1) In the course of
major banquets, the Persian king commands his queen to present her beauty
before the people, but she refuses. In
anger, he and his sages crafted an irreversible law stating that she could
never again come before the king, calling for another woman to be put in her
place, and declaring that all men were masters of their own homes.
2) The king gathers virgins from across the kingdom in a search for a new queen. Esther is one of them, and gains the favor of the king’s eunuch, and then the king, and becomes queen. Mordecai overhears a plot by two men to assassinate the king, and passes it to the king via Esther, resulting in the hanging of the two men.
3) Mordecai offends Haman, the Agagite advisor to the king, by refusing to bow to him. In retribution, Haman plots the destruction of all the Jews and gets the king to give an edict to that effect.
4) Mordecai and all the Jews mourn the degree. Mordecai is able to inform Esther of what has happened and convince her to petition the king, though she is at first reluctant. She asks all the Jews to fast for her.
5) Esther receives the king’s favor, and uses it to invite the king and Haman to a banquet, and then another one. While waiting for the second banquet, Haman becomes angry with Mordecai, and plots with his family and friends to have Mordecai hanged.
6) The king, pushed by what appears to be divine intervention, realizes that Mordecai has never been honored for his earlier great deed. Haman, motivated by pride, accidentally places himself at the center of Mordecai’s honoring. Haman realizes that his destruction has begun.
7) Esther petitions the king to save her people. She accuses Haman of being the one to have planned their destruction. The king has Haman hanged by his own gallows.
8) Esther and Mordecai are set over the house of Haman. They are allowed by the king to issue a decree that enables the Jews to protect themselves from the coming attack, and Jewish people across the empire rejoice.
9) In a passage with a change of tone that suggests a later time, the Jews clearly have the upper hand over their enemies, and slaughter them in great numbers when the designated day comes. After that day (which goes a second day in Susa), a day of feasting and celebration is had. This is recorded as the origin of the festival of Purim.
10) The greatness of the King and of Mordecai are described, though strangely not of Esther.
Esther: Jews living in exile are placed in many difficult positions, but through their bravery and apparent divine intervention, are still able to gain the upper hand over their enemies. That which evil men intend for others is turned against them to their own ruin.
2) The king gathers virgins from across the kingdom in a search for a new queen. Esther is one of them, and gains the favor of the king’s eunuch, and then the king, and becomes queen. Mordecai overhears a plot by two men to assassinate the king, and passes it to the king via Esther, resulting in the hanging of the two men.
3) Mordecai offends Haman, the Agagite advisor to the king, by refusing to bow to him. In retribution, Haman plots the destruction of all the Jews and gets the king to give an edict to that effect.
4) Mordecai and all the Jews mourn the degree. Mordecai is able to inform Esther of what has happened and convince her to petition the king, though she is at first reluctant. She asks all the Jews to fast for her.
5) Esther receives the king’s favor, and uses it to invite the king and Haman to a banquet, and then another one. While waiting for the second banquet, Haman becomes angry with Mordecai, and plots with his family and friends to have Mordecai hanged.
6) The king, pushed by what appears to be divine intervention, realizes that Mordecai has never been honored for his earlier great deed. Haman, motivated by pride, accidentally places himself at the center of Mordecai’s honoring. Haman realizes that his destruction has begun.
7) Esther petitions the king to save her people. She accuses Haman of being the one to have planned their destruction. The king has Haman hanged by his own gallows.
8) Esther and Mordecai are set over the house of Haman. They are allowed by the king to issue a decree that enables the Jews to protect themselves from the coming attack, and Jewish people across the empire rejoice.
9) In a passage with a change of tone that suggests a later time, the Jews clearly have the upper hand over their enemies, and slaughter them in great numbers when the designated day comes. After that day (which goes a second day in Susa), a day of feasting and celebration is had. This is recorded as the origin of the festival of Purim.
10) The greatness of the King and of Mordecai are described, though strangely not of Esther.
Esther: Jews living in exile are placed in many difficult positions, but through their bravery and apparent divine intervention, are still able to gain the upper hand over their enemies. That which evil men intend for others is turned against them to their own ruin.
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