The inscription of the Book. Who was Esther? הֲדַסָּה/Hadassah. אֶסְתֵּר/ Esther. Was she Amestris, wife of Xerxes? 1. The Writer of the book; its authority, 2. Argument, 3. Chronology. Ahasuerus, husband of Esther, appears to have been Darius, son of Hystaspes, 4. The parts of the book are two: I. The rise of Esther from the condition of a ward to Royal marriage with Ahasuerus (Esther 1; 2). II. The deadly counsel of Haman unto the destruction of the Jews undertaken, and by the grace of God evaded by the vigilance of Mordecai and the prudence of Esther, recoiling upon the head of the conspirator (Esther 3-10). A Synoptic Table, and the Interpreters of the book, Ancient, Reformed, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, and Hebrew, 5.