The Book of Esther

Esther is a story of the Persian court: a queen deposed, an orphan crowned, a favourite who wants a whole people dead, and a gallows that hangs the man who built it. Read in the Vulgate, it is also a book of prayer, fasting and Providence. We give the traditional answers on author and date, summarise the book part by part, and show why the Church has seen in Queen Esther a figure of Our Lady. Each chapter page sets the Latin Vulgate beside the Douay-Rheims.

The author: Mardochai and the tradition

The book does not name its author. The Douay-Rheims introduction gives the traditional answer: "The general opinion of almost all commentators on the Holy Scriptures makes Mardochai the writer of it: which also may be collected below from chap. 9 ver. 20." That verse, in Esther 9, says that "Mardochai wrote all these things, and sent them comprised in letters to the Jews." St Clement of Alexandria also ascribes the book to Mardochai.

The Talmud (Baba Bathra 15a) assigns it instead to the men of the Great Synagogue, and St Augustine suggested Esdras. The text shows a writer who knew the Persian court at first hand: its seven princes "who saw the face of the king," its law "which must not be altered," its royal chronicles, the names of its eunuchs and of all ten sons of Aman. The Church has defined nothing about who held the pen. She has defined that the whole book is sacred and canonical, written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.

Date and setting: Susan under Xerxes

The story is set at Susan (Susa), capital of the Persian empire, under "Assuerus, who reigned from India to Ethiopia over a hundred and twenty seven provinces" (Esther 1:1). The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia identifies him with Xerxes I (485–465 B.C.), the "Assuerus" also named in 1 Esdras (Ezra) 4:6.

If Mardochai or a contemporary wrote it, the Hebrew book was composed in Persia at the end of Xerxes' reign or under his son Artaxerxes I (465–425 B.C.). The Greek version came later; its closing note (Esther 11:1) says that Dositheus brought "this epistle of Phurim" to Egypt in the fourth year of Ptolemy and Cleopatra. Many modern scholars date the book to the Greek period, and some deny that it is history. The Catholic Encyclopedia gives the view of most Catholics: the work is historical "in substance and in detail." The Pontifical Biblical Commission (1905) taught that books presented as history are not to be read as fiction unless solid arguments prove that the sacred writer did not intend true history.

What is the Book of Esther about? A summary

St Jerome translated the Hebrew book in chapters 1–10 (to 10:3), then gathered the passages found only in the Greek Septuagint at the end, in chapters 10–16, marking where each belongs.

Vasthi deposed (chapter 1)

In Esther 1 Assuerus displays his glory with a feast for his princes lasting "a hundred and fourscore days," then a seven-day banquet for all Susan. On the seventh day, "well warmed with wine," he orders Queen Vasthi to come and show her beauty. She refuses, and by a decree of the Medes and Persians she is put away.

Esther made queen (chapter 2)

In Esther 2 young women are gathered from every province. Among them is Edissa, "who by another name was called Esther," an orphan of the tribe of Benjamin brought up by Mardochai, whose family had been carried away with King Jechonias (4 Kings 24). The Vulgate calls her his brother's daughter; the Hebrew, his uncle's daughter, hence "cousin" in modern Bibles. "The king loved her more than all the women," and crowns her in the seventh year of his reign. Mardochai uncovers a plot against the king, and it is recorded in the chronicles.

Aman's plot (chapter 3)

In Esther 3 the king raises Aman, "of the race of Agag," above all the princes. Mardochai alone will not bow to him, and Aman resolves to destroy "all the nation of the Jews." He casts the lot, phur, which falls on the thirteenth of Adar, and buys an edict to kill "both young and old, little children, and women, in one day," and the edict is hung up in Susan, "the king and Aman feasting together, and all the Jews that were in the city weeping."

Fasting and resolve (chapter 4)

In Esther 4 Mardochai puts on sackcloth and asks Esther to plead with the king. She answers that whoever enters the inner court uncalled dies, unless the king holds out the golden sceptre. His reply is the hinge of the book: "who knoweth whether thou art not therefore come to the kingdom, that thou mightest be ready in such a time as this?" Esther orders a three-day fast for all the Jews of Susan, keeps it with her maids, and resolves to go in "against the law, not being called."

Two banquets and a sleepless night (chapters 5–7)

In chapters 5–7 the king holds out the sceptre and offers her "one half of the kingdom." She asks only that he and Aman come to a banquet, then to a second. Aman, galled by Mardochai at the gate, builds a gibbet fifty cubits high. That night, in Esther 6, "the king passed without sleep," had the chronicles read, and learned Mardochai was never rewarded; at dawn Aman must lead him through the city on the king's horse. At the second banquet, in Esther 7, Esther asks for her life and her people's and names "this Aman" as their enemy, and he is hanged on his own gibbet.

The edict reversed and Purim (chapters 8–10:3)

A Persian decree could not be revoked, so in Esther 8 a new edict lets the Jews stand for their lives on the appointed day, and Mardochai goes out in royal apparel: "to the Jews, a new light seemed to rise." In Esther 9 the Jews defeat those who rise against them, and Mardochai and Esther establish the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar as days of feasting and of gifts to the poor, "called Phurim, that is, of lots." Challoner notes that the Jews acted "by authority from the king" as "executioners of the public justice."

The Greek chapters: dream, letters and prayers (chapters 10:4–16)

At Esther 10:4 the Greek portions begin with the words "Then Mardochai said: God hath done these things," and he interprets his dream. Esther 11 gives the dream itself: two great dragons, "a day of darkness and danger," and "a little fountain" that grows into a very great river, which Mardochai has already explained as Esther; Challoner calls the dream "prophetical and extraordinary." Esther 12 tells again how Mardochai uncovered the eunuchs' plot, and how "Mardochai also committed the memory of the thing to writing." Esther 13 gives Aman's decree and Mardochai's prayer; Esther 14, the prayer of Esther in ashes; Esther 15, her entry into the throne room, where she faints and "God changed the king's spirit into mildness"; Esther 16, the king's second letter, calling the Jews "the children of the highest and the greatest, and the ever living God."

The hidden name of God

In the Hebrew text, the ten chapters of Protestant Bibles, the name of God never appears. Mardochai only hints that deliverance will come "by some other occasion" (4:14), and no prayer is written down.

The Catholic Bible keeps the Septuagint chapters, which name God on almost every line: "God hath done these things," "O Lord, Lord, almighty king," "O my Lord, who alone art our king." They make explicit what the Hebrew shows by silence: a sleepless night, a chronicle read at the right page, a gallows that falls on its builder. Even Aman's lot was in God's hand: "he commanded that there should be two lots, one of the people of God, and the other of all the nations" (10:10).

Themes and the Catholic reading

Providence. Nothing in the book happens by chance, though everything looks like it: that is the lesson of "such a time as this."

Fasting joined to prayer. Esther does not rely on her beauty. She fasts three days with her people, and in chapter 14 lays aside her crown, covers her head with ashes and humbles her body "with fasts." St Clement of Rome, writing to the Corinthians about the year 96, praises her as "perfect in faith," one who "with fasting and humiliation" entreated "the everlasting God, who seeth all things" (First Epistle, 55). It is the discipline Scripture teaches on fasting.

Worship belongs to God alone. Mardochai's refusal to bow is not pride: "I feared lest I should transfer the honour of my God to a man, and lest I should adore any one except my God" (13:14).

The proud brought low. Aman, "of the race of Agag," renews the enmity of Amalec, whose king Agag was spared by Saul, son of Cis, in 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 15; Mardochai himself descends from a Cis "of the race of Jemini" (2:5). The builder of the gibbet hangs on it, as the dream foretold: "the humble were exalted, and they devoured the glorious" (11:11). So Our Lady sings: "He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble" (Luke 1:52).

Esther, figure of Our Lady. The Catholic Encyclopedia states that "the Fathers of the Church considered Esther as a type of the Blessed Virgin Mary." A lowly daughter of a captive people is raised to the throne and intercedes with the king for a nation under sentence of death, as the Queen of Heaven intercedes with her Son for sinners, which is why Catholics pray to Mary. The king's words to the fainting queen have long been applied to the Immaculate Conception: "Thou shalt not die: for this law is not made for thee, but for all others" (15:13). We trace these parallels in Queen Esther in the Bible.

Famous verses from Esther

• Esther 4:14, "And who knoweth whether thou art not therefore come to the kingdom, that thou mightest be ready in such a time as this?" (Esther 4).
• Esther 4:16, "Neither eat nor drink for three days and three nights: and I with my handmaids will fast in like manner."
• Esther 7:10, "So Aman was hanged on the gibbet, which he had prepared for Mardochai" (Esther 7).
• Esther 13:9, "O Lord, Lord, almighty king, for all things are in thy power, and there is none that can resist thy will" (Esther 13).
• Esther 14:3, "O my Lord, who alone art our king, help me a desolate woman, and who have no other helper but thee" (Esther 14).
• Esther 15:13–14, "Thou shalt not die: for this law is not made for thee, but for all others. Come near then, and touch the sceptre" (Esther 15).

Esther in the canon and in the liturgy

Esther stands among the historical books of the Catholic Old Testament, after Tobias (Tobit) and Judith. In the Hebrew Bible it is one of the five megilloth or scrolls, read in the synagogue at Purim, a feast already kept under the Machabees, when the thirteenth of Adar was called "the day before Mardochias' day" (2 Machabees 15:37).

The Church received the book entire. The Hebrew chapters are called protocanonical, the Greek passages of 10:4–16:24 deuterocanonical, like the Greek parts of Daniel. A few early Eastern lists left Esther aside, St Athanasius's among them, but the Council of Rome under Pope Damasus (382) and the councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397) list it, the Council of Florence (1442) confirmed the canon, and the Council of Trent (Session IV, 8 April 1546) named "Tobias, Judith, Esther" among the sacred books, to be received "entire with all their parts."

