The story of Esther begins with a drunken king and a queen who said no. King Artaxerxes of Persia hosted a lavish feast—180 days of celebration for his court, then seven more days for the public. Golden cups, purple curtains, pillars of silver. At the climax, he summoned Queen Vashti to display her beauty before his guests. She refused. Persian law forbade wives from appearing before strangers, but the king's advisors told him this defiance would inspire every woman in the empire to disobey her husband. Vashti was banished.
The king's servants searched the empire for the most beautiful virgins. They found Esther, a Jewish orphan raised by her uncle Mordecai of the tribe of Benjamin. She was, Josephus writes, "the most beautiful of all the rest." She told no one she was Jewish. The king fell in love immediately and crowned her queen.
Meanwhile, Mordecai uncovered an assassination plot against the king and reported it through Esther. The conspirators were executed, and the incident was recorded in the royal chronicles—then forgotten.
Enter Haman, an Amalekite nobleman whom the king elevated above all other officials. Every courtier bowed to Haman. Mordecai alone refused—not out of pride, but because as a Jew he would bow to no human. Haman was furious. But punishing one man was beneath him. He decided to destroy every Jew in the Persian Empire. He told the king that a dangerous people scattered throughout his provinces kept their own laws and refused to obey the king's commands. Artaxerxes, trusting his chief minister, signed the decree: on the thirteenth of the month of Adar, every Jewish man, woman, and child would be killed, and their property confiscated. Letters went out to all 127 provinces. Mordecai put on sackcloth and wailed at the palace gate.