Tevet 1 – He set the royal crown upon her head…

December 13, 2023

Tevet 1, 5784; from sunset December 12, 2023, to sunset December 13, 2023

Esther is the Persian name of a Hebrew girl named “Hadassah.” Hadassah originates in the Hebrew “hadas” which means “myrtle.” The name Esther could either be from the Persian word for star (setareh) or the Median word for myrtle (astra). The myrtle tree produces a star-shaped flower which may be the connection between these words.

Though the Bible doesn’t give us a specific date for the coronation of Esther, it does give us a specific month…Tevet (Tebeth). Other traditions list this event as occurring on the 10th of Tevet.

So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Then the king made a great feast, the Feast of Esther, for all his officials and servants; and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the generosity of a king. – Esther 2:16-18 (NKJ)

The name Esther is assigned to only one person in the Bible. It is the Persian name of a Hebrew girl named Hadassah.

הֲדַסָּה

The name Hadassah comes from the Hebrew word “hadas” (הֲדָס) meaning “myrtle.” The branches of a myrtle are listed in Nehemiah 8:15 among the types of trees from which Israel gathered branches to construct their booths for the Feast of Tabernacles.

“Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.” – Nehemiah 8:15 (RSV)

The prophet Zechariah also has a connection to the myrtle tree. He related the word of the LORD in which he saw…

“…a man riding upon a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen; and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.” – Zechariah 1:8 (RSV)

The name Esther could either be from the Persian word for star (setareh) or the Median word for myrtle (astra). The myrtle tree produces a star-shaped flower which may be the connection between these words. Others see a similarity to the name Ishtar, an important goddess of love and fertility in Babylon.

The story of Esther opens with King Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia. He threw a huge banquet for all his princes, servants, the army chiefs of Persia and Media, and the nobles and governors of the provinces being before him. At this time he called upon his queen, Vashti, to come before him, wearing her royal crown; for she was quite beautiful. The queen refused which caused a great commotion with all the men present; for they were afraid that their wives may also refuse them. So the king put Vashti away and sent out an edict to bring all the fair maidens in front of him as he searched for a new queen.

Now there was a Jew in Susa the capital whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite, who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away.

He had brought up Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother; the maiden was beautiful and lovely, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai adopted her as his own daughter.

So when the king’s order and his edict were proclaimed, and when many maidens were gathered in Susa the capital in custody of Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king’s palace and put in custody of Hegai who had charge of the women.

And the maiden pleased him and won his favor; and he quickly provided her with her ointments and her portion of food, and with seven chosen maids from the king’s palace, and advanced her and her maids to the best place in the harem. – Esther 2:5-9 (RSV)

Esther was chosen from all of the other maidens and, today, according to tradition, she was crowned queen.