The Coronation of Queen Esther, from the 1617 Scroll of Esther from Ferrara, Italy.The story starts with a Benjaminite, a Jew, by name Mordecai was taken one among many captives by king Nebuchadnezzar-II (605-562 BC) of Babylon after the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 587/6 BC (Es.2:5,6). It is just a hypothesis that, along with Mordecai, Esther's parents might have also moved or else they might have been born and married in the exile itself, and Esther was born in the exile too. The events of the Book of Esther might have happened between 486 - 465 BC. From the distruction of Jerusalem to the king Xerxes-I of the Book of Esther is atleast 108 years. By this time Mordecai is been an old man and Esther in her adolescent age. Mordecai might have been an abled and skilled person who impressed Nebuchadnezzar-II and was taken captive (2Ki.24:14), and was been in the service of the king's court since then, till the time of Xerxes-I (Es.2:5).
Before giving the big banquet by king Ahasuerus (Xshayarasha - Persian name) (probably king Xerxes-I) to the Satraps of 127 provinces, the king has returned from War on Greece in 479 BC unsatisfactory to the city of Susa. The War on Greece started in the year 480 BC. In his inscriptions in the city of Persepolis we find the king's territorial expansion. "Xerxes the king proclaims: By the favour of Ahuramazda, these are the countries of which I was King outside Persia; I ruled them; they bore me tribute. What was said to them by me, that they did. The law that was mine, that held them firm: Media, Elam, Arachosia, Armenia, Drangiana, Parthia, Areia, Bactria, Sogdiana, Chorasmia, Babylonia, Assyria, Sattagydia, Lydia, Egypt, Ionians who dwell by the Sea and those who dwell beyond the Sea, the Maka people, Arabia, Gandara, Indus, Cappadocia, Dahae, Scythians, (Saka) who drink haoma, Scythians (Saka) who wear pointed hats, Thrace, the Akaufaka people, Libyans, Carians, Nubians" (XPh). It is undeniable that the territory that king Xerxes-I reigned was very vast. In his grand, lavish banquet, the king wanted his queen to show-off her beauty in the midst of the Satraps, which she ignored. The reason is that, the costumes of those times were accentuated (make more noticeable and prominent). The textile was tailored to emphasize and noticeable a particular feature of the body. Vasthi in ancient Indo-Iranian means "Vashishta, meaning 'the best'". She kept her spirit and because she refused to listen to the king, she was not allowed to enter in the king's presence, and her royal position is to be given to another suitable and more worthy woman (Es.1:15-19). This is how God planned to bring in Esther into the royal court.
The harem has a special importance in Persian royal house. Queen, other wives, concubines, their children lived in the harem. The harem is the most secured place with high fortification walls and well guarded with soldiers. Usually the harem is attached to the king's quarters. Xerxes-I palace was connected to the royal harem by two grand, well-worked flights of stairs, which must have been utilised by the king when he required direct access to the rooms below. The queen plays an important role in the harem. Under her jurisdiction lies the concubines and others. The king is under huge pressure to beget sons. The place of the queen is unstable if the king finds a favoured woman. She if be a concubine by giving birth to a son can gain some hierarchy in her position. Sexual relations between the king and the chosen women of the harem were embedded in complex politics of dynastic reproduction. The queen, the future king's mother held highest place of authority among all the women of the harem. Plutarch wrote, "no one shared the table of Persian king, except his mother or his consort, the queen seated below him, the mother above him". The mothers, consorts, and other women in the orbit of the great king had real influence.
Now that the queen Vashti's place is empty,
"Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. ...bring all these beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa", (Es.2:2,3). It is a royal practice whereby scouts and spies were sent across the empire to bring back to court pretty girls who might be trained in the arts of music, poetry, and beauty to become royal concubines. Concubinage was a difficult existence. Many concubines were trained by eunuch overseers and senior women to be skilled musicians, cultured dancers, and brilliant storytellers. Concubines were not prostitutes. Concubines tended to oscillate between pleasure-women and women of state. Darius-I (522 - 486 BC), the father of Xerxes-I (the king of the Book of Esther), at the end of his period selected his fiftieth girl from the harem as his latest love interest. Concubinage could lead to a stable relationship with the king. An established concubine would find prestige and honour within the harem when children she had brone the king were officially acknowledged as his heirs. Concubines were supposed to be physically appealing since the arousal of desire in the ruler was essential. Antigonism between concubines and between wives and concubines was common. Women who had sexual relationship with the king would have had greater status than those who had no access to his bed. The life of these women were not for themselves, but for creating other lives. They were required to keep intact the dynasty, and secure future generations to come. King Artaxerxes-I had atleast 18 sons with concubines, and Artaxerxes-II had no fewer than 150 sons. The birth of a son would terminate the concubine's sexual relationship with the ruler. If the concubine gave the king a series of daughter's, then their sexual relationship could continue, but once the couple were blessed with a son sexual relationship ceased and the ruler moved on to a new concubine. Darius-II, son of Artaxerxes-I was the son of a Babylonian concubine.
