id	author	title	date	pages	extension	mime	words	sentences	flesch	summary	cache	txt
www-jewishencyclopedia-com-3350		ESTHER - JewishEncyclopedia.com			.html	application/xhtml+xml	4415	458	78	Name of the chief character in the Book of Esther, derived, according to some authorities, from the Persian "stara" (star); but regarded by others as a modification of "Ishtar," the name of the Babylonian goddess (see below). The story of Esther, as given in the book bearing her name, is as follows: The King of Persia, Ahasuerus, had deposed his queen Vashti because she refused, during a festival, toshow at his command her charms before the assembled princes of the realm (i. Upon Mordecai's refusal to prostrate himself, Haman informed the king that the Jews were a useless and turbulent people and inclined to disloyalty, and he promised to pay 10,000 silver talents into the royal treasury for the permission to pillage and exterminate this alien race. The next day at the banquet, when Esther preferred her request, both the king and the grand vizier learned for the first time that the queen was a Jewess.	./cache/www-jewishencyclopedia-com-3350.html	./txt/www-jewishencyclopedia-com-3350.txt