Esther's Relations with Achashverosh/1
Esther's Relations with Achashverosh
Introduction
Esther's marriage to Achashverosh is a central element of the Megillah's plot, key to her later salvation of the nation. However, the very fact of the marriage is troubling to the reader. How could Esther marry an idolater? Why did Mordechai not protest her being taken? No where does the Megillah express that either resisted the king's officers, leaving one to wonder at their emtoional reponse to
one to wonder whether the two were
The text is silent regarding both Esther and Mordechai's reaction to the marriage. Were they happy or horrified by the turn of events? Had Esther vied for the position or hoped to be ignored when the king's men gathered the young women of the kingdom?
וְלֹא תִתְחַתֵּן בָּם בִּתְּךָ לֹא תִתֵּן לִבְנוֹ וּבִתּוֹ לֹא תִקַּח לִבְנֶךָ.
And you shall not marry into them, your daughter you shall not give to his son, and his daughter you shall not take for your son.
From this verse, many1 learn the prohibition of intermarriage. Even according to the opinion that this verse applies only to the seven nations of Canaan, intermarriage with non-Canaanite non-Jews is prohibited at least rabbinically.2
If so, how could Esther have married Achashverosh?
Related Issues
A number of issues affect the question of Esther's relationship with Achashverosh:
- Esther's Religious Identity and Mordechai's Religious Identity
- Why Conceal Esther's Nationality?
- Were the maidens, and Esther in particular, taken voluntarily or by force?
