The Book of Esther is a book in the Ketuvim ("writings"), the third section of the Jewish Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) and is part of the Christian Old Testament. It tells the story of a Jewish girl named Esther who became queen of Persia and thwarted a plan to commit genocide against her people. Also called the Megillah, the book is the basis and an integral part of the Jewish celebration of Purim. Its full text is read aloud twice during the celebration, in the evening and again the following morning.
It is the only book in the Bible that does not explicitly mention God.
Read more about Book Of Esther: Setting, Plot Summary, Authorship and Date, Historicity, Historical Reading, Allegorical Reading, Relation To The Rest of The Bible, Additions To Esther, Reinterpretations of The Story
Famous quotes containing the words book of, book and/or esther:
“Heav’n from all creatures, hides the book of Fate,
All but the page prescrib’d, their present state:”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
“Painting myself for others, I have painted my inward self with colors clearer than my original ones. I have no more made my book than my book has made me—a book consubstantial with its author, concerned with my own self, an integral part of my life; not concerned with some third-hand, extraneous purpose, like all other books.”
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“...if I perish, I perish.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Esther 4:16.
Queen Esther, as she gathers strength to go to the king on behalf of her people.