The Remarkable Story of Esther: A Brave Queen and Champion for the Jews

The story of Esther is one of the most important for the Jewish faith, and it is also one of the most inspirational in the entire Bible. She was an independent woman in the court of a Persian king and a brave heart who knew how to fight for her beliefs.

Esther is remembered as one of the ancient icons which connects the worlds of Persia and Israel. It is believed that her husband was the famous Persian king Xerxes I of the Achaemenid Empire. Flavius Josephus suggested that she was actually married to his son Artaxerxes, but this seems to be unlikely. Although there are many speculations about the identity of the king, this article will use the most probable of the men – Xerxes. Anyway, the story of Esther’s life became the foundation for a cult of her tomb, which is now located in the city of Hamadan in Iran.

Queen Esther (1879) by Edwin Long. (Public Domain)

Esther’s Tale

Esther is the heroine of the Book of Esther, one of the texts from the Bible. As mentioned, according to the book, Esther was a Jewish queen and wife of the Persian king who is known as Ahasuerus, however in many translations his name is already shown as Xerxes. As the Bible says: