Esther

''[[Queen Esther (painting)|Queen Esther]]'' (1879) by [[Edwin Long]] Esther,; |rtl=yes}} }} originally Hadassah, is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and marries her. His grand vizier Haman is offended by Esther's cousin and guardian Mordecai because of his refusal to bow before him; bowing in front of another person was a prominent gesture of respect in Persian society, but deemed unacceptable by Mordecai, who believes that a Jew should only express submissiveness to God. Consequently, Haman plots to have all of Persia's Jews killed, and eventually convinces Ahasuerus to permit him to do so. However, Esther foils the plan by revealing and decrying Haman's plans to Ahasuerus, who then has Haman executed and grants permission to the Jews to take up arms against their enemies; Esther is hailed for her courage and for working to save the Jewish nation from eradication.

The Book of Esther's story provides the traditional explanation for Purim, a celebratory Jewish holiday that is observed on the Hebrew date on which Haman's order was to go into effect, which is the day that the Jews killed their enemies after Esther exposed Haman's intentions to her husband. Since the 1890s, several academics have “agreed in seeing [The Book of] Esther as a historicized myth or ritual” and generally concluded that Purim is rooted in a Babylonian or Persian myth or festival—though which one is a subject of discussion. The details of the setting of the story are plausible and may even have some basis in actual events, but there is general agreement among scholars that the book of Esther is a work of fiction.

Two related forms of the Book of Esther exist: a shorter Biblical Hebrew–sourced version found in Jewish and Protestant Bibles, and a longer Koine Greek–sourced version found in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles. Provided by Wikipedia

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  1. 3341
    by John, Roy
    Published 1994
    Contributors: ...New York Botanical Garden, LuEsther T. Mertz Library...
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  2. 3342
    by Goff, Gregory P., Lien, Jon
    Published 1988
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  3. 3343
    by Campbell, Christine E.
    Published 1992
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  4. 3344
    by Mann, Henry
    Published 1994
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  5. 3345
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  6. 3346
    by Strong, John Thomas
    Published 1988
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  7. 3347
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  8. 3348
    by Packer, J G
    Published 1994
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  9. 3349
    by Baird, Robin William
    Published 1992
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  10. 3350
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  11. 3351
    by Gaskin, David Edward
    Published 1992
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  12. 3352
    by France, R., Sharp, M.
    Published 1992
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  13. 3353
    by Svoboda, J
    Published 1988
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  15. 3355
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  16. 3356
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  17. 3357
    by Hayes, Robert D., Baer, A.
    Published 1992
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  18. 3358
    by Boyd, Diane K., Neale, Graham K.
    Published 1992
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  19. 3359
    by Pattie, Donald L., Webber, Marc
    Published 1992
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  20. 3360
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