Ahasuerus ( ; , commonly Achashverosh; , in the Septuagint; in the Vulgate) is a name applied in the Hebrew Bible to three rulers of Ancient Persia and to a official (or Median king) first appearing in the Tanakh in the Book of Esther and later in the Book of Tobit. It is a transliteration of either Xerxes I or Artaxerxes I; both are names of multiple Achaemenid dynasty Persian kings.
Etymology
The Hebrew form is believed to have derived from the
Old Persian name of
Xerxes I,
Xšayāršā (<
xšaya 'king' +
aršan 'male' > 'king of all male; Hero among Kings'). That became Babylonian
Aḫšiyâršu (𒄴𒅆𒐊𒅈𒋗,
aḫ-ši-ia-ar-šu) and then
Akšîwâršu (𒀝𒅆𒄿𒈠𒅈𒍪,
ak-ši-i-wa6-ar-šu) and was borrowed as and thence into
Latin as
Ahasuerus, the form traditionally used in English Bibles.
[KJV, NASB, Amplified Bible, ESV, 21st Century King James Version, ASV, Young's Literal Translation, Darby Translation, Holman Christian Standard Bible, etc.][Nichol, F. D., Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 3, Review and Herald Publishing Association (Washington, D.C., 1954 edition), p.459, "Historical Setting"] The Persian name was independently rendered in
Ancient Greek as Ξέρξης
Xérxēs. Many newer English translations and paraphrases of the Bible
[NIV, The Message, NLT, CEV, NCV, NIRV, TNIV, etc.] have used the name Xerxes.
Book of Esther
"Ahasuerus" is given as the name of a king, the husband of
Esther, in the
Book of Esther. He is said to have "ruled over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces from
India to
Nubia" – that is, over the Achaemenid Empire.
Some consider the narrative of
Esther was to provide an
aetiology for
Purim, and that the name Ahasuerus is usually understood to refer to
Xerxes I, who ruled the Achaemenid Empire between 486 and 465 BC.
Outside of the book of Esther, history records that Xerxes was married to Amestris, not
Vashti or Esther. Moreover, it is understood that Persian kings did not marry outside a restricted number of Persian noble families.
In the
Septuagint, the
Book of Esther refers to the king as 'Artaxerxes', who was the younger son of Xerxes ().
Identification of "Ahasuerus" as Xerxes I
Numerous scholars have proposed theories as to who Ahasuerus represents. Most scholars today identify him with
Xerxes I, as did 19th-century Bible commentaries.
Three factors, among others, contribute to this identification:
-
It is believed the Hebrew 'Ahasuerus' descended from the Persian names for Xerxes I.
-
Historian Herodotus describes Xerxes I as being susceptible to women and in the habit of making extravagant offers to them, just as he did to Esther ("up to half my kingdom"). Herodotus mentions that the Persian empire stretched from India to Ethiopia and also refers to the magnificent royal palace in Shushan (Susa), corroboration of what is stated in the Book of Esther. In addition Herodotus mentions an assembly of Persian nobles called by Xerxes to advise him on the proposed war against Greece. Although Herodotus does not give the location of this assembly, the date – "after Egypt was subdued" – corresponds to Xerxes' third year when Esther records an assembly of Persian nobility at a feast. ( Histories VII.8) Herodotus also mentions that following his defeat at Salamis Xerxes I became involved in harem intrigues involving his wife Amestris and his daughter-in-law, with whom he became enamoured. (Histories IX.108) Herodotus relates this occurred in the tenth month of his seventh year as king – the same time Ahasuerus was choosing beautiful women for his harem (Esther 2:16).
-
Annals from the reign of Xerxes I mention an otherwise unattested official by the name of "Marduka", which some have proposed refers to Mordecai, as both are mentioned serving in the king's court.
Identification of "Ahasuerus" as Artaxerxes I
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, the
Midrash of
Esther Rabbah, I, 3, and the
Josippon 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,
[Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 11, chapter 6, section 1] who relates that "Artaxerxes" was the name by which he was known to the Greeks.
[ "Ahasuerus". Jewish Encyclopedia.] The Ethiopic text calls him
Arťeksis, usually the Ethiopic equivalent of
Artaxerxes.
Identification of "Ahasuerus" as Artaxerxes II
Some have speculated that the king was
Artaxerxes II. In his
Chronography, the 13th century Syriac historian
Bar Hebraeus also identifies Ahasuerus as Artaxerxes II citing the sixth century AD historian John of Ephesus.
[E. A. W. Budge, The Chronography of Bar Hebraeus, Gorgias Press, reprinted 2003][Jan Jacob van Ginkel, John of Ephesus. A Monophysite Historian in Sixth-century Byzantium, Groningen, 1995] Plutarch in his
Lives (AD 75) records alternative names
Oarses and
Arsicas for Artaxerxes II Mnemon given by
Deinon (c. 360–340 BC
[Wolfgang Felix, "Dinon", in Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1996–2008]) and
Ctesias (Artexerxes II's physician
[Jona Lendering, Ctesias of Cnidus; Livius, Articles on Ancient History, 1996–2008]) respectively.
[John Dryden, Arthur Hugh Clough, Plutarch's Lives, Little, Brown and Company, 1885] These derive from the Persian name
Khshayarsha as do "Ahasuerus" ("(Arta)Xerxes") and the
hypocorism "Arshu" for Artaxerxes II found on a contemporary inscription (
LBAT 162
[M. A. Dandamaev, W. J. Vogelsang, A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire, BRILL, 1989]). 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 and
Berossus[Jacob Hoschander, The Book of Esther in the Light of History, Oxford University Press, 1923] as well as agreeing with Al-Tabari and Masudi's placement of events.
Book of Ezra
Ahasuerus is also given as the name of a King of Persia in the Book of Ezra.
Modern commentators associate him with
Xerxes I who reigned from 486 to 465 BC. Other identifications have been made for
Cambyses II[ Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
]
/ref> or with Bardiya (Greek Smerdis) who reigned (perhaps as an imposter) for seven months between Cambyses II and Darius I.[ Clarke's Commentary on the Bible
/ref>
]
Book of Daniel
Ahasuerus is given as the name of the father of Darius the Mede in the Book of Daniel.
Most scholars view Darius the Mede as a literary fiction, or possibly a conflation of Darius the Great with prophecies about the Medes.
Book of Tobit
In some versions of the Book of Tobit, Ahasuerus is given as the name of an associate of Nebuchadnezzar, who, together with him, destroyed Nineveh just before Tobit's death.[Maas, Anthony (1907). "Assuerus". In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved April 15, 2009 – via New Advent.] In the Codex 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 name Achiachar. Western scholars have proposed that Achiachar is a variant form of the name "Cyaxares of Medes", who historically did destroy Nineveh, in 612 BC.
In legends
In some versions of the legend of the Wandering 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.[Kant, I. Der einzig mögliche Beweisgrund zu einer Demonstration des Daseins Gottes. 1763. AA 2:76]
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