ESTHER of Susa THIS IS ESTHERS PERSIAN NAME
Nehemiah 1:1 Nehemiah at citadel in Susa - King Arataxerxes reigned in twentieth year of Babylonian Captivity (YEAR)HADASSAH of Judea THIS IS ESTHERS HEBREW NAME
Esther 2:6 Hadassah and Mordecai among those taken captive with the Judean King Jehoiachin Esther 1:2,5
King Xerxes reigned at time of Esther Esther 2:16
Esther was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign (YEAR)
PURIM, “Timed Event”, the 14th and 15th days of month of Adar established by Queen Esther and Mordecai to commemorate the events of the Book of Esther. Esther 9:26,31-32
PURIM written in Perisan/Iranian records, to this day, as decreed by Mordecai the Jew second in rank to the Persian King Xerxes and Queen Esther. Esther 9:18-32
Mordecai Tribute Esther 10
Daniel 8:1 In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.Daniel 8:2 And I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in Shushan (Susa) the castle, which is in the province of Elam (Iran); and I saw in the vision, and I was by the stream Ulai.
Susa - Ancient capitol of Elam, later called Persia; today called Iran
Esther is (Hebrew version) one of only two books of the Bible that do not directly mention God (the other is Song of Songs). It is the only book of the Tanakh that is not represented among the Dead Sea scrolls. We believe and an original scroll copy will surface prior to the year 2012
The key words in the book of Esther are reflected in Esther 4:13-14; in verse 14
4:13 Then Mordecai bade them to return answer unto Esther: ‘Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.
4:14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then will relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father’s house will perish; and who knoweth whether thou art not come to royal estate for such a time as this?
Esther’s family was of noble descent since they had been taken to Babylon during the Nebuchadnezzer captivity. (YEAR)
At the time of the “Timed Events” of Esther, Nehemiah was in Susa, Persia; as a cup bearer for the King Artaxerxes, known as King Ahasuerus; King Xerxes
By the time Esther was written, the foreign power visible on the horizon as a future threat to Judah was the Macedonians of Alexander the Great, who defeated the Persian empire about 150 years after the time of the, Timed Events”, for seen by the politics of Esther and the prophecy from Gabriel to Daniel that Greece would come.
The Septuagint version noticeably calls Haman a Macedonian where the Hebrew text describes him as an Agagite. Josephus (Ant XI VI 5) calls him an Amalekite. Agag was King Saul’s adversary. Agag, king of the Amalekites whom Saul spared, but whom Samuel ordered, in retributive justice (Judg. 1), to be brought out and cut in pieces (1 Sam. 15:8-33. Compare Ex. 17:11; Num. 14:45
1 Samuek 15:1-35
15:1 And Samuel said unto Saul: ‘The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over His people, over Israel ; now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.
15:2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: I remember that which Amalek did to Israel , how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt .
15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.’
15:4 And Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah .
15:5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek , and lay in wait in the valley.
15:6 And Saul said unto the Kenites: ‘Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel , when they came up out of Egypt .’ So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
15:7 And Saul smote the Amalekites, from Havilah as thou goest to Shur, that is in front of Egypt .
15:8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, even the young of the second birth, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; but every thing that was of no account and feeble, that they destroyed utterly.
15:10 Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying:
15:11 ‘It repenteth Me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following Me, and hath not performed My commandments.’ And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.
15:12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying: ‘Saul came to Carmel , and, behold, he is setting him up a monument, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.’
15:13 And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said unto him: ‘Blessed be thou of the LORD; I have performed the commandment of the LORD.’
15:14 And Samuel said: ‘What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?’
15:15 And Saul said: ‘They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.’
15:16 Then Samuel said unto Saul: ‘Stay and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night.’ And he said unto him: ‘Say on.’
15:17 And Samuel said: ‘Though thou be little in thine own sight, art thou not head of the tribes of Israel ? And the LORD anointed thee king over Israel ;
15:18 and the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said: Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
15:19 Wherefore then didst thou not hearken to the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst that which was evil in the sight of the LORD?’
15:20 And Saul said unto Samuel: ‘Yea, I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
15:21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.’
15:22 And Samuel said: ‘Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in hearkening to the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim . Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, He hath also rejected thee from being king.’
15:24 And Saul said unto Samuel: ‘I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words; because I feared the people, and hearkened to their voice.
15:25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD.’
15:26 And Samuel said unto Saul: ‘I will not return with thee; for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel .’
15:27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his robe, and it rent.
15:28 And Samuel said unto him: ‘The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.
15:29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie nor repent; for He is not a man, that He should repent.’
15:30 Then he said: ‘I have sinned; yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel , and return with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.’
15:31 So Samuel returned after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD.
15:32 Then said Samuel: ‘Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.’ And Agag came unto him in chains. And Agag said: ‘Surely the bitterness of death is at hand.’
15:33 And Samuel said: As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
15:34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeath-shaul.
15:35 And Samuel never beheld Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul; and the LORD repented that He had made Saul king over Israel.