Esther 2:1-23
THE CHOICE OF ESTHER TO BE QUEEN. MORDECAI'S SERVICE 1. He remembered, etc.] LXX has 'he thought no more of Vashti, remembering what,' etc.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CHOICE OF ESTHER TO BE QUEEN. MORDECAI'S SERVICE 1. He remembered, etc.] LXX has 'he thought no more of Vashti, remembering what,' etc.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HOUSE OF THE WOMEN] This was the house of the virgins, as contrasted with the house of the concubines (href='190 2:14'>Est 2:14). THEIR THINGS FOR PURIFICATION] Various perfumed oils and ointments (href='190 2:12'>Est 2:12).... [ Continue Reading ]
MORDECAI] The name, though used by Jews (cp. Ezra 2:2; Nehemiah 7:7), was derived from tfie Babylonian deity Merodaeh (Marduk). SHIMEI.. KISH] probably Mordecai's grandfather and great grandfather (href='190 2:6'>Est 2:6 applying to Kish). Others regard the genealogy as abbreviated, and take SHIMEI... [ Continue Reading ]
HADASSAH] a Hebrew name meaning 'Myrtle.' ESTHER] connected by some with the Persian word for 'star'; according to others, the same as the Babylonian 'Ishtar,' the Canaanite 'Ashtoreth.'... [ Continue Reading ]
SUCH THINGS AS BELONGED TO HER] lit. 'her portions'; perhaps richer viands than ordinary: cp. Daniel 1:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MORDECAI WALKED, etc.] He apparently occupied a position in the king's household (cp. href='190 3:2'>Est 3:2), and in the apocryphal 'Rest of Esther' (11:3) he is expressly styled a servitor in the king's court. He would thus have opportunities of communicating with Esther.... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTER THAT SHE HAD BEEN, etc.] RV 'after that it had been done to her according to the law for the women, twelve months.'... [ Continue Reading ]
WHATSOEVER SHE DESIRED] i.e. for the adornment of her person.... [ Continue Reading ]
INTO THE SECOND HOUSE OF THE WOMEN] so LXX. Some render, 'returned a second time' (i.e. back again) 'into the house of the women,' but at any rate into a different quarter of it, where they were under the charge of SHAASGHAZ, not of HEGAI. 15. She required nothing, etc.] i.e. instead of selecting h... [ Continue Reading ]
TEBETH] i.e. December-January. THE SEVENTH YEAR] i.e. 479 b.c. Thus four years elapsed between the degradation of Vashti and the promotion of Esther (see href='190 1:3'>Est 1:3). In the interval between 483 and 479 Xerxes' expedition into Greece took place, the battle of Salamis being fought in 480... [ Continue Reading ]
MADE A RELEASE] Either from taxation or military service. Some would render 'granted a holiday.' ACCORDING TO THE STATE] RV 'according to the bounty of': i.e. with regal generosity.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THE VIRGINS, etc.] Some connect this with Esther 2:14, and take 'the virgins' to mean 'the young women.' Others render, 'now when virgins were gathered together a second time' (as on the earlier occasion described in href='190 2:8'>Est 2:8). SAT IN THE KING'S GATE] perhaps as the official w... [ Continue Reading ]
HANGED] or, 'impaled,' a form of punishment frequently inflicted by Persian sovereigns. THE BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES] Herodotus relates instances of Xerxes' similarly recording the names of certain men who distinguished themselves in the war against Greece.... [ Continue Reading ]