A chapter by chapter and verse by verse study of esther taught by pastor paul leboutillier of calvary chapel ontario, oregon. The book of esther opens with a description of an enormous 180day party thrown by king achashverosh in his 3rd year as king of the persian empire, ruling over 127 provinces. Esther is described in the book of esther as a jewish queen of the persian king ahasuerus commonly identified as xerxes i, reigned 486465 bce. A story of the providence of god in a pagan land page 4 introduction to the book the book of esther is the only book in the bible that does not mention the name of god. T he story of esther reads like a novel and is full of great spiritual lessons. Esther, the beautiful jewish wife of the persian king ahasuerus xerxes i. The detailed descriptions of court life and traditions. In the narrative, ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, vashti, refuses to obey him, and esther is chosen for her beauty. Every chapter of the bible in 140 characters or less. Esther is read during the purim feast on 14th and 15th adar februarymarch. As the days of feasting draw to a close, he summons his wife, vashti, to show off her beauty by appearing wearing only her crown. The book of esther was likely written between 460 and 350 b. You can read more indepth bible verses from the scripture below and use the articles and videos to understand the meaning of this teachable event in the bible.
The book of esther 6 powerful life lessons from the bible. In esther, god providentially uses two exiled israelites to rescue his. It is a short story similar to the book of ruth, starting in the palace of shushan susa, one out of the three capitals of the persian empire. The book of esther tells a story of the deliverance of the jewish people.
This is a summary of the biblical account of queen esther. The megillah of esther megillah means scroll in hebrew is one of the five megillahs that are included in the biblical canon. Esther is written during the period of the captivity. The book of esther was likely written between 467 and 350 b.
It is a good opportunity to refresh students minds who the jewish. In the jewish bible, esther follows ecclesiastes and lamentations and is read on the festival of purim, which commemorates the rescue of the jews from hamans plottings. Neither mordecai, esther, nor the feast of purim is mentioned. We are shown a persian emperor, ahasuerus loosely based on xerxes, 485464 b. If this is what the movie is called, let it be true to its story. The detailed descriptions of court life and traditions, as well as the events that occurred in the book, point to an eyewitness author.
The book of esther describes the jewish heroine esther and is the source of the festival purim. The story, about a prophet named jonah, was written to. Esther 1 amplified bible amp the banquets of the king. The story, about a prophet named jonah, was written to criticize and rebuke the narrow spirit of nationalism that jonah observed among so many of the jewish people. The story of esther reads like a novel and is full of great spiritual lessons. Yet there is much to be understood by analyzing the story in. The book of esther records the institution of the feast of purim and the obligation of its perpetual observation. Watch our overview video on the book of esther, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. Esther bible story summary what christians want to know. Summary of the books of esther the story of the bible. The book of esther opens with a description of an enormous 180day party thrown by king achashverosh in his 3rd year as king of the persian. Scripture when mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into. Commentary on the book of esther by matthew henry old.
This book is also the reason why the jewish people created the jewish festivity of purim, which is celebrated annually amongst all jewish people in. The book of esther is about a jewish girl adopted by her uncle, mordecai, after her parents died. King ahasuerus, ruler of the persian empire, holds a lavish 180day banquet, initially for his court and dignitaries and. He took esther as the new persian queen, not knowing she was an israelite. The book of ester is a very special book in the bible, so here are 11 important bible verses from the book of esther. The fact that none of the events that happened in the movie happened in the book really saddens me. It is a story about a hebrew woman named naomi who lives during the period of the judges, prior to the establishment of the monarchy. Esther 1 new international version niv queen vashti deposed.
The book of esther, which is read on purim and to which that holiday is dedicated, has been interpreted many ways. Mordecai learned of a plot to kill the king and made it known to esther who passed the news to the king. Her story is recorded in the old testament book bearing her name. Book summary the bell jar is the story of 19yearold esther greenwood, the breakdown she experiences, and the beginnings of her recovery. The book of esther the book of esther describes the jewish heroine esther, who saved the jewish people in persia from annihilation during the reign of king xerxes i. Summary jonah although often classified with the prophets, the book of jonah is not a prophetic book. Key personalities of this book include job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, zophar the naamathite, and. The book of esther in the bible is a dramatic account which can give us insight into gods special and purposeful plan for our lives. Mordecai learned of a plot to kill the king and continue reading summary of the book of esther. He had banished his former wife and chose esther through a contest.
