Shushan

Shushan in the Bible

The name Shushan transliterates the Hebrew Shushan. In Greek and in English it is generally known as Susa. In the Old Testament it appears as the site of the Persian king's palace.

• Esther: The entire narrative takes place in Shushan. King Ahasuerus sits on his royal throne in Shushan the palace and holds a feast there (Esther 1:2-6). Mordecai is a Jew living in Shushan (Esther 2:5). Shushan is also where Haman issues the decree to destroy the Jews (Esther 3:15). After this plot is overturned, the Jews of Shushan fight their enemies one day longer than those in the other provinces (Esther 9:13-18).
• Nehemiah: Nehemiah was cupbearer to King Artaxerxes. In Shushan the palace he hears that the wall of Jerusalem has been broken down (Nehemiah 1:1-3).
• Daniel: Daniel sees the vision of the ram and the he goat "at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam," by the river of Ulai (Daniel 8:2).
• Ezra: Among those who wrote to the king to halt the rebuilding of the temple were people from Shushan, the "Susanchites" (Ezra 4:9).

Background

Before the Persian period, Shushan was a principal city of the kingdom of Elam. Under the Persian Empire it became one of several royal capitals (cities where the king resided), and Darius I is known to have built a great palace there. The word rendered "palace" in the phrase "Shushan the palace" (likewise in the Korean Revised Version) translates a Hebrew term meaning "citadel" or "fortress." It is therefore understood to refer to the royal quarter on the elevated mound, as distinguished from the lower city. From the nineteenth century onward, French archaeological teams carried out extensive excavations at the site. Because the Hebrew Shushan sounds like the word for "lily," some have connected the two, but this connection is uncertain.

Significance in the Bible as a Whole

Shushan is the setting in which the Bible portrays God's people, dispersed after the Babylonian exile, living at the heart of a Gentile empire. The book of Esther never mentions the name of God directly. Nevertheless, many interpreters read the events in Shushan the palace as the work of God's providence. Nehemiah prayed for Jerusalem while serving the king in Shushan, a picture that leads into the return from exile. Shushan does not appear in the New Testament.

Interpretations and Issues

• In Esther 9, the Jews of Shushan rested a day later, on the fifteenth. On this basis, Jewish tradition observes Purim one day later in walled cities, a day called "Shushan Purim."
• Interpretations of Daniel 8:2 differ. Some hold that Daniel was physically present in Shushan, while others hold that he was transported there in the vision.
• Some scholars compare the description of the palace in Esther 1 with archaeological findings and regard it as supporting the book's historicity. At the same time, scholarly debate continues over the genre and historicity of the book of Esther.
• In modern Shush there is a site traditionally known as the "Tomb of Daniel." This is a later tradition and is not attested in the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, sermons on Esther 4:16, "if I perish, I perish," are frequently preached. In such sermons, Shushan the palace is often presented as a place where a believer makes a decisive commitment in the very midst of worldly power.