Xerxes I Xerxes I, who reigned over the Persian Empire from 486 to 465 BC, was the son and successor of Darius I (Hystaspes). He inherited a vast empire from his father and his maternal grandfather (Cyrus II), but he was unable to govern Persia effectively due to his cruelty and instability. Early in Xerxes’ reign, Egypt and Babylon revolted against Persian rule. Xerxes crushed the revolts and kept the tax revenues flowing, but his brutal treatment of his subjects began cementing his reputation for despotism. In the third year of his reign, Xerxes convened an assembly of his leaders to plan an invasion of Greece. (The book of Esther begins with a banquet that probably reflects that situation.) In 480 BC the legendary but ill-fated campaign to conquer Greece began. Xerxes’ tyrannical cruelty is exemplified by two accounts that Herodotus records from this campaign. When he and his armies reached the Hellespont (the waterway connecting the Black Sea with the Mediterranean), his engineers built a bridge so his armies could cross, but a storm destroyed the bridge. Xerxes responded by beheading the engineers and whipping the water before building a stronger bridge. Later in the...

Purim The Festival of Purim is the only Old Testament festival not established during the time of Moses. Its name is derived from a word that means lots or dice (Hebrew purim, derived from Akkadian puru). It was a common practice in the ancient world to cast purim to determine whether God favored a particular course of action: A good number would indicate God’s approval, a bad number his disapproval. Near the king’s throne room at Susa in Persia, archaeologists found a small four-sided object with a number engraved on each side. A similar die inscribed with the word pur dates to the 800s BC. In the book of Esther, the Persian astrologers used purim to establish the best time to slaughter the Jews (Esth 3:7). On the fateful day—March 7, 473 BC—God miraculously rescued his people from certain death, just as he had rescued the nation from Egypt at the Passover. Mordecai and Esther therefore formalized an annual celebration of God’s rescue so that all future generations would remember what God had accomplished (9:28). The festival was widely celebrated thereafter among Jews (see 2 Maccabees 15:36; Josephus, Antiquities 11.6.13; perhaps John 5:1). When God rescued his chosen pe...