Definition · Webster 1828 · Scriptures · Corruption · Roots · Usage · In the Text · Related
📖 Biblical Definition
Hadassah is the Hebrew name of Queen Esther, given to us in a single canonical line: "And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother... and Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took her for his own daughter" (Esth 2:7). The Hebrew Hadassah means "myrtle" — a sweet-smelling evergreen tree, used branch-and-leaf in the booths of the Feast of Tabernacles (Neh 8:15) and named by Isaiah as one of the trees God will plant in the wilderness when He restores His people: "I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree" (Isa 41:19). The Persian name ESTHER ("star," from setareh) is what the court called her; HADASSAH is what her people called her, what her covenant identity carried. The double-naming preserves both her hidden-covenant-Jewish identity (Hadassah) and her public-Persian-queen identity (Esther). She lived in both worlds, and the book named for her bears the Persian name; but her Hebrew name — myrtle, fragrance, evergreen — was the older and truer one. Modern Jewish baby naming has revived Hadassah heavily; among Christian families it is a quietly growing choice that honors the woman “for such a time as this” (Esth 4:14) while preserving her Hebrew identity rather than only her Persian one.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Hebrew "myrtle tree"; the covenant-Jewish name of Queen Esther (Esth 2:7); modern Jewish and Christian baby name.
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HADASSAH, proper noun. Hebrew Hadassah (H1919) — "myrtle tree."
The Hebrew (covenant-Jewish) name of Queen Esther, recorded only at Esther 2:7. The Persian court called her Esther ("star"); her own people called her Hadassah. Both names are canonical; both name the same woman.
📖 Key Scripture
Esther 2:7 — "And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter."
Isaiah 41:19 — "I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together."
Nehemiah 8:15 — "And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written."
Esther 4:14 — "For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Hadassah is corrupted when the Persian name Esther is treated as her only canonical name, dropping the covenant-Jewish Hadassah name that the text deliberately preserves, or when modern Christian Zionism appropriates the name without attention to the wider book of Esther.
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Esther-only reading. The book of Esther is named for the Persian name, and Christian preaching almost always uses Esther exclusively. But the Spirit preserved "Hadassah, that is, Esther" in Esth 2:7 — the canonical text makes both names visible. The covenant-Jewish name comes first; the Persian name follows. To strip the Hadassah half is to lose the layered identity the text deliberately preserves.
Surface-only Zionist appropriation. Hadassah has become a Jewish women's organization name (Hadassah Hospital, etc.) and a popular Jewish baby name today. Some Christian Zionists pick up the name without attention to the book's content: Esther's courage was specifically against an Amalekite plot to destroy the covenant people, and her vindication ended in the slaughter of seventy-five thousand of her enemies (Esth 9:16). The myrtle's sweet fragrance and the Jews' deliverance are both in the book; honor the name by honoring the whole canonical text.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew Hadassah (H1919) — "myrtle tree"; the covenant-Jewish name of Queen Esther.
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Hebrew Hadassah (H1919) — "myrtle tree" or "myrtle"
Appears once in canon: Esther 2:7 — "Hadassah, that is, Esther"
The myrtle is one of the four trees of Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles, Neh 8:15) and one of God's restoration-trees in the wilderness (Isa 41:19)
Modern Jewish and Christian baby name reviving the covenant-Hebrew form alongside (or instead of) the Persian Esther
Usage
"Hadassah, that is, Esther — the Spirit preserved both names; the covenant-Hebrew one comes first."
"The myrtle tree fragrance Isaiah promised for the wilderness is the meaning Esther carried before she became queen."
"Modern Jewish and Christian parents naming a daughter Hadassah honor the covenant name behind the Persian one."
📖 In the Text
Chapters of the reading Bible where this entry is linked.