Bible Commentaries

Elevation of Esther to the Throne - Esther 2
Service Rendered by Mordochaito the King

When the wrath of King Ahashverosh was appeased, and he rememberedhis harsh treatment of Vashti, his courtiers proposed that he should sendto fetch fair young virgins from all parts of his realm to the house of thewomen in Susa, that he might choose a new queen from among them. Thisproposal pleasing the king, was acted upon (Esther 2:1-4). In the fortress ofSusa, however, there dwelt one of the Jews who had been carried intocaptivity from Jerusalem, and whose name was Mordochai. This man hadbrought up Esther, his uncle's daughter, as his own child (Esther 2:5-7). When,then, in pursuance with the king's commands, many maidens were gatheredtogether in Susa, Esther also was brought into the king's house, and foundfavour with the keeper of the women while, according to order, she wasgoing through a course of purification and anointing (Esther 2:8-14). Then herturn came to be brought before the king, she found favour in his sightabove all the other maidens, and was chosen by him to be queen in theplace of Vashti. By Mordochai's command, however, she disclosed herrace and lineage to no one (Esther 2:15-20). At the same time two courtiersconspired against the life of the sovereign. Their conspiracy beingdiscovered by Mordochai, was by him revealed to Esther, who gaveinformation of it to the king, whereupon the matter was investigated, andfound to have been correctly stated. The offenders were punished, and theevent duly registered in the chronicles of the kingdom.

When, after these things, the wrath of King Ahashverosh waslaid (שׁך, from שׁכך, to be sunk, spoken of wrath to belaid), he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and what was decreedagainst her (גּזר, to determine, to decree irrevocably; comp. גּזרה, Daniel 4:14); a desire for reunion with her evidently makingitself felt, accompanied perhaps by the thought that she might have beentoo harshly treated. To prevent, then, a return of affection for his rejectedwife ensuing, - a circumstance which might greatly endanger all who hadconcurred in effecting her repudiation, - the servants of the king, i.e., thecourt officials who were about him, said: “Let there be young maidens,virgins fair to look on, sought for the king.” בּתוּלות, virgins, isadded to נערות, the latter word signifying merely young womenof marriageable age. Esther 2:3. “And let the king appoint (ויפקד is the continuation ofיבקּשׁוּ) officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that theymay gather together every virgin who is fair to look on to the citadel ofSusa, to the house of the women, unto the hand of Hega the king's eunuch,the keeper of the women, and let them appoint their things forpurification; and let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen insteadof Vashti.” To the hand of Hega, i.e., to his care and superintendence,under which, as appears from Esther 2:12, every maiden received into the houseof the women had to pass a year before she was brought before the king. Hega (called Hegai, Esther 2:8 and Esther 2:15) was an eunuch, the keeper of the women,i.e., superintendent of the royal harem. ונתון is the infin. abs.,used instead of the verb. fin. to give prominence to the matter: let themappoint. תּמרקום, from מרק, to rub, to polish, signifiespurification and adornment with all kind of precious ointments; comp. Esther 2:12. This speech pleased the king, and he acted accordingly.

Before relating how this matter was carried into execution, the historianintroduces us to the two persons who play the chief parts in the followingnarrative. Esther 2:5. There was (dwelt) in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the nameof Mordochai (מרדּכי, in more correct editions מרדכי), the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite(ימיני אישׁ like 1 Samuel 9:1). Jair, Shimei, and Kish canhardly mean the father, grandfather, and great-grandfather of Mordochai. On the contrary, if Jair were perhaps his father, Shimei and Kish may havebeen the names of renowned ancestors. Shimei was probably the son ofGera, well known to us from the history of David, 2 Samuel 16:5. and 1 Kings 2:8, 1 Kings 2:36., and Kish the father of Saul, 1 Chronicles 8:33; 1 Samuel 9:1; for ingenealogical series only a few noted names are generally given; comp., e.g.,1 Chronicles 9:19; 1 Chronicles 6:24. Upon the ground of this explanation, Josephus (Ant. xi. 6) makes Estherof royal descent, viz., of the line of Saul, king of Israel; and the Targumregards Shimei as the Benjamite who cursed David. The name Mordochaioccurs in Ezra 2:2 and Nehemiah 7:7 as that of some other individual amongthose who returned from captivity with Zerubbabel, but can hardly beconnected with the Persian mrdky, little man. Aben Ezra, Lightfoot, andothers, indeed, are of opinion that the Mordochai of the present bookreally came up with Zerubbabel, but subsequently returned to Babylon. Identity of name is not, however, a sufficient proof of identity of person. The chronological statement, Esther 2:6: who had been carried away fromJerusalem with the captives who had been carried away with Jeconiah,king of Judah, etc., offers some difficulty. For from the captivity ofJeconiah in the year 599 to the beginning of the reign of Xerxes (in the year486) is a period of 113 years; hence, if the אשׁר is referred toMordochai, he would, even if carried into captivity as a child by then,have reached the age of from 120 to 130 years, and as Esther was not madequeen till the seventh year of Xerxes (Esther 2:16), would have become primeminister of that monarch at about the age of 125. Rambach, indeed, doesnot find this age incredible, though we cannot regard it as probable thatMordochai should have become minister at so advanced an age.

(Note: Baumg. aptly remarks, l.c., p. 125: Etsi concedendum est, non esse contra naturam, si Mordechaeus ad illam aetatem pervenerit, et summa hac constitutus senectute gravissimis negotiis perficiendis par fuerit, tamen est hoc rarissimum et nisi accedit certum testimonium, difficile ad credendumf0.)

On this account Clericus, Baumgarten, and others refer the relative אשׁר to the last name, Kish, and understand that he was carried awaywith Jeconiah, while his great-grandson Mordochai was born in captivity. In this case Kish and Shimei must be regarded as the great-grandfather andgrandfather of Mordochai. We grant the possibility of this view;nevertheless it is more in accordance with the Hebrew narrative style torefer אשׁר to the chief person of the sentence preceding it, viz.,Mordochai, who also continues to be spoken of in Esther 2:7. Hence we preferthis reference, without, however, attributing to Mordochai more than 120years of age. For the relative clause: who had been carried away, need notbe so strictly understood as to assert that Mordochai himself was carriedaway; but the object being to give merely his origin and lineage, and not hishistory, it involves only the notion that he belonged to those Jews whowere carried to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar with Jeconiah, so that he,though born in captivity, was carried to Babylon in the persons of hisforefathers. This view of the passage corresponds with that formerlypresented by the list of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Jacobwho went down with him to Egypt; see the explanation of the passage inquestion.

(Note: Baumgarten also considers this view admissible, rightlyremarking, p. 127: Scriptoribus sacris admodum familiare est singulos homines non per se et sepositos spectare, sed familias et gentes ut corpora quasi individua complecti, ita ut posteri majorum personis quasi contenti et inclusi, majores vero in posteris ipsi subsistere et vivere existimentur. Ex hac ratione Mordechaeus captus esse dici potest, quamvis ipse satis diu post Jechoniae tempora ex iis, qui a Nebucadnezaro abducti sunt, natus fueritf0.)

Esther 2:7. Mordochai was אמן, keeper, bringer up, i.e., foster-father,to Hadassh (אמן constructed as a participle with את). הדסּה means a myrtle (הדס in the Shemitish), like theGreek name Μυρτία, Μυῤῥίνη . “That is Esther,” the queen known by thename of Esther. The name אסתּר is the Old-Persian (stara) with א prosthetic, and corresponds with the Greek ἀστήρ , star, inmodern Persian (sitareh). She was בּת־דּדו, daughter of his father'sbrother, and adopted by Mordochai after the death of her parents; we aretold, moreover, that she had a fine figure and beautiful countenance. Herfather, whose name, according to Esther 2:15, was Abihail, was uncle toMordochai, and hence Esther was his cousin.

When, then, the king's commandment and decree was heard, i.e.,proclaimed throughout the kingdom, and many maidens gathered togetherin Susa, Esther also was received into the royal harem, under the keepingof Hegai. The maiden pleased him and won his favour (חסד נשׂא, to bear away love, i.e., to obtain favour, synonymous withחן נשׂא, Esther 2:15 and Esther 5:2). וגו ויבהל,and he hastened to give her her ointments for purification, and the sevenmaidens appointed to her from the king's house. The infinitives להּ לתת are, according to the Aramaean idiom, placed aftertheir objects and dependent on יבהל. On תּמרוּקים, see on Esther 2:3. מנות, portions, are here portions of food, as in Esther 9:19, Esther 9:22,and 1 Samuel 1:4. The seven maidens (הנּערות with the article) arethe maids appointed to wait upon a young virgin selected for the king. Theparticiple ראיּות: chosen for a particular purpose-in the Talmudand rabbinical Hebrew ראוּי, dignus, decens, conveniens, - occursonly here. ישׁנּה, he changed her and her maids into the best ofthe house of the women, i.e., he took them out of the ordinary rooms andplaced them in the best apartments, probably in the state-rooms, wherethose who were accustomed to be brought to the king used to dwell.

Esther 2:10 contains a supplementary remark. This kind and respectfultreatment was shown to Esther, because, in obedience to Mordochai'scommand, she had not shown her people nor her kindred, i.e., her Jewishextraction; for a Jewish maiden would hardly have experienced suchfriendly usage. Esther 2:11 also contains an additional notice, prefixed here toenable what follows to be rightly understood, and repeated in anotherconnection Esther 2:19, and on several other occasions: Mordochai walked everyday before the court or enclosure of the women's house, to know thewelfare (שׁלום) of Esther and what became of her (בּה יעשׂה, properly, what was done to her). HenceMordochai was in constant communication with Esther. How thiscommunication was effected is not more particularly stated; probably bymeans of the maids appointed to wait on her. Jewish expositors are ofopinion, that Mordochai held high office, and that having consequentlyfree access to the royal palace, he could easily find the means ofcommunicating with his relative.

Before relating the appearance of Esther before the king, the narrator moreparticularly describes in Esther 2:12-14 the preparations for this event, andhow Esther behaved with respect to them.

Esther 2:12-13

“When every maid's turn came (i.e., at every time that anymaid's turn came) to go in to King Ahashverosh, after the time when it hadbeen done to her twelve months according to the law of the women - forthus were the days of their purification accomplished: six months with oilof myrrh, and six months with balsam and ointments of purification forwomen - and the maiden came to the king, all that she desired was given herto go with her out of the women's house unto the king's house.” תּור, turn in succession, used only here and Esther 2:15. The turn to go in untothe king did not come to any maid until וגו היות מקּץ, at the end of the time when it had been done to her according to thelaw … This time lasted twelve months after her reception into the house ofthe women; and the law of the women, according to which it was done toher, was, that she should be purified for six months with oil of myrrh, andas long with בּשׂמים, sweet odours and other ointments. בּאה הנּערה וּבזה (Esther 2:13) forms the continuationof the antecedent clause commencing with כּהנּיע, or, to speak morecorrectly, of a second antedecent with which the conclusion כּל־אשׁר את is connected. Some expositors understand בּזה, with the lxx,of the time: illo sc. tempore; others of the condition: hoc modo ornata or ealege (Cler.), and therefore as parallel in meaning with the כּן ofEsther 4:16. Either view is admissible and suits the sense, but the latter ismore in harmony with the parallel passage Esther 4:16, and thereforepreferable. All that was to be given her, can only relate to ornaments andjewels, which were to be given that each might appear before the kingadorned and dressed after her own taste.

Esther 2:14

In the evening she went (to the king), and on the morrow shereturned to the women's house, a second (time) to the hand (under thekeeping of) Shaashgaz, the king's chamberlain, who kept the concubines;she came no more to the king, except the king delighted in her and she werecalled by name, i.e., specially. שׁני instead of שׁנית,like Nehemiah 3:30.

Esther 2:15

When Esther's turn came to go in unto the king, she requirednothing (to take with her, see Esther 2:13) but what Hegai the king's chamberlainappointed (hence as not concerned to please the king by specialadornment), and she obtained favour in the sight of all them that lookedupon her, namely, by her modesty and humility. On חן נשׂא, see remarks on Esther 2:9.

Esther 2:16

She was taken into the king's house (מלכוּת בּית instead of המּלך בּית, the palace of the kingdom,the royal residence) in the tenth month, i.e., the month Tebeth, in theseventh year of his reign.

Esther 2:17

And the king loved Esther above all the women, and sheobtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; and he setthe royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. Themeaning evidently is, that the king, immediately after their first meeting,bestowed his affections upon Esther in preference to all the women andmaidens, and chose her queen.

Esther 2:18

To celebrate Esther's elevation to the crown, the king made agreat feast, called Esther's feast, to all his princes and servants, and grantedrelease to the provinces. The verbale Hiph. הנחה is translatedin the lxx ἄφεσις , Vulg. requies, and understood either of aremission of taxes or a remission of labour, a holiday. Although the Chald. understands it of a remission of taxes, yet the use of the verb עשׂה rather favours the latter meaning, viz., the appointment of aholiday, on which there would be arresting from labour. Finally, he gavegifts with royal munificence משׂאת like Amos 5:11; Jeremiah 40:5;המּלך כּיד like Esther 1:7. - It seems strange that a period offour years should intervene between the repudiation of Vashti in the thirdyear of Ahashverosh and the elevation of Esther in the seventh, an intervalwhose length cannot be adequately accounted for by the statements of thepresent book. Only a few days could have elapsed between the disgrace of Vashti andthe time when the king remembered her; for this took place, we are told,when the king's wrath was appeased. The proposal to collect virgins fromall parts of his kingdom to Susa was then immediately made. Now, if thecarrying out of this proposal took half a year, and the preparation of thevirgins by anointing, etc., lasted a year, Esther, even if her turn to go inunto the king had not come for six months, might have been made queentwo years after the repudiation of Vashti. As she obtained the favour ofHegai immediately upon her reception into the women's house, so that hehastened her purifications (Esther 2:9), she would not be brought before the kingamong the last, but would rather be one of the first to go in. The longinterval which elapsed between the repudiation of Vashti and the elevationof Esther, can only be satisfactorily explained by the history of the reignof Xerxes; in fact, by the circumstance that his campaign against Greecetook place during this time.

