Īssuming that Ahasuerus is indeed Xerxes I, the events described in Esther began around the years 483–482 BCE, and concluded in March 473 BCE.Ĭlassical sources such as Josephus, the Jewish commentary Esther Rabbah and the Christian theologian Bar-Hebraeus, as well as the Greek Septuagint translation of Esther, instead identify Ahasuerus as either Artaxerxes I (reigned 465 to 424 BCE) or Artaxerxes II (reigned 404 to 358 BCE). The name Ahasuerus is equivalent to Xerxes (both deriving from the Persian Khshayārsha), and Ahasuerus is usually identified in modern sources as Xerxes I, who ruled between 486 and 465 BCE, as it is to this monarch that the events described in Esther are thought to fit the most closely. The biblical Book of Esther is set in the Persian capital of Susa ( Shushan) in the third year of the reign of the Persian king Ahasuerus. The distribution of charity to the needy and the exchange of gifts of foods are also practices observed on the holiday that are mandated in the book.

The book is at the center of the Jewish festival of Purim and is read aloud twice from a handwritten scroll, usually in the synagogue, during the holiday: once in the evening and again the following morning. Traditional Judaism views the absence of God's overt intervention in the story as an example of how God can work through seemingly coincidental events and the actions of individuals. The books of Esther and Song of Songs are the only books in the Hebrew Bible that do not mention God. The holiday of Purim is established to celebrate the victory of the Jews of the empire over their enemies, and Esther becomes a hero to the Jewish people. She exposes Haman's plot and convinces the king to spare the Jews. Esther reveals her Jewish identity to the king and begs for mercy for her people. Mordechai urges Esther to use her position as queen to intervene and save their people. Esther's cousin Mordechai, who is a Jewish leader, discovers a plot to kill all of the Jews in the empire by Haman, one of the king's advisors. To find a new queen, a beauty pageant is held and Esther, a young Jewish woman living in Persia, is chosen as the new queen.

Queen Vashti, the wife of King Ahasuerus, is banished from the court for disobeying the king's orders. The story takes place during the reign of King Ahasuerus in the Persian Empire. The book relates the story of a Jewish woman in Persia, born as Hadassah but known as Esther, who becomes queen of Persia and thwarts a genocide of her people. It is one of the five Scrolls ( Megillot) in the Hebrew Bible and later became part of the Christian Old Testament. The Book of Esther ( Hebrew: מְגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר, romanized: Megillat Esther), also known in Hebrew as 'the Scroll' ('the Megillah'), is a book in the third section ( Ketuvim, כְּתוּבִים 'Writings') of the Hebrew Bible. Traditionally, a scroll of Esther is given only one roller, fixed to its lefthand side, rather than the two used for a Torah scroll. A 13th/14th-century scroll of the Book of Esther from Fez, Morocco, held at the Musée du quai Branly in Paris.

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