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Meaning, origin and etymology of the name Esther


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Esther Esther

Esther (means star) is the Persian name of a Hebrew girl named Hadassah (means myrtle), who was able to avert the genocide of the Hebrews during the time of the Babylonian exile. Her story plays between the two waves of return to Jerusalem.

The name Esther was probably given to Hadassah when she entered the court of the Persian king (compare Daniel and his friends) and as such she was known by the people. Or possibly the name was later attributed to her due to her 'stardom.' But to a Hebrew audience the name Esther, the way it was written, had far more meaning than simply the word 'star' in the language of their abductors.

The name Esther may have reminded of a compound of ason (ason 138a), evil, harm, from the assumed root sh ('sh 138), plus the word tor (tor 2500a) a circle or plait or tor (tor 2500c) dove; both from the verb tur (tur 2500), to spy or search out. In that way the foreign name Esther would have looked to mean She Searches Out Evil.

Then there is the word asar (asar 141), tie, bind, gird, with among its derivatives esur (esur 141a) bond, band, and asar (issar 141d), binding obligation.

And finally we list the root satar (satar 1551), hide or conceal, with among its derivatives satar (seter 1551a) and sitra (sitra 1551b) both meaning hiding place, and mistar (mistar 1551d) hiding place.



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