Lesson 45: Daniel 1, 3, and 6; Esther 3-5, 7-8 There is
considerable material in the readings for this lesson, so I am
going to focus the study questions on the book of Esther (the
entire book rather than only the parts assigned for Sunday
School), with a glance at the book of Daniel. I want to focus on
Esther because it is one of the books of the Old Testament with
which I believe Latter-day Saints are least familiar. That lack
of familiarity is ironic, given that Esther is perhaps the Old
Testament book best known among the Jews. Besides the Torah (the
first five books of the Old Testament), Esther is the only book
that is still usually read from a scroll on ceremonial
occasions, and Jews often publish beautiful editions of it.
Esther is the last of five books gathered together as a
collection and called “The Five Megilloth,” meaning “The Five
Scrolls.” These booksâ€”Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations,
Ecclesiastes, and Estherâ€”are a sub-collection within that part
of the Old Testament called “The Writings.