Esther: God's Hidden Hand

Esther at a Glance

Esther is a short, gripping story with a king, a banquet, a villain, a sleepless night, and a gallows. It is also one of only two books of the Bible named for a woman, and its pages never name God.

• Author. Not named. Mordecai wrote down these events and sent letters about Purim (Esther 9:20; Esther 9:29), and Jewish tradition connects him with the book. We do not know for certain.
• Date. The events took place from about 483 to 473 BC, during the reign of Ahasuerus, also known as Xerxes I, who ruled Persia from 486 to 465 BC. The book was written after his reign, probably within a generation of the events.
• Written To. Jews living in the Persian dispersion, and God's people after them.
• Setting. The palace at Susa, capital of an empire stretching from India even unto Ethiopia (Esther 1:1). Most Jews had stayed in Persia after Cyrus's decree. The story fits between chapters 6 and 7 of Ezra.
• Key Verse. Mordecai's question to Esther: who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14).
• Key Word or Theme. Providence: God's unseen hand preserving His people.