Jewish Rulers in Foreign Lands-I
Ancient Diaspora Jews Who Rose to Power in the Countries of Sojourn
Though a people without a nation for millennia, the Jews produced powerful rulers at some points of history in the countries where they lived in exile.
The Jews have held offices of esteem both in the ancient and modern times in countries where they lived as immigrant communities.
Joseph (Ruled from 1715 BC till his death in 1635 BC)
Ruled Egypt as prime minister under the Pharaoh who said, “Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” - Genesis 41:40-44 (King James Version).
Joseph was the eleventh of the twelve sons of Jacob, later called Israel (hence the name of the country, Israel), whose descendants came to be known as Israelites, or Jews after the predominance of the tribe of Judah, Jacob’s fourth son.
Joseph was a wise ruler and planner who saved the Egyptians from difficult famines and kept the royal treasury from draining out. He won the favor of the Pharaoh when he was 15 years old and ruled Egypt for 80 years.
The exalted legacy of Joseph and the patronage he gained from the house of pharaoh ensured that the Israeli people lived peacefully in Egypt for about 400 years, till the times of oppression and ultimate liberation under Moses.
Daniel (Ruled from 601 BC till his death in 522 BC)
The Persian King Nebuchadnezzar was so pleased with Daniel the Jew as he told the King’s dream as also its meaning without the King revealing the dream to him. The King made him “chief prefect” over all the wise men of Babylon and ruler of “the whole province of Babylon” and soon elevated him as “chief of the governors of the provinces of the Empire.”
Daniel was born in a noble family of the tribe of Benjamin, the twelfth son of Jacob. He was a young teenager when he was taken captive to Babylon in 606 BC by Nebuchadnezzar along with three other young noble men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Esther
The Queen of King Xerxes (ruled 486 to 465 BC) of the Persian Empire, Esther was instrumental in saving the Jews in the Empire from the total destruction plotted by Haman. Her act of deliverance helped the Jews live in peaceful conditions in Persia till the seventh century AD when their freedom was disturbed by the Muslim invaders from Arabia who forcefully converted the Persians to Islam.
Esther was the daughter of a Benjaminite who lived in Susa (Shushan). She was charismatic and powerful as Queen of the Persians.
Mordecai
Mordecai was an uncle of Queen Esther. King Xerxes appointed him prime minister in the place of disgraced Haman. Mordecai was an able ruler and he made relationship between the Persians and the Jews harmonious and established lasting peace.
(The vast Persian Empire comprised of 127 provinces that stretched from Ethiopia to India during the times of Esther and Mordecai.)
