References (30)
During the reign of [Persia's fourth king] Ahasuerus (Xerxes), at the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. [Ahasuerus reigned in Persia from 486 to 465 BC; he is also known by the Greek name Xerxes, see also .]
1This is what happened in the days of Ahasuerus (Xerxes), the Ahasuerus who ruled over 127 provinces from India [in the east] to Kush [modern-day Sudan and Ethiopia in the west]
[The Persian king Ahasuerus reigned around 486-465 BC. In Hebrew, the name Achashverosh is transcribed as meaning ”I will be silent and poor”. He is perhaps best known by the Greek name Xerxes the Great. He is also mentioned in other biblical books, see ; ; ]
At that time King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) sat on his royal throne in the palace at Susa (Shoshan).
[Ahasuerus’ father, Darius the Great, was the one who made Susa the capital of the Persian Empire in 521 BC. He transported over a million cubic meters of fill material and built a 15-meter-high plateau, covering about 100 hectares (1 km²), where he constructed an enormous palace and a large banquet hall. Ahasuerus’ son, Artashastas (who reigned from 465-424 BC) also based himself in Susa. It was here that his bodyguard (cupbearer) Nehemiah came before him to ask permission to return and rebuild Jerusalem. The contrast between the extravagant palace in Susa and a devastated Jerusalem must have weighed heavily on Nehemiah’s heart.]
Meanwhile, Queen Vashti held a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes). [The name Vashti is of Persian origin and probably means “beautiful” or “best of women”].
On the seventh day, when the king’s heart was glad of the wine, he commanded
Mehoman,
Bizzeta,
Charvona,
Bigta
and
Avageta,
Zetar
and
Karkkas,
the seven eunuchs who served King Ahasuerus (Xerxes),
What should we do with Queen Vashti according to the law, since she has failed to obey the king’s command that King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) issued and that the eunuchs presented?”
Then Memochan [one of the seven closest men, see ] answered before the king and the princes, “Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only to the king, but also to the princes and the people who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes),
for the queen’s behavior will become known among all the women and make them contemptible in the eyes of their husbands, saying, ‘King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) commanded Queen Vashti to come before him, but she did not come.
If it pleases the king, let a royal decree go forth from him and let it be written in the law of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti must never again appear before King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) again, and the king should give her royal status to someone else more worthy than she.
After these events when King Ahasuerus’ (Xerxes) anger had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decided about her. [Here we can sense that the king is wondering if he might have gone too far, as the word zachar - remember, recall - has a positive undertone indicating that he has not really stopped loving Vashti].
The time came for each virgin to go in to Ahasuerus (Xerxes), after everything had been done for her according to the law for the women, twelve months were their days of anointing (beauty treatments). There were six months of myrrh oil and six months of sweet odors and of other creams for the women.
Esther was brought to King Ahasuerus (Xerxes), to his royal house, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tevet (December/January), in the 7th year of the king’s reign.
[Esther becomes queen in December 479 BC or January 478 BC, four years after the deposition of the previous queen Vashti. Esther takes office either at the end of Persia’s second war with the Greeks or during the course of it. The invasion began in the spring of 480 BC.]
In those days (at that time), when Mordecai was sitting in the king’s gate, Bigtan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs (chamberlains) who were keeping watch at the threshold [of the king’s bedchamber], became angry [at something the king said or did] and sought an opportunity to lay their hands on (kill) King Ahasuerus (Xerxes).
[Probably it was the king’s divorce with Vashti that was the basis of their discontent. They were eunuchs and were close to Queen Vashti (Est 1:10-11) and could easily take offense at Ahasuerus’ actions. Bigthan is called Bigtha in , the name meaning ”in the wine press”. Teresh is mentioned only here and in , his name meaning ”strictness”. Conspiracies were common in Persia. Ahasuerus was eventually murdered by Artabanus, the captain of the guard, and Aspamitras, a chamberlain and eunuch.]
