Sharon Eappen

The book of Esther is the story of a Jewish girl, who gets to be Queen by hiding her identity as a Jew and almost risks her marriage to save her own people from genocide. While that takes up most of the story line there is a build up in the book which leads to Esther’s marriage that is usually not noticed or is rush read or rush explained (if you’ve been to Sunday School and/or Christian camps, that is). So in the drama of the man who built his own gallows, what exactly did we miss? Queen Vashti. Queen Vashti, the former wife of King Xerxes, is mentioned briefly in the first two chapters of the book. While throwing a banquet for his nobles and officials, the King commanded the eunuchs who served him to bring before him his Queen because she was lovely to look at. What did she do instead? She refused to come out and, it says, that burned the King with anger. Queen Vashti refusing to come out when the attendants approached her While that seems casually mentioned, it see...