Bible Discussion Thread

Who were the people in verse 17, who became Jews?

Janie, the King mentioned in the Book of Esther is King Ahasuerus, a Persian King. His kingdom stretched from India (actually, from the Indus River) to Ethiopia & had over 127 provinces ( Esther 1:1). As you have read this account, Queen Esther was a Jew & Mordecai, also a Jew, brought up young Esther when her parents had died. However, the evil Haman wanted all the Jews in the land to be slaughtered as he lied to the King that the Jews were people who disobeyed the King's laws. Then with the intervention of Esther & Mordecai, they were able to have that edict removed & the have Haman punished & put to death. And so the Jews of the land enjoyed peace & tranquility once again. However, this also meant (in 8:17), that some of the people of other beliefs who saw the favour given to the Jews & their position with the King, began to be afraid of their own position, so some of these converted to Judaism, probably to save their skin. We are not told who these people were, but must have included a great variety as the King's kingdom was huge.