The Book of Esther truly has it all and read from cover to cover, it plays out almost like a movie. We meet the young woman Esther entered into a beauty contest, against her will, to see if she will become the next wife of the Persian King Xerxes. But the fun doesn’t stop there. After winning the title of Queen, Esther saves the Jewish people from certain death when jealous palace workman Haman attempts to commit genocide on every Jewish person in Persian territories.
Esther and her godfather Mordecai, tend to get all the press in this book. But what about some of the other players? Let’s see what we can learn from all the people who appear in the Book of Esther—from King Xerxes to Hegai to everyone in between.
Was Esther’s Real Name Hadassah?
Before we dive into some of the other non-titucular characters in the Book of Esther, we first have to understand Esther herself. One of the first questions we may ask is, “Is Esther her true name? Or is it Hadassah?”
True answer? Both.
We see multiple instances in the Old Testament’s exilic and post-exilic periods in which people had two names: a Jewish one and a Babylonian or Persian one.
For instance, in the book of Daniel, the prophet Daniel has the Jewish name Daniel, meaning “May God be my judge.” Nebuchadnezzar changes Daniel’s name to Belteshazzar, meaning “Baal protect the king.”
Nebuchadnezzar sought to change Daniel’s name for more nefarious purposes, to stamp out Daniel’s Israelite identity. Esther changed her name from Hadassah for more political reasons.
Hadassah is Esther’s Jewish name. It means “myrtle tree.” However, when she enters the king’s beauty contest, she goes by the name Esther, which means “star,” referring to the planet Venus, which would’ve appeared as a star in the night sky in the ancient world.
Mordecai, Esther’s cousin and godfather, warned her to keep her Jewish identity secret. Mordecai knew there were people in the palace of King Xerxes who would not be fans of her Jewish identity (more on this in the Haman section). Also, Jewish people in the Persian Empire were seen more as backward, backwater people. The name change protected her.
Now that we’ve met Esther, aka Hadassah, let’s meet some of the other players.
What Do We Know about Hegai?
Even if you’ve read the story of Esther a million times, you may not recognize this name at first. Who is Hegai in the book of Esther, and what role does he play?
According to Esther 2, Hegai is a eunuch placed in charge of the women in King Xerxes’ beauty contest. It’s estimated that hundreds of women would’ve been entered—from all the regions of the Persian Empire. Because only one woman was chosen, the rest would’ve spent a pretty miserable life in the royal harem. None of those women could marry anyone else.
The women were subjected to a year’s worth of beauty treatments to prepare themselves for the royal conduct in the household of King Xerxes. Hegai likely would’ve overseen all of this.
Hegai takes an instant liking to Esther and decides to help her win the beauty contest. He gives her tips on how to approach King Xerxes and what to wear on her night with the king. It should be noted that if each of the women spent a night with King Xerxes, they had little choice. Some people may see the Book of Esther as a love story, but it is far from it.
Thanks to Hegai’s help and from the orchestration of the Lord, Esther is chosen as Queen. This plays an instrumental role in the salvation of the Jewish people. Through Esther, God preserves them.
Why Wouldn’t Mordecai Bow to Haman?
Now that we’ve met one of the more minor characters of the story, let’s explore Mordecai and Haman. We know that Mordecai is Esther’s cousin, but he also ends up saving the king’s life from an evil plot (Esther 2).
Something Mordecai and Haman both had in common? They worked for the king.
The Bible says Haman is elevated to a very high position in the palace. The Bible doesn’t give a detailed explanation for how Haman reached his position, and
Haman’s character seems heinous in the story. King Xerxes is admittedly not the brightest bulb in the bunch, so we can imagine his judgment was skewed.
Regardless of how it happened, Haman reaches a new position, and the people are instructed to bow to him. Mordecai refuses. Although the Bible instructs us to follow what our leaders ask of us (Hebrews 13:17), this instruction comes with an asterisk.*
*If the leaders ask us to do something that goes against Scripture, we must disobey.
Scripture doesn’t make it clear why Mordecai didn’t bow. Perhaps he perceived the true character of Haman. Perhaps he knew about Haman’s background and the bad blood between their ancestral peoples (more on that in the next section).
No matter the reasons, Mordecai does not bow to Haman. Haman receives word about this and hatches a plot to destroy the Jewish people.
Why Did Haman Hate the Jews?
If that seems extreme, welcome to the extreme character of Haman. He lived for applause and recognition, and if he didn’t get it, he would fly into a rage.
Still, one man not bowing to him seems rather extreme to go and commit genocide on the ethnic background of Mordecai—the Jewish people.
So what else made Haman hatch a plot to destroy the Jewish people?
The text, upon the introduction to Haman, gives us a clue. It refers to Haman and his father as Agagites. King Agag is mentioned as an Amalekite king in the book of 1 Samuel. God told the first Israelite king, Saul, to defeat Agag in battle and wipe out his people. Saul backed down from this command and the prophet Samuel “hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal” (1 Samuel 15:33).
Haman was either a direct descendant of Agag or, more broadly, descended from the Amalekites. In either case, the text indicates he hailed from an ethnic background that had been an enemy of the Jewish people. Thanks to Saul’s disobedience when God asked him to wipe out all the Amalekites, a descendant came along who tried to wipe out the Jewish people.
What Else Do We Know about Xerxes?
As for King Xerxes, what else do we know about him? Plenty, but I’ll whittle it down to a few quick points. I highly recommend reading the Book of Esther in full to get the full breadth of all characters mentioned.
He was an unsuccessful war general. After he divorces his wife Vashti for not appearing (likely naked) in front of a party of drunk men, he goes on to fight against Greece. If you’re familiar with the movie 300, you’ll know all about Xerxes. When he returns from that unsuccessful war campaign, he returns home to hold the beauty contest. After the events mentioned in the Book of Esther, he is assassinated, and we can imagine not a great fate awaited Queen Esther either.
He often sought bad advice. When Vashti disobeyed him, he asked some of his royal advisors what to do. Their solution? Divorce her, or all the women in Persia will disobey their husbands. The fact that he leaned so heavily on Haman’s advice led to the near-slaughter of the Jewish people.
He was madly in-lust with Esther. I don’t say in love. Since Xerxes essentially forced Esther to be his wife. But he seems to be head-over-heels with her beauty, to the point where he’ll give up half a kingdom to her.
He was ruthless when he felt cross. When Esther tells Xerxes of Haman’s plot to overthrow her people, he kills Haman on a stake (a very excruciating way to die as it would’ve been thrust through the entire body). He then hatches a plot with Esther to help the Jewish people protect themselves on the day known as Purim (March 6 and 7 this next year). As Persian law couldn’t be overturned, he had to think outside the box. Mordecai and Esther helped.
The Book of Esther is full of broken people used by God, who works behind the scenes. It is full of irony and humor, and even though the name of God is never mentioned, he is certainly present throughout the text—saving his people through an unlikely woman.
Hope Bolinger is an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, book editor for hire, and the author of almost 30 books. More than 1500 of her works have been featured in various publications. Check out her books at hopebolinger.com for clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids. Check out her editing profile at Reedsy.com to find out about hiring her for your next book project.
This article is part of our People of Christianity catalog that features the stories, meaning, and significance of well-known people from the Bible and history. Here are some of the most popular articles for knowing important figures in Christianity:
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