Esther 1:1-20

I. GOD’S PREPARATIONS 1:1-2:20

Joyce Baldwin believed that the writer composed the book in a chiastic structure that focuses on the providence of God in the king’s sleepless night. [Note: Baldwin., p. 30.]

A Opening and background (ch. 1)

B The king’s first decree (chs. 2-3)

C The clash between Haman and Mordecai (chs. 4-5)

D "On the night the king could not sleep" (Esther 6:1)

C’ Mordecai’s triumph over Haman (chs. 6-7)

B’ The king’s second decree (chs. 8-9)

A’ Epilogue (ch. 10)

This first major part of the book explains how God placed a simple Jewish young woman in position to deliver her people from possible extinction.