Results for “Esther”
Encyclopedia article
Esther (Queen of Persia)
Esther is the central figure of the Old Testament Book of Esther. She became the queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus and saved the Jews when Haman's scheme threatened them with annihilation.
Articles 92, showing 20
- EstherBible
Esther is a book of the Old Testament. In ten chapters it tells the story of Esther, a Jewish queen at the Persian court who averted the threatened annihilation of her people.
- Esther 3Bible
Esther 3 is the chapter in which King Ahasuerus promotes Haman, Mordecai refuses to bow to him, and the enraged Haman casts Pur (the lot) to fix a date and secures a decree ordering the destruction of all the Jews in the Persian Empire.
- Esther 7Bible
Esther 7 recounts how Esther, at her second banquet, reveals to King Ahasuerus the danger facing her people and names Haman as their enemy, after which Haman is hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai.
- Esther 4Bible
Esther 4 is the chapter in which Mordecai, having learned of Haman's decree to destroy the Jews, urges Esther to go before the king and plead for her people. Esther asks for a three-day fast and then resolves to go in, saying, "If I perish, I perish."
- Esther 2Bible
Esther 2 recounts how, after the deposition of Queen Vashti, King Ahasuerus seeks a new queen and the Jewish woman Esther is chosen, and how Mordecai exposes a plot against the king, a deed recorded in the royal chronicles.
- Esther 8Bible
Esther 8 is the chapter in which, after Haman's death, Mordecai receives the king's ring and, at Esther's entreaty, a new decree is issued throughout Persia allowing the Jews to defend themselves.
- Esther 1Bible
The first chapter of the Book of Esther, in which King Ahasuerus of Persia holds a great feast in the palace at Shushan and issues a decree deposing Queen Vashti after she refuses his summons.
- Esther 6Bible
Esther 6 recounts how King Ahasuerus, unable to sleep, has the court records read to him and learns of Mordecai's service, and how Haman, who had intended to have Mordecai put to death, is instead assigned to honor him in a dramatic reversal.
- Esther 5Bible
Esther 5 recounts how, on the third day, Esther approaches the king unsummoned, obtains his favor, and invites the king and Haman to a banquet. It also describes how Haman, enraged at Mordecai, has a gallows built on which to hang him.
- Esther 10Bible
Esther 10 is the final chapter of the Book of Esther, a brief conclusion describing the power of King Ahasuerus and how Mordecai the Jew, who rose to a position second only to the king, worked for the welfare and peace of his people.
- Esther 9Bible
Esther 9 records how, on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, the Jews prevailed over the enemies who had sought to harm them, and how Mordecai and Esther established Purim as a feast to be kept every year in commemoration.
- Esther 4:14Bible Verses
Esther 4:14 records Mordecai's words to Esther as she hesitates to go before the king, asking whether she may have come to her royal position "for such a time as this." The verse is frequently cited both for suggesting divine providence without naming God and as a text about calling.
- Ahn Ei-sookPeople
Ahn Ei-sook (1908–1997) was a Korean Protestant who was imprisoned for about six years during the Japanese colonial period for refusing Shinto shrine worship. She later served in the United States as the wife of a Baptist pastor and wrote the memoir If I Perish (Jugeumyeon jugeurira).
- AbihailPeople
Abihail is a personal name in the Old Testament borne by several individuals, both men and women. The best known are the father of Esther, the daughter of Eliab (David's elder brother), and the father of the Levite Zuriel.
- HamanPeople
Haman was a high official of the Persian king Ahasuerus in the Old Testament book of Esther. Driven by a grudge against Mordecai, he sought to destroy all the Jews in the empire, but his plot was exposed and he was executed.
- PurimBible
Purim is a Jewish festival observed on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews in the Persian period from Haman's plot to annihilate them. It is instituted in Esther 9.
- VashtiPeople
Vashti was the queen of Ahasuerus, king of Persia, who was deposed after refusing the king's summons. Her removal opened the way for Esther to become queen. She appears in Esther 1–2 in the Old Testament.
- Bigthan and TereshPeople
Bigthan and Teresh were two eunuchs of the Persian king Ahasuerus who appear in the Book of Esther. They plotted to kill the king but were executed after Mordecai exposed their conspiracy.
- HegaiPeople
Hegai was a eunuch of Ahasuerus, king of Persia, in the Book of Esther. He had charge of the young women gathered as candidates to become queen. He showed favor to Esther, and she followed his instructions when she went in to the king.