“If I perish, I perish!”
Famous words. Without looking, do you know who uttered these words? …
Good. Queen Hadassah, you’re right “… for such a time as this”
Once upon a time, there was a young, very beautiful woman born in a faraway land of Persia where her family was exiled and she had to hide her real identity and heritage. Her name: Hadassah. In Hebrew; it means Myrtle tree which is a symbol of peace, righteousness and blessings. Commonly though, she was Esther. The associated Hebrew meaning of this name was -hiding and concealing but, a ‘star’ in Persian. Spoiler alert! She embodies both of her names perfectly.
Think about it: what is your real name? Your name is very important, as in this case, Esther was similar in appearance to the people in the kingdom of Persia, but her name, Hebrew name, had she used it, would have immediately distinguished her identity. The name Esther allowed her ironically to hide in plain sight.
What name have you chosen to hide your real identity?
Esther was orphaned and was raised by her cousin, as her adopted father, and he made sure she knew her heritage and history. One day, she was about her business, and I can only imagine, he comes and tells her about the King’s edict. How do you imagine she reacted? All we know is that she was obedient. Hold up. Before we continue with her story, let’s turn the pages back a bit because I want to introduce to you another admirable woman.
We’re in the Persian empire, the most powerful kingdom in the world then, so, it follows that its king is the most powerful man in the world, right? What about its queen? Vashti: I would assume, most powerful woman.
The king-man himself decided because he can, to hold a 6 months party after party for the nobles and after that, another 7-day party after party after party for all people. Vashti on the other hand, held her own parallel feast for the women in court. On the seventh day, drunk with drink and pride, the king ordered that she be brought to her, and I quote the Bible, “with her royal crown, in order to show the people and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at.” 🧐
The QUEEN refused to be objectified and paraded like this. The king was infuriated that his pride was wounded. To put this in context with no exaggeration, she was risking death. However, she was banished and dethroned instead. The punishment was meant to discourage other women from following her example to disobey their husbands. I don’t know about the women in court or Persia then, but I know her boldness impressed me and further impressed the importance of maintaining my dignity no matter what. Nonetheless, she mourned her loss.
This is when Esther was called upon:
After his anger settled, the king started to miss his queen. Shocker! So, his advisors advised him to get a new, young, virgin for a queen. For you to be the queen of Persia, you had to undergo a year of preparation including 6 months with oil and another 6 months with spices and ointment. Should we try this? Sounds very lovely. I wish I could afford a whole year of pampering but- I’ll settle for a spa day or a weekend? How about you ladies?
After the preparation, Esther is prepped and ready to meet her king and she immediately found grace and favor in his eyes. 🤔 Because of her beauty? Maybe, but later as I came to understand that she was humble and gracious. Not only did she obtain favor from the king but also with everyone she met.
One day as she was going about her queenly duties, I assume staying pretty, her young women and eunuchs brought the news that her father is at the king’s gate wearing sack clothes and ashes, crying and bitterly weeping. She was very distressed and since she didn’t understand why, she sent him clothes to wear to which he obviously refused. She then sent someone to him to find out why he was in that state. Long story short she learnt of the decree to kill all the Jews in the kingdom. (This thing didn’t start with the painter 🤭).
Anyway, her father requested her to beg the king on their behalf. Now, no one was to go to the king without being called and she hadn’t been called upon. By law, this was punishable by death. So; this was not a simple request. He was asking her to risk her life to save her people. Naturally, she was afraid. However, Esther requested a 3 day and night fasting be done by all the Jews in the capital; no food or drink. (I only recently learnt there’s something called an Esther fast! The more you know?) She resolved that after the fast, she would go to the king, and uttered the famous words, “…if I perish, I perish!”
On the third day, she put on her royal robes and went in to the king who was sitting on his royal throne, I think, still afraid. When the king saw her, she found favor in his sight and extended his golden scepter so she could touch it and not be put to death. Do you guys see the parallel here, with Vashti’s story? Do you see the contrast?
“What is it, Queen Esther?” The king asked. “…it shall be given to half my kingdom.” That’s right! What favor from a king and husband. No prenups needed 🙃. Her request was simple, for “If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my wish and fulfill my request, let the king and his second* (name is mentioned) come to the feast that I will prepare for them…” Here, I must say, Esther’s wisdom was undeniable. Remember, the king doesn’t know she’s a Hebrew yet. She plans to reveal this in a manner that she and her people will remain alive.
In the feast, Esther was observing the king and looking for a good opportunity for her reveal but couldn’t find one thus she made a second request that the king and his second come again the next day to another feast and she’ll reveal her actual request. This aroused the king and his second’s intrigue even further and something cool happened that night, but you can read that from the book itself 🤪.
In the feast the second day, she finally revealed that she was a Jew and of how his second had planned and tricked him into agreeing to extinguish the Jews with a decree that was signed officially using the king’s signet ring. The second was hanged and problem was solved. You think? Nope. The thing is, once a decree was made and sent out, there was no way of ‘undecreeing’ so the Jews’ death was still looming. Meaning her work wasn’t done yet. Esther wept and begged the king to avert it but there was no way of undoing what was already done.
Good news is by now, she had introduced her adopted father to the king, and the king had given him his signet ring. A great honour indeed. With the king’s assent, letters were sent out explaining why the second was hanged and that the Jews had the right to defend themselves if anyone attacked. A different decree, sealed. Fear of death and mourning was replaced with hope. On that day and the next, they defended themselves throughout the kingdom and won.
These 2 days are celebrated till today as the feast of Purim and Esther was at the center: From fear to obedience.
Note: I’m looking at this story from a different angle; it’s not contextually the main point of the story in the Bible. You should read it and fill in the blanks in my story. It’s very interesting. I think it has so many hidden gems. Pun intended.
As a woman, I’m certainly taking some tips from her. Are you, which ones?
As I was chatting to someone about this story, they mentioned another woman that I overlooked: Haman’s wife, the wife of a very proud husband who plotted to kill a whole tribe of people because one of them refused to bow to him. She ended up losing a husband and 10 sons. What a tragedy.
(I intentionally left out the names of men in the post in case you haven’t noticed. Guess why? 😏)