Esther

The book of Esther is about a Jewish woman who becomes the queen of Persia and, with her cousin Mordecai, thwarts a plot to exterminate the Jewish people. It tells the story of how Esther uses her position to save her people from Haman, the king's evil vizier, leading to the establishment of the Jewish holiday of Purim. One tradition says, "It is claimed that the name ‘Esther’ is of an old Indian origin, meaning, (little lady), then moved to mean (a star) in Persian. She most probably was given this name after being chosen as a queen1 . Her Hebrew name was ‘Hadassah’, the name of the myrtle tree. ‘Esther’, the daughter of ‘Abihail’, of the tribe of Benjamin, was born in the land of captivity, then brought by her cousin ‘Mordeccai’ who adopted her, to Shushan, the capital of Persia (Iran)." It perhaps was presented in the later ‘Telmud’ that this book was written by the great Synagogue (led by Ezra the scribe). According to Blessed Augustine, the Priest Ezra was the author of this book; whereas other church fathers, such as St Athanasius, and St Aphrahat, among whom was that theologian - (a priest, not a bishop) Clement of Alexandria - believe what was proclaimed by the late Jewish Historian Josephus, that it was written by ‘Mordeccai’ himself. See more at https://myorthodoxbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/18.esther.pdf