The Courageous Queen and Her Heroic Story

Queen Esther was an orphan who lived in what is now Iran. She risked her life to save the Jewish people from an ancient extermination. Persian officials had planned to wipe out all the Jews in the empire, from India in the east to Egypt in the west. However, Esther, who grew into a beautiful girl and became queen, took the risk of declaring herself a Jew.

It says in the book of Esther 2:7 that Esther's Jewish name was Hadasa (cypress tree). Esther's name may be a corruption of the Persian word stara (star) though some connect it to Ishtar (Babylonian goddess of love).

Hadasa (Esther), is believed to have been born and raised in the city of Shushan, the capital of the Persian Empire. The girl was beautiful in stature and beautiful in complexion. When her parents died, she was adopted as a son by Mordecai, the son of her father's brother (Esther 2:7). Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin. His great-grandfather, Kish, was carried away from Jerusalem as one of the exiles with Jeconiah, king of the Kingdom of Judah, when he was carried away into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon (597 BC).

Ester was married to Ahasuerus (486-465 BC). Esther entered the king's harem at the request of the drunken King Ahasuerus at the end of a six-month festival. Ahasuerus, who was partying with a group of men, ordered his favourite wife Vashti, his beautiful queen, to present herself. He wanted to show off his queen, but she refused. So, the king banished her forever from his presence and searched the whole kingdom for a new queen. Many beautiful girls became concubines in his harem, but only Esther became queen.

A high official of Persia, who was a level below the king, named Haman of the Amalekites, was hostile to the Jews. When Haman passed by, many people bowed in respect, but Mordecai did not, perhaps because of the animosity that existed between their races. Haman was very angry with Mordecai, so he convinced the king to kill all the Jews in the kingdom. Mordecai convinced Esther to sacrifice her life to save the Jewish people.

Ester began her plan to save the Jews by inviting the king and Haman to dinner. After dinner, Haman began his plan to kill Mordecai. However, instead of killing Mordecai, he had to pay homage to Mordecai.

Queen Esther told King Ahasuerus that Mordecai was her cousin. The king appointed Mordecai as a high official in his court. Then, Queen Esther asked the king to make a new law that would save the Jews. The king agreed to Esther's request and declared that the Jews could destroy anyone who was their enemy. After the war, the Jews celebrated their victory over their enemies.

Mordecai wrote a letter to all the Jews. He told them that every year they should hold a celebration to remember and give thanks that they had defeated their enemies. This celebration was called the Feast of Purim, which is still celebrated by Jews today.

From various sources