Ahasuerus

In Bible versions:

Ahasuerus: NET AVS NIV NRSV NASB TEV
Xerxes: NIV

king of Persia after Darius

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prince; head; chief

Arts:

Arts Topics: Fainting before Ahasuerus; Portraits of Xerxes I (Ahasuerus)

Hebrew

Strongs #0325: vwrwvxa 'Achashverowsh or (shortened) vrvxa 'Achashrosh (\\#Es 10:1\\)

Ahasuerus = "I will be silent and poor"

1) title of the king of Persia, probably Xerxes

325 'Achashverowsh akh-ash-vay-rosh'

or (shortened) pAchashrosh {akh- ash-rosh'} (Esth. 10:1); of
Persian origin; Achashverosh (i.e. Ahasuerus or Artaxerxes,
but in this case Xerxes), the title (rather than name) of a
Persian king:-Ahasuerus.

Ahasuerus [EBD]

There are three kings designated by this name in Scripture. (1.) The father of Darius the Mede, mentioned in Dan. 9:1. This was probably the Cyaxares I. known by this name in profane history, the king of Media and the conqueror of Nineveh.

(2.) The king mentioned in Ezra 4:6, probably the Cambyses of profane history, the son and successor of Cyrus (B.C. 529).

(3.) The son of Darius Hystaspes, the king named in the Book of Esther. He ruled over the kingdoms of Persia, Media, and Babylonia, "from India to Ethiopia." This was in all probability the Xerxes of profane history, who succeeded his father Darius (B.C. 485). In the LXX. version of the Book of Esther the name Artaxerxes occurs for Ahasuerus. He reigned for twenty-one years (B.C. 486-465). He invaded Greece with an army, it is said, of more than 2,000,000 soldiers, only 5,000 of whom returned with him. Leonidas, with his famous 300, arrested his progress at the Pass of Thermopylae, and then he was defeated disastrously by Themistocles at Salamis. It was after his return from this invasion that Esther was chosen as his queen.

Ahasuerus [NAVE]

AHASUERUS
1. King of Persia, history of. See: Book of Esther.
2. See: Artaxerxes.
3. Father of Darius, Dan. 9:1.

AHASUERUS [SMITH]

(lion-king), the name of one Median and two Persian kings mentioned in the Old Testament.

1. In (Daniel 9:1) Ahasuerus is said to be the father of Darius the Mede. [DARIUS] This first Ahasuerus is Cyaxares, the conqueror of Nineveh. (Began to reign B.C. 634.)
2. The Ahasuerus king of Persia, referred to in (Ezra 4:6) must be Cambyses, thought to be Cyrus? successor, and perhaps his son. (B.C. 529.)
3. The third is the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther. This Ahasuerus is probably Xerxes of history, (Esther 1:1) (B.C. 485), and this conclusion is fortified by the resemblance of character and by certain chronological indications, the account of his life and character agreeing with the book of Esther In the third year of Ahaseuerus was held a great feast and assembly in Shushan the palace, (Esther 1:3) following a council held to consider the invasion of Greece. He divorced his queen Vashti for refusing to appear in public at this banquet, and married, four years afterwards, the Jewess Esther, cousin and ward of Mordecai. Five years after this, Haman, one of his counsellors, having been slighted by Mordecai, prevailed upon the king to order the destruction of all the Jews in the empire. But before the day appointed for the massacre, Esther and Mordecai influenced the king to put Haman to death and to give the Jews the right of self-Defence.

XERXES [ISBE]

XERXES - zerks'-ez: The name is an attempt to transliterate into Greek (Xerxes) the Persian Khshayarsha. The same word in unpointed Hebrew took the form 'chshwrsh, probably pronounced 'achshawarash, but at a later time it was wrongly vocalized so as to produce 'achashwerosh, from whence "Ahasuerus" in English versions of the Bible comes.

Xerxes was king of Persia in 485-465 BC. The first part of his reign was marked by the famous campaign into Greece, beginning in 483. After the defeat at Salamis in 480 Xerxes himself withdrew from the expedition and it was finally discontinued in the next year. During the remainder of his reign, Xerxes seems to have spent a listless existence, absorbed in intrigues of the harem, and leaving the government to be carried on by his ministers and favorites (often slaves). He was finally murdered by his vizier and left an unenviable reputation for caprice and cruelty. For the various Biblical references see AHASUERUS.

Burton Scott Easton