The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women

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Joshua Aaron Alfaro

Joshua Alfaro is a researcher at the Universität Salzburg, Austria. He has written on the Book of Esther and other books of the Bible from the Persian and Hellenistic periods.

Articles by this author

Vashti sits at the head of a banquet table, with the words, "Vashti the queen also had a feast for the women."

Vashti: Bible

In the biblical Book of Esther, Vashti is wife of the king of Persia who refuses his request to appear before the royal guests at a banquet. Her episode introduces several themes that occur throughout the book, and she sets in motion the rest of story’s events when her refusal leads to her being deposed and replaced as queen by Esther.

Esther kneels before King Ahasuerus as he crowns her, with the caption in Hebrew: "He placed the queen's crown on her head."

Esther: Bible

Esther, the main character in the book named after her, is a young Jewish woman who becomes queen of the Persian empire and risks her life by interceding for the Jewish people to save them from a pogrom. Set in the Persian diaspora, the Book of Esther depicts the struggle for Jews to survive in the face of hostility in a foreign land.

How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Joshua Aaron Alfaro." (Viewed on May 31, 2023) <https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/author/alfaro-joshua>.

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