Purim — an interactive condensed drama from the book of Esther

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Hallel Fellowship celebrated Purim with a fun take on the deadly serious account of the thwarted genocide of the Yehudim (Jews) living in exile in Persia in the fifth century B.C.E.

To follow along with the recorded drama, download Tammy’s condensation of the book of Esther for six readers and many more actors of all ages.

The script

Readers

Narrator: Jeff. King: John. Haman: Susan. Supporting characters (Memukhan, Zeresh, servants, etc.): Carmel. Esther: Rose. Mordecai: Bill K.

Actors

King: Joshua. Mordecai: William. Haman: Daniel. Vashti: Annemarie. Esther: Jordan. Zeresh: Tara. Court attendants: Isaac, Jacq, Sunny.

Themes in the book of Esther and Purim

Jeff offers a brief overview of the significance of Purim for believers in Messiah Yeshua.

Is the book fact or fiction?

Esther creates an unusual predicament. Often, when it comes to biblical studies, the further back into the past the account is set, the more it is treated with skepticism. Ironically, the book of Esther—one of the latestchronological accounts in the Bible—is one of the most historically disputed books in the canon.

Is the book of Esther fact or fiction? Can we even know? (Christopher Eames, “The Book of Esther: Fact or Fiction?” Let the Stones Speak, July–August 2024, Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology, accessed June 21, 2025)

Using the biblical record as a chronological guide, Esther’s and Nehemiah’s lives in Persia would have overlapped. Nehemiah’s account begins about 20 years after the death of Xerxes i, Esther’s husband (read “The Book of Esther: Fact or Fiction?”).

But is there even more in the biblical account that connects these two heroic personalities? The exchange between Nehemiah and Artaxerxes may divulge an answer. (Ryan Malone, “A Nehemiah-Esther Link” Let the Stones Speak, July–August 2024, Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology, accessed June 21, 2025)