Chapter 1:
And it came to pass in the days of Achashverosh [Ahasuerus], the same Achashverosh who ruled from Hodu [India] to Cush [Ethiopia], one hundred and twenty-seven provinces. This is Ahasuerus who reigned, from even unto, over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces– that in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the castle, in the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the army of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him; when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty, many days, even a hundred and fourscore days.

And when these days were fulfilled, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the castle, both great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace; there were hangings of white, fine cotton, and blue, bordered with cords of fine linen and purple, upon silver rods and pillars of marble; the couches were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of green, and white, and shell, and onyx marble.

And they gave them drink in vessels of gold–the vessels being diverse one from another–and royal wine in abundance, according to the bounty of the king. And the drinking was according to the law; none did compel; for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man’s pleasure. Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.

On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Bizzetha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that ministered in the presence of Ahasuerus the king, to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty; for she was fair to look on. But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s commandment by the chamberlains; therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him. Then the king said to the wise men, who knew the times–for so was the king’s manner toward all that knew law and judgment; and the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king’s face, and sat the first in the kingdom: ‘What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, forasmuch as she hath not done the bidding of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?’

And Memucan answered before the king and the princes: ‘Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the peoples, that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. For this deed of the queen will come abroad unto all women, to make their husbands contemptible in their eyes, when it will be said: The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not. And this day will the princesses of Persia and Media who have heard of the deed of the queen say the like unto all the king’s princes. So will there arise enough contempt and wrath.

If it please the king, let there go forth a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, that Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus, and that the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she. And when the king’s decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his kingdom, great though it be, all the wives will give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.’ And the word pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan; for he sent letters into all the king’s provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house, and speak according to the language of his people.

Chapter 2
After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was assuaged, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her. Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him: ‘Let there be sought for the king young virgins fair to look on; and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the castle, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hegai the king’s chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their ointments be given them; and let the maiden that pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti.’ And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.

There was a certain Jew in Shushan the castle, whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair the son of Shimei the son of Kish, a Benjamite, who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives that had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter; for she had neither father nor mother, and the maiden was of beautiful form and fair to look on; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own daughter.

So it came to pass, when the king’s commandment and his decree was published, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the castle, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was taken into the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women. And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her ointments, with her portions, and the seven maidens, who were meet to be given her out of the king’s house; and he advanced her and her maidens to the best place in the house of the women.

Esther had not made known her people nor her kindred; for Mordecai had charged her that she should not tell it. And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women’s house, to know how Esther did, and what would become of her. Now when the turn of every maiden was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that it had been done to her according to the law for the women, twelve months–for so were the days of their anointing accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six month with sweet odours, and with other ointments of the women– when then the maiden came unto the king, whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king’s house.

In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s chamberlain, who kept the concubines; she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and she were called by name. Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king’s chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her. So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther’s feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the bounty of the king. And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, and Mordecai sat in the king’s gate– Esther had not yet made known her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her; for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him– in those days, while Mordecai sat in the king’s gate, two of the king’s chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those that kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hands on the king Ahasuerus.

And the thing became known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther told the king thereof in Mordecai’s name.
And when inquisition was made of the matter, and it was found to be so, they were both hanged on a tree; and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.

Chapter 3
After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. And all the king’s servants, that were in the king’s gate, bowed down, and prostrated themselves before Haman; for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not down, nor prostrated himself before him. Then the king’s servants, that were in the king’s gate, said unto Mordecai: ‘Why transgressest thou the king’s commandment?’

Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew. And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not down, nor prostrated himself before him, then was Haman full of wrath. But it seemed contemptible in his eyes to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had made known to him the people of Mordecai; wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.

In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus: ‘There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king’s laws; therefore it profiteth not the king to suffer them.

If it please the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those that have the charge of the king’s business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.’ And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy. And the king said unto Haman: ‘The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.’

Then were the king’s scribes called in the first month, on the thirteenth day thereof, and there was written, according to all that Haman commanded, unto the king’s satraps, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the princes of every people; to every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and it was sealed with the king’s ring.

And letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey. The copy of the writing, to be given out for a decree in every province, was to be published unto all peoples, that they should be ready against that day. The posts went forth in haste by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given out in Shushan the castle; and the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Shushan was perplexed.

Chapter 4
Now when Mordecai knew all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; and he came even before the king’s gate; for none might enter within the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. And Esther’s maidens and her chamberlains came and told it her; and the queen was exceedingly pained; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai; and to take his sackcloth from off him; but he accepted it not.

Then called Esther for Hathach, one of the king’s chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and charged him to go to Mordecai, to know what this was, and why it was. So Hathach went forth to Mordecai unto the broad place of the city, which was before the king’s gate. And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and the exact sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.

Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given out in Shushan to destroy them, to show it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her; and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him, for her people. And Hathach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. Then Esther spoke unto Hathach, and gave him a message unto Mordecai:

‘All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law for him, that he be put to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live; but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.’ And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words.

Then Mordecai bade them to return answer unto Esther: ‘Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then will relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father’s house will perish; and who knoweth whether thou art not come to royal estate for such a time as this?’

