ESTHER, Book of. The book of Esther was written for the primary purpose of giving an account of the supposed circumstances of the origin of the feast of Purim. This was put in the reign of the Persian king Ahasuerus, is certainly to be identified with Xerxes, who reigned from 487 to 466 The first question is concerning the historical character of the book. The author had a gen eral acquaintance with Persian customs, and some of the statements made are confirmed from other sources. But some of the details of the book are certainly inaccurate, and many others probably so. Xerxes' queen from the seventh to the twelfth year of his reign was not Esther, as represented in the book, but Amestris, a Persian; no captive of Nebuchadrezzar's was chief minister of Xerxes; and the chronology ia incorrect. The book, therefore, is not ac curate history; it is probable that there is no historical element in the book. This appears especially from a consideration of the feast. of Purim. This is stated in ix, 26, see iii, 7, have been derived from the presumably Persian word Pur, meaning lot. No such Persian word is known. The feast of Purim is first men tioned, under the name of the day of Mordecai, in 2 Maccabees xv, 36, 2 Maccabees being writ ten in the 1st century a.c. This makes it un likely that the feast was established as early as the time of Xerxes, and hence makes im probable any historical basis for the book' The book, therefore, is of the nature of a romance, giving a current story concerning the origin of the feast.
The actual origin of the feast would seem, therefore, to have been unknown to the writer and his time. This gives a presumption that it was of foreign origin. The indications are that the origin was in Babylonia. The name Mordecai is quite evidently a form of Marduk, the name of the head of the Babylonian pantheon, and Esther is Ishtar, the principal Babylonian goddess. Haman, further, is Hum man or Humban, the chief Elamite god, and Vashti is probably to be identified with Mashti, a vaguely known Elamite deity. Originally, therefore, the story seems to have been a myth, giving an account of a conflict between the principal deities of Babylonia and Elam. It is not possible, however, to find any probable iden tification of the feast of Purim with any known Babylonian feast The Babylonian account of the feast has here been put into a Jewish form.
It is, of course, quite possible that the mythical nature of the story had been obscured before it reached the writer.
The indications point to a late writing of the book. The author was living in the time of the observance of the feast of Purim, which was probably late, as has been indicated. The omis sion of Esther and Mordecai from the long list of Hebrew worthies in Eccl. xliv-xlix, written about 180 xc., strongly suggests that the book had not then been written. It has been sug gested that the attitude of hostility to the Gentiles which appears in the book might be due to the experiences of persecution by Antio chus Epiphanes. But the absence of any specific references to the Maccabean period makes it probable that the date was before 168 B.C. The language of the book is late, although there are no words which are certainly to be identi fied as Greek. The author speaks of the reign of Xerxes in a way which indicates that it was long past. It is probable that the book was written after 180 s.c. and before 168.
The absence of the name of God front the book has been the occasion of much perplexity. The explanation has been suggested that it was due to the fact that the book was designed to be read at the celebration of the feast of Purim, this being a festival of such mirth, due prin cipally to drinking, that there would be danger of the profanation of the name of God if it occurred in the reading. The principal reli gious teaching of the book is that of the provi dence of God over his people, which is con ceived, however, in a spirit of national bigotry. The interest of the writer is not primarily religious but national.
The moral tone of the book is not high. No character portrayed in the book is an admirable one. Esther and Mordecai have the desire for revenge, as well as other qualities rather ignoble than exalted. The book in its general spirit is below the level of most of the Old Testament.
Bibliography.— Adeney, W. F., (Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther' ((Expositor's Bible', New York 1893) • Davies, T. W., 'Ezra, Nehemiah and Est1;er'
Bible,' Edin burgh no date); Paton, L. B.,