Esther’s story in Scripture is a familiar tale. Jewish readers will know every part, as it is reread or retold each year at the celebration of Purim. Christian readers know Esther as one of only two women in Scripture with book titles bearing their name. Esther is famous for being the woman who did the right thing at “such a time as this.”
In my version of Esther’s story, you may wonder where I came up with some of the characters and plot points, or why I left out the end of the biblical account. I tried something different with this novel in that I wove secular history into the biblical story. The reason I have not done this in previous novels is because there is little outside history on the more ancient stories in Scripture. But Xerxes is a historical figure, as was his father, Darius I, and his grandfather Cyrus, all of whom are named in the Old Testament.
Herodotus, the Greek historian, wrote of Xerxes and his wife Amestris and the five children she gave him. Other sources also mention Amestris along with Xerxes’ mother, Atossa. But these outside sources disagree on the timing of dates, so I chose the ones that fit best with my version of the story.
Secular history does not mention Vashti or Esther, however. Scholars have tried to guess whether either Vashti or Esther was, in fact, Amestris. But the picture the historians paint of Amestris is not the kind of woman I could envision either Vashti or Esther to be. Amestris was said to be cruel. (I left those cruelties out of the story.)
Since Amestris was the mother of Darius II and Artaxerxes in the historical record, and because Artaxerxes is the one who actually became king in his father’s place, I did include these two children and briefly mentioned another son and one daughter in Esther’s tale. I did not wish to bog down the narrative by adding her last son or the details of their lives.
Artabanus is also written of in history. It is said that he conspired against Xerxes, assassinated him, and told Artaxerxes that Darius had killed him so that he could reign as king. Artaxerxes had both Darius and Artabanus killed and took the crown for himself. Palace intrigue is often bloody and messy.
The tale of Xerxes’ adultery with Darius’s wife is also from the annals of history. Whether it is true or not is debatable.
The Bible does mention Artaxerxes, and he was apparently kind to the Jews. So even if he did as the historians say, he ended up ruling nearly twice as long as his father and was apparently a good king.
Amestris probably helped her son at least in the beginning and perhaps ruled as queen for a time. We do not know for sure. The sources outside of Scripture are subject to interpretation, especially Herodotus because he was Greek and likely held a grudge against the Persians, who had tried and failed to conquer Greece under Xerxes’ rule.
So we return to the biblical tale, and as I studied it alongside other recorded history, I decided that Amestris had to be separate from Vashti and Esther. So I wove her story into Esther’s story. I hope you enjoyed the mix of history and Scripture.
Originally, I had written the entire account from Scripture into Esther’s story, but for the sake of poetic license and because the book of Esther is somewhat anticlimactic, I chose to leave out the actual war where the Jews defeat their enemies. I also left out all but a brief mention of the installment of the celebration of Purim, which is still celebrated in Jewish households today. I did not do this to leave out Scripture but to make the fictional account end on a positive and less bloody note.
One last comment: In the story I refer to “like the dawn.” This is in reference to the midrash comparison of Esther to a hind and the dawn, based on Psalm 22:1:
“For the leader; on ayelet ha-shahar [literally, the hind of the dawn],” which the Rabbis apply to Esther. . . . She was compared to the dawn, for just as the dawn breaks at the end of each night, so, too, Esther [i.e., the miraculous delivery of the Jews] came after there had been no miracles [during the period of exile and darkness].*
I realize that this is more explanation than I normally give, but I hope it helps you to understand the difficulty Esther’s story presented and a few of the more interesting commentaries behind it. Mostly, I hope you read the biblical account of Esther and see that though God’s name is not mentioned—as so many people point out—His handiwork is visible on every page. Sometimes our God works in the silence. Let us never think that His silence means He isn’t watching or doesn’t care. He is there. He knows where we are. And He is always willing to guide us as He did Esther when we are faced with the darkness before the light of the dawn. He can make each one of us like the dawn, showing His light each and every new day.
In His Grace,
Jill Eileen Smith
*Tamar Meir, Esther: Midrash and Aggadah, Jewish Women’s Archive, accessed July 22, 2019, https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/esther-midrash-and-aggadah.