Ahasuerus
(lion-king), the name of one Median and two Persian kings mentioned in the Old Testament.
In (Daniel 9:1) Ahasuerus is said to be the father of Darius the Mede. [Darius] This first Ahasuerus is Cyaxares, the conqueror of Nineveh. (Began to reign B.C. 634.) The Ahasuerus king of Persia, referred to in (Ezra 4:6) must be Cambyses, thought to be Cyrus’ successor, and perhaps his son. (B.C. 529.) The third is the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther. This Ahasuerus is probably Xerxes of history, (Esther 1:1) (B.C.
485), and this conclusion is fortified by the resemblance of character and by certain chronological indications, the account of his life and character agreeing with the book of Esther In the third year of Ahaseuerus was held a great feast and assembly in Shushan the palace, (Esther 1:3) following a council held to consider the invasion of Greece.
He divorced his queen Vashti for refusing to appear in public at this banquet, and married, four years afterwards, the Jewess Esther, cousin and ward of Mordecai. Five years after this, Haman, one of his counsellors, having been slighted by Mordecai, prevailed upon the king to order the destruction of all the Jews in the empire. But before the day appointed for the massacre, Esther and Mordecai influenced the king to put Haman to death and to give the Jews the right of self-Defence.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible on Ahasuerus
A name which ajipears on IVrs. inscriptions as Khsaj&rsd, and in Aram, without N prosthetic, as cntctyn (Schrader, COT' ii. 63). The monarch who bears this name in Ezr 4 ' was formerly reckoned by Ewald and others to be the CamWses of profane history who suc- ceeded Cyrus. It is generally recognised, however, by modern critics that he must be identified with Xerxes (485-46.5), who is beyond all question the Ahasuerus of the lik of Est. See Xekxes. The A. of Dn 9', the father of Darius the Mede, is a personage whose identity is as difficult to establish as the existence of ' Darius the Mede ' is proble- matical. (Cf. Driver LOT 615 n.; Sayce HCM 543. ) J. A. Selbik.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary on Ahasuerus
1. The Graecised form is Cyaxares; king of Media, conqueror of Nineveh; began to reign 634 B.C. Father of Darius the Mede or Astyages, last king of Media, 594 B.C. Tradition says Astyages' grandson was Cyrus, son of his daughter Mandane and a Persian noble, Cambyses, first king of Persia, 559 B.C. Cyrus having taken Babylon set over it, as viceroy with royal state, his grandfather Astyages, or (as chronology requires) Astyages' successor, i.e. Darius the Mede. 2. Cambyses, Cyrus' son, is the second Ahasuerus, 529 B.C. (Ezr 4:6.) A Magian usurper, impersonating Smerdis, Cyrus' younger son, succeeded; Ahasuerus or Artaxerxes (Ezr 4:4-7). The Jews' enemies, in the third year of Cyrus (Dan 10:12; Dan 10:18; Ezr 4:5), sought by "hired counselors" to frustrate the building of the temple, and wrote against them to Ahasuerus (Cambyses) and Artaxerxes (Pseudo-Smerdis) successively. Ahasuerus reigned seven and a half years. Then the Magian Pseudo-Smerdis, Artaxeres, usurped the throne for eight months. The Magi being overthrown, Darius Hystaspis succeeded, 521 B.C. (Ezr 4:24.) 3. Darius Hystas…
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia