Did Queen Esther really exist?

Esther was the daughter of Abihail, of the tribe of Benjamin. It is believed she adopted the Persian name Esther when she entered the Persian court harem when she was a young girl. Actually, as with many figures from the Bible, there is now some scholarly controversy about whether Queen Esther really did indeed exist. read more

In 478 B.C., Esther became the queen of Persia. Previously, she was a member of the harem of the Persian King Xerxes. But when the former queen, Vashti, fell into disfavor with her husband, Ahasuerus, the king chose Esther to be his wife and queen. read more

We need to put the Book of Esther into an historical context to better understand Esther's choice. The story of Esther happened after Cyrus, the first Persian King, called for all deported Jews to return to Jerusalem to build the House of God (538 B.C., Ezra 1: 2). read more