Esther 2:19-23 relate the intervention of an incident of great importance in thesubsequent development of the narrative. When virgins were for thesecond time gathered together, two courtiers were incensed with the king,and sought to lay hands upon him. This thing was known to Mordochai,who sat in the gate of the palace and kept up a constant communicationwith Esther even after she became queen, and by him communicated toher, that she might bring it to the knowledge of the king. The matter beinginvestigated and found to have been truly reported, the offenders werepunished, and an entry of the particulars made in the chronicles of thekingdom. The words “when virgins were assembled for the second time,”which serve to define the time when the conspiracy of the two courtierstook place, as is obvious from the circumstance that ההם בּיּמים, Esther 2:21, refers to בת בּהקּבץ, Esther 2:19, areobscure. The obscurity lies in the fact that no reason for assembling virgins can beperceived, after the choice of Ahashverosh had fallen upon Esther. Thesentence שׁנית בּתוּלות וּבהקּבץ unmistakeably corresponds with נערות וּבהקּבץ of v. 8. This was already rightly perceived by Grotius, who, however,wrongly infers: est ἐπάνοδος (retrogressio), referendum enim hoc ad illaquae supra, ii. 2. This is, however, not only incompatible with שׁנית, but also with the circumstance that, according to the correctunderstanding of the sentences in Esther 2:21 and Esther 2:22, Esther was then alreadyqueen, and Mordochai was sitting in the gate of the king's palace, andthence keeping up communication with her; while as long as Esther was inthe women's house preparing for her interview with the king, under theguardianship of Hegai, he walked day by day before the court of thewomen's house (Esther 2:11). Still less admissible is the view of Drusius, received by Bertheau, that thegathering of the virgins for the second time is to be understood from thecircumstance, that after going in to the king, they had to go into the secondhouse of the women, under the stricter guardianship of Shaashgaz (Esther 2:14). For, being no longer בּתוּלות, but פּילגשׁים (Esther 2:14),their reception into the house of the concubines could not be called asecond gathering together, since as virgins they were formerly in a differenthouse. The only explanation of the שׁנית left us is the view, thateven after the choice of Esther to be queen, a second gathering together ofvirgins actually took place; for this, as C. a Lapide remarks, is what thewords undoubtedly declare. The matter itself was in accordance with theprevailing custom of polygamy, which kings carried to such an extent,that, as C. a Lapide points out, Solomon, e.g., had 700 wives and 300concubines, i.e., secondarias uxores. From וּמרדּכי, Esther 2:19,onwards, explanatory circumstantial clauses follow: “The Mordochai satin the king's gate” introduces the parenthetical sentence, “Esther had notyet showed her kindred and her people (comp. Esther 2:10), as Mordochai hadcharged her; for Esther did the commandment of Mordochai as when shewas under his care;” i.e., Esther obeyed, after her elevation to be queen, thecommand of Mordochai not to make her Jewish descent known, as she hadformerly done while she was yet his foster-daughter. אמנה,care, education, is a substantive derived from אמן.

The definition of time in Esther 2:19 is again take up by the words: in thosedays; then the explanatory clause, Esther 2:20, is repeated; and after this we areinformed what it was that had then occurred. In those days Bigthan andTeresh, two of the king's courtiers, who were the threshold-keepers(palace-watchers, lxx ἀρχισωματοφύλακες ), were wroth, and sought tolay hands on King Ahashverosh, i.e., to slay him. Esther 2:22. This thing wasknown to Mordochai, and by him communicated to Esther, who told it, inMordochai's name, to the king. Esther 2:23. The matter was investigated (sc. bythe king), and found out, sc. as Mordochai had testified. The two criminalswere hanged on a tree, i.e., impaled on a stake, a sort of crucifixion, - seerem. on Esther 6:11, - and the circumstance entered in the book of thechronicles, i.e., the chronicles of the kingdom. המּלך לפני, before the king, i.e., in his presence, immediately after sentence hadbeen passed by a court over which the monarch presided.