Its author is unknown yet it is possible that job himself wrote it. Esther with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. The jewish feast of purim celebrates this particular deliverance of the jews. The book of esther is different from all other books in the old testament. The king was reminded of this tale and asked what reward mordecai had received. Matthew henry 18 october 1662 22 june 1714 was an english commentator on the bible, who published his works in 1706, sixvolume exposition of the old and new testaments 17081710 or complete commentary, provides an exhaustive verse by verse study of the bible, covering the whole of. According to the talmud, it was a redaction by the great assembly of an original text by mordecai.
Book of esther overview insight for living ministries. The above summary details the bible people and summary of important events which occur in the douay rheims version of the catholic bible scriptures of the book of esther. The megillat esther book of esther became the last of the 24 books of the tanakh to be canonized by the sages of the great assembly. It is possible that job is the oldest of any book of the bible written approximately 21001800 b. Queen vashti refused to come to him, so the wise men advised him to replace her. The purpose of the book of esther is to display the providence of god, especially in regard to his chosen people, israel. Christine hayes contrasts the book of esther with apocalyptic writings, the book of daniel in particular. Its one of the most beautiful books in the bible and so full of great takeaways for the modern christian woman today. Like the book of jonah, the book of ruth, a masterpiece of storytelling, has a moral lesson, but this lesson may not be the chief reason why the book was written. Hence it belongs to the bestknown otbooks with the jews and it is also the book, which has the oldest copies.
The book purports to explain how the feast of purim came to be celebrated by the jews. Naturally, being a rather unstable fellow, ahasuerus firesslashdivorces her. Xerxes, the persian king, rejected his wife queen vashti, and fell in love with esther at a beauty contest. The book of esther is one of only two books in the bible named for women. The key personalities are esther, mordecai, king ahasuerus or xerxes, and haman. The book of esther may remind you of a classic, once upon a time childrens story with a wealthy king, his beautiful queen, and an evil villain. Because his perspective was projewish, scholars believe he was a jew writing for the remnant that had. In the book of esther this information is casually presented as unimportant, but comes up later in the story. Now he needs to pick a new queen and eventually manages to select esthera comely, young secretly jewish woman who is a part of his harem. The book of esther has served the jewish people as support of their national hope and especially so. The unknown author of the book of esther was most likely a jew very familiar with the royal persian court. It belongs to the third section of the judaic canon, known as the ketuvim, or writings. Although often classified with the prophets, the book of jonah is not a prophetic book.
Jonah, ruth, and esther cliffsnotes study guides book. The focus of this lesson is an overview of esther introducing students to the main characters, places and themes. But while the characters might resemble a fairy tale, the book of esther depicts actual events that shaped jewish history and instituted the festival of purim. The following lesson is the beginning of a new series teaching through the book of esther. In the story of esther, youll meet a beautiful, young queen who risked her life to serve god and save her people. The book was turned to the day mordecai exposed a plot to assassinate the king. The book of esther begins with the queen of king ahasuerusvashtisnubbing the kings request to meet with her. I summarised the bible on twitter between aug 2010 and nov 20 one tweet per chapter, one chapter per day. Esther was a jewish woman who was selected by the persian king ahasuerus to be his wife. Esther 1 niv queen vashti deposed this is what bible. Now he needs to pick a new queen and eventually manages to select esther a comely, young secretly jewish woman who is a.
King ahasuerus, ruler of the persian empire, holds a lavish 180 day banquet, initially for his court and dignitaries and. The genre of the book of esther is narrative history. Esther is the jewish maiden who became queen of persia and rescued her people from a murderous plot to annihilate them. Summary of the book of esther genuine leather bible. The story gives us six powerful lessons about courage. He may not always do it in the way we think he should, but the book of esther shows that he is in control even when we dont see him. People of the roman catholic faith can this useful short summary of these bible scriptures. The story of esther begins with a grand banquet at the palace of king ahasuerus, also referred to as king xerxes. Esther summary we have detailed a brief summary of the book of esther for bible study or sunday school lessons. The year is 1953 and esther greenwood, having finished college for the academic year, has won a onemonth paid internship at ladies day magazine in new york city. Book of esther, book of the hebrew bible and the christian old testament.