Esther 2:3-13

3 "Let the king appoint overseers in ¹all the provinces of his kingdom that they may gather every beautiful young virgin to the citadel of Susa, to the harem *, into the custody of ²Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and ³let their cosmetics be given them.

4 "Then let the young lady who pleases * the king be queen in place of Vashti." And the matter pleased * the king, and he did accordingly.

5 Now there was at the citadel in Susa a Jew whose name was ⁴Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite *,

6 ⁵who had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the captives who had been exiled with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had exiled.

7 He was bringing up Hadassah, that is ⁶Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young lady was beautiful of form and face, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

Esther Finds Favor

8 So it came about when the command and decree of the king were heard and ⁷many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the custody of ⁸Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king's palace into the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women.

9 Now the young lady pleased * him and found favor with him. So he quickly provided her with her ⁹cosmetics and food, gave her seven choice maids from the king's palace and transferred her and her maids to the best place in the harem *.

10 ¹⁰Esther did not make known her people or her kindred, for Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make them known.

11 Every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the court of the harem * to learn how Esther was and how she fared.

12 Now when the turn of each young lady came to go in to King Ahasuerus, after the end of her twelve * months under the regulations for the women -for the days of their beautification were completed as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and the cosmetics for women -

13 the young lady would go in to the king in this way: anything that she desired was given her to take with her from the harem * to the king's palace.

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Esther 2:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ESTHER 2

By the advice of the ministers of King Ahasuerus, fair virgins were sought for throughout his dominions, and brought to his chamberlain, the keeper of the women, among whom was Esther, a Jewish virgin, Es 2:1-8, who found favour with the chamberlain, and afterwards with the king, who made her queen instead of Vashti, and a feast on that account, Es 2:9-18. Mordecai, to whom Esther was related, and according to whose advice she acted, sitting in the king's gate, discovered a conspiracy against the king, which he now made known to Esther, Es 2:19-23.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 10

1. Esther 1:1, 2
2. Esther 2:8, 15
3. Esther 2:9, 12
4. Esther 3:2
5. 2 Kings 24:14, 15; 2 Chronicles 36:10
6. Esther 2:15
7. Esther 2:3
8. Esther 2:3, 15
9. Esther 2:3, 12
10. Esther 2:20

Footnotes 4

[a]. Lit "good of appearance"
[b]. Lit "house"
[c]. Lit "portions"
[d]. Lit "said"