Why is Esther shorter in Protestant Bibles? The Reformers kept only the Hebrew text. They printed the Greek chapters, if at all, among the "Apocrypha," and later Protestant Bibles dropped them. Protestant Bibles therefore have ten chapters of Esther; the Douay-Rheims and the Latin Vulgate have sixteen. We explain the wider question in The Deuterocanonical Books.

In the 1962 Missal the Epistle of the Wednesday after the Second Sunday of Lent is taken from Mardochai's prayer in Esther 13. The Introit of the Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost, In voluntate tua, Domine, is Esther 13:9–11, and the Offertory of the Twenty-second, Recordare mei, Domine, is Esther's prayer for "a well ordered speech" (14:12–13). In the Breviary the book is read at Matins in September, after Tobias and Judith.

How to read the Book of Esther

Read chapters 1–10 at one sitting, in under an hour. Then read it again in the order of the Greek Bible, whose places St Jerome marked: the dream (11:2–12:6) before chapter 1, Aman's decree (13:1–7) after 3:13, the two prayers (13:8–14:19) after chapter 4, Esther's audience (chapter 15) in place of 5:1–2, the king's letter (chapter 16) after 8:12, and the dream's interpretation (10:4–11:1) at the end. Pray Esther's prayer in chapter 14 slowly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Book of Esther about?

It tells how Esther, a Jewish orphan raised by Mardochai, became queen of Persia as wife of King Assuerus and saved her people when the royal favourite Aman obtained a decree to kill every Jew in the empire on one day. After three days of fasting she went to the king uncalled and unmasked Aman, who was hanged on the gibbet he had built for Mardochai. The book explains the origin of the feast of Purim, and its central message is trust in God's providence.

Who wrote the Book of Esther?

The book does not name its author. The Douay-Rheims introduction says that "almost all commentators" make Mardochai the writer, on the strength of Esther 9:20, and St Clement of Alexandria held the same. The Talmud attributes it to the men of the Great Synagogue, and St Augustine suggested Esdras. The Church has defined that the book is inspired, not who its human author was.

When was the Book of Esther written?

Tradition places it in Persia soon after the events, at the end of the reign of Xerxes I or under Artaxerxes I, in the fifth century before Christ. Many modern scholars propose a later date; most Catholic authors have held the book historical in substance and in detail.

Who was Haman in the Book of Esther?

Aman (Haman), "the son of Amadathi, who was of the race of Agag," was the chief minister of King Assuerus. Enraged that Mardochai would not bow to him, he cast lots for a day to destroy all the Jews and obtained the king's decree. When Esther exposed him he was hanged on the gibbet he had prepared for Mardochai (Esther 7).

Who was Mordecai in the Book of Esther?

Mardochai (Mordecai) was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin living at Susan, of a family carried captive from Jerusalem. He brought up Esther, saved the king's life, refused to bow to Aman, and urged Esther to plead for their people. After Aman's fall he became second in the empire; tradition makes him the book's author.

Is God mentioned in the Book of Esther?

Not in the ten chapters of the Hebrew text, which is all Protestant Bibles contain. In the Catholic Bible, which keeps the Greek chapters 10:4–16:24, God is named constantly, above all in the prayers of Mardochai and Esther in chapters 13 and 14. Even where His name is silent, His providence governs every turn of the story.

How many chapters are in the Book of Esther?

Sixteen in the Latin Vulgate and the Douay-Rheims. Protestant Bibles have ten, because they omit the passages found only in the Greek Septuagint. Some modern Bibles print them as lettered sections (A–F) inside the ten chapters, so references may not match. You can read all sixteen from chapter 1.

Is the Book of Esther in the Catholic Bible?

Yes, entire. Esther is a canonical book of the Catholic Old Testament, placed after Tobias and Judith. The Council of Trent in 1546 defined it as sacred Scripture "with all its parts," including the chapters Protestant Bibles leave out. See The Deuterocanonical Books.

Read the whole Book of Esther verse by verse, in Latin and in English, in the Iter Fidei Catholic Bible app.

Sources. Holy Scripture, Douay-Rheims (Challoner), with its introduction to Esther and notes on 9:5, 10:4 and 10:5; Latin Vulgate. St Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians, 55. St Clement of Alexandria, Stromata. St Athanasius, Festal Letter 39. Talmud, Baba Bathra 15a. Councils of Rome (382), Hippo (393) and Carthage (397); Council of Florence, Cantate Domino (1442); Council of Trent, Session IV, Decree on the Canonical Scriptures (1546). Pontifical Biblical Commission, response on the historical narratives of Scripture (23 June 1905). Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), "Esther." Roman Missal (1962): Wednesday after the Second Sunday of Lent; Twenty-first and Twenty-second Sundays after Pentecost. Roman Breviary (1962), Matins of September.