Esther 2:21

21 Bigthana and Teresh were two of the king's officers. They guarded the door of the royal palace. They became angry with King Xerxes. So they decided to kill him. They made their evil plans while Mordecai was sitting at the palace gate.

Esther 2:21 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 2:21

In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate
Being, as before observed, an officer at court:

two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those that kept
the door;
of the inner court, as Aben Ezra, of the doors of his bedchamber; perhaps they were the chief of his bodyguards, as the Septuagint version; in later times, such officers were about the chambers of great personages as their guards ^F1:

these were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the King Ahasuerus;
to poison him, as Jarchi and both the Targums; however, to take away his life by some means or another. Gorionides ^F2 says their design was, while the king was asleep, to cut off his head, and carry it to the king of Greece; there being at that time great wars between the kingdom of Greece and the kingdom of Persia, which exactly agrees with the times of Xerxes, and with this part of his reign, about the seventh year of it, what was the occasion of this wrath is not said, it is thought to be either the divorce of Vashti, whose creatures they were, or the marriage of Esther, and particularly the promotion of Mordecai, fearing they should be turned out of their places; so the former Targum.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F1 Vid. Pignorium de Servis, p. 408 & Popma de Servis, p. 33. & Alstorph. de Lectis Vet. c. 12.
F2 Hist. Heb. l. 2. c. 1. p. 72.

Esther 2:21 In-Context

19 The virgins were gathered together a second time. At that time Mordecai was sitting at the palace gate.

20 Esther had kept her family history a secret. She hadn't told anyone who her people were. Mordecai had told her not to. She continued to follow his directions. That's what she had always done when he was bringing her up.

21 Bigthana and Teresh were two of the king's officers. They guarded the door of the royal palace. They became angry with King Xerxes. So they decided to kill him. They made their evil plans while Mordecai was sitting at the palace gate.

22 So he found out about it. And he told Queen Esther. Then she reported it to the king. She told him that Mordecai had uncovered the plans against him.

23 Some people checked Esther's report. And they found out it was true. So the two officials were put to death. Then poles were stuck through them. They were set up where people could see them. All of that was written in the official records. It was written down while the king was watching.