How can the Book of Esther be explained?

The book of Esther tells a compelling story, dramatic and exciting, with clearly defined heroes and villains. It also reveals deep and abiding spiritual truths about God's power to deliver us from danger and oppression, even when despotic rulers plan to do evil to God's people. read more

Brief Summary: The Book of Esther can be divided into three main sections. Chapters 1: 1-2: 18 – Esther replaces Vashti; 2: 19-7: 10 – Mordecai overcomes Haman; 8: 1-10: 3 – Israel survives Haman’s attempt to destroy them. read more

The book of Esther is a remarkably different biblical book because; 1. Neither the word for God nor the name Yahweh (Lord), occurs in the Hebrew text; 2. The scene is Shushan (Susa), the winter capital of Persia, not Israel; 3. The book concerns the marriage of its Jewish heroine with a Gentile king; and. 4. read more

The author of the book of Esther is unknown, though some attribute the work to Mordecai. The popularity of the story of Esther is great. Listen to this description in The Five Megilloth, a Jewish commentary published by the Soncino Press: “Esther is, among the generality of Jews, the best known of all the Books of the Bible” (p. 193). read more