A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Esther
ESTHER,
A Jewish maiden, whose great beauty raised her to the throne of Persia, whereby she saved her countrymen from total extermination. Esther was an orphan, brought up by her cousin Mordecai, who was of the tribe of Benjamin, the great-grandson of Kish, one of the captives taken from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. Mordecai was probably born in Babylon; but he was a devout worshipper of the God of Israel. He had adopted Esther as his own daughter;—and when, after King Ahasuerus had repudiated his first queen Vashti, and chosen the "fair and beautiful" Jewish maid, then her uncle, who had strictly enjoined her not to let it be made known to the king that she was a Jewess, left Babylon for Susa, where he often waited at the gate to see his niece, and hear of her welfare.
About this time Ahasuerus passed an ordinance, importing that none of his household, under penalty of death, should come into his presence while he was engaged in the administration of justice. If, however, he extended the golden sceptre towards the intruder, the penalty was to be remitted. Not long after, two of the chamberlains of the king conspired against him; the plot was disclosed to Mordecai, and, through the medium of Esther, the king was apprised of his danger. Mordecai received no reward for this service, except having the transaction entered in the records of the state, and being allowed the privilege of admission to the palace.
Haman, an Amalekite, now became the chief favourite of King Ahasuerus; Mordecai, probably proud of his Jewish blood, and despising the base parasite, refused to bow down to him in the gate, as did all the king's servants. This affront, so offensive to Haman's pride, determined him not only to destroy Mordecai, but all the captive Jews throughout the dominions of King Ahasuerus. The favourite made such representations to the king concerning them, that a proclamation for their entire destruction was promulgated.
The result is known to all who have read the "Book of Esther;" how this pious and beautiful woman, trusting in heaven and earnestly employing her own influence, succeeded in defeating the malice of the Amalekite; "Haman was hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai." The relationship of Esther and Mordecai was made known to the king, who gave Haman's office to the noble Jew, and from that time took him into his confidential service and promoted him to the highest honours. Between the king and his lovely wife the most perfect confidence was restored. Indeed, from what is said by the prophet Nehemiah, who wrote some ten or twelve years later, and who represented the queen as sitting beside the king when petition was made concerning the Jews, we must infer that she was ever after his counsellor and good angel.
This wonderful deliverance has, from that time to this—more than twenty-three centuries—been celebrated by the Jews, as a festival called "the days of Purim," or, more generally, "Esther's Feast;" It occurred B.C. 609.