Esther 2:8

8 When the king's order had been publicly posted, many young girls were brought to the palace complex of Susa and given over to Hegai who was overseer of the women. Esther was among them.

Esther 2:8 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 2:8

So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and decree was
heard
In the several provinces of his kingdom:

and when many maidens were gathered unto Shushan the palace, to the
custody of Hegai;
Josephus ^F15 says, there were gathered to the number of four hundred:

that Esther was brought also unto the king's house, to the custody of
Hegai, the keeper of the women:
by force, as Aben Ezra and the former Targum, and so the word is sometimes used.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 Ibid. (Antiqu. l. 11. c. 6. sect. 2.)

Esther 2:8 In-Context

6 His ancestors had been taken from Jerusalem with the exiles and carried off with King Jehoiachin of Judah by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon into exile.

7 Mordecai had reared his cousin Hadassah, otherwise known as Esther, since she had no father or mother. The girl had a good figure and a beautiful face. After her parents died, Mordecai had adopted her.

8 When the king's order had been publicly posted, many young girls were brought to the palace complex of Susa and given over to Hegai who was overseer of the women. Esther was among them.

9 Hegai liked Esther and took a special interest in her. Right off he started her beauty treatments, ordered special food, assigned her seven personal maids from the palace, and put her and her maids in the best rooms in the harem.

10 Esther didn't say anything about her family and racial background because Mordecai had told her not to.