Then Esther bade them return answer unto Mordecai: ‘Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day; I also and my maidens will fast in like manner; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.’ So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

Chapter 5
Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house; and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the entrance of the house. And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight; and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.

Then said the king unto her: ‘What wilt thou, queen Esther? for whatever thy request, even to the half of the kingdom, it shall be given thee.’ And Esther said: ‘If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.’ Then the king said: ‘Cause Haman to make haste, that it may be done as Esther hath said.’ So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared. And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine: ‘Whatever thy petition, it shall be granted thee; and whatever thy request, even to the half of the kingdom, it shall be performed.’ Then answered Esther, and said: ‘My petition and my request is, if I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request–let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do to-morrow as the king hath said.’

Then went Haman forth that day joyful and glad of heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, Haman was filled with wrath against Mordecai. Nevertheless Haman refrained himself, and went home; and he sent and fetched his friends and Zeresh his wife. And Haman recounted unto them the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and everything as to how the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king. Haman said moreover: ‘Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to-morrow also am I invited by her together with the king. Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.’

Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him: ‘Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon; then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet.’ And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.

Chapter 6
On that night could not the king sleep; and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s chamberlains, of those that kept the door, who had sought to lay hands on the king Ahasuerus. And the king said: ‘What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this?’ Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him: ‘There is nothing done for him.’

And the king said: ‘Who is in the court?’ –Now Haman was come into the outer court of the king’s house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. And the king’s servants said unto him: ‘Behold, Haman standeth in the court.’ And the king said: ‘Let him come in.’ So Haman came in. And the king said unto him: ‘What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour?’ –Now Haman said in his heart: ‘Whom would the king delight to honour besides myself?’ And Haman said unto the king: ‘For the man whom the king delighteth to honour, let royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and on whose head a crown royal is set; and let the apparel and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man therewith whom the king delighteth to honour, and cause him to ride on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him: Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.’

Then the king said to Haman: ‘Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king’s gate; let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.’ Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and caused him to ride through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him: ‘Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour.’ And Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hasted to his house, mourning and having his head covered.

And Haman recounted unto Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thing that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him: ‘If Mordecai, before whom thou hast begun to fall, be of the seed of the Jews, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.’ While they were yet talking with him, came the king’s chamberlains, and hastened to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Chapter 7
So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine: ‘Whatever thy petition, queen Esther, it shall be granted thee; and whatever thy request, even to the half of the kingdom, it shall be performed.’ Then Esther the queen answered and said: ‘If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request; for we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my peace, for the adversary is not worthy that the king be endamaged.’ Then spoke the king Ahasuerus and said unto Esther the queen: ‘Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?’

And Esther said: ‘An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman.’ Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. And the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman remained to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king. Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the couch whereon Esther was. Then said the king: ‘Will he even force the queen before me in the house?’ As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.

Then said Harbonah, one of the chamberlains that were before the king: ‘Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman hath made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman.’ And the king said: ‘Hang him thereon.’ So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath assuaged.
Chapter 8
On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews’ enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her. And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. And Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.

Then the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre. So Esther arose, and stood before the king. And she said: ‘If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews that are in all the king’s provinces; for how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?’

Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew: ‘Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews. Write ye also concerning the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring; for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse.’ Then were the king’s scribes called at that time, in the third month, which is the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, even to the satraps, and the governors and princes of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, a hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.

And they wrote in the name of king Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king’s ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, riding on swift steeds that were used in the king’s service, bred of the stud; that the king had granted the Jews that were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, and to slay, and to cause to perish, all the forces of the people and province that would assault them, their little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey, upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.

The copy of the writing, to be given out for a decree in every province, was to be published unto all the peoples, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. So the posts that rode upon swift steeds that were used in the king’s service went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king’s commandment; and the decree was given out in Shushan the castle. And Mordecai went forth from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a rob of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan shouted and was glad.

The Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honour. And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness and joy, a feast and a good day. And many from among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews was fallen upon them.

Chapter 9
Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have rule over them; whereas it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them; the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt; and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them was fallen upon all the peoples.

And all the princes of the provinces, and the satraps, and the governors, and they that did the king’s business, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai was fallen upon them. For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame went forth throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai waxed greater and greater. And the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they would unto them that hated them. And in Shushan the castle the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men. And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha, and Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha, and Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vaizatha, the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ enemy, slew they; but on the spoil they laid not their hand. On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the castle was brought before the king.

And the king said unto Esther the queen: ‘The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the castle, and the ten sons of Haman; what then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now whatever thy petition, it shall be granted thee; and whatever thy request further, it shall be done.’ Then said Esther: ‘If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews that are in Shushan to do to-morrow also according unto this day’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.’

And the king commanded it so to be done; and a decree was given out in Shushan; and they hanged Haman’s ten sons. And the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men in Shushan; but on the spoil they laid not their hand. And the other Jews that were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of them that hated them seventy and five thousand–but on the spoil they laid not their hand on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and on the fourteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

But the Jews that were in Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. Therefore do the Jews of the villages, that dwell in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.

And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far, to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, the days wherein the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.

And the Jews took upon them to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them; because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast pur, that is, the lot, to discomfit them, and to destroy them; but when she came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he had devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head; and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

Wherefore they called these days Purim, after the name of pur. Therefore because of all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and that which had come unto them, the Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to the writing thereof, and according to the appointed time thereof, every year; and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.

Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote down all the acts of power, to confirm this second letter of Purim. And he sent letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth, to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had ordained for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry. And the commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.
Chapter 10
And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea. And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, how the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren; seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his seed.

Esther born Hadassah, is a queen of the Persian Empire in the Hebrew Bible, the queen of Ahasuerus (traditionally identified with Artaxerxes II), and heroine of the Biblical Book of Esther which is named after her. The name Esther comes from the Persian word “star”. Hadassah means “myrtle” in Hebrew and the name Esther is likely related to the Median word for myrtle, astra, and the Persian word setareh meaning star, the myrtle blossom resembles a twinkling star.

The Targum provides another Midrashic explanation: that she was as beautiful as the Evening Star (or Morning Star), which is astara in Greek. In the Talmud, Tractate Yoma (29a), Esther is compared to the “morning star”, and is considered the subject of Psalm chapter 22 because its introduction is a “song for the morning star.” Esther can also be understood to mean “hidden” in Hebrew, and her name is interpreted thus in Midrash, where it is said that Esther hid her nationality and lineage as Mordecai had advised. Because the methods and aims of God are believed to be similarly hidden, “The Book of Esther” in Hebrew can be understood as “The Book of Hiddenness,” representing G-d’s hiddenness in the story.

Esther was a woman of deep faith, courage and patriotism, ultimately willing to risk her life for her adoptive father, Mordecai, and the Jewish people. Scripture portrays her as a woman raised up as an instrument in the hand of God to avert the destruction of the Jewish people, and to afford them protection and forward their wealth and peace in their captivity. As a result of Esther’s intervention and influence, Mizrahi Jews lived in the Persian Empire for 2400 years thereafter. Esther’s husband Ahasuerus followed in the footsteps of Cyrus the Great, in showing mercy to the Jews of Persia: Cyrus had decreed an end to the Babylonian captivity of the Jews upon his conquest of Babylon in 539 BC.

Following is the story of Esther recorded as the Book of Esther;

CHAPTER ONE

1 And it came to pass in the days of Achashverosh, the same Achashverosh who ruled from Hodu to Cush, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces.

2 In those days, when King Achashverosh sat on his royal throne, which was in Shushan the capital –

3 In the third year of his reign, he made a feast for all his ministers and servants; the army of Persia and Media, the nobles and all the ministers of the provinces in his service.

4 For many days, one hundred and eighty days, he displayed the glorious wealth of his kingdom and the splendorous beauty of his majesty.

5 And when these days came to an end, the king made a seven-day feast in the courtyard of the king’s palace garden, for all the people in Shushan the capital, nobleman and commoner alike.

6 There were hangings of white, green and blue, held by cords of linen and purple wool to silver rods and marble pillars. There were divans of gold and silver on a floor of alabaster and marble [arranged in patterns of] rows and circles.

7 Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of assorted design, and the royal wine was in abundance as befitting the king.

8 The drinking was by the law, without force, for so had the king ordered all the stewards of his household-to comply with the will of each man.

9 Queen Vashti, too, made a feast for the women in the royal palace of King Achashveirosh.

10 On the seventh day, when the king’s heart was merry with wine, he ordered Mehuman, Bizzeta, Charvona, Bigta, Avagta, Zeitar and Charkas, the seven chamberlains who attended King Achashverosh,

11 to bring Queen Vashti before the king wearing the royal crown, to show her beauty to the nations and ministers, for she was indeed beautiful.

12 But Queen Vashti refused to appear by the king’s order brought by the chamberlains, and the king grew furious and his wrath seethed within him.

13 So the king conferred with the wise men, those knowledgeable of the times–for this was the king’s custom, to [bring such matters] before those who were versed in every law and statute.

14 Those closest to him were Carshina, Sheitar, Admata, Tarshish, Meress, Marsina and Memuchan. These were the seven ministers of Persia and Media, who had access to the king and ranked highest in the kingdom.

15 [He asked them:] “By law, what should be done with Queen Vashti for failing to obey the order of King Achashverosh, brought by the chamberlains?”

16 Memuchan declared before the king and the ministers: “It is not against the King alone that Queen Vashti has sinned, but against all the ministers and all the nations in all the provinces of King Achashverosh.

17 “For word of the queen’s deed will reach all the women and it will belittle their husbands in their eyes. For they will say: ‘King Achashverosh commanded that Queen Vashti be brought before him, yet she did not come!’

18 “This very day, the noblewomen of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s deed will repeat it to all the King’s nobles and there will be much disgrace and anger.

19 “If it please the King, let a royal edict be issued by him, and let it be written into the laws of Persia and Media and let it not be revoked, that Queen Vashti may never again appear before King Achashverosh, and let the King confer her royal title upon another woman who is better than she.

20 “And the King’s decree which he shall proclaim will be heard throughout his kingdom, for it is indeed great, and all the women will respect their husbands, nobleman and commoner alike.”

21 The idea pleased the king and the ministers, and the king did as Memuchan had advised.

22 He sent letters to all the king’s provinces–to each province in its script and to each nation in its language [saying] that every man shall be master in his home and that he speak the language of his nation.

CHAPTER TWO

1 After these events, when King Achashverosh’s wrath had abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed upon her.

2 So the king’s attendants advised: “Let beautiful virgin girls be sought for the King.

3 “And let the King appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, and let them gather every beautiful virgin girl to Shushan the capital, to the harem, under the charge of Heigai, chamberlain of the King, custodian of the women, and let their cosmetics be provided.

4 “And let the girl who finds favor in the King’s eyes become queen in Vashti’s stead.” The plan pleased the king and he acted accordingly.

5 There was a Jewish man in Shushan the capital, whose name was Mordechai, son of Yair, son of Shim’iy, son of Kish, a Benjaminite,

6 Who had been exiled from Jerusalem with the exiles that had been exiled along with Jechoniah, King of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, had sent into exile.

7 He raised his cousin Hadassah, also called Esther, for she had neither father nor mother. The girl was of beautiful form and beautiful visage, and when her father and mother died, Mordechai adopted her as his daughter.

8 Now when the king’s order and edict became known, and many girls were gathered to Shushan the capital under the charge of Heigai, Esther was taken to the palace under the charge of Heigai, custodian of the women.

9 The girl found favor in his eyes and won his kindness, so that he hurried to provide her with her cosmetics and meals, and the seven maids that were to be given her from the palace. He also transferred her and her maids to the best quarters in the harem.

10 [All the while] Esther did not divulge her race or ancestry, for Mordechai had instructed her not to tell.

11 And every day Mordechai would stroll in front of the harem courtyard to find out how Esther was faring and what would be done with her.

12 Now when each girl’s turn came to go to King Achashverosh, after undergoing the prescribed twelve-month care for women –for only then would their period of beauty-care be completed: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and women’s cosmetics–

13 With this the girl would appear before the king; she would be provided with whatever she requested to accompany her from the harem to the palace.

14 In the evening she would go [to the king], and in the morning she would return to the second harem, under the charge of Shaashgaz, the king’s chamberlain, custodian of the concubines. She would not go to the king again, unless the king desired her, whereupon she would be summoned by name.

15 And when the time came for Esther, daughter of Avichayil uncle of Mordechai, who had taken her as a daughter, to go to the king, she did not ask for a thing other than that which Heigai, the king’s chamberlain, custodian of the women, had advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of all who saw her.

16 Esther was taken to King Achashverosh, to his palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tevet, in the seventh year of his reign.

17 And the king loved Esther more than all the women and she won his favor and kindness more than all the virgins; he placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in Vashti’s stead.

18 Then the king made a grand feast for all his ministers and servants, “The Feast of Esther.” He lowered [taxes] for the provinces and gave presents befitting the king.

19 And when the virgins were gathered a second time, Mordechai was sitting at the king’s gate.

20 Esther would [still] not divulge her ancestry or race, as Mordechai had instructed her. Indeed, Esther followed Mordechai’s instructions just as she had done while under his care.

21 In those days, while Mordechai sat at the king’s gate, Bigtan and Teresh, two of the king’s chamberlains from the threshold guards, became angry and planned to assassinate King Achashverosh.

22 The matter became known to Mordechai and he informed Queen Esther. Esther then informed the king of it in Mordechai’s name.

23 The matter was investigated and found [to be true] and the two were hanged on the gallows. It was then recorded in the Book of Chronicles before the king.

CHAPTER THREE

1 After these events, King Achashverosh promoted Haman, son of Hamdata, the Agagite and advanced him; he placed his seat above all his fellow ministers.

2 All the king’s servants at the king’s gate kneeled and bowed before Haman, for so had the king commanded concerning him. But Mordechai would not kneel or bow.

3 The king’s servants at the king’s gate said to Mordechai, “Why do you transgress the King’s command?”

4 And when they had said this to him day after day and he did not listen to them, they informed Haman to see if Mordechai’s words would endure, for he had told them that he was a Jew.

5 When Haman saw that Mordechai would not kneel or bow before him, Haman was filled with wrath.

6 But he thought it contemptible to kill only Mordechai, for they had informed him of Mordechai’s nationality. Haman sought to annihilate all the Jews, Mordechai’s people, throughout Achashverosh’s entire kingdom.

7 In the first month, which is the month of Nissan, in the twelfth year of King Achashverosh’s reign, a pur, which is a lot, was cast before Haman, for every day and every month, [and it fell] on the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.

8 Haman said to King Achashverosh, “There is one nation, scattered and dispersed among the nations throughout the provinces of your kingdom, whose laws are unlike those of any other nation and who do not obey the laws of the King. It is not in the King’s interest to tolerate them.

9 “If it please the King, let [an edict] be issued for their destruction, and I will pay ten thousand silver talents to the functionaries, to be deposited in the King’s treasuries.”

10 The king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, son of Hamdata, the Agagite, persecutor of the Jews.

11 The king said to Haman, “The money is yours to keep, and the nation is yours to do with as you please.”

12 The king’s scribes were then summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and all that Haman commanded to the king’s satraps and the governors of each province and to the nobles of each nation was written–to each province according to its script and each nation according to its language. It was written in King Achashverosh’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring.

