Esther, book of the Bible. It is the tale of the beautiful Jewish woman Esther [Heb.,= Hadassah], who is chosen as queen by the Persian King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I or II) after he has repudiated his previous wife, Vashti. It tells how the wicked courtier Haman attempted to bring about the massacre of the Jews and how Esther and her cousin Mordecai thwarted him. Haman was hanged, and Mordecai became the king's chief minister. The feast of Purim commemorates this deliverance of the Jews, and is perhaps the reason for its inclusion in the canon of the Hebrew Bible. Extant Hebrew versions are different from those surviving in Greek. These latter are longer by several chapters, and are included in the Apocrypha as the "Additions to Esther." These additions were collected at the end of the book by Jerome for his edition of the Latin Bible (the Vulgate). The Hebrew version of the book, unlike the Greek, contains no mention of God. The Greek version is somewhat more anti-Gentile in sentiment than the Hebrew. Some critics date the book as late as 150 B.C. It is the only book of the Hebrew canon not represented among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Beecher, Catharine Esther, 1800-1878, American educator, b. East Hampton, N.Y.; daughter of Lyman Beecher. She first taught in New London, Conn., and in 1824 founded a girls' school in Hartford. Later she organized the Western Female Institute in Cincinnati (1832) and similar institutions in Quincy, Ill., Milwaukee, and Burlington, Iowa. Author of works on religion, health, and domestic science (which she introduced in her schools), Beecher was indefatigable in the promotion of liberal education for women, although she opposed woman suffrage.

(born Sept. 6, 1800, East Hampton, N.Y., U.S.—died May 12, 1878, Elmira, N.Y.) U.S. educator who popularized and shaped a conservative movement to both elevate and entrench woman's role in the domestic sphere. Daughter of the minister and temperance activist Lyman Beecher and sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Henry Ward Beecher, she helped found the Hartford Female Seminary (1823) and other organizations devoted to women's education. Her popular Treatise on Domestic Economy (1841) helped standardize domestic practices while reinforcing the belief that a woman's proper place was in the home.

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(born Sept. 6, 1800, East Hampton, N.Y., U.S.—died May 12, 1878, Elmira, N.Y.) U.S. educator who popularized and shaped a conservative movement to both elevate and entrench woman's role in the domestic sphere. Daughter of the minister and temperance activist Lyman Beecher and sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Henry Ward Beecher, she helped found the Hartford Female Seminary (1823) and other organizations devoted to women's education. Her popular Treatise on Domestic Economy (1841) helped standardize domestic practices while reinforcing the belief that a woman's proper place was in the home.

Learn more about Beecher, Catharine (Esther) with a free trial on Britannica.com.