The book of esther essay

The Persian Empire is arguably one of the greatest and largest empires ever in the history of the world. It was in place from approximately 550 to 334 BCE in Asia Minor and Persia. Throughout the time the empire was in place there were multiple kings that ruled it changing the cultures of the people living in the empire. The Book of Ester is a book from the Hebrew Bible written during the fourth century BCE that tells the story of a Persian king Achashvairosh. In the story information is given on how Persian Kings were able rule their vast empire for such a long period of time.

The Persian Kings that ruled the Persian Empire were able to do their job successfully, deal with problems they faced, and keep their empire culturally vast because of the methods that they used to rule. Persian kings ruled their empire by sending scrolls with new laws to their provinces and with the help of their advisors and by doing anything that they thought would make it better for themselves of the people in it. The king listened to their advisors when making decisions and also the advisors came up with some of their own ideas. The king used the advisors to help them make decisions when he was unsure of what action to take because he did not want to make decisions that went against previous laws and customs. The advisors were knowledgeable on these subjects and also knew how certain laws would affect the empire as a whole.

For example in the Book of Esther king Achashvairosh commanded his queen (Vashti) to come to him wearing only her crown, but she refused and this made the king angry. King Achashvairosh did not know how this would affect the empire. It then states “ The King spoke to his advisors, who were familiar with established precedents, because it was the King’s custom to confer with those who knew law and custom. ” (The Kings Reaction, 13) This section shows that kings relied on their advisors to help make decisions because they knew how to keep situations like this from having a negative effect on the empire. One of King Achashcairosh advisor’s Memuchan then came up with a new degree that “ all the women will respect their husbands, regardless of their status. (Memuchan’s Advice, 20) King Achashvairosh agreed and scrolls were sent out to all of the King’s provinces. The scrolls were king Achashvairosh’s main way of communicating with his empire; he wanted everyone to be able to understand them so he had them written in the individual providence’s language.

These methods that Persian kings used to keep everyone informed on new laws were very affective because of the way it was carried out and also the way the laws were written using their advisors both made the empire successful. Running a successful empire is not easy thing to do; Persian kings faced many problems such as advisors abusing their power and social issues. Advisors of Persian kings had a great deal of influence on the kings and were trusted with power over the empire. These attributes that came with the job of being an advisor to a Persian king created an opportunity for corrupt advisors to do as they saw fit; right or wrong.

In the Book of Esther one of king Achashvairosh’s advisors Haman took advantage of his power and influence over the king to authorize the eradication of all the Jews in the empire and pillage of their property. The reason that this came about is that “ All of the king’s servants in the king’s court would kneel and bow in religious worship to Haman, because the king had commanded it, but Mordechai would neither bow nor kneel. ” (Five Years Later, 2) Mordechai was a Jew that was appointed to sit with the ministers at King’s Gate, because of his Jewish beliefs he was forbidden to comply with the king’s order. This angered Haman and so his power trip led to eradication of all the Jews.

If Haman’s plan had not been stopped by Mordechai and Queen Esther his plan potentially could have led to the fall of the empire and or Achashvairosh losing his position as king. Haman’s plan caused what was essentially a civil war between Jews and non Jews. The non Jews hated the Jews and planned to still go through with Haman’s plan, because of this Mordechai created another degree with the permission of the king “ The decree state that the king permits the Jews of each city to gather and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and eradicate all the armies menacing them, children and women, and to pillage their property. .

The Jews defeated their enemies and were grateful to the Achashvairosh for letting them do so as the enemies of the Jews were grateful for the chance they were given. These problems Persian Kings faced were only two of many that they had to deal with but because of their methods of ruling they were able to get past them. With an empire as vast as the Persian Empire was, Persian Kings had to manage cultural Differences. One of the main cultural differences was that different languages and alphabets were used in different providences. In the Book of Esther they show how this issue was dealt with; “ He sent scrolls to all of the king’s provinces, each scroll written in the alphabet and language of the province to which it was sent. ” (Memuchan’s Advice, 22) This allowed for no excuse when a law was broken or decree not followed when sent out.

Communication throughout the empire was very important so as to keep the empire together and on one level, by doing this different cultures in different provinces were able to lead the similar lives of living in the empire but also keep their own culture. The Persian Empire was in existence for so long because of the successful way that the kings went about ruling it. Persian Kings used many of the same methods of ruling the empire that were proved time and time again to help them deal with problems and manage cultural differences in the empire. The methods that Persian Kings used to govern the empire were the back bone of the Persian Empire; they are what allowed the empire to become so vast and so powerful.