Esther

In the Christian tradition

Esther is the Jewish queen of Persia whose intervention saves her people from destruction; her story is told in the book that bears her name. The Greek deuterocanonical additions to Esther are read in Catholic and Orthodox tradition.

The book of Esther is unusual in the Hebrew Bible for not mentioning God by name; the deuterocanonical additions in the Greek tradition restore explicit references to God's providence. Christian tradition reads Esther as a model of courageous intercession; the figure has been honored in Christian art and liturgical commemoration across the centuries. The name has been in continuous Christian use, with particular popularity in English-speaking Protestant families since the Puritan period.