 | This article'slead sectionmay be too short to adequatelysummarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead toprovide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article.(September 2021) |
%3b_Tintoretto%2c_Jacopo.jpg)
Ahasuerus (/əˌhæzjuˈɪərəs/ə-HAZ-ew-EER-əs;Hebrew:אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ,Modern: ʾĂḥašverōš,Tiberian: ʾĂḥašwērōš,commonlyAchashverosh;[a]Koine Greek:Ἀσουήρος,romanized: Asouḗros, in theSeptuagint;Latin:Assuerus in theVulgate) is a name applied in theHebrew Bible to three rulers ofAncient Persia and to aBabylonian official (or Median king) first appearing in theTanakh in theBook of Esther and later in theBook of Tobit. It is a transliteration of either "Xerxes" or "Artaxerxes;" both are names of multipleAchaemenid dynasty Persian kings.
The Hebrew form is believed to have derived from theOld Persian name ofXerxes I,Xšayāršā (<xšaya 'king' +aršan 'male' > 'king of all male; Hero among Kings'). That became BabylonianAḫšiyâršu (𒄴𒅆𒐊𒅈𒋗,aḫ-ši-ia-ar-šu) and thenAkšîwâršu (𒀝𒅆𒄿𒈠𒅈𒍪,ak-ši-i-wa6-ar-šu) and was borrowed asHebrew:אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ,romanized: Ăḥašwēroš and thence intoLatin asAhasuerus, the form traditionally used in English Bibles.[1][2] The Persian name was independently rendered inAncient Greek asΞέρξηςXérxēs. Many newer English translations and paraphrases of the Bible[3] have used the name Xerxes.
"Ahasuerus" is given as the name of a king, the husband ofEsther, in theBook of Esther. He is said to have "ruled over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces fromIndia toNubia" – that is, over theAchaemenid Empire.[4] Some consider the narrative ofEsther was to provide anaetiology forPurim, and that the name Ahasuerus is usually understood to refer toXerxes I, who ruled theAchaemenid Empire between 486 and 465 BC.[5][6] Outside of the book of Esther, history records that Xerxes was married to Amestris, notVashti or Esther. Moreover, it is understood that Persian kings did not marry outside a restricted number of Persian noble families.[7] In theSeptuagint, theBook of Esther refers to the king as 'Artaxerxes', who was the younger son of Xerxes (Ancient Greek:Ἀρταξέρξης).[8]
Numerous scholars have proposed theories as to who Ahasuerus represents. Most scholars today identify him withXerxes I, as did 19th-century Bible commentaries.[9] Three factors, among others, contribute to this identification:
While today the king of Esther is usually identified as Xerxes I, the ancient traditions identify him with his son,Artaxerxes I. The Septuagint, the Vulgate, theMidrash ofEsther Rabbah, I, 3, and theJosippon identify him as Artaxerxes. Many historians and exegetes from ancient times and the Middle Ages also identified Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes I, including, most notably,Josephus,[11] who relates that "Artaxerxes" was the name by which he was known to the Greeks.[12] TheEthiopic text calls himArťeksis, usually the Ethiopic equivalent ofArtaxerxes.[citation needed]
Some have speculated that the king wasArtaxerxes II. In hisChronography, the 13th century Syriac historianBar Hebraeus also identifies Ahasuerus as Artaxerxes II citing the sixth century AD historianJohn of Ephesus.[13][14]Plutarch in hisLives (AD 75) records alternative namesOarses andArsicas for Artaxerxes II Mnemon given byDeinon (c. 360–340 BC[15]) andCtesias (Artexerxes II's physician[16][clarification needed]) respectively.[17] These derive from the Persian nameKhshayarsha as do "Ahasuerus" ("(Arta)Xerxes") and thehypocorism "Arshu" for Artaxerxes II found on a contemporary inscription (LBAT 162[18]). These sources thus arguably identify Ahasuerus as Artaxerxes II in light of the names used in the Hebrew and Greek sources and accords with the contextual information from Pseudo-Hecataeus andBerossus[19] as well as agreeing with Al-Tabari and Masudi's placement of events.
Ahasuerus is also given as the name of aKing of Persia in theBook of Ezra.[20] Modern commentators associate him withXerxes I who reigned from 486 to 465 BC. Other identifications have been made forCambyses II[21][failed verification] or withBardiya (GreekSmerdis) who reigned (perhaps as an imposter) for seven months between Cambyses II andDarius I.[22][failed verification]
Ahasuerus is given as the name of the father ofDarius the Mede in theBook of Daniel.[23] Josephus namesAstyages as the father of Darius the Mede, and the description of the latter as uncle and father-in-law ofCyrus by mediaeval Jewish commentators matches that ofCyaxares II, who is said to be the son of Astyages byXenophon. Thus this Ahasuerus is commonly identified with Astyages. He is alternatively identified, together with the Ahasuerus of the Book of Tobit, as Cyaxares I, said to be the father of Astyages. Views differ on how to reconcile the sources in this case. One view is that the description of Ahasuerus as the "father" of Darius the Mede should be understood in the broader sense of "forebear" or "ancestor". Another view notes that on theBehistun Inscription, "Cyaxares" is a family name, and thus considers the description as literal, viewing Astyages as an intermediate ruler wrongly placed in the family line in the Greek sources.
Most scholars view Darius the Mede as a literary fiction, or possibly a conflation ofDarius the Great with prophecies about the Medes.[24][25]
In some versions of thedeuterocanonicalBook of Tobit, Ahasuerus is given as the name of an associate ofNebuchadnezzar, who, together with him, destroyedNineveh just before Tobit's death.[26] A traditionalCatholic view is that he is identical to the Ahasuerus of Daniel 9:1[27] In theCodex Sinaiticus Greek (LXX) edition, the two names in this verse appear instead as one name,Ahikar (also the name of another character in the story of Tobit). Other Septuagint texts have the nameAchiachar. Western scholars have proposed thatAchiachar is a variant form of the name "Cyaxares I ofMedia", who historically did destroy Nineveh, in 612 BC.
In some versions of the legend of theWandering Jew, his true name is held to be Ahasuerus – even though the biblical king is not described as a Jew and nothing in the Biblical account of him is similar to that myth.[28] This is the name by whichImmanuel Kant refers to the Wandering Jew inThe Only Possible Argument in Support of a Demonstration of the Existence of God.[29]
The story is fictitious and written to provide an account of the origin of the feast of Purim; the book contains no references to the known historical events of the reign of Xerxes.
Although the details of its setting are entirely plausible and the story may even have some basis in actual events, in terms of literary genre the book is not history.
Xerxes could not have wed a Jewess because this was contrary to the practices of Persian monarchs who married only into one of the seven leading Persian families. History records that Xerxes was married to Amestris, notVashti or Esther. There is no historical record of a personage known as Esther, or a queen called Vashti or avizierHaman, or a high placed courtierMordecai. Mordecai was said to have been among the exiles deported from Jerusalem byNebuchadnezzar, but that deportation occurred 112 years before Xerxes became king.
And it came to pass in the days of Artaxerxes. This Artaxerxes held a hundred twenty-seven regions from India.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Assuerus".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
