Jensens survey of the old testament adam 142
Bạn đang xem bản rút gọn của tài liệu. Xem và tải ngay bản đầy đủ của tài liệu tại đây (176.29 KB, 4 trang )
Hadassah (2:7), which means “myrtle.”
It is interesting to note that only one other
book in the Bible is named after a woman:
Ruth. One writer has made this comparison:
“Ruth was a Gentile woman who married a
Jew. Esther was a Jewish woman who
married a Gentile.”22
The story of Esther reveals a woman of
very commendable character. Among her
traits were genuine piety, faith, courage,
patriotism, compassion, maturity, and
natural charm. Your study of the book of
Esther will show how such a woman was
used of God in the interests of His chosen
people, the Jews.
E. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
History always originates in places, so it is
helpful rst to visualize the geography of
the book of Esther. Refer to Map O and
observe the location of Shushan (Gr., Susa)
in Persia,23 where Esther lived and served
as queen. (This is the same city where
Daniel had received a vision from God about
eighty years earlier, Dan 8:2.) Some have
estimated that between two and three
million Jews were living in Persia and
Babylon during the time of the book of
Esther. Read Esther 1:1 and note the
extensive domain of Xerxes, king of Persia:
127 provinces from India to Ethiopia.
The story of Esther took place between
the rst return of exiles under Zerubbabel
(536 B.C.) and the second return under Ezra
(458 B.C.) . Chart 62 shows the major points
of this historical setting.
Observe the following:
1. The events of this book cover a period
of more than ten years (483-473 B.C.). If one
would see in 10:1 an indirect reference to
the death of King Xerxes (d. 464 B.C.), then it
could be said that the book covers a span of
about twenty years.
2. Xerxes was the king of Persia during all
of this period.
3. All of the book is dated between
chapters 6 and 7 of Ezra.
4. The book opens with a feast (Xerxes)
and closes with a feast (Purim). The former
was to honor the king and his empire; the
latter was to commemorate the Jews’
deliverance.
It is interesting to observe that around the
time of the book of Esther, three great world
battles were fought (Salamis, Thermopylae,
and Marathon), and two great world leaders
died (Confucius and Buddha).
F. PURPOSE OF THE BOOK
The major purpose of the book of Esther is
to show how a host of Jews living in exile
were saved from being exterminated by the
hand of a Gentile monarch. Though no name
for God appears in the book, the divine