13 Letters were sent with couriers to all the provinces of the king: to annihilate, murder and destroy all the Jews, young and old, children and women, on one day–the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar and to plunder their possessions.

14 Copies of the edict were to be proclaimed as law in every province, clearly to all the nations, so that they should be ready for that day.

15 The couriers hurried out with the order of the king and the law was proclaimed in Shushan the capital. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, and the city of Shushan was in turmoil.

CHAPTER FOUR

1 Mordechai knew all that had occurred, so Mordechai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ash. He went out into the city crying loudly and bitterly.

2 He went up until the king’s gate, for it is improper to enter the king’s gate wearing sackcloth.

3 And in every province, wherever the edict of the king and his law reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, crying and wailing; sackcloth and ash were spread out for the masses.

4 Esther’s maids and chamberlains came and told her about it and the queen was terrified. She sent garments with which to dress Mordechai so that he would remove his sackcloth from upon him, but he did not accept them.

5 Esther summoned Hatach, one of the king’s chamberlains whom he had placed in her service, and she commanded him to go to Mordechai to find out the meaning of this and what it was about.

6 Hatach went out to Mordechai, to the city square that was in front of the king’s gate.

7 And Mordechai told him about all that had happened to him, and about the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the right to destroy the Jews.

8 He also gave him a copy of the law that was proclaimed in Shushan calling for their annihilation, to show Esther and to tell her about it, and to instruct her to go to the king to beseech him and to plead with him on behalf of her nation.

9 Hatach went and relayed the words of Mordechai to Esther.

10 Esther told Hatach to relay to Mordechai:

11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes to the king and enters the inner courtyard without being summoned, his is but one verdict: execution; except for the person to whom the king extends his golden scepter–[only] he shall live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for thirty days now.”

12 They relayed Esther’s words to Mordechai.

13 And Mordechai said to relay to Esther, “Do not think that you will escape [the fate of] all the Jews by being in the king’s palace.

14 “For if you will remain silent at this time, relief and salvation will come to the Jews from another source, and you and the house of your father will be lost. And who knows if it is not for just such a time that you reached this royal position.”

15 Esther said to relay to Mordechai:

16 “Go and gather all the Jews who are in Shushan and fast for my sake, do not eat and do not drink for three days, night and day. My maids and I shall also fast in the same way. Then I shall go to the king, though it is unlawful, and if I perish, I perish.”

17 Mordechai then left and did all that Esther had instructed him.

CHAPTER FIVE

1 On the third day, Esther donned [garments of] royalty and stood in the inner courtyard of the palace, facing the palace. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the palace facing the palace entrance.

2 When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard she found favor in his eyes. The king extended to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand and Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.

3 The king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? [Even if it be] half the kingdom, it will be granted you.”

4 Esther said, “If it please the King, let the King and Haman come today to the feast that I have prepared for him.”

5 The king said, “Tell Haman to hurry and fulfill Esther’s bidding.” And the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared.

6 At the wine feast, the king said to Esther, “What is your plea? It will be granted you; what is your request? [Even if it be] half the kingdom it shall be fulfilled.”

7 So Esther replied and said, “My plea and my request:

8 “If I have found favor in the King’s eyes, and if it please the King to grant my plea and fulfill my request, let the King and Haman come today to the feast that I shall prepare for them, and tomorrow I shall fulfill the King’s bidding.”

9 That day Haman left happy and content. But when Haman saw Mordechai at the king’s gate and [Mordechai] neither rose nor trembled before him, Haman was filled with wrath against Mordechai.

10 Haman restrained himself and went to his house and sent for his friends and his wife Zeresh.

11 Haman told them of his glorious wealth and his many sons, and all about how the king had promoted and raised him above all the king’s ministers and servants.

12 Then Haman said: “In addition, along with the king, Queen Esther invited only me to the feast that she prepared. Tomorrow, too, I am invited to her [feast] along with the king.

13 “Yet all this is worthless to me whenever I see Mordechai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate!”

14 Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have gallows erected fifty cubits high, and tomorrow tell the king to have Mordechai hanged on it. Then you will be able to go in good spirits with the king to the feast.” Haman was pleased with the idea and erected the gallows.

CHAPTER SIX

1 That night, the king’s sleep was disturbed. He ordered that the Book of Records, the Chronicles, be brought, and they were read before the king.

2 It was found written that Mordechai had informed on Bigtan and Teresh, two of the king’s chamberlains from the threshold guards, who had planned to assassinate King Achashverosh.

3 The king asked, “What splendor and honor has been accorded to Mordechai for this?” “Nothing was done for him,” the king’s attendants replied.

4 “Who is in the courtyard?” asked the king. And just then Haman had come to the outer courtyard of the king’s chambers to tell the king to hang Mordechai on the gallows he had prepared for him.

5 “Haman is standing in the courtyard,” the king’s attendants answered him. “Let him come in,” said the king.

6 Haman entered, and the king said to him, “What should be done for a man whom the king wishes to honor?” Now Haman said to himself, “Who would the king wish to honor more than me?”

