Did Queen Esther have any children?

Answer 1

A:The Book of Esther does not record any children of Queen Esther. There is no record anywhere in the Persian records of a Queen Esther, and historians say that King Xerxes was married to Queen Amestris at the very time the Book says he divorced Queen Vashti and married Esther, remaining married to her for at least the next several years. So we can not look for answers in The Bible or in history.

A Jewish tradition holds that Esther had one son, Darius II. It is true that we do not know the name of the mother of Darius II, but she could not have been Queen Esther. Darius II was known as Darius Nothus (Darius the bastard) because his mother was a concubine, Artaxerxes having no surviving legitimate heir, and therefore Darius II would could not have been the son of a legitimate queen. If Esther really was married to Xerxes as stated in the Book of Esther, she would have been a legitimate queen, not a concubine. Thus, the final word comes from biblical scholars, who say that the Book of Esther was a second-century-BCE Jewish novel. The author did not intend Queen Esther to have had children.

Answer:

It is true that the book of Esther does not record her having had any children but we might assume that she did have children. After all King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) was besotten by Esther when he first set his eyes on her. Every King likes to leave seed, i.e. children who would take over the family name when he is gone; so it is not hard to imagine that Esther had children. According to Ohr Somayach:

"While we do not know a lot about what happened to Esther, one thing that we do know is that she had a son, Darius, who became King Darius II. She brought him up to be favorable to the Jews and he eventually lifted the ban against the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple), which led to the building of the Second Temple."

The Persians kept historical records, but some were lost over time. One has to imagine that either this was recorded (of Esther's son) or was not recorded at all.

I find the Bible to be an accurate piece of history. We should not doubt the Bible which is the written word of God.

Answer 2

A:The Book of Esther does not record any children of Queen Esther and there is no record anywhere in the Persian records of a Queen Esther. The Book of Esther says that King Xerxes I married her soon after he divorced Vashti in the third year of his reign but historians say that King Xerxes was married to Queen Amestris at that very time and remained married to her for at least the next several years. So we can not look for answers in the Bible or in history.

A Jewish tradition holds that Esther had one son, Darius II. It is true that we do not know the name of the mother of Darius II, but she could not have been Queen Esther. Darius II was known as Darius Nothus (Darius the bastard) because his mother was a concubine, Artaxerxes having no surviving legitimate heir, and therefore Darius II would could not have been the son of a legitimate queen. If Esther really was married to Xerxes as stated in the Book of Esther, she would have been queen, legitimately married, and not a concubine. Thus, the final word comes from biblical scholars, who say that the Book of Esther was a second-century-BCE Jewish novel. The author did not intend Queen Esther to have children.

Answer 3

the bible does not say if Queen Esther had any children

Answer 4

Esther was an orphan and the Bible did not mention her parents' names. But the Bible did mention that she lived with her cousin Mordecai

Answer 5

According to tradition, she had one son.