the last of the historical books of the Old Testament, takes its name from the Jewish maiden whose history it gives. The book is written in Hebrew, with many Persian words, which seems to prove that its date was during the Persian rule in the reign of Artaxerxes, 465-425 B. C. The word God does not occur in the text; neither is the book alluded to or quoted in the New Testament, and with the exception of Esther's fast no religious act is spoken of.