7 So Haman said to the king, “For a man whom the king wishes to honor,

8 “let them bring a royal garment that the king has worn, and a horse upon which the king has ridden, and upon whose head the royal crown has been placed.

9 “And let the garment and the horse be entrusted in the hands of one of the king’s noble ministers, and they shall dress the man whom the king wishes to honor and lead him on the horse through the city square, proclaiming before him, ‘So is done for the man whom the king wishes to honor!’”

10 The king said to Haman, “Hurry! Take the garment and the horse just as you have said, and do just so for Mordechai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Do not leave out a thing from all that you suggested.”

11 So Haman took the garment and dressed Mordechai, and he led him through the city square and proclaimed before him: “So is done for the man whom the King wishes to honor!”

12 Then Mordechai returned to the king’s gate while Haman hurried to his house, miserable, his face covered.

13 Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends about all that had happened to him. And his wise men and his wife Zeresh told him, “If this Mordechai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail over him, for you will certainly fall before him.”

14 While they were still talking with him, the chamberlains of the king arrived, and they rushed to bring Haman to the feast that Esther had prepared.

CHAPTER SEVEN

1 The king and Haman came to drink with Queen Esther.

2 And again on the second day the king said to Esther during the wine feast, “What is your plea, Queen Esther? It will be granted you. What is your request? [Even if it be] half the kingdom it will be fulfilled.”

3 Queen Esther replied and said: “If I have found favor in your eyes, O King, and if it please the King, let my life be granted me by my plea, and the life of my people by my request.

4 “For my people and I have been sold to be annihilated, killed and destroyed! Had we been sold as slaves and maidservants I would have kept silent. But indeed the persecutor is not bothered by the King’s loss.”

5 And King Achashverosh spoke and said to Queen Esther, “Who is this, and which one is he, that has the audacity to do such a thing?”

6 “A man who is a persecutor and an enemy: this evil Haman!” Esther replied. And Haman shuddered in the presence of the king and the queen.

7 The king arose in wrath and left the wine feast [and went] to the palace garden, while Haman stood up to beg Queen Esther for his life, for he realized that the king’s hostility towards him was irrevocable.

8 And the king returned from the palace garden to the wine-feast chamber, and Haman had fallen upon the divan upon which Esther was reclining. The king said, “Does he even intend to seduce the queen while I am in the palace!” As soon as these words left the king’s mouth the face of Haman was covered.

9 Then Charvonah, one of the chamberlains that attended the king, said, “In addition, there is the gallows that Haman erected for Mordechai, who spoke for the King’s good, standing at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high!” “Hang him upon it!” said the king.

10 And they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordechai and the king’s wrath abated.

CHAPTER EIGHT

1 On that day, King Achashverosh gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, persecutor of the Jews. And Mordechai came before the king, for Esther had told [the king] how he was related to her.

2 And the king removed his signet ring which he had taken from Haman and gave it to Mordechai, and Esther put Mordechai in charge of Haman’s estate.

3 Esther again spoke before the king and fell before his feet and she cried and begged him to nullify the evil decree of Haman the Agagite and his plot that he had plotted against the Jews

4 The king extended the golden scepter to Esther and Esther rose and stood before the king.

5 She said, “If it please the King, and if I have found favor before him, and the idea is proper to the King, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let [an order] be issued ordering the withdrawal of the letters containing the plot of Haman, son of Hamdata, the Agagite, in which he ordered the destruction of the Jews throughout the King’s provinces.

6 “For how can I behold the calamity that will befall my people? And how can I behold the destruction of my race?”

7 King Achashverosh said to Queen Esther and Mordechai the Jew, “See, I have given Haman’s estate to Esther, and he himself was hanged on the gallows for raising his hand against the Jews.

8 “Now you can issue decrees concerning the Jews as you please, in the King’s name and sealed with the King’s signet ring. For an edict written in the King’s name and sealed with the King’s signet ring cannot be withdrawn.”

9 The king’s scribes were then summoned, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on its twenty-third day, and an edict was written according to all that Mordechai instructed the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the nobles of the provinces from Hodu to Cush, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces to each province according to its script and to each nation according to its language, and to the Jews according to their script and language.

10 He wrote it in King Achashverosh’s name and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. He sent the letters by couriers on horseback, riding mules bred of mares from the king’s stables:

11 That the king had allowed the Jews of every city to gather and stand up for their lives; to annihilate, kill and destroy every army of any nation or province that might attack them, [including their] children and women, and to plunder their possessions,

12 on one day in all the provinces of King Achashveirosh, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.

13 Copies of this edict [were sent] to be proclaimed as law in every province, clearly to all the nations, so that the Jews would be ready for that day to take revenge upon their enemies.

14 The couriers, riding mules from the king’s stables, left urgently and hurriedly with the king’s edict, and the law was proclaimed in Shushan the capital.

15 And Mordechai left the king’s presence wearing a royal garment of blue and white, a large golden crown, and a shawl of fine linen and purple wool. And the city of Shushan celebrated and rejoiced.

16 For the Jews there was light and happiness, joy and prestige.

17 And in every province and city to which the king’s edict and law reached, there was happiness and joy for the Jews, a celebration and a holiday. Many of the gentiles converted to Judaism, for fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.

CHAPTER NINE

1 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, when the time for the carrying out of the king’s edict and law had arrived, on the day the enemies of the Jews had thought they would dominate them, everything was overturned: the Jews dominated their enemies.

2 The Jews gathered in their cities throughout the provinces of King Achashveirosh to attack those who sought to harm them. No man stood in their way, for fear of them had fallen upon all the nations.

3 And all the ministers of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s functionaries honored the Jews, for fear of Mordechai had fallen upon them.

4 For Mordechai was prominent in the king’s palace and his fame was spreading throughout all the provinces, for Mordechai was growing in power.

5 And the Jews struck at all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying, and they did with their enemies as they pleased.

6 In Shushan the capital the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men.

7 And Parshandata, and Dalfon, and Aspata;

8 and Porata and Adalya and Aridata;

9 and Parmashta and Arisai and Aridai and Vaizata,

10 –the ten sons of Haman, son of Hamdata, persecutor of the Jews, they killed; but they took none of the spoils.

11 That day, the number of the slain in Shushan the capital was relayed to the king.

12 The king said to Queen Esther, “In Shushan the capital, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the other provinces of the King? What is your plea? It will be granted you. What is your additional request? It will be fulfilled.”

13 Esther replied, “If it please the King, let the Jews of Shushan be allowed to do tomorrow what was lawful today, and let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.”

14 The king ordered this done, and the law was proclaimed in Shushan, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged.

15 So the Jews of Shushan gathered again on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed three hundred men in Shushan, but took none of the spoils.

16 And the rest of the Jews of the king’s provinces gathered and stood up for their lives to relieve themselves of their enemies and killed seventy-five thousand of their foes, but took none of the spoils.

17 On the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and they rested on the fourteenth day and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.

18 And the Jews of Shushan gathered on the thirteenth and fourteenth [of Adar], and rested on the fifteenth and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.

19 Thus the prazi Jews, those who live in unwalled cities, make the fourteenth day of the month of Adar a holiday, a day of feasting, rejoicing and sending portions of food one to another.

20 Now Mordechai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews living throughout the provinces of King Achashveirosh, near and far

21 [instructing them] to obligate themselves to celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar,

22 like the days upon which the Jews were relieved of their enemies, and the month which had been transformed for them from one of sorrow to joy, from mourning to festivity–to make them days of feasting, rejoicing, sending food portions one to another and giving gifts to the poor.

23 And the Jews accepted [as an obligation] that which they had begun to observe, and that which Mordechai had written to them.

24 For Haman, son of Hamdata, the Agagite, persecutor of all the Jews, plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and he cast a pur, which is a lot, to shatter them and destroy them.

25 But when she came before the king, [the king] said–and ordered letters to be written to the effect–that [Haman's] evil plot against the Jews be returned upon his own head, and he and his sons were hanged upon the gallows.

26 For this did they call these days “Purim,” after the pur, because of all of the events of this epistle, [which explains] what happened to them and why they saw fit to [establish the holiday].

27 The Jews established and accepted upon themselves, and upon their descendants, and upon all who might convert to their faith, to annually celebrate these two days in the manner described [here], on their proper dates never to be abolished.

28 And these days are remembered and observed in every generation, by every family, in every province and every city. And these days of Purim will never pass from among the Jews, nor shall their memory depart from their descendants.

29 Queen Esther, daughter of Avichayil, and Mordechai the Jew, wrote about the enormity of all [the miracles], to establish [the holiday] with this second Purim epistle.

30 And he sent letters to all the Jews, to the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of Achashveirosh’s kingdom, words of peace and truth,

31 [instructing them] to observe these days of Purim on their proper dates, in the manner established for them by Mordechai the Jew and Queen Esther, just as they had accepted upon themselves and upon their descendants the observance of the fasts and their lamentations.

32 And the word of Esther confirmed the observances of these Purim days, and [the story] was included in Scripture.

CHAPTER TEN

1 King Achashverosh levied a tax upon the mainland and the islands of the sea.

2 And the entire history of his power and strength, and the account of Mordechai’s greatness, whom the king had promoted, are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia.

3 For Mordechai the Jew was second to King Achashverosh, a leader to the Jews, and loved by his many brethren. He sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace for all their descendants.

——————————————————–

To the Rabbis, Esther is one of the four most beautiful women ever created. She remained eternally young; when she married Ahasuerus she was at least forty years of age, or even, according to some, eighty years based of the numerical value of Hadassah, her Hebrew name. She is also counted among the prophetesses of Israel.

Given the great historical link between Persian and Jewish history, modern day Persian Jews are referred to as “Esther’s Children”. A building known as The Mausoleum of Esther and Mordechai is located in Hamedan.

The Judges are the Jewish leaders who arise during this time, unify the people, get them to repent, deal with the spiritual problems of the nation, and also deal with the physical threat. They are sometimes military leaders who know how to mobilize the nation for war against an enemy, but their real power lies in their Torah knowledge and ability to adjudicate Jewish law.

The transmission from Moses until today is an unbroken chain of transmission of 120 generations. The following list of Rabbinic leaders, from Moses until the completion of the Talmud in 500 CE appears in the introduction to Maimonides’ “Mishneh Torah.” Following this list is an explanation from Maimonides on the precise method of transmission, beginning with Moses.

