Esther
Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and marries her. His grand vizier Haman is offended by Esther's cousin and guardian Mordecai because of his refusal to bow before him; bowing in front of another person was a prominent gesture of respect in Persian society, but deemed unacceptable by Mordecai, who believes that a Jew should only express submissiveness to God. Consequently, Haman plots to have all of Persia's Jews killed, and eventually convinces Ahasuerus to permit him to do so. However, Esther foils the plan by revealing and decrying Haman's plans to Ahasuerus, who then has Haman executed and grants permission to the Jews to take up arms against their enemies; Esther is hailed for her courage and for working to save the Jews of Persia from eradication.
Quotes
[edit]- “O my Lord, you alone are our King. Come to my assistance, for I am alone and have no one to help me but you. My life is in great danger. From my earliest days I was taught by my family that you, O Lord, chose Israel out of all the nations and our fathers from among all their forebearers, as an everlasting heritage, and that you have fulfilled all the promises you made to them. But now we have sinned against you, and you have handed us over to our enemies18 because we paid honor to their gods. You are just, O Lord.
“However, now our enemies are not satisfied with our bitter slavery. They have vowed to their idols to annul the decree you have proclaimed and destroy your heritage, to silence the mouths of those who praise you and to destroy your altar and the glory of your house, and instead, to open the mouths of the nations to praise their worthless idols and to offer an earthly king everlasting praise.
“O Lord, do not consign your scepter to gods who do not exist. Do not let our enemies exult in our downfall, but turn their designs against them and make an example of the chief of our persecutors.
- Remember us, O Lord. Reveal yourself in this time of our tribulation, and give me courage, O King of gods and Master of every dominion. Give me the power of persuasive speech when I face the lion and enable me to turn his heart to hatred of the one who is our enemy so that he and all those who share his feelings may perish. Save us by your arm and come to my aid, for I am alone and have no one on whom to rely but you, O Lord.
“You know all things.26 You are fully aware that I hate the honors offered by the wicked and abhor the bed of the uncircumcised or of any alien. You know the straits I am in. I loathe the symbol of my proud position that I wear on my head on days when I appear in public. I detest it as if it were an unclean rag, and I do not wear it on days when I am in private. I, your servant, have never eaten at Haman’s table, nor have I attended any banquet of the king or drunk the wine of libations. From the day I changed my state until now, I have experienced no joy except in you, O Lord, God of Abraham. O God all-powerful, give heed to the pleas of those in despair. Deliver us from the power of the wicked and rescue me from my fear.
External links
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Media related to Esther (Biblical figure) on Wikimedia Commons
