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Hi Gary,

Thanks for the email.? What a great example of why the Rabbis say that "Coincidence is not a kosher word."

Regarding Darius, your facts are generally correct.? The first invasion of Greece by Darius was defeated at Marathon in 490 BC, some ten years before the events in the book of Esther.? But the preparations in the book of Esther were for the second invasion of Greece.??The second invasion of Greece led by Darius' son Xerxes I, a male lead of the book of Esther, occurred 10 years later (480 BC), between the 1st and 2nd chapters of Esther.

Here are the details with some relevant background, which you may find interesting.

The Battle of Marathon in 490 BC was indeed where the cobbled together army of ten generals (including?Miltiades) defeated the first Persian invasion led by King Darius. This invasion was a response by Darius to the Ionian Revolt (499-493 BC) led by the Ionian city-state of Ephesus (and participated in by other Asia Minor cities).? A force of Greeks sent from Athens and Eretria to support the Ionian city-states captured and burned as far inland as Sardis before Darius' Persian Army drove them back and the Ionian Revolt was suppressed. Darius was furious and vowed to burn Athen and Eretria.? Hence the first Persian invasion in the Greco-Persian wars was launched seven years later in 490 BC, only to die on the shores of Marathon.

Recognizing that he needed a larger force than his mere 126,000 (estimated) men and 800 or 900 ships to conquer Greece, Darius set about planning the second invasion where he, not Datus, would command.? However, after three years of preparation, he was not only distracted by a revolt in Egypt in 486 BC that derailed the second invasion of Greece, but fell ill and died.?

After a brief succession tussle with his elder half-brother Artobarxanes (born before Darius rose to power), the eldest son from Darius' marriage to Cyrus the Great's daughter Atossa, Xerxes, was instead crowned.? The great court presence of Atossa significantly influenced her son Xerxes being enthroned as Ahasuerus (the "Lion-King" or king of kings).

Atossa (which means "skilled" or "learned") was an interesting character.? Not only was she Cyrus the Great's daughter, she had first married her brother Cambyses II (who was a weak and possibly insane king of kings who also married her (their) sister Roxanne).? Note that incest was then illegal.? Anyway, after Cambyses II was murdered, committed suicide, or died of an infected cut (choose one or more of the above) enroute to quell rebellious Egyptians in 522 BC, the 28-year old queen married Darius I after he defeated her younger brother Smerdis to claim the Achaemenid throne.

By the way, per the historian Herodotus, Atossa was a survivor of inflammatory breast cancer, when a Greek slave Democedes excised a bleeding tumor in her breast.

Xerxes I immediately proceeded to consolidate his power by undertaking the 3-4 year planning of the second invasion of Greece that?culminated in the six month-long planning conference in Esther Chapter 1 and?the final seven day "blowout" that resulted in Queen Vashti's dethronement in 480 BC.

Xerxes I then led his 1.6 - 2 million man army with its 1,200 or so ships off on the second invasion of Greece, cheered on by his mum.? His great army marched south Thrace, Macedonia and Thessaly, picking up strength. After initial victories in August 480 BC at Thermopylae and Artemisium (sea), he torched Athens in September (fulfilling his father Darius' pledge), but his navy was soundly defeated at the Battle of Salamis, which he watched from the land.

Finally appreciating that he wouldn't have a swift victory after the outnumbered Greeks destroyed his navy at Salamis (as well as the massive Persian casualties at the Battle of Thermopylae), Xerxes turned command of his army over and returned to Susa.? If he wasn't dispirited then, he would have been when his remaining army in Greece was decimated at the Battles of Plataea (army) and Mycale (navy).

We now come to Chapter 2 in the book of Esther, with both the mood and coffers of King Xerxes I running on empty and the king unable to console himself with the charms of the beautiful Vashti (which means "beautiful") because of a drunken and stupid decree which he signified before running off to war but, because of the Law of the Medes and Persians, can't undo.??

What's a guy to do?

Blessings,

Ray

On Friday, 14 August 2020, 08:28:26 am AEST, Gary Owen <owen.gary.j@...> wrote:

Hi Ray
I was astounded that early yesterday morning I was reading about Miltiades (leader of the Athenians and Plataeans who destroyed the much larger Persion force in 490BC),? and WHAM - you brought up his name as background to the book of Esther.
But for me this raised a point. It is reliably recorded that the Persian General Datis was in charge of their land forces, but that King Darius was also at the Plains of Marathon to observe his troops in battle.
So, if Esther chapter 1 takes place during the final preparations for this attack, was Darius king at that time? Eshter chapter one seems to say it was Xerxes.
OR
Is the term "King" here being used as a more generic title?
Thank you
Gary O