- verses
- 30
- first named
- Ezra 4:6
- last named
- Daniel 9:1
- period
- Exile and Return
- tribe
- Persia
Description
Who was Ahasuerus?
Ahasuerus, probably Xerxes I, was the king of Persia during the events described in the book of Esther. He ruled over a vast empire from India to Ethiopia. In the third year of his reign, Ahasuerus held a lavish banquet and requested the presence of his queen, Vashti. When she refused to come, the king deposed her. (Est.1)
A search was made for a new queen, and Esther, a young Jewish woman, was chosen. Esther kept her Jewish identity secret. (Est.2) Later, Haman, a high official, plotted to destroy the Jews due to his hatred for Mordecai, Esther's cousin. Haman convinced Ahasuerus to issue a decree allowing the annihilation of the Jews. (Est.3).
Esther revealed her Jewish identity to Ahasuerus and exposed Haman's plot. The king ordered Haman's execution and issued a new decree allowing the Jews to defend themselves. (Est.7-8) The Jews were victorious over their enemies, and Ahasuerus promoted Mordecai to a high position in the kingdom. (Est.9-10).
Ahasuerus is also mentioned in Ezr.4.6, where his reign is associated with opposition to the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and in Dan.9.1, as the father of Darius the Mede. Xerxes I ruled 486 to 465.
Relations
Direct connections
Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.
The 10 best-attested of 15 are drawn. All 15 are listed below.
Child of
- Dariusregistry, no verse
Father of
- Artaxerxesregistry, no verse
- DariusregistryDaniel 9:1
Partner of
- Vashtiregistry, no verse
Stands in the same events as
- Esther20 events
- Haman13 events
- Mordecai5 events
- Vashti5 events
- Judah4 events
- Cush2 events
- Susa2 events
- Bigthan2 events
- India2 events
- Teresh2 events
- People1 event
- Man1 event
and 18 more, ordered by how many events they share.
Places
Where this happens
The places the claims about this person reach, drawn where the gazetteer locates them. A point is where a row puts them and never where tradition does; no line joins two points, because the rows state where and not in what order.
The pattern
Where Ahasuerus is named
Every book of the corpus in the order it is read, each as wide as the chapters it holds. A bar is the verses of that book which write the name, and the flat stretches are as much of the answer as the bars.
30 verses across 3 of 66 books; 63 write the name nowhere. Named in Ezra (1), Esther (28) and Daniel (1).
Read it
Where to read it
Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 30, across 3 books. The name is written 31 times in them.
Onward
Where this page goes
Not the direct relations above — these are one hop further out, ranked so that a rare shared connection outweighs a common one. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.
Where they appear
Chapter by chapter
Atlas's reading of each chapter this person appears in, in canonical order. One line per chapter, and each leads to the whole of it.
- Esther 1Xerxes held the feasts, summoned Vashti, consulted his advisers, accepted Memucan’s counsel, and sent the decree through his provinces.
- Esther 2Xerxes accepted the search for a new queen, chose Esther, and survived a conspiracy against him.
- Esther 3King Xerxes gave Haman his signet ring and handed the Jews over to him, then sat down to drink.
- Esther 6Ahasuerus could not sleep, discovered Mordecai’s unpaid honour in the records, and commanded Haman to carry it out.
- Esther 7Ahasuerus questions Esther, leaves in fury, returns to the banquet hall, and orders Haman hanged.
- Esther 8The king gave Haman’s estate to Esther, handed Mordecai the royal signet ring, and allowed a new decree to be written in his name.
- Esther 9The king reported the deaths in Susa, invited Esther’s further request, and commanded that it be done.
- Esther 10King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the land, even to its farthest shores.
Sources