Esther and Herodotus- introduction

Hello, readers! I'm going to attempt something ambitious here in the coming weeks, a comparison of the bible book of Esther and what history and Herodotus have to say about the Persians at the time period presented. When I was a christian, I led a women's bible study with this theme. Now I will try to do it justice as an atheist. This is one study I wanted to complete on this blog before I stop posting for good. I don't know if I will stop after this, but it is an option. Just in case, I will have accomplished my goals for this blog and can leave at any time, feeling closure. My life has been rebooted in the last few months and I no longer feel the same strong need for this outlet that I once did.

As usual, I will be using the NIV version of the Bible.

First let us take a look at the book of Esther here. No one actually knows who wrote Esther, but tradition often attributes it to Mordecai, one of the characters in the book. The story takes place during the reign of Ahauserus, also known as Xerxes, between 485 and 465 BCE. The author appears to be very familiar with the culture and of Persia and its royalty. This leads to a belief by some that it was written within 100 years of the supposed events.

The descriptions of people and customs mesh so well with the writings of Herodotus, a Greek historian, that it is my personal opinion that the author of Esther was either familiar with Herodotus's writings or he once lived in the same general area and time as Herodotus. Herodotus lived and wrote around the same time period that Xerxes was king of Persia. I will be using and quoting from an English translation of  Herodotus's Histories, found here.

Esther is most likely a work of historical fiction, placing fictional people's lives in a genuine historical setting. It's purpose appears to be an etiological explanation of how the celebration of the Jewish holiday Purim came about. The theme is the continuing salvation of a remnant of the Jews in Persian exile. This book is unique in that it implies a hidden hand working on behalf of the Jews but never mentions god/Yahweh at all.

I hope you will find this study fascinating and fun. It is not meant to be too serious, mostly speculative. Join me in the journey. Till next time.