This early 1900s illustrations shows esther before Athasuerus. The scene is from the Book of Esther and depicts Esther, the Jewish wife of the king Ahasuerus (sometimes named as Xerxes). After the king ordered the execution of all Jewish people in the Persian Empire, Esther went before him, without being summoned, to beg for him to spare her people. This broke court etiquette and Esther risked death in doing so. She ended up fainting before the king. Her action softened the king, and he permitted the Jews to defend themselves against his attack, preventing them from being killed off.

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Size: 5322px × 3483px
Photo credit: © Ivy Close Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: ahasuerus, ancient, bible, book, books, christian, esther, hebrew, heroine, heroines, jewish, megillah, religion, religious, scroll, tale, tanakh, testament, women, xerxes