Esther in rabbinic literature R. Shimon b. Yohai said that it was because, unlike Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they had bowed down to Nebuchadnezzar's idol. However, he explained that since they did not mean to show devotion, but acted only for appearances sake, so God decreed only the apparent destruction of the Jews, but would not permit Haman to carry it out. A second reason draws a distinction between Daniel, who abstained from Nebuchadnezzar's table and the Jews (with the exception of Mordecai), who attended Ahasuerus' banquet in Chapter 1. Mordecai called upon her to pray for her people and then intercede with the
Society for Old Testament Study Society for Old Testament Study The Society for Old Testament Study (SOTS) is a learned society, based in the British Isles, of professional scholars and others committed to the study of the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament. SOTS was inaugurated at King's College, London on 3 January 1917, in response to a felt need for better public engagement with the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament and greater collegiality among those studying it. There were 30 original members, but this soon grew to over 100 in the 1920s, and subsequently grew to over 200 in the 1940s, over 300 in the