Esther 2
A few days later old Xerxes, who if you recall banished his wife after she refused to be summoned to visit his drunken party while "in high spirits from wine"
He has now had a chance to get over his hangover and his temper has subsided and he decided that he had perhaps acted rashly in refusing to ever see Vashti again.
His personal advisors suggest that the king appoint "beauty assessors" in the provinces to search out beautiful virgins throughout the realm and then bring them to the harem in Susa where they would be trained by the kings eunuch before being presented to the king after 12 months of beauty treatments.
I'm afraid to say that the king thought that this was a rather superb idea, so the first beauty contest started. The prize was replacing Vashti as the queen of the realm with a runner up prize that they have to stay the rest of their lives in the concubine harem as they have slept with the king - though they would never see the king again, unless he asked for her by name.
In the capital city of Susa there was living a Jewish exile called Mordecai, a descendant of the tribe of Benjamin and related to the Israelite king Saul. and was one of the captives taken by Nebuchadnezzer. Mordecai had adopted his cousin Hadassah who most people called by the name of Esther, after her parents had died in exile.
Esther was known to be very pretty and had a stunning figure, and so she was caught up in the beauty competition run on behalf of the king. whether Mordecai or she approved of this is not recorded.
Esther wound up in the harem but did not reveal her family relations or her nationality as she had been warned by Mordecai that this was not wise.
There is a TV show on called "Who do you think you are?" where famous celebrities trace back their family tree and tell the story of their interesting ancestors. Stephen Fry did probably the most moving episode, Stephen's family arrived from Poland in the 1920's but one thing his mother said when they were children, they were advised to say nothing about being Jewish. To me this should be unnecessary.
Esther managed to speak to Mordecai every day, he would walk in the courtyard of the palace close to the harem.
Esther went into the king on the 7th year of his reign - given that Vashti had been banished in the third year this contest had gone on for a long time.
Anyway Esther pleased and impressed the king far more than the other girls so he made Esther the queen with a royal crown and robes. The king then had a banquet in Esther's honour
Meanwhile Mordecai in his time in the palace had overheard a conspiracy to assassinate the king.
Mordecai told Esther who in turn told the king.
Investigations found that there was truth in the report and the protagonists, Bigthana and Teresh were impaled on poles.
A record of this was kept in the records of the king.
A few days later old Xerxes, who if you recall banished his wife after she refused to be summoned to visit his drunken party while "in high spirits from wine"
He has now had a chance to get over his hangover and his temper has subsided and he decided that he had perhaps acted rashly in refusing to ever see Vashti again.
His personal advisors suggest that the king appoint "beauty assessors" in the provinces to search out beautiful virgins throughout the realm and then bring them to the harem in Susa where they would be trained by the kings eunuch before being presented to the king after 12 months of beauty treatments.
I'm afraid to say that the king thought that this was a rather superb idea, so the first beauty contest started. The prize was replacing Vashti as the queen of the realm with a runner up prize that they have to stay the rest of their lives in the concubine harem as they have slept with the king - though they would never see the king again, unless he asked for her by name.
In the capital city of Susa there was living a Jewish exile called Mordecai, a descendant of the tribe of Benjamin and related to the Israelite king Saul. and was one of the captives taken by Nebuchadnezzer. Mordecai had adopted his cousin Hadassah who most people called by the name of Esther, after her parents had died in exile.
Esther was known to be very pretty and had a stunning figure, and so she was caught up in the beauty competition run on behalf of the king. whether Mordecai or she approved of this is not recorded.
Esther wound up in the harem but did not reveal her family relations or her nationality as she had been warned by Mordecai that this was not wise.
There is a TV show on called "Who do you think you are?" where famous celebrities trace back their family tree and tell the story of their interesting ancestors. Stephen Fry did probably the most moving episode, Stephen's family arrived from Poland in the 1920's but one thing his mother said when they were children, they were advised to say nothing about being Jewish. To me this should be unnecessary.
Esther managed to speak to Mordecai every day, he would walk in the courtyard of the palace close to the harem.
Esther went into the king on the 7th year of his reign - given that Vashti had been banished in the third year this contest had gone on for a long time.
Anyway Esther pleased and impressed the king far more than the other girls so he made Esther the queen with a royal crown and robes. The king then had a banquet in Esther's honour
Meanwhile Mordecai in his time in the palace had overheard a conspiracy to assassinate the king.
Mordecai told Esther who in turn told the king.
Investigations found that there was truth in the report and the protagonists, Bigthana and Teresh were impaled on poles.
A record of this was kept in the records of the king.
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