Esther

4 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Esther
       n 1: (Old Testament) a beautiful Jewess chosen by the king of
            Persia to be his queen; she stopped a plot to massacre
            all the Jews in Persia (an event celebrated by Jews as
            the feast of Purim)
       2: an Old Testament book telling of a beautiful Jewess who


          became queen of Persia and saved her people from massacre
          [syn: {Book of Esther}]

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Esther
     the queen of Ahasuerus, and heroine of the book that bears her
     name. She was a Jewess named Hadas'sah (the myrtle), but when
     she entered the royal harem she received the name by which she
     henceforth became known (Esther 2:7). It is a Syro-Arabian
     modification of the Persian word satarah, which means a star.
     She was the daughter of Abihail, a Benjamite. Her family did not
     avail themselves of the permission granted by Cyrus to the
     exiles to return to Jerusalem; and she resided with her cousin
     Mordecai, who held some office in the household of the Persian
     king at "Shushan in the palace." Ahasuerus having divorced
     Vashti, chose Esther to be his wife. Soon after this he gave
     Haman the Agagite, his prime minister, power and authority to
     kill and extirpate all the Jews throughout the Persian empire.
     By the interposition of Esther this terrible catastrophe was
     averted. Haman was hanged on the gallows he had intended for
     Mordecai (Esther 7); and the Jews established an annual feast,
     the feast of Purim (q.v.), in memory of their wonderful
     deliverance. This took place about fifty-two years after the
     Return, the year of the great battles of Plataea and Mycale
     (B.C. 479).
     
       Esther appears in the Bible as a "woman of deep piety, faith,
     courage, patriotism, and caution, combined with resolution; a
     dutiful daughter to her adopted father, docile and obedient to
     his counsels, and anxious to share the king's favour with him
     for the good of the Jewish people. There must have been a
     singular grace and charm in her aspect and manners, since 'she
     obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her'
     (Esther 2:15). That she was raised up as an instrument in the
     hand of God to avert the destruction of the Jewish people, and
     to afford them protection and forward their wealth and peace in
     their captivity, is also manifest from the Scripture account."
     

From Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's) [hitchcock]:

  Esther, secret; hidden
  

From U.S. Gazetteer (1990) [gazetteer]:

  Esther, MO (city, FIPS 22636)
    Location: 37.85206 N, 90.49466 W
    Population (1990): 1071 (468 housing units)
    Area: 1.1 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)