Person Old Testament
Abihail
Abihail was the father of Esther (also known as Hadassah), who became Queen of Persia and saved the Jewish people from Haman's plot. Mentioned in 2 verses across 1 book, first at Esther 2:15.
Why it matters. Father of Esther (Hadassah)
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Abihail
Abihail is mentioned in the book of Esther as the father of Esther, also known as Hadassah (Est.2.15). Esther was a young Jewish woman living in Persia during the reign of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). After Queen Vashti was deposed, Esther was chosen to become the new queen.
When Haman, a high-ranking official in the Persian court, plotted to destroy the Jewish people, Esther courageously intervened and saved her people. She revealed her Jewish identity to the king and exposed Haman's evil plan. As a result, Haman was executed, and the Jewish people were allowed to defend themselves against their enemies.
Esther, along with her cousin and guardian Mordecai, wrote a letter to confirm the practices of Purim, a Jewish holiday commemorating the deliverance of the Jews from Haman's plot (Est.9.29). In this letter, Esther is referred to as "Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail."
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
- Children
- Esther
Appears in Scripture
Named in 2 verses across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.