Such was the competition into which God had let His elect Esther for the emancipation of His people. How did God established Esther in a world of carnal and sensual competitors? How did Esther find favour in the eyes of Xerxes-I? Was it sensual or did God had a special plan to find favour for her in the eyes of the king?
Here comes out protagonist Esther. As read above she was young adolescent girl who was much sought after for the king by his scouts and spies (Rs.2:2,3). Her father is Abihail (Es.2:15). The Jewish Midrash adds that Esther’s father died during her mother’s pregnancy, and her mother died during childbirth (Esther Rabbah 6:5; BT Megillah 13a). As a result of her mother’s death, Mordecai had adopted Esther. Esther's hebrew name is Hadassah, the name of "myrtle tree" (hadas). Her gentile name is Esther derived from the name of famous goddess Ishtar. The name Esther is a Persian origin, which means "star" (stara). Esther was so called because she was righteous, and the righteous are called “myrtles”; she was of average height, like a myrtle, which is neither short nor long; she had a greenish (sallow) complexion, like a myrtle (BT Megillah). Just as the myrtle is sweet-smelling but has a bitter taste, so Esther was sweet to Ahasuerus, but bitter to Haman (Esther Rabbah6:5). The myrtle has a good smell, and the myrtle does not dry out either in summer or in winter. In Achaemenid Persian culture and Zoroastrian belief, trees, especially evergreens and Plane trees, were religious symbols, often representing the "Tree of Life". Assyrian kings were frequently represented with as the "tree of life".
Another protagonist of the Book of Esther, Xerxes-I, is a great lover of nature. A cylinder seal (picture above) has Xerxes, (whose name is boldly inscribed), is shown in the act of adorning a tree with votive offerings of jewellery. He worships at the tree because it is a holy conduit where he can encounter god. A story is told in the Histories, by Herodotus, that, when Xerxes-I on his march to the war on Greece in 480 BC, on his way in the town of Kallatebos, by a roadside saw a magnificent "Plane tree". He was was smitten with love for it. He moaned over it, praised it, adored it, and loaded it with lavish gifts, like those bestowed on a lover. Xerxes-I hung the tree's branches with golden ornaments, until it's branches groaned with its weight. He arranged a man there to look after the tree, and continued on his way back to the war. Though it seems to be a bizarre story, though some ridiculed it as like Aelian, it shows how king Xerxes-I loved the nature and especially, the sweet smelling lush green trees. This very love for nature and trees of the king and the means of connecting god through these trees, is what God of the Bible used to emancipate His people. God used Hadassah for this purpose.
Just imagine, after going through an year long intense training under the eunuchs of the harem (Es.2:12), now Esther entered the bed chamber of the king with all her expertise in cosmetics and perfumes. Standing before the king; upon seeing this beautifully dressed youthful woman, the king asks for her name. Esther replied, "I'm Hadassah". Just imagine upon listening to the name Hadassah, the king's thoughts might have filled with all the lush green, sweet smelling, godly conduit, postive nature. Even before having an another word with her, he fell in love with her. The Book of Esther 2:17, reads, "The king loved Esther more than all the other women. She won more favour and approval from him than did any of the other virgins. He placed the royal crown on her head and made her Queen in place of Vashti". This how God made Esther a queen and worked out a plan to bring back His people to the land of Jews and reconstructed His Temple in Jerusalem.
So, let's not hurry God, let us wait upon Him with faith and obedience. For He has planned good things in our life. He will fullfill everything He has promised for us. Joshua 21:45 reads, "Not one of all the LORD's good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled".
- A few lines for this article are taken from "Persians, The Age of The Great King's", by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones.