Mount Sinai (1312 BCE)
1. Moses
2. Joshua

The Elders (l260-860 BCE)
3. Pinchas and the 70 Elders
4. Eli the Kohen
5. Samuel the Prophet
6. King David

The Prophets (860-360 BCE)
7. Achiyah
8. Elijah the Prophet
9. Elisha
10. Yehoyada the Priest
11. Zechariah ben Yehoyada
12. Hosea
13. Amos
14. Isaiah
15. Micah
16. Joel
17. Nachum
18. Habakuk
19. Zephaniah
20. Jeremiah
21. Baruch ben Neriah

The Great Assembly (360-260 BCE)
22. The Great Assembly consisted of 120 Elders, including Ezra, Zechariah, Daniel and Mordechai
23. Shimon the Tzaddik

TANA’IM – Mishnaic Era (260 BCE – 200 CE)
24. Antigonos of Socho
25. Yose ben Yoezer, Yose ben Yochanan
26. Yehoshua ben Perachiah, Nittai of Arbel
27. Yehuda ben Tabbai, Shimon ben Shatach
28. Shemayah and Avtalyon
29. Hillel and Shamai
30. R’ Shimon ben Hillel, R’ Yochanan ben Zakkai
31. Rabban Gamliel the Elder, R’ Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, R’ Yehoshua ben Chananiah, R’ Shimon ben Netanel, R’ Elazar ben Arakh
32. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel I, Rebbe Akiva, Rebbe Tarfon, R’ Shimon ben Elazar, R’ Yochanan ben Nuri
33. Rabban Gamliel II, Rebbe Meir, Rebbe Yishmael, Rebbe Yehudah, Rebbe Yose, R’ Shimon bar Yochai
34. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel II
35. Rabbi Yehudah the Prince (codifier of the Mishnah in 190 C.E.)

AMORA’IM – Talmudic Era (200-500 CE)
36. Rav, Shmuel, Rabbi Yochanan (compiler of the Jerusalem Talmud)
37. Rav Huna, Rav Yehudah, Rav Nachman, Rav Kahana, Rabba bar bar Channa, Rav Ami, Rav Asi
38. Rabbah, Rav Yosef, Rav Chisda, Rabba bar Rav Huna.
39. Abaya, Rava
40. Rav Ashi, Ravina (compilers of the Babylonian Talmud in 500 C.E.)

Maimonides, citing sources from the Talmud and Midrash, recounts in graphic detail the transmission process from Moses to the people of Israel. Moses personally wrote 13 copies of the Torah and distributed them – one to every tribe – before his death.

Maimonides’ “Introduction to the Mishnah:”

Know that every mitzvah which G-d gave to Moses was given with its clarification. First He told him the mitzvah and then He expounded on its explanation and content, including all that which is included in the Torah.

The manner of transmittal to Israel occurred as stated in the Talmud (Eruvin 54b): [How was the system of teaching? Moses first learned the law from the mouth of the Almighty.]

Moses then went into the Tent, and Aaron went in with him. Moses then stated to him a single time the mitzvah he had received, and taught him its explanation, (following which) Aaron retreated to the right of Moses.

Then, Elazar and Itamar, Aaron’s sons, entered – and Moses told them what he had told Aaron, and then they stepped back. One sat to the left of Moses, and the other on the right of Aharon.

Then the seventy Elders arrived, and Moses taught Aaron and his sons. Following this came the masses of people and every one seeking God, and he (Moses) placed before them the mitzvah, until all had heard it from his mouth.

The result is that Aaron heard that precept from the mouth of Moses four times, his sons three times, the Elders twice, and the remainder of the people once.

Moses then left, and Aaron repeated the explanation of that mitzvah which he had learned, having heard it from the mouth of Moses four times (as we have mentioned), to all those present.

Aaron then left, after his sons had heard the precept four times (three times from Moses, and once from Aharon). After Aaron had departed, Elazar and Itamar repeated and taught that mitzvah to all the people present, and then ceased their teaching.

Thus we find that the seventy Elders heard the precept four times: twice from Moses, once from Aharon, and once from Elazar and Itamar. The Elders themselves then repeated and expounded the mitzvah to the people one time. As a result, we find that the entire congregation heard the precept in question four times: once from Moses, once from Aharon, a third time from his sons, and the fourth time from the Elders.

After this, all the people went to teach one another what they had heard from Moses and to write that mitzvah on scrolls. The leaders would roam through the Israelites to (insure that the people) learned and applied themselves until they would know the traditional version of that mitzvah and were fluent in reading it. They would then teach the explanations of that G-d-given precept. That explanation would include all aspects, and they would write the precept and learn by heart the Oral Tradition.

Thus, our Sages said in the Midrash: “And G-d spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai” (Leviticus 25:1). Why does the Torah state specifically at Mount Sinai? Was not the entire Torah given at Sinai? This is to tell us that just as the law of the Sabbatical year was stated with its generalities, specifics and fine details at Sinai, so too all the mitzvahs were stated with their generalities, specifics and fine details at Sinai.