@bookofesther · 44 posts
A queen, a gallows, a sleepless night. And a name that never appears.
Telling what happened to the Jews living in Persia under King Xerxes, a generation or two after the exile. Nobody knows who wrote Esther. Some old Jewish tradition credits Mordecai, or the scholars of the Great Assembly; the honest answer is we don’t know. One thing to watch for: God is never named in this book. Not once. No prayers spoken aloud, no prophet, no miracle. Just people, timing, and a lot of things happening at exactly the right moment. The book leaves you to notice that for yourself.
PersiaFirst seen Esther 1:1
Welcome to Susa, capital of Persia. The king is Xerxes, and he rules 127 provinces, from India to Cush at the far end of the Nile. Third year of his reign, he throws a party for every official and army leader in the empire. It lasts 180 days. The point is to show off how rich he is.
Replying to @harbonah
The king is fuming. So he calls in his experts in law, the seven princes of Persia and Media, and asks: by law, what do we do with Queen Vashti?
Replying to @memucan
The king loves it. Letters go out to every province, each in its own script and each people in its own language: every man is to be in charge of his own household.
Some time later, the king's anger has cooled. He remembers Vashti. What she did, and what was decreed against her.
Replying to @kingsattendants
The king likes that idea too.
Meet Mordecai. A Jewish man in Susa, from the tribe of Benjamin. His family was carried off from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, years ago. He raised his cousin Hadassah, also called Esther, as his own daughter after her mother and father died. She's beautiful.
Replying to @hegai
Esther hasn't told anyone who her people are, or her family. Mordecai told her not to. Every day he walks up and down outside the harem courtyard to find out how she is.
Replying to @hegai
How it works. Twelve months of beauty treatments first. Then each young woman has one evening with the king. After that she lives in another house, and never goes back to him unless he asks for her by name.
Some time after this, King Xerxes promotes Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, above every other official at court. And the king orders everyone at the gate to bow down to him.
Haman sees it for himself. Mordecai won't bow. He's livid. And once he knows who Mordecai's people are, getting rid of one man isn't enough for him. He wants every Jew in Xerxes' kingdom destroyed.
A royal servant at the king’s gate@servant.kingsgateSo we told Haman. Wanted to see whether Mordecai would get away with it.First month of the king's twelfth year. They cast pur in front of Haman, that's the lot, to choose the day. It falls on the twelfth month, Adar. Eleven months away.
Replying to @bookofesther
What Haman says to the king: there's a certain people scattered through every province, with laws different from everyone else's, who don't keep the king's laws. Let's destroy them, and I'll pay ten thousand talents of silver into the treasury. He never says who they are.
Replying to @bookofesther
The king takes the signet ring off his finger and gives it to Haman. Keep your money, he says. Do what you like with them.
The couriers ride out. The order goes up in Susa. The king and Haman sit down for a drink.
What Hathach isn't saying. Esther heard about Mordecai and was distraught. She sent him clothes, and he wouldn't take them. So she sent Hathach to ask what was wrong. Mordecai told him everything, down to the exact sum Haman promised the treasury. He gave him a copy of the decree to show her, and told her to go to the king and plead for her people.
Hathach@hathachBack and forth between the queen and the square in front of the king's gate. Several times. That's all I'm saying.Replying to @bookofesther
Her answer: everyone knows the law. Anyone who goes in to the king without being called is put to death, unless the king holds out his gold sceptre. And he hasn't sent for her in thirty days.
Replying to @bookofesther
His answer: don't think you'll escape because you live in the palace. If you keep quiet now, help will come for the Jews from somewhere else, but you and your family will die. And who knows? Maybe you became queen for such a time as this.
Replying to @bookofesther
Hers: get all the Jews in Susa together and fast for me. Three days, night and day, no food or water. My maids and I will do the same. Then I'll go to the king, even though it's against the law. And if I die, I die.
Replying to @haman
His wife Zeresh and his friends have a suggestion: build a gallows fifty cubits high, and in the morning ask the king to hang Mordecai on it. Then go and enjoy the dinner. Haman loves it.
Replying to @kingxerxes
Meanwhile Haman has just walked into the outer court. He's come to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he's built. The king asks who's in the court. Haman. Bring him in.
Replying to @haman
What Haman was thinking: who would the king want to honour more than me?
Replying to @someone.insusa
At home, his wife Zeresh and his advisers don't soften it. If Mordecai is a Jew, you're not going to win against him. You've started to fall, and you'll keep falling. They're still talking when the king's eunuchs arrive to hurry him off to the queen's dinner.
Replying to @harbonah
The king orders it. They hang Haman on the gallows he built for Mordecai. And the king's anger dies down.
The thirteenth of Adar comes, the day their enemies hoped to overpower them, and it turns the other way. Across the provinces the Jews stand together, and their enemies fall.
They call it Purim, after pur, the lot Haman cast to destroy them.
The book of Esther@bookofestherFirst month of the king's twelfth year. They cast pur in front of Haman, that's the lot, to choose the day. It falls on the twelfth month, Adar. Eleven months away.Mordecai the Jew ends up second only to King Xerxes. Well loved by his people. He works for their good, and speaks up for the wellbeing of all their families.
Where we are: Susa, the royal city of Persia. The king is Xerxes, and his empire runs to 127 provinces, from India to Cush, far up the Nile. It’s the third year of his reign, and he’s throwing a feast for every official, general and prince he’s got. It lasts 180 days. The point is to show off how rich he is.
Replying to @official.provinces
So he does what he always does. Asks the experts. The seven princes of Persia and Media, the men closest to him. His question: by law, what do we do with Queen Vashti, since she didn’t obey?
Meet Mordecai. A Jewish man in Susa, from the tribe of Benjamin. His family was carried off from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, years ago. He’s raised his cousin Hadassah, also called Esther, as his own daughter since her mother and father died. She’s beautiful.
Esther hasn’t told anyone who her people are, or her family. Mordecai told her not to.
Four years after the great feast. The tenth month, Tebeth, in the seventh year of the king’s reign. Esther is taken to King Xerxes in the royal palace.
Some time after all this, the king promotes a man called Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite. Above every other prince at court. And the king orders everyone at the king’s gate to bow down to him.
Replying to @servant.kingsgate
And once Haman learns who Mordecai’s people are, getting rid of one man isn’t enough for him. He wants every Jew in Xerxes’ kingdom destroyed.
The order’s up in Susa. And the king and Haman sit down for a drink.
Esther’s answer, through Hathach: everyone knows the law. Go into the king’s inner court without being called and you’re put to death, unless he holds out his gold sceptre to you. And he hasn’t sent for her in thirty days.
Mordecai’s reply. Don’t think that because you live in the palace, you’ll be the one Jew who gets out of this. If you keep quiet now, help for the Jews will come from somewhere else, but you and your father’s family will die. And who knows? Maybe you became queen for such a time as this.
Esther’s reply: get all the Jews in Susa together and fast for her. No food, no water, three days and nights. She and her maids will do the same. Then she’ll go in to the king, even though it’s against the law. And if I die, I die.
Replying to @friend.of.haman
His wife Zeresh and his friends have an idea. Put up a gallows, fifty cubits high, about seventy-five feet. In the morning, ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go and enjoy dinner with the king. Haman loves it.
Replying to @kingsattendants
Why Haman’s there so early: he’s come to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he’s had built.
Replying to @haman
What Haman was thinking: who would the king want to honour more than me?
They hanged Haman on the gallows he had built for Mordecai. And the king’s anger died down.
The thirteenth of Adar comes, the day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them. It goes the other way. In every province the Jews stand together, and nobody can stand against them.
Every generation, every family, every province, every city. So it’s never forgotten.
Mordecai the Jew ends up second only to King Xerxes. Well loved by his people. He works for their good and speaks up for the peace of them all.