The Book Of Esther
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary [1]
Has always been esteemed canonical, both by Jews and Christians, though certain additions to it, found in some versions and manuscripts, are apocryphal. Who was its writer is not certainly known. It has been ascribed to Ezra, to a high-priest name Jehoiakim, and to Mordecai. This last opinion is supported by the internal evidence; the book having been written in Persia, by an eye-witness of the scenes it describes, B. C. 509. It presents a graphic picture of the Persian court and customs, and is intensely Jewish in its spirit. The chief value of the book is to illustrate the wonder- working providence of God, his control of human passions, his righteous judgment of sinners, and his care for his covenant people- whom, even when captives in a strange land, he can exalt above all their foes.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary [2]
(See Esther .)
The Nuttall Encyclopedia [3]
A book of the Old Testament, which takes its name from the chief figure in the story related, an orphan Jewess and ward of her cousin Mordecai, who, from her beauty, was chosen into the royal harem and raised to be consort to the king. It is read through in the Jewish synagogues at the feast of Purim ( q. v .). It is observed that the name of God does not occur once in the book, but the story implies the presence of an overruling Providence, responding to the cry of His oppressed ones for help.