After this event, King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) promoted Haman son of Hammedata, the Agagite, and placed him in the place of all the princes who were with him.
[The event referred to is that Mordecai has saved the king’s life, see . The reader senses that all is not right. Shouldn’t Mordecai have received some reward or recognition for saving the king’s life? Instead, a completely different person is introduced, Haman. Whether Haman was actively involved in covering up Mordecai’s role, or whether it was a bureaucratic mistake, this is later discovered by the king () and Mordecai is rewarded. In , four years have passed since Esther became queen, Est 2:16. The events of and occur sometime during this four-year period (479–474 BC).
Haman is introduced as the ”Agagite”, a deliberate reference to the conflict between the Israelites and the Amalekites. The conflict stems from the Exodus when the Israelites fought Amalek, see ; . Balaam predicts that the king of Israel will be greater than ”Agag”, see Numbers 24:1, 7. Saul who was a Benjamite, see , was commissioned to destroy the Amalekites, but fails to do so even though he wins the battle, see . The connection between Mordecai the Benjamite, see Est 2:5, and Haman the Agagite prepares the reader for a future confrontation of some kind. The name Haman means: Magnificent, splendid and awesome. In Aramaic it means: necklace, chain, jewelry; but also ”of foreign origin”. Haman has several allusions to Lucifer, see , and also has a parallel with what happened to his sons, see and .]
But it seemed to him to be too simple just to lay hands on Mordecai, for they had told him which people Mordecai belonged to, so Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were beyond the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus (Xerxes), all the people of Mordecai.
In the first month, which is the month of Nisan (March/April), in the 12th year of the reign of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) [five years after Esther became queen, about 474 BC], lots were cast before Haman, from day to day and from month to month, [the lot fell on] the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar (February/March).
[The pagan worldview placed great emphasis on asking the gods for advice. Haman would cast lots to find the ’most auspicious’ day to carry out his plan. Finds of ancient dice in the Assyrian Empire show how important the role of the various gods were in this. It is likely that at the beginning of the year the dice are thrown to determine days for important events. The lot now falls in the last month, barely a year after the casting of the lot.]
Haman said to King Ahasuerus (Xerxes), ”There is a special people [the Jews] scattered and dispersed among the peoples of all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of all other peoples, nor do they keep the king’s laws. Therefore it does not benefit the king to preserve (tolerate) them.
Then the king’s scribes were summoned in the first month on the 13th day of the month [This is the day before the Passover feast which begins on Nisan 14, see ; in 479 B.C. it was April 17.] Everything was written according to what Haman commanded, to the king’s satraps [provincial governors - ”protectors of the land”; there were 20-28 of them] and the governors who were over all the provinces, and to the princes of each nation, to all the provinces in their own writing (in their various written languages) and to each nation in their own language. In the name of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) it was written, and it was sealed with the king’s signet ring.
[Here in there is a strange coded message. With an interval of 6 letters it says Haman v´Satan rajach which means ”Haman and Satan stink.” Number six is man’s speech. See also ; ; ; , ; ; ; and the fact box at the end of the book of Esther about how God’s name is hidden in the book of Esther.]
Then it was found that it was written that Mordecai had told about Bigtan and Teresh [revealed their evil designs], two of the king’s chamberlains of those who guarded the threshold [entrance to the king’s sleeping chamber], how they sought an opportunity to lay their hands on (kill) King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) [Est 2:21-23].
Then King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) spoke and said to Queen Esther, ”Who is he and where is he who dares to think such a thought in his heart?”
On that day King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) gave the house of Haman to Queen Esther. Mordecai came before the king, because Esther had told her who he [Mordecai] was.
Then King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, ”Look, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hung him on the wooden stake (gallows) because he laid his hand on the Jews.
They wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) and sealed each letter with the king’s ring. They sent the letters with riders who rode fast horses used in the king’s service and were specially bred for their speed.
