signet ring (see 8:2,8). Couriers raced throughout the empire to deliver the decree that on the thirteenth day of Adar, some eleven months later, the Jews were to be destroyed. The common people of Susa were shocked by the cold-blooded decree in contrast to the conspirators, who meanwhile confidently celebrated.

Esther's position enabled her to save the Jews if she were willing to risk her own standing. After recounting Esther's vow of devotion, the author told how Esther took the lead and devised her own scheme to outmaneuver Haman. Ironically, Haman unwittingly devised his own end.

Mordecai's Plea (4:1-17). When Mordecai learned of the murderous plot, he and all the Jews joined in mourning, fasting, and the wearing of sackcloth and ashes. This spontaneous act of grief evidenced the solidarity of the Jews. The custom of sackcloth and ashes included prayers of confession and worship (1 Kgs. 21:27-29; Neh. 9:1-3; Dan. 9:3). Esther learned of the decree from her messenger Hathach, who relayed Mordecai's plea for her help. But Esther explained that she could not approach the king because Persian law meted out death to anyone entering uninvited. Mordecai answered by warning her that as a Jewess her own life was in jeopardy and that God could save His people by another means if she failed. He believed that her exaltation in the palace had a holy purpose. Esther's trust in God was the turning point. She requested a communal fast by all the Jews as they petitioned God (Ezra 8:21-23; see Acts 13:3; 14:23). She replied to Mordecai with courage and confidence in God's will: "If I perish, I perish" (see Dan. 3:16-18).

Esther's Banquet (5:1-14). The prayers of God's people were answered because Xerxes received Esther without incident. She invited the king and Haman to a banquet whereupon she would make her request known. Once the guests had enjoyed their fill, Esther wisely delayed her request for another day of feast-ing—no doubt to heighten the king's interest in the petition.

Haman left in a happy mood, but it was tempered by his fury for "the Jew Mordecai." Haman boasted of his authority, but these boasts would later turn into tears of humiliation (6:12-13a; 7:7-8a). Haman's friends and family would be repaid with their own lives on the very gallows they had recommended for Mordecai (7:10; 9:14).

This section features the key reversal in Haman's and Mordecai's fates. Mordecai was honored by the king, much to Haman's humiliation. The final indignity of foolish Haman was his pathetic effort to save himself from the gallows.

Mordecai Honored by Haman (6:1-14). The unstated reason for the king's insomnia was God's providence. To pass the sleepless night, servants brought the royal annals where Mordecai's deed of saving the king was read (see 2:19-23). Haman was consulted, but ironically his egotism caused him unintentionally to honor Mordecai. The depiction of Mordecai dressed in royalty and being led on horseback by Haman anticipates their inverted roles to come. Even his friends and wife voiced the theological proposition of the book: Mordecai is invincible because he is a Jew.

Haman's Hanging (7:1-10). Not only did Mordecai get the best of Haman, but Esther outsmarted him. On the following day, Esther assembled her guests for the second banquet, during which she revealed her entreaty (see 5:7-8). The fivefold repetition of "Queen Esther" in this chapter echoed Mordecai's plea that she had come to power for this moment (4:14). Alluding to Haman's bribe (3:9), she described herself and the Jews as "sold for destruction." She identified Haman as the adversary.

Haman, true to his character as a blundering dunce, begged for the queen's mercy, thus breaking protocol with the king's harem. He magnified his folly by stumbling to her couch, creating the appearance of improprieties and thereby sealing his doom with the irate king. The gallows, whose references tower over much of the narrative (2:23; 5:14; 7:9-10; 8:7; 9:13,25), afforded the Jews their vindication by the hanging of Haman.

This royal decree Mordecai wrote answered Haman's evil decree (see 3:8-11). This parallelism continues the theme of reversal, the decree enabling the Jews to take the offensive against their enemies. The thirteenth of Adar, the day planned for the Jews' destruction, was exchanged for the two-day celebration of Purim because of the Jews' conquest.

Mordecai's Plan (8:1-17). Rather than Jewish property falling into Haman's hands (3:13b), Haman's property and authority were given to Esther and Mordecai. But Haman's villainous plot remained, and Esther successfully pleaded for the king's assistance to avert the disaster. The decree Mordecai wrote gave the Jews the right to defend themselves.

Mordecai took Haman's place as second to the king (8:15). Whereas the city of Susa was disturbed at Haman's decree (3:15), Mordecai's edict gladdened their hearts and converted some to the Jewish faith.

Feast of Victory (9:1-32). The dates of the edict and the subsequent victory of the Jews were repeated by the author because they established the traditional calendar for the Feast of Purim. On the thirteenth day of Adar (Feb.- Mar.), the appointed day of Haman's plot, the Jews defeated their enemies. The nations feared the Jews, and local magistrates were favorably influenced by Mordecai's position in Xerxes' court. The king granted a second day of vengeance (the fourteenth of Adar). In Susa eight hundred were killed, and Haman's ten sons were hanged. Among all the provinces, the Jews killed seventy-five thousand.

This explained why Purim was celebrated in the city on the thirteenth and fourteenth and in the provinces on the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar. The author reiterated that the Jews, however, did not loot their enemies. The motivation for the purging was not economic but an avenging of crimes committed against the Jews. Mordecai gave the official decree establishing Purim. The feast was named Purim because of the pur ("lot") cast by Haman. The purpose of the feast was a memorial to Haman's wicked plot, which returned "onto his own head." To promote the feast Esther added her authority to a joint letter distributed with Mordecai.

The story concludes in the way it began by describing the power and influence of Xerxes' kingdom. The author refers the reader to the official records of the empire where a full account of the kingdom and the role played by Mordecai could be examined (see 1 Kgs. 14:19; 15:7). Mordecai contributed to the prosperity of the empire and cared for the Jews' welfare. The greatness of Mordecai vindicated the Jews as a people. Their heritage was not a threat to the Gentiles, but rather through Mordecai and the Jews the empire enjoyed peace.

Theological and Ethical Significance. Our modern experience of God is more like that of the Book of Esther than that of many Old Testament books. In Esther, God worked behind the scenes to bring about deliverance for His people. God did not bring deliverance through spectacular plagues or a miracle at the sea as in the exodus. Rather, God worked through a courageous old man who refused to abandon his principles and a courageous woman who valued the lives of her people more than her own life. The Book of Esther calls us to look at the lives of people committed to God if we want to know what God is doing to bring about deliverance in our own world.

The outlook for Mordecai and the Jews looked bleak through much of Esther. Today we may feel that God has abandoned us or that it is not profitable to be on the Lord's side. The last chapters of Esther brought about God's reversal of circumstances. We should live our lives with a view to how our story is going to end. Someday every knee will bow "and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord" (Phil. 2:10-11). What occassioned fasting and anxious prayer will be forgotten in heaven's feasting (see Rom. 8:18).

As Christians our power and influence should be used for righteous purposes and not for self-gratification. Power is a gift from God to be used for the benefit of His people and His creation. Christian citizenship demands involvement in the affairs of the state. Anti-Semitism and other forms of racial and religious bigotry easily lead to dangerous abuses of power. Today's Christians, like Esther, must be courageous in opposing such abuses.

Baldwin, Joyce G. Esther. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1984.

McConville, J. G. Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1985.

Vos, Howard F. Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987.