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- Esther:
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- "A Jewish orphan maiden in the city of Shushan who became queen of Persia. Her Hebrew name was Hadassah (MYRTLE). Her cousin Mordecai, who was a minor official of the palace, reared her as his own daughter. Xerxes (KJV Ahasuerus), the Persian king, had divorced his wife. When he sought a new queen from among the maidens of the realm he chose Esther. When the Jews in the empire were faced with destruction she was able to save them. In her honor the book that bears her name is read every year at the Feast of Purim." (THE NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE, © 1987 Zondervan, p. 326)