He brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther— As she was born in Babylon, in analogy to the language of that place they gave her the name of הדסה Hadassah, which in the Chaldee signifies a myrtle; but her Persian name was Esther, which some, a little incongruously, derive from αστηρ, a star, and others from satar, which signifies hidden, because she was concealed in Mordecai's house; or rather, because her nation was concealed, and she not known, till Mordecai's merit and services to the crown came to be rewarded. It seems most probable, however, that Esther is only the interpretation of, and consequently bears the same meaning with, Hadassah.

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