By Bryan Windle, Bible Archaeology Report.
“On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, in front of the king’s quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. ” (Esth 5:1–2).
The image of Queen Esther bravely entering the presence of the King of Persia unsummoned is one of the Old Testament’s most powerful and endearing scenes. Her uncle, Mordecai, had urged her to approach the king and plead for the salvation of the Jewish people. He reasoned with her, saying, “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).
Many scholars today regard the Book of Esther as a work of fiction, viewing it as nothing more than an inspiring court tale. However, the author presents the events in a straightforward, historical way. Also, the book contains no miracles—one of the general reasons often cited for questioning the Bible’s authenticity. Some supposed discrepancies between the Bible and other historical sources have been used to challenge the book’s reliability. For example, the Book of Esther mentions 127 Persian provinces (Esth 1:1), while Herodotus describes only twenty.1 However, the Greek word satrapeia used by Herodotus may not be equivalent to the Hebrew word medinah used in the Bible, suggesting a possible difference in administrative divisions rather than a contradiction. Scholars like Jon D. Levenson cite Herodotus that Persian kings could only marry within seven noble families as another historical inaccuracy.2 But, according to Herodotus, Xerxes’ wife, Amestris, was not from one of the seven noble families, so there could apparently be exceptions to this rule.3