Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died. This young woman, who was also known as Esther, had a lovely figure and was beautiful. It is likely that the royal feasts recorded in chapter one were intended to promote confidence in the government for this war effort.Įsther 2:7 – Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother.
#Esther bible study for youth full#
First, for Esther’s wedding with Ahasuerus (Xerxes) and then later for the Susa Weddings, where Alexander the Great married 10,000 Macedonians and Persians in a grand ceremony intended to unite the two civilizations.Īhasuerus was ambitious and planned a full scale campaign against Greece. Interestingly, it is famous for weddings. Eventually the city was conquered by Alexander the Great. Later Darius the Great built a magnificent palace there that was added to by his successors. This was made the capital city of the Persian Empire by Cambyses II. Many Jewish families fared quite well in their new homes.Įsther 2:5-6 – Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin king of Judah.Įsther lived in Susa. At the same time, life in Persia would have afforded her family certain opportunities and stability that they would not have had returning to Judah. Jews have faced racial persecution for millennia. It could indicate some level of success or contentment for her family in Persia.Īs Jews living abroad, they would have faced some level of intermittent persecution as they do in this book. Notably, her family had chosen not to return when others did. They had made new homes and new lives away from Judah. Thus Esther’s family was living as part of the Jewish diaspora. It is unknown if Mordecai had a family of his own, but he did adopt Esther, his cousin, as his own daughter when her parents died and left her an orphan. Going farther back, Mordecai was descended from the family of Kish, a family name that can be traced all the way back to Saul’s father. After Babylon fell to the Persians these Jews moved to various parts of the kingdom. Mordecai’s great-grandfather was one of the original Jews who were deported to Babylon four generations before. But it was before the second return under Ezra in 457 B.C. This was 50-60 years after many of the Jews had returned to Judah under Zerubabbel in 538 BC. So Mordecai, her cousin, became her guardian. Meaning of name: Hadassah means “myrtle” and Esther means “star.”Īncestry and family life: Esther was an orphan from the tribe of Benjamin.
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