When Cyrus the Great king of Persia allows the Jews to return home and rebuild Jerusalem, only 42,360 do (Ezra 2: 64), about 10% of the population. The rest stay behind in Assyria, Babylon and Persia. After all, it had been nearly 200 years since the Northern kingdom had been taken captive into Assyria and almost 70 years since the Southern kingdom had been taken captive to Babylon. The Jews had built homes, started businesses and settled into their new lives. The Book of Esther tells the story of those “left behind” in Persia.

Esther is a great story, filled with a beauty contest, plenty of sex, palace intrigue, double-dealing and shrewd maneuvering! As our story opens, Xerxes (485-465 B.C.) rules over all of Persia and he is planning to invade Greece. To gather support for his campaign he throws a huge party for all the important men of his kingdom. As the party deteriorates into drunken boasting, Xerxes and his wife, Vashti, clash; Xerxes divorces her; and he launches his campaign (483-480 B.C.). He is defeated by a coalition of Greek forces at the Battle of Salamis on September 29, 480 B.C.). Defeated and in a funk, Xerxes misses Vashti. To cheer Xerxes up, his retainers suggest a beauty contest throughout all 127 provinces of the Persian Empire. The winner from each province is brought to the palace at Susa, where she undergoes 12 months of beauty treatments and “education.” Xerxes then spends the night with each, and the one who pleases the king the most becomes his new queen. Esther wins the contest. Unbeknownst to Xerxes, Esther is a Jew.

Meanwhile, Haman, Xerxes’ number-two man, is insulted by Mordecai, Esther’s uncle and adoptive father. Not satisfied with punishing Mordecai, Haman convinces Xerxes to kill every Jew living in Persia on the same day, March 7, 473 B.C. Risking her life by exposing herself as a Jew, Esther decides to intervene with the king.