Bible Buk Namba 17​—Esther

Man wea Raetem: Mordecai

Ples Hem Raetem: Shushan, Elam

Taem Hem Finis Raetem: c. 475 B.C.E.

Taem Hem Storyim: 493-c. 475 B.C.E.

DISWAN hem story bilong Ahasuerus, king bilong Persia, wea samfala tingse hem nao Xerxes I, wea waef bilong hem Vashti no obey and Jew woman Esther, kasin bilong Mordecai, changem hem. Haman datfala Agagite mekem plan for killim dae Mordecai and evri Jew, bat olketa hangem hem long post, and Mordecai kamap prime minister and olketa Jew kamap free.

² Hem tru, samfala pipol maet sei buk bilong Esther hem no kam from God and no savve helpem iumi, hem wanfala naes story nomoa. Olketa tok olsem from nem bilong God no stap insaed. Hem tru, disfala nem bilong God hem no stap insaed, bat long fofala ples insaed datfala Hebrew raeting, luk olsem acrostic bilong Tetragrammaton hem stap wea datwan nao olketa firstfala leta bilong fofala word, wea spellim YHWH (long Hebrew languis, יהוה), or Jehovah. Thrifala Hebrew manuscript bilong bifor mekhae long olketa leta hia, and insaed long Masora olketa leta hia stap long red kala. And tu, long Esther 7:5, wanfala acrostic stap long toktok bilong God “Mi bae kamap.”—Lukim footnote long Esther 1:20; 5:4, 13; 7:7, and tu 7:5.

³ Insaed long record, hem barava showaot klia Mordecai acceptim and obeyim law bilong Jehovah. Hem nating want for baodaon for honorim man wea maet hem wanfala Amalekite; God markem olketa Amalekite for finis evribit. (Esther 3:1, 5; Deut. 25:19; 1 Sam. 15:3) Toktok bilong Mordecai long Esther 4:14 showimaot hem savve Jehovah bae mekem olketa kamap free and hem garem faith hao Jehovah leadim evri samting wea happen. Wei wea Esther no kaikai, and olketa nara Jew tu duim sem samting, for thrifala day bifor hem go lukim king, showimaot hem depend long God. (Esther 4:16) Wei wea God bihaenem samting wea happen hem showaot long wei wea Hegai, man wea lukaotem olketa woman, hem hapi long Esther, and tu, wei wea king no sleep long datfala naet wea hem askem olketa for tekem kam olketa record and insaed hem lukim hao Mordecai no kasem honor for gudfala waka wea hem duim bifor. (Esther 2:8, 9; 6:1-3; markem Proverbs 21:1.) Iumi sure hem story abaotem prea long disfala toktok, “samting bilong wei for no kaikai and krae bilong olketa for help.”—Esther 9:31.

⁴ Staka pruv showimaot record hem stret and tru. Olketa Jew acceptim disfala buk, and olketa kolem diswan Meghil·lahʹ wea minim “roll; scroll.” Luk olsem Ezra nao joinim disfala buk insaed olketa Hebrew buk bilong Bible, wea hem bae rejectim sapos hem kastom story nomoa. Kam kasem distaem, olketa Jew keepim feast bilong Purim, or Lots, for celebratem taem wea olketa kamap free long taem bilong Esther. Disfala buk showimaot olketa wei and kastom bilong pipol long Persia long really wei and wea agree witim olketa nara pruv bilong history and wei for studyim old samting. Olsem example, buk bilong Esther talem stretfala samting abaot hao olketa bilong Persia savve honorim wanfala man. (6:8) Olketa wea studyim old samting digimap samfala samting wea showimaot klia hao story abaotem haos bilong king wea stap insaed buk bilong Esther hem barava stret evribit.a—5:1, 2.

⁵ Wei wea hem stret evribit hem showaot insaed long story seleva, taem hem careful for talem nem bilong olketa wea waka insaed haos bilong king and olketa attendant, and nem bilong tenfala son bilong Haman tu. Hem markem famili laen bilong Mordecai and Esther go bak long Kish bilong tribe bilong Benjamin. (2:5-7) Hem story tu abaotem samfala record bilong gavman bilong Persia. (2:23; 6:1; 10:2) Olketa raetem disfala buk long Hebrew languis, wea garem plande Persian and Aramaic word and toktok, and stael bilong hem semsem olsem Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, so diswan fitim evribit taem wea olketa raetem disfala buk.

