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Esther

Old Testament · translated from the Hebrew

In Persia, a young Jewish woman, Esther, becomes queen and risks her life to save her people from the destruction planned by Haman. The book does not name God even once.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10

How it is laid out

  1. Esther becomes queenchapters 1–2
  2. Haman’s plotchapters 3–5
  3. The rescue of the Jews and Purimchapters 6–10

Key verses

  • Esther 4:14 — Who knows whether for a time like this you have come to the kingdom?
  • Esther 4:16 — If I perish, I perish

Who wrote it

The book does not say who wrote it. Jewish tradition attributes it to the men of the Great Assembly (Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 15a). Authorship is debated.

When it was written

Debated. After the events, set under the Persian king Ahasuerus in the 5th century BC (10:2 refers to the chronicles of Media and Persia).

For whom, and in what situation

The Jews living scattered across the Persian empire. The book explains the origin of the feast of Purim, which they were to keep every year (9:20–32).

All the books

GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation