Mr. Lanser then updated his Seraiah Assumption article in an attempt to further clarify his position regarding Ahasuerus and several other topics. For reasons explained more fully in my responses above, the wealth, dominion, and tribute ascribed to Esther’s Ahasuerus could only rightly be attributed to Darius I ‘The Great’. Esther at no point expresses any love for Xerxes. The Mesoretes [sic] added the vowel pointings which gave us “Ahasuerus”. Excavations at the palace in Susa have revealed the very spot where these events took place. The Reed Sea Crossing: Which Gulf of the Red Sea? A Divine “Command” to Return and Build Jerusalem, Calendar Confusion & the Bible’s Prophetic Record, Calendar Confusion & the Basics of Biblical Time, Passover & the Bible’s Sacrificial Symbolism, Douglas Woodward Tackles Daniel’s 70 Weeks, The Seventy Weeks of Walid Shoebat & Joel Richardson, Blood Moons & the Biblical Context of Time, The 13th Enumeration: Key to the Bible’s Messianic Symbolism, Blood Moons: Changing How We View Bible Prophecy, Generational Comparative of the 2nd Temple Era, The Messiah Factors (Part I): Decoding 13 & 14, Open Letter to Prophecy Teachers – RE: Daniel 9, Daniel’s 70 Weeks: The Keystone of Bible Prophecy, Joseph Farah – The Gospel in Every Book of the Old Testament. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. According to Justin (who had read his Herodotus carefully), as a result of the murder of the magus, “the Great ones (principles) were equal in merit and nobility (virtute et nobilitate….pares; I.10.1-2) This is the version also found in Plato (Laws 695c) in an otherwise very suspicious passage: “When [Darius] came and seized the empire with the aid of the other six, he split it up into seven divisions, of which some faint outlines still survive today.”….. Diodorus as late as the fourth century specifies that the satrap Rhosaces “ was a descendant of one of the seven Persians who deposed the Magi (XVI.47.2), Quintus Curtius introduces Orsines, chieftain of the tribe of Pasargade, who was “a descendant of the ‘seven Persians’ and tracing his genealogy also to Cyrus” (IV.12.8) The permanence of the term thus seems assured. These fluted stone columns stood 20 meters high and were topped with capitals in the shape of bulls.8 The magnificent hall was surrounded on three sides with porticos and in the center, as one enters from the main entrance to the north, was a raised base that was likely where the king himself would sit.9 It was in this Audience Hall that Xerxes entertained his guests at the banquet described in first chapter of the book of Esther.10 While she herself was not at that particular banquet, she may have been at others. 338-339. What was said to them by me, that they did. In Old Persian the king’s name was Khsayarsan, in Akkadian it was Ahsiarsu, and in Hebrew Ahasuerus.1 A misinterpretation of the Hebrew led to the misidentification of Ahasuerus as Artaxerxes in the Septuagint, Josephus, and the Jewish Midrash.2 The sequence of Persian kings in Ezra 4:5-7, however, makes it clear that Ahasuerus was the son of Darius and the predecessor to Artaxerxes: thus, the Xerxes of history and the and Ahasuerus of the book of Esther are one and the same. To help us further understand how the Bible used the word “Ahasuerus” we turn to Daniel chapter 9. Religion of the Anti-Christ He was eventually assassinated by the captain of his bodyguard having reigned as the king of Persia for 20 years. Online: https://www.andrews.edu/sem/inministry/uploads/2014coursesyllabi/esther_and_history-shea.pdf (Accessed June 2, 2020). She belongs to God and does his will, no matter how difficult. ( Log Out / There is nothing simple about looking into the past and trying to understand history from the point of view of those who wrote it. Notice this Ahasuerus the text further identifies as the “Ahasuerus” who reigned from India even unto Ethiopia over 127 provinces.
The Persian life that Esther lived in Susa is accurately reflected in the book of the Bible that bears her name, and understanding Persian history, as revealed by archaeology, in turn helps us to contextualize the ancient text. 2 Randall Price and H. Wayne House, Zondervan Handbook of Biblical Archaeology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2017), 145. 23 Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons? Now let’s further develop the Biblical evidence to see if there is any reason to further consider the possibility that the Persian king whom the Bible identifies as Darius might in fact be the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther. I quote from Mr. Lanser’s original article The Seraiah Assumption (notice the emphasis Mr. Lanser provides in his original article): Returning to Mr. Lanser’s – Wrapping up Loose Ends: The further observation that the intended king [Esther’s Ahasuerus] was fabulously wealthy, because he inherited an expansive empire from his father Darius the Great—who is never called either Ahasuerus or Artaxerxes anywhere in any historical records—is used to narrow the options down to only one. For example, in one inscription from Persepolis (XPl), Xerxes states, “I am not hot-tempered. A humorous inscription commissioned by Xerxes survives near Lake Van. This item is part of JSTOR collection Mr. Lanser then updated his Seraiah Assumption article in an attempt to further clarify his position regarding Ahasuerus and several other topics. The second half of the Hebrew achashdarpan ﬢרפן(darpan) likely then is Hebrew equivalent of the Old Persian pavan which we translate today as satrap. We are also reminded of the power of God. Herodotus, incidentally, devotes a dozen lengthy paragraphs to Xerxes’ discussion with his nobles and generals describing the decision to carry out the campaign against Greece (7. This break from chronological order tempts some to abandon plain-sense interpretation principles, and look instead for other ways to understand the passage. They were instructed to gather in writing all of the old laws of Egypt down to year 44 of Pharoah Amasis, that is, 526 – the eve of the Achaemenid conquest. Just every couple of weeks I’ll share with you my love of Biblical history and Bible Prophecy.
But she knew what she was sent to do and remained faithful to her task. JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization helping the academic community use digital technologies to preserve the scholarly record and to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways. But what about Mr. Lanser’s claim that the Biblical rendering of Xerxes name as Ahasuerus or more accurately as he claims without vowel pointings as “Chshwrwsh” must not be considered a title or a throne name but rather it “was a personal name that was modified by passing through different languages.”? Archaeology, however, has affirmed numerous details about the life of Xerxes and the stetting of the book of Esther. Traditionally scholars have identified the king as Darius I and the crown prince as Xerxes.9, Xerxes, like many of the ancient kings, described himself in glowing terms. Love commands in the Bible include actions of justice and favor to other humans as a way to show one’s love of God. In like manner we argue now against Xerxes. Now take a look at Xšayâršahyâ as it is represented in Hebrew. There is, however, something interesting going on in the assertion that King Ahasuerus loved (’ahav) Esther. When my father Darius went away from the throne, by the grace of Ahuramazda I became king on my father’s throne. Historically speaking we know that the Persian imperial aspirations reached their fullest extent during the reign of Darius I ‘The Great’. Unfortunately for Mr. Lanser’s readers in the above he gave no indication that he only had the Persian Aehaemenid period in mind when he made his statement about Ahasuerus. The verse reads: Esther 1:1 KJV Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces…).
Since both Mr. Hitchcock and Mr. Limbaugh have a background in the legal profession, and since Ezra’s place in 2nd temple history is central to both their beliefs regarding the “Seventy Weeks” of Daniel 9, I thought it would be illustrative of current Biblical thinking on the subject, to challenge them to provide a legal defense for their foundational belief that Ezra was a contemporary of Artaxerxes (Longimanus). Change ). People who study a text from historical, literary, theological and other angles. The text does not detail the exact content of the book that they produced. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. By the time of Esther’s king the Persian empire had grown to 127 provinces. In addition to original articles by senior as well as junior scholars, JQR regularly features review essays and book forums, short notes, and lists of relevant dissertations. I think I’ve demonstrated that the “well-meaning but inadequately informed commentators of yesteryear” were closer to the truth than Mr. Lanser would like to believe. Last in my writing queue (for now at least) I hope to explore the evolution of world power structure from Babylon to the return of Yeshua as exemplified in the image of Daniel 2. Change ). One is by overlooking or dismissing the etymology behind the name, instead suggesting “Ahasuerus” was not the personal name for Xerxes resulting after some translational gymnastics, but a title for some other king who lived between Cyrus and Darius, perhaps Cambyses or Smerdis. By the 7. Ussher – 1600’s King Xerxes says: King Darius, my father, by the grace of Ahuramazda built much that was good, and he gave orders to dig this niche out, but because he did not make an inscription, I ordered this inscription to be made.”13. The book of Esther, which may be a work of fiction, is set in Xerxes' rule and was written about 400 BCE. King of 127 Providence 21 And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily, 22 Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. (Ezra 8:36), And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. French archaeologist Jean Perrot was the Director of Excavations at the palace of Darius/Xerxes at Susa for over a decade. The book of Esther confirms that Darius I is the most likely candidate for Esther’s king in another way as well. Archaeology, however, has affirmed numerous details about the life of Xerxes and the stetting of the book of Esther. Now take a look at Xšayâršahyâ as it is represented in Hebrew. A Favor to Ask. Esther and Mordecai radiated the love of Christ without wants saying his name.
Thank you for your help in this effort! The text is recorded in the Persian, Babylonian and Elamite Languages, and is the only Achaemenid royal inscription outside of Iran.
Finally, I don’t know if Mr. Lanser meant to be somehow more specific in his statement above but his claim that “Darius the Great – who is never called either Ahasuerus or Artaxerxes anywhere in any historical records” is simply not accurate.
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