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The Book of Esther, also known in Hebrew as "the Scroll" (''Megillah''), is a book in the third section (''Ketuvim'', "Writings") of the Jewish ''Tanakh'' (the Hebrew Bible) and in the Christian Old Testament. It relates the story of a Jewish girl in Persia, born as Hadassah but known as Esther, who becomes queen of Persia and thwarts a genocide of her people. The story forms the core of the Jewish festival of Purim, during which it is read aloud twice: once in the evening and again the following morning. Along with the Song of Songs, Esther is one of only two books in the Bible that do not explicitly mention God. Traditionally, unlike other Tanakh scrolls, a scroll of Esther is given only one roller, fixed to its left-hand side, rather than the customary two rollers (one fixed to the right-hand side as well as the one fixed to the left-hand side). ==Setting== The biblical Book of Esther is set in the Persian capital of Susa (''Shushan'') in the third year of the reign of the Persian king Ahasuerus. The name ''Ahasuerus'' is equivalent to ''Xerxes''〔 〕 (both deriving from the Persian ''Khshayārsha''),〔 〕 and Ahasuerus is usually identified in modern sources as Xerxes I,〔 〕 who ruled between 486 and 465 BCE,〔 as it is to this monarch that events described in Esther is thought to fit the most closely.〔 However, classical sources such as Josephus, the Jewish commentary ''Esther Rabbah'' and the Christian theologian Bar-Hebraeus,〔''E A W Budge, ''The Chronography of Bar Hebraeus'', Gorgias Press LLC, reprinted 2003〕 as well as the Greek Septuagint translation of Esther, instead identify Ahasuerus as either Artaxerxes I (reigned 465 to 424 BCE) or Artaxerxes II (reigned 404 to 358 BCE).〔 Assuming that Ahasuerus is indeed Xerxes I, the events described in Esther began around the years 483-482 BCE, and concluded in March 473 BCE. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Book of Esther」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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