⁶ Luk olsem olketa samting wea happen long buk bilong Esther olketa kamap long taem wea rul bilong Persia barava strong, and olketa story abaotem evri samting wea happen insaed 18 year wea Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) hem rul. Samfala pruv from Greece, Persia, and Babylon showimaot disfala taem wea hem story abaot, hem go kasem 475 B.C.E.b Luk olsem Mordecai, man wea lukim evri samting hia wea happen and wanfala main wan wea buk story abaot, hem raetem disfala buk; full story showimaot man wea raetem disfala buk hem mas stap long taem wea evri samting hia happen long Shushan, haos bilong king.c Nomata no eni nara buk bilong Bible story abaotem hem, iumi no daot hao Mordecai hem wanfala man wea really stap bifor. Iumi interest for savve hao olketa faendem wanfala ston raeting wea A. Ungnad bilong Germany storyim hao hem tok abaotem Mardukâ (Mordecai?) olsem wanfala bigman long Susa (Shushan) long taem wea Xerxes I hem rul.d Iumi sure hao Mordecai masbi stap long Shushan finis taem hem raetem evri story insaed Esther stretawe bihaen olketa happen, hem nao, long samting olsem 475 B.C.E.

WEI WEA HEM HELPEM IUMI

¹⁶ Nomata olketa nara man wea raetem Bible no talem eni toktok wea kam from buk bilong Esther, disfala buk barava agree witim full Bible wea kam from God. Hem garem samfala nambawan Bible principle wea kamap bihaen insaed olketa Christian Greek Scripture and fitim evri pipol wea worshipim Jehovah, nomata wanem taem olketa stap. Taem iumi readim olketa scripture hia, olketa bae no pruvim diswan nomoa bat bae buildimap Christian faith tu: Esther 4:5—Philippians 2:4; Esther 9:22—Galatians 2:10. Wei wea olketa giaman for sei olketa Jew no obeyim olketa law bilong king, hem semsem witim samting wea olketa accusim long olketa firstfala Christian tu. (Esther 3:8, 9; Acts 16:21; 25:7) Olketa tru servant bilong Jehovah no fraet for feisim olketa giaman toktok olsem and thru long prea olketa depend long paoa bilong Jehovah for sevem olketa, followim nambawan example bilong Mordecai, Esther, and olketa nara Jew.—Esther 4:16; 5:1, 2; 7:3-6; 8:3-6; 9:1, 2.

¹⁷ Olsem olketa Christian, iumi mas no tingse living bilong iumi hem difren from living bilong Mordecai and Esther. Iumi tu stap olsem stranger anda long “olketa hae paoa” long world. Dastawe iumi want for kamap gudfala citizen wea obeyim law long eni kantri wea iumi stap, bat long semtaem, iumi want for luksavve long wanem taem nao iumi mas ‘peim bak olketa samting bilong Caesar long Caesar and olketa samting bilong God long God.’ (Rom. 13:1; Luke 20:25) Prime Minister Mordecai and Queen Esther showimaot gud example bilong fasin for faithful and obey for duim waka bilong tufala. (Esther 2:21-23; 6:2, 3, 10; 8:1, 2; 10:2) Bat, Mordecai no fraet for no obeyim komand bilong king for baodaon front long iusles man Haman, datfala Agagite. And tu, hem lukaotem help saed long law for aotem plan bilong Haman for killim dae olketa Jew.—3:1-4; 5:9; 4:6-8.

¹⁸ Evri pruv showimaot hao buk bilong Esther hem part bilong Holy Bible, wea “kam from God and gud.” Nomata hem no storyim God stret or nem bilong hem, hem showim iumi samfala nambawan example bilong faith. Mordecai and Esther no pipol wea man mekem ap nomoa, bat tru servant bilong Jehovah God, pipol wea trustim paoa bilong Jehovah for sev. Nomata olketa stap anda long “olketa hae paoa” insaed difren kantri, olketa mekius long law for sapotim pipol bilong God and worship bilong olketa. Iumi savve followim example bilong olketa for “sapotim and strongim gud nius” bilong Kingdom bilong God.—Phil. 1:7.

[Olketa Footnote]