On a day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes), namely, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is Adar (February/March) [March 7, 473 B.C., about twelve months after Haman plotted to destroy the Jewish people and cast lots for the day.]
The Jews gathered in their cities in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes), to lay their hands on anyone who sought to harm them. There was no one who could stand against them [the Jews], because the fear of them had come upon all the people.
Mordecai wrote these things down and sent letters to the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes), both near and far,
And he sent around the letter to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus (Xerxes), with words of peace (shalom, all kinds of prosperity) and truth,
King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) imposed a tax over all the land and over the islands of the sea.
Mordecai the Jew was King Ahasuerus’s (Xerxes) closest man and great among the Jews, and had found favor (conditional, arbitrary grace; accepted - Heb. ratsah) from the multitudes of his brothers. He sought the good of his people and spoke peacefully (spoke shalom, all kinds of blessing) to all his seed (all his descendants) [probably referring not only to Mordecai’s own children and grandchildren but to all Jews in the generations after him].
[God’s name hidden in Esther
None of the names of God (Yahweh, Adonai, Elohim, etc.) appear in the book of Esther and no other attributes of God either. However, Yahweh is encoded in the text four times as an acrostic, see ; ; ; . There is a very nice structure here. The name YHVH consists of four letters and there are four unique occurrences of this name. All are different and are shaped by a combination of the first or last letter and whether the text is read forwards or backwards.
1. JHVH is formed by the first letter of each word backwards - God changes man’s mind, see .
2. YHVH is formed by the first letter of each word forward - God controls Esther’s actions, see .
3. YHVH is formed by the last letter of each word backwards - God reverses Haman’s plan (Haman’s end is approaching), see .
4. JHVH is formed by the last letter of each word forward - God rules and Haman is punished (this is the end of Haman), see .
These four passages involve different speakers:
1. memochan - the words are about a queen, see .
2. Esther - the words are spoken by a queen, see .
3. Haman - the words are spoken by Haman, see .
4. the author - the words are about Haman, see .
Four different pairs can be formed:
1. first letter | backwards
2. first letter | forwards
3. last letter | backwards
4. last letter | forward
The four pairs are: first letter (1 & 2), last letter (3 & 4), backwards (1 & 3) and forwards (2 & 4).
The backwards pairs refer to the Gentiles and the forwards to the Israelites. In the two cases where God’s name is spelled backwards (1 & 3), it is God who rejects the plans of the Gentiles to let his will be done, see ; . Where the name is spelled forwards (2 & 4), it is God who acts directly for his people, see ; .
The first and last letters describe the start and end of an event. In the two cases where the name is formed by the first letter (1 & 2), it is God who introduces the facts. In the last two cases where the name is formed by the last letters (3 & 4), the events are completed and lead to the end.
Four more times four of God’s names are encoded:
1.”Messiah” encoded at a distance of every 8th letter, see .
2. ”El Shaddai” (God Almighty) encoded at a distance of every 7th letter, see .
3.”I Am” is encoded at a distance of every 3rd letter, see .
4.”Yeshua” encoded at a distance of every 8th letter, see .
There is also another strange almost ironic message encoded in which describes how Haman is given the silver and the people. With an interval of six letters it says haman v´satan raj´jach which means: Haman and Satan stink. The number six is man’s speech. We can see that even though Satan operates in Haman’s life, the Messiah is still there in the background watching over his people, even today.
You have to be a little careful with Bible codes, but they are still remarkable coincidences that point to the Bible being a divinely inspired book.]
[Darius' first year of reign began in 539 BC when he took over Babylon, see . The events in this chapter take place twelve years after Dan.'s second vision, which is recounted in chapter 8. Daniel is now in his 80s.]
This happened during the first year of Darius' reign [around 539 BC]. He was the son of Ahasuerus (Xerxes) and a descendant of the Medes [an ethnic group within the Persian Empire].
