Book of Esther

the book received its title from the main character in it, named Esther, which means "Star". Due to her beauty, the Jewish orphan Hadassa became the wife of the Persian king Artharxerxes (probably Xerxes, 485-465), receiving the name Esther. Esther was raised by her uncle Mordecai, who worked as a doorkeeper at the royal court. Mordecai had saved the life of a king whom the conspirators wanted to kill several years earlier. Mordecai's merit was noted in Persian documents.

Some time after Esther became queen, the king's all-powerful minister, the proud Haman, hating the Jews, decided to exterminate them within the Persian Empire. For this purpose, as if in the name of the king, he wrote a corresponding decree and began to look for an opportunity to give it to the king for signature. By God's providence, Mordecai learned of Haman's plan. Haman, confident in the success of his plot and hating Mordecai, hastened to prepare the gallows for him. But events did not go according to Haman's plan. At the feast, Esther boldly revealed his plot and that he was going to hang her uncle, to whom the king owed his life. Learning of Haman's willfulness, the enraged king destroyed the decree he had prepared and ordered Haman to be hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai ("do not dig another pit, you will fall into it yourself!") In memory of the salvation of the Jews from Haman, the holiday of "Purim" (in Hebrew - "lot") was established.

The Book of Judith

The events described in the book of Judith took place in Israel during the time of King Manasseh. The book of Judith is named after the main person acting in the narrative of the book. Judith was a beautiful and pious widow of a certain Manasseh from the tribe of Simeon in the city of Bethulia. By her heroic deed, she saved her city and the whole country from the Assyrian army, which came to ravage them under the leadership of Holofernes (about 650 B.C.).

Holofernes, having captured the entire coastal region, stopped with a huge horde on the borders of Judea, under the walls of Bethulia in the tribe of Issachar. The inhabitants of Bethulia, enduring hunger and thirst, were ready to surrender. But Judith, firmly believing in God's help, appeared in the enemy's camp. Having favored Holofernes, Judith cut off his head at night after a feast. Then, taking the head of the commander as a trophy, Judith brought it to her fellow citizens. Encouraged by this, the Jews put the Assyrian army to flight. Judith, surrounded by honor, after a long pious life, reposed in extreme old age, having lived to be 105 years old.

The Books of Maccabees

The books of Maccabees are named after the heroes whose deeds are described in them. These books tell about the events of 330-130 B.C. The Persian Empire was replaced by the Greek Empire, founded by Alexander the Great. His huge empire did not last long. After the death of Alexander the Great, it broke up into four kingdoms, two of which – Egypt and Syria – were very important in the history of the Jews. During the succession wars that followed, Palestine was a bone of contention between the rulers of the two countries. In 203 B.C., power over Judah passed into the hands of the Syrian kings, and from that time a difficult time began for the Jews, since the Syrian kings tried to implant paganism among them. A particularly cruel persecutor of the Jews, who believed in the true God, was King Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.). Under him, the Greek cult was declared the state religion. People who refused to accept paganism were persecuted and killed. The temple of God was desecrated. (Antiochus, claiming divine honors, called himself Epiphanes, which means "the appearance of God." For his fierce persecution of believers, he became a prototype of the last persecutor of the faith, the Antichrist, who was to come. Al. Paul, speaking of the Antichrist, predicts that he will "sit in the temple of God, pretending to be God" (2 Thessalonians 2:4), recalling a similar incident with Antiochus. Jesus Christ, speaking of the "abomination of desolation" in the sanctuary of the temple of God (foretold by the prophet Daniel in chapter 9, verse 27, see Mat. 24:15), is reminiscent of the state of the Temple in Jerusalem under Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus suffered a severe disease, from which he died after being eaten alive by worms).