There was no King Ahasuerus of Persia, but many Bible commentaries observe that Ahasuerus is likely the Hebraicised version of King Xerxes, the Achaemenid leader who ruled from 486 to 465 BCE.
Esther is unlikely to have been Xerxes’wife, because his only known wife, Amestris, continued in her role well beyond his third year as king (the date the text suggests Vashti was deposed). Other problems in the story call into question the story’s reliability, for example Mordecai is identified as having been sent into exile by Nebuchadnezzar – an event that must have place over a century before Xerxes assumed power.
Esther is unlikely to have been Xerxes’wife, because his only known wife, Amestris, continued in her role well beyond his third year as king (the date the text suggests Vashti was deposed). Other problems in the story call into question the story’s reliability, for example Mordecai is identified as having been sent into exile by Nebuchadnezzar – an event that must have place over a century before Xerxes assumed power.
