Israel, Jerusalem
The heroine of the book named for her, Esther is a young Jewish woman living in exile in the Persian diaspora, who through her intellect and beauty becomes queen of the Persian Empire, and then by her wits and courage saves the Jewish people from destruction. The message of the Book of Esther, a work of historical fiction written in the diaspora in the late Persian—early Hellenistic period (fourth century b.c.e.), gives encouragement to the exiled Jews that they, although powerless in the Persian Empire, can, by their resourcefulness and talents, not only survive but prosper, as does Esther.
Esther first appears in the story as one of the virgins collected into the king’s harem as possible replacements for Vashti, the banished wife of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I, reigned 485—465 b.c.e.). She is identified as the daughter of Avihail (Esth 2:15) and the cousin and adopted daughter of Mordecai, from the tribe of Benjamin (Esth 2:5–7).
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The first wife of Ahasuerus (Xerxes I, reigned 485–465 B.C.E.), the king of Persia, Vashti is the featured character in the first episode (thought by some scholars to come from a “Vashti” source) of the Book of Esther, a work of historical fiction of the late Persian-early Hellenistic period (fourth century b.c.e.). King Ahasuerus, in the midst of a drinking banquet with his noblemen, summons Vashti to appear before the company with her royal crown upon her head, so that he can show off her beauty. She refuses (her reasons are not given, although the rabbis speculated that she was summoned to appear naked), and the king, enraged, puts her away permanently, thus setting in motion the chain of events that will make the Jewish girl Esther the queen of Persia.
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