Esther 2:3

_THEN SAID THE KING'S SERVANTS THAT MINISTERED UNTO HIM, LET THERE BE FAIR YOUNG VIRGINS SOUGHT FOR THE KING:_ NO JFB COMMENTARY ON THESE VERSES....

1-20 We see to what absurd practices those came, who were destitute of Divine revelation, and what need there was of the gospel of Christ, to purify men from the lusts of the flesh, and to bring them back to the original institution of marriage. Esther was preferred as queen. Those who suggest that Esther committed sin to come at this dignity, do not consider the custom of those times and countries. Every one that the king took was married to him, and was his wife, though of a lower rank. But how low is human nature sunk, when such as these are the leading pursuits and highest worldly happiness of men! Disappointment and vexation must follow; and he most wisely consults his enjoyment, even in this present life, who most exactly obeys the precepts of the Divine law. But let us turn to consider the wise and merciful providence of God, carrying on his deep but holy designs in the midst of...

Verse Esther 2:3. _HEGE THE KING'S CHAMBERLAIN_] הגא סריס המלך _Hege seris_ _hammelech_, "Hege, the king's _eunuch_;" so the Septuagint, Vulgate, Targum, and Syriac. In the Eastern countries the women are intrusted to the care of the _eunuchs_ only. _LET THEIR THINGS FOR PURIFICATION BE GIVEN THEM_] תמרקיהן _tamrukeyhen_, their _cosmetics_. What these were we are told in Esther 2:12; _oil of myrrh_, and _sweet odours_. The myrrh was employed for _six_ months, and the odours for _six_ months more, after which the person was brought to the king. This space was sufficient to show whether the young woman had been _chaste_; whether she were with _child_ or not, that the king might not be imposed on, and be obliged to father a s

THE HOUSE OF THE WOMEN - i. e. the “gynaeceon,” or “haram” - always an essential part of an Oriental palace (Compare 1 Kings 7:8). In the Persian palaces it was very extensive, since the monarchs maintained, besides their legitimate wives, as many as 300 or 400 concubines (compare Esther 2:14)....

EXPOSITION THE QUEST FOR MAIDENS, AND THE CHOICE OF ESTHER TO BE QUEEN IN VASHTI'S PLACE (Esther 2:1). Vashti having ceased to be queen, Ahasuerus appears to have been in no haste to assign her dignity to any one else. Probably there was no one among his other (secondary) wives of whom he was specially fond, or who seemed to him pre-eminent above the rest. And he may even have begun to relent in Vashti's favour (as seems to be somewhat obscurely intimated in Esther 2:1), and to wish to take her back. Under these circumstances the officers of his cour

AND LET THE KING APPOINT OFFICERS IN ALL THE PROVINCES OF HIS KINGDOM,.... Who best knew where beautiful virgins might be found in their respective provinces, in which they dwelt: THAT THEY MAY GATHER