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Bible Q

Tag: Persia

Is Persia the same as Babylon?

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Most often, Babylon is not synonymous with Persia. Babylon was the capital city of the Babylonian or Chaldean Empire, whereas Persia (along with the Medes) was the name of the country whose empire defeated and replaced the Babylonian Empire.1 However, after the Babylonian Empire was defeated by the Persians, the city of Babylon was still […]

Who were the kings of Media and Persia?

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Both Media and Persia were ancient kingdoms in what is now Iran. The Medes emerged as a unified kingdom during the period of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. They formed an alliance with the Babylonians to capture Nineveh (612 BC) resulting in the collaspe of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Median Empire had dominance over the kingdom of […]

What happened to the other young maidens who (1) went into the king before Esther and who (2) did not go into the King because he chose Esther before they were called, or went into the King after Esther did?

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The simple answer is that we do not know what happened to these women because we are not told. However, kings in the ancient near east were rarely monogamous and had a harem of women (cf. Esther 2:3 ESV). Even after the King chose a wife, it is probable that he kept a harem of […]

What happened to Queen Vashti?

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According to Esther 1, Queen Vashti was the wife of King Xerxes and therefore queen of Persia in about 480BC. During a week-long feast in his palace in Susa (and while he was affected by alcohol), Xerxes commanded Vashti to come and “display her beauty” (Esther 1:11) before all of his guests “for she was […]