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Persia and the Bible

The Ancients

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The Life and Times of Jews in Babylonia

Esther is set in Sousa just on the other side of Babylon a very important imperial Persian center. It concerns this young Jewish woman and her uncle a Jew she marries Xerxes which is a bit of a fantasy because we know historically Persians only wed Persian women. There is no longing to go home amongst the Jews encountered in Esther whatsoever they're very happy being in Persia and being Persianized completely happy. God doesn't appear even once in this text it's a purely secular text there is no mention of the temple of cult of fasting or dietary laws.

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