Hadassah

Hadassah (meaning a myrtle or joy) was the Hebrew name of Esther, the Jewish heroine of the book bearing her Persian name. She was the daughter of Abihail, of the tribe of Benjamin, and had been raised by her cousin Mordecai after the death of her parents (Esth. 2:7, 15). She became queen of Persia when King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) chose her to replace the deposed queen Vashti following a kingdom-wide search.

The use of her Hebrew name only at her first introduction (Esth. 2:7) and then exclusively by her Persian name Esther throughout the narrative may reflect her concealment of her Jewish identity at Mordecai's instruction—a detail central to the plot of the book, since her intervention to save the Jews from Haman's genocide depended on the element of surprise when she revealed her people's identity to the king. The name Hadassah connects her to the myrtle tree, a symbol of peace and joy in Hebrew tradition.