Esther 2

Some time later, after King Ahasuerus was no longer angry, he thought again about Vashti, and about what she had done, and about the order that had been made against her.

1After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her.

NoteAhasuerus is the Hebrew form of the name the Greeks wrote as Xerxes; he ruled the Persian Empire from about 486 to 465 BC. Vashti was his queen, removed from her position at a banquet in chapter 1 after she refused to appear before the king's guests.

2Then the servants who waited on the king said, "Let a search be made for beautiful young women who have never had sexual relations, to bring to the king.

2Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

3Let the king choose officials in every province of his kingdom to gather all these beautiful young women to the fortress city of Susa, into the women's quarters, under the care of Hegai, the king's officer who is in charge of the women. And let them be given their beauty treatments.

3And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege the king’s chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given them:

NoteThe word translated "officer" (King James "chamberlain") is the Hebrew *saris*, which normally means a eunuch, a castrated man. Persian courts used such men to supervise the royal women's quarters, since they could not father children by them. The Persian Empire was divided into provinces, each with its own governor; chapter 1 counts 127 of them, stretching from India to Cush (Nubia, south of Egypt). Susa, in what is now south-western Iran, was one of the Persian kings' capitals; the "fortress city" or citadel was the fortified royal quarter, distinct from the ordinary town below it.

4Then let the young woman the king likes best become queen in place of Vashti." The king liked this idea, and he did it.

4And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.

5Now in the fortress city of Susa there was a Jewish man named Mordecai. He was the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, and he was from the tribe of Benjamin.

5Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;

Note"Jewish" here means descended from the people of Judah, the southern Israelite kingdom, whose leading families had been deported to Babylon; by this time their descendants were scattered across the Persian Empire. The names in Mordecai's family line are pointed: Kish was the father of Saul, Israel's first king, and Shimei was a kinsman of Saul's who cursed David. The genealogy places Mordecai in Saul's tribe and family line, which matters later when his enemy Haman is introduced as an Agagite, Agag being the Amalekite king Saul was told to destroy.

6He had been taken away from Jerusalem among the captives carried off with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken away.

6Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.

NoteJeconiah (also called Jehoiachin) was king of Judah for three months before Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon captured Jerusalem in 597 BC and deported him along with the nobility and skilled classes. That is more than a century before the seventh year of Xerxes, so the Hebrew is usually read as meaning that Mordecai's ancestor Kish was the one carried off, though the sentence as written could also be read as saying Mordecai himself was.

7Mordecai had raised Hadassah, also called Esther. She was his uncle's daughter, and she had no father or mother. The young woman had a lovely figure and a lovely face. After her father and mother died, Mordecai took her in as his own daughter.

7And 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.

NoteHadassah is a Hebrew name meaning "myrtle," a fragrant evergreen shrub. Esther is her Persian court name; it may come from a Persian word for "star" or be connected to the name of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. Double names, one from the home community and one for public life, were common among Jews under foreign rule. "His uncle's daughter" means she was his cousin.

8So when the king's command and order were announced, and many young women were gathered to the fortress city of Susa under Hegai's care, Esther was also taken to the king's house, into the care of Hegai, who was in charge of the women.

8So it came to pass, when the king’s commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.

9Hegai liked the young woman, and she won his kindness. He quickly gave her the beauty treatments and the special food that were hers, along with seven chosen servant girls from the king's house. He moved her and her servant girls to the best place in the women's quarters.

9And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the king’s house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women.

NoteThe "special food" is a fixed daily allowance of provisions from the royal kitchens, a mark of status in the household, not just a meal.

10Esther had not told anyone what people or family she came from, because Mordecai had ordered her not to tell it.

10Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it.

11Every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the courtyard of the women's quarters, to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her.

11And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women’s house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.

12Each young woman had her turn to go in to King Ahasuerus after twelve months of the treatment required for the women. That was how long the beauty treatments took: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and other things used to make the women beautiful.

12Now when every maid’s turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women;)

NoteMyrrh is a fragrant gum resin from a desert shrub, imported from southern Arabia and East Africa and expensive; steeped in oil it was used as a skin treatment and perfume.

13This is how each young woman went in to the king: she was given whatever she asked for to take with her from the women's quarters to the king's house.

13Then thus came every maiden unto the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king’s house.

14She went in the evening, and in the morning she returned to a second set of women's quarters, under the care of Shaashgaz, the king's officer who was in charge of the concubines. She did not go to the king again unless he was pleased with her and called for her by name.

14In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name.

NoteA concubine was a woman attached to a man's household as a secondary wife: recognized and provided for, but with lower rank than a wife and with children who did not normally inherit. A king's concubine could not marry anyone else, so a woman who was not summoned again spent the rest of her life in this second household.

15Esther was the daughter of Abihail, the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter. When it was her turn to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what Hegai, the king's officer in charge of the women, told her to take. And everyone who saw Esther liked her.

15Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king’s chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her.

16So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus in his royal house in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his rule.

16So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

NoteTebeth is the tenth month of the Babylonian-Jewish calendar, falling in late December and January. The seventh year of Xerxes' reign is about 479 BC, some four years after Vashti was removed, and shortly after Xerxes returned from his failed invasion of Greece.

17The king loved Esther more than all the other women. She won his kindness and favor more than all the other young women, so he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.

17And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

18Then the king gave a great feast for all his officials and servants, and he called it Esther's feast. He also granted a remission to the provinces and gave out gifts, as generously as a king can.

18Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther’s feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king.

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "lifted the burden of taxes" simply means a release or letting-go. It may mean a remission of taxes or of forced labor service, or an amnesty for prisoners, or a public holiday; the text does not specify which, and translators differ.

19When the young women were gathered together a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate.

19And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king’s gate.

NoteThe city gate was where officials sat to hear cases and conduct public business, so "sitting at the king's gate" indicates that Mordecai held some post in the royal administration, not that he happened to be sitting there. What the second gathering of young women was is unclear, the Hebrew gives no explanation, and this is one of the book's genuinely obscure lines.

20Esther still had not told what family or people she came from, just as Mordecai had ordered her. She kept doing what Mordecai told her, as she had done when he was raising her.

20Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.

21In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, two of the king's officers, Bigthan and Teresh, who guarded the doorway, became angry and made plans to kill King Ahasuerus.

21In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king’s gate, two of the king’s chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.

22Mordecai found out about the plan and told Queen Esther, and Esther reported it to the king, giving Mordecai the credit.

22And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai’s name.

Note"Giving Mordecai the credit" translates "in Mordecai's name": she reported it as his discovery, which is why his name enters the royal record in the next verse.

23The matter was looked into and found to be true, so the two men were hanged on a wooden pole. All of this was written down in the book of official records, in the king's presence.

23And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.

NoteThe Hebrew says they were hung on a tree or wooden pole. Persian practice was usually impalement on a stake, or the display of the corpse afterwards, rather than hanging by the neck as later readers picture it. The "book of official records" is the Persian royal annals, the court's own daily record of business, not the biblical books of Chronicles.