Xerxes
The Persian king who deposed Vashti and made Esther queen, and consented to and then reversed Haman's plot.
What we know — and how we know it
Phillip Maiwald (Nikopol) — CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
ArchaeologyHis reign is richly documented — the great palaces and trilingual inscriptions of Persepolis, and Greek historians who record 'Xerxes' (the biblical Ahasuerus).
Livioandronico2013 — CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
Ancient writersHerodotus describes at length the vast Greek invasion of this king — the Ahasuerus of Esther — and the character of his court.
Where in scripture
EzraEstherDanielNow these are the children of the province, who went up out of the captivity of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his city;
Ezra 2:1
The children of Azgad, one thousand two hundred twenty-two.
Ezra 2:12
The children of Ater, of Hezekiah, ninety-eight.
Ezra 2:16
The children of Bethlehem, one hundred twenty-three.
Ezra 2:21
When the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
Ezra 3:1
From the first day of the seventh month, they began to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh; but the foundation of Yahweh’s temple was not yet laid.
Ezra 3:6
They also gave money to the masons, and to the carpenters. They also gave food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus King of Persia.
Ezra 3:7
Now in the second year of their coming to God’s house at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began the work and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work of Yahweh’s house.
Ezra 3:8
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.
Family
In their own words — 14 recorded sayings
“What is to be done by law to Vashti the queen, because she has not done what King Ahasuerus, by his servants, gave her orders to do?” — Esther 1:15
“And the king said to Haman, The money is yours, and the people, to do with them whatever seems right to you.” — Esther 3:11
“Then the king said, What is your desire, Queen Esther, and what is your request? I will give it to you, even to the half of my kingdom.” — Esther 5:3
“Then the king said, Let Haman come quickly, so that what Esther has said may be done. So the king and Haman came to the feast which Esther had made ready. And while they were drinking wine the king said to Esther, What is your prayer? for it will be given to you and what is your request? for it will be done, even to the half of my kingdom.” — Esther 5:5-6
“And the king said, What honour and reward have been given to Mordecai for this? Then the servants who were waiting on the king said, Nothing has been done for him. Then the king said, Who is in the outer room? Now Haman had come into the outer room to get the king's authority for the hanging of Mordecai on the pillar which he had made ready for him.” — Esther 6:3-4
“And the king's servants said to him, See, Haman is waiting in the outer room. And the king said, Let him come in.” — Esther 6:5
“So Haman came in. And the king said to him, What is to be done to the man whom the king has delight in honouring? Then the thought came into Haman's mind, Whom, more than myself, would the king have pleasure in honouring?” — Esther 6:6
“Then the king said to Haman, Go quickly, and take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, who is seated at the king's doorway: see that you do everything as you have said.” — Esther 6:10
…and 6 more recorded sayings.
Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).
Events
Places in their life
Photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen — Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)
In art
