Esther 2:21

21 During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthana^[a] and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.

Esther 2:21 in Other Translations

21 In 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.

21 In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

21 One day as Mordecai was on duty at the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthana and Teresh—who were guards at the door of the king’s private quarters—became angry at King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him.

21 On this day, with Mordecai sitting at the King's Gate, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs who guarded the entrance, had it in for the king and were making plans to kill King Xerxes.

21 During those days while Mordecai was sitting at the King's Gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two eunuchs who guarded the [king's] entrance, became infuriated and tried to assassinate King Ahasuerus.

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.

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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 When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.

20 But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up.

21 During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.

22 But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai.

23 And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were impaled on poles. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king.

Cross References

• 1. S Genesis 40:2; Esther 6:2
• 2. S Esther 1:12; Esther 3:5; Esther 5:9; Esther 7:7

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew "Bigthan," a variant of "Bigthana"