This book has its name from the person who is the principal subject of it; it is by Clemens of Alexandria called the Book of Mordecai also; it is commonly called, in the Hebrew copies, "Megillah Esther", the Volume of Esther; and sometimes in the Jewish writings only "Megillah", by way of eminency, "the Volume".
It was written, according to the Talmudists , by the men of the great synagogue, composed by Ezra; and some think it was written by Ezra himself ; but Aben Ezra is of opinion it was written by Mordecai, since he was concerned in, and had perfect knowledge of, all things related in it; which is rejected by Spinosa , who conceits that this, and the books of Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, were written by one and the same historian long after the times of Judas Maccabaeus: as to the canonical authority of it, it has been generally received by Jews and Christians; our wise men, says Maimonides , openly and plainly affirm of the book of Esther, that it was dictated by the Holy Spirit; so Aben Ezra on Es 6:6, and he himself affirms, that"all the books of the prophets, and all the Hagiographa (or holy writings), shall cease in the days of the Messiah, except the volume of Esther; and, lo, that shall be as stable as the Pentateuch, and as the constitutions of the oral law, which shall never cease.'
'Though the versions of other books of Scripture might not be read in the synagogues, versions of this book might to those who did not understand Hebrew ; and so Luther says, the Jews more esteem the book of Esther than any of the prophets.
Whence Mr. Baxter had that notion, I can not devise, that the Jews used to cast to the ground the book of Esther before they read it, because the name of God was not in it: nor is that any objection to its authenticity, since the hand and providence of God may be most clearly seen in it; in raising Esther to such grandeur, and that for the deliverance of the people of the Jews, and in counter working and bringing to nought the plots of their enemies, and in saving them: nor that it is not quoted in the New Testament; it is sufficient there is no disagreement between them, yea, an entire agreement, particularly in the account of the captivity of Jeconiah, which is expressed almost in the same words in Es 2:6 as in Mt 1:11.
It stands in Origen's catalogue of the books of the Old Testament; nor is it any material objection that it appears not in the catalogue of Melito , since in that list is comprehended under Ezra not Nehemiah only, but Esther also, which Jerom mentions along with it.
This book is not only of use to the Jews, as it shows the original and foundation of a feast of theirs, still kept up by them, the feast of Purim, and makes for the glory of their nation, and therefore it is no wonder it should be so highly esteemed by them; but serves to show the singular providence of God in taking care of his people in adversity, in humbling the proud, and exalting the lowly, and saving those that pray to him, and trust in him; it furnishes out various instructions in the conduct of the several persons herein mentioned; it is a history but of ten or eleven years at most, from the third of Ahasuerus, to the twelfth of his reign, Es 1:3.
Stromat. l. 1. p. 329. T. Bava Bathra, fol. 15. 1. August. de Civ. Dei, l. 18. c. 36. Isidor. Origin. l. 6. c. 2. Tract. Theolog. Politic. c. 10. p. 189, &c. Moreh Nevochim, par. 2. c. 45. Hilchot Megillah, c.
2. sect. 18. Misn. Megillah, c. 2. sect. 1. T. Bab. Megillah, fol. 18. 1. Mensal. Colloqu. c. 31. p. 358. The Saints Everlasting Rest, part 4. c. 3. sect. 1. Apud Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 6. c. 25. Apud ib.
l. 4. c. 26. Ad Domnion. & Rogat. tom. 3. fol. 7. F.INTRODUCTION TO ESTHER 1This chapter relates, how that Ahasuerus, a great king of Persia, made a feast, first for the grandees of his kingdom, and then for his people, as his queen did for the women, Es 1:1, who being sent for by him, and she refusing to come, was, by the advice of one of his counsellors, divorced from him, and an order made and published throughout his dominions, that every man should bear rule in his own house, Es 1:10.
Ver. 1. Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus,.... Who he was is not easy to say; almost all the kings of Persia are so named by one or another writer. He cannot be the Ahasuerus in Da 9:1, he was Astyages, the father of Cyaxares or Darius the Mede; but this must be one who had his royal palace in Shushan, which was never the royal city of the Medes, but of the Persians only; nor does he seem to be the Ahasuerus in Ezr 4:6, who is thought to be Cambyses, the son and successor of Cyrus; since, according to the canon of Ptolemy, he reigned but eight years, whereas this Ahasuerus at least reigned twelve, Es 3:7, though indeed some account for it by his reigning in his father's lifetime; besides, Cambyses was always an enemy to the Jews, as this was not; and yet this way go many of the Jewish writers and so a very learned man, Nicolaus Abram ; according to Bishop Usher , this was Darius Hystaspis, who certainly was a friend to the Jewish nation; but he is rather the Artaxerxes of Ezra and Nehemiah; and so says the Midrash .
Dr. Prideaux thinks Ahasuerus was Artaxerxes Longimanus, which is the sense of Josephus , and who is thought by many to be the Artaxerxes in the foresaid books. Capellus is of opinion, that Darius Ochus is meant, to which Bishop Patrick inclines; but I rather think, with Vitringa and others , that Xerxes is the Ahasuerus that was the husband of Esther here spoken of; so the Arabic writers ; and as he was the son and successor of Darius Hystaspis, if he is meant by Artaxerxes in the preceding books, the history of which is carried to the thirty second year of his reign, Ne 13:6 and who reigned but four years more; this book of Esther stands in right order of time to carry on the history of the Jewish affairs in the Persian monarchy; and Mr.
Broughton owns, that the name of Xerxes, in Greek, agrees with Achasuerus in Hebrew; and in Es 10:1 his name is Achashresh, which, with the Greeks, is Axeres or Xerxes :this is Ahasuerus, which reigned from India even unto Ethiopia; properly so called; the Ethiopians had been subdued by Cambyses the son and successor of Cyrus , and the Indians by Darius Hystaspis the father of Xerxes ; and both, with other great nations, were retained in subjection to him ; and many of both, as well as of other nations, were with him in his expedition into Greece :over an hundred and twenty and seven provinces; there were now seven provinces more under his jurisdiction than were in the times of Darius the Mede, Da 6:1.
Targum & Jarchi in loc. Seder Olam Rabba, c. 29. Zuta, p. 108. Pharus Vet. Test. l. 11. c. 12. p. 305. Annal. Vet. Test. p. 160. so Broughton, Works, p. 38, 259, 581. Midrash Esther, fol. 86. 2. Connection, &c.
par. 1. B. 4. p. 252, &c. Antiqu. l. 11. c. 6. sect. 1. and so Suidas in voce esyhr. Chronolog. Sacr. p. 294. Hypotypos. Hist. Sacr. p. 110. Schichart. de Festo Purim. Rainold. Praelect. 144. p. 231.
Alsted. Chronolog. p. 126, 181. In Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. p. 87. Ut supra. (Broughton, Works, p. 38, 259, 581.) Vid. Hiller. Arcan. Keri & Ketib, p. 87. & Onomastic. Sacr. p. 639. Herodot. Thalia, sive, l.
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