Sometimes when we’re just reading through a short-ish book of the Bible like Esther, we tend to ignore little things like “and in the third year of the reign of Xerxes” verses “in the seventh year . . .” right? I know I do. But now that I’m concluding Jewel of Persia and am hence digging into Esther, I’m reminded again of all this fun stuff.

Though incredibly short, this book of the Bible spans quite a few years. First of all, the time between Vashti being deposed and Esther arriving at the palace is three years. Three years! You wouldn’t really think that when you read it, unless you pay attention to those “year of the reign” things. It reads like “So Xerxes got mad, took care of business. When his temper had cooled, he remembered Vashti and all his dudes said, ‘Hey, kingy, time to find a new queen.'”

Apparently it took his temper three years to cool. Which actually makes so much sense if you accept that the king mentioned in Esther is in fact Xerxes I, who was away preparing for war with Greece for those exact years of his reign. Cool stuff, eh? Especially since non-Biblical history then records that he “returned to Persia and dedicated himself to the intrigues of the harem.” !!!

I’ve probably shared bits and pieces of this before, but given that last night I just typed “The seventh year of the reign of Xerxes” under my next chapter’s heading, it hit home anew. And now I’m going to get writing.

Hope y’all have an awesome day!