Study of the Book of Esther: Example of Faith, Wisdom, and Courage

The Book of Esther (Hebrew: אֶסְתֵּר) is one of the historical books of the Old Testament of the Bible, it comes after the Book of Nehemiah and before the First Book of Maccabees in Catholic Bibles, or before, the Book of Job, in Protestant Bibles. It has 10 chapters, or 16 in the Vulgate, which gathered the additions to the Hebrew text found in the Septuagint into six chapters at the end.It tells how Esther, a young Jewish girl who was among the deportees, became Empress of Persia by marrying Emperor Ahasuerus (usually identified with Xerxes I), and how her cousin and tutor Mordecai () discovered a plot against the king's life; how the grand-vizier Haman sought to liquidate the Jews; how Esther intervened, risking her life; how Prince Haman was hanged, and the Jews allowed to make a counter-pogrom, the anniversary of which they celebrate with the feast of Purim.