Esther, Miss Persia circa 486 BC

Welcome back to my third post on the romantic heroines of the Bible. Today I want us to study a literal beauty queen.

Esther’s outward beauty cannot be contested. The biblical narrative tells us “The young woman was lovely and beautiful.” (Esther 2:7) So beautiful, she was chosen to go into the king’s harem. But there was more to her than her looks. 

As soon as she went into the harem, she won the favor of Hegai, “the custodian of the women.” The Bible says she “pleased him, and she obtained his favor.” (2:9) He favored her so much that he gave her extra beauty preparations and appointed seven “choice” maidservants from the king’s palace to serve her. But that wasn’t enough. He moved her and her maids to the best part of the women’s house. Hegai was a eunuch, as any man in charge of the king’s women would have been. So his attraction to her was something more than her physical beauty.

When Esther’s turn came to meet the king, she asked for only the most basic of beauty aids. Whatever and only what Hegai suggested. If it isn’t clear enough to the reader that the young woman’s beauty was more than skin deep, the narrative adds in 2:16 “And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her.” Her physical appearance would have been enough for anyone to do a double take. But for her to obtain their favor, the inner person must have been shining through.

The king loved her “more than all the other women.” She was chosen out of the many women, all beautiful, to take the place of the ousted queen.

And King Ahasuerus and Queen Esther lived happily ever after. The end.

Hold it. Not quite.

King Ahasuerus, also known as Xerxes, wasn’t known for his patience and kindness. This guy had a nasty temper. When he decided to invade and conquer Greece, he had to get his army across a strip of water called the Dardanelles Strait, also known as the Hellespont. By tying together a large group of boats, his engineers made a bridge that would allow his army to march across. Before they could venture over it, a storm blew up and destroyed the bridge. Maybe he should have been grateful it happened beforehand instead of when they were in the middle of the bridge. Or maybe he should have given up and gone home. After all, the destruction was an “act of God” and the king should have heeded this warning. But nope. Not he. He threw a major hissy fit and ordered his soldiers to—this is recorded in history—whip the sea 300 times with chains. Then those poor soldiers, who must have already felt stupid, had to poke the strait with red hot irons and toss handcuffs into the water to make sure the sea would submit to the king. Um. 👀 

The harshest thing he did, though, was promptly order the decapitation of the engineers. Hey wait. It was a STORM. Not their fault. But you get the picture. Side note…he should have listened to the God who orders the weather (though this would have been before Esther and Mordecai were part of his life, so it’s doubtful he cared about the Hebrew God), because they made it across, were humiliatingly defeated by the Greeks, and went back to their ship-bridge with tails between their legs. To find it destroyed once again. 

In the opening to the book of Esther, an older, should-have-been wiser Xerxes starts by deposing his beautiful wife who refused to parade about for a bunch of drunken royals. Once his anger subsides, he realizes the mistake he’s made, but then it’s too late. Should have controlled his temper. 🙄

Why am I telling you all this stuff about the king? Isn’t this post supposed to be about Esther? Yes, it’s about her. I’m just letting you know who she was dealing with. 

When it became clear Xerxes also had bad judgment when it came to those he chose to rule with him, namely, Haman, Esther had to confront the problem this posed to her people.

When she goes before the king to plead for her people and her own life, she’s afraid. Well, yeah! If she went before him without him requesting a visit, it could mean certain death. And since he’s shown himself to be a bit hot-headed and ill-tempered, who could know what kind of mood he’d be in when she went to see him? 

The king shows her favor. Yes, we know God was in it. We know He had a special plan for her. But maybe, just maybe, God chose Esther because of the characteristics that endeared her to everyone who came in contact with her. Xerxes welcomed her, did as she asked, even offering to give her half of his kingdom. And later, once Haman’s scheme was revealed, the king chose his wife over his most trusted adviser. He could have doubted her. Haman was his number two, after all. Esther had kept her Jewish ethnicity a secret, so what else might she be hiding from him? 

Nah, he believes her. He’s so angry, he walks away (surprise, surprise!). When he returnes, he finds Haman begging Esther for his life. Last straw. Haman’s a goner.

Now the king knows all of our heroine’s secrets. He knows she’s a Jewess, one of the conquered people, but he gives her everything she asks for and even elevates Mordecai to Haman’s position. With plenty of other beautiful women populating his harem, he could have easily replaced his new queen. But he loved her. He was enchanted by her.

I get the same vibes from Esther as I did from Hannah. Gentle. Kind. She possessed a submissive and obedient spirit. Not only to men, but to God as well. She must have been aware she had the kind of looks that turned men’s heads, but it didn’t make her arrogant. I imagine when she was taken into the harem, she must have been quaking with fear. Or she might have turned bitter for the liberty she lost. That’s not what happened. She showed great courage as she continued to blossom, despite her circumstances, and let her inner being shine through…A light that engulfed the people around her and endeared her to their hearts.

It’s no wonder the cantankerous Ahasuerus/Xerxes chose her to be his queen and turned to mush in her hands.