Although Judea is one of the provinces of the multicultural empire of Persia, the book of Esther never mentions it. Rather, it grapples with the precarious position of Jews scattered throughout Persia, outside their ancestral homeland, and who stand out among the non-Jews in their insistence on keeping to their cultural rules and norms.For some thoughts (including mine) on the debate on whether the ancient terms ioudaios/yehudi are best understood as "Jew" or "Judean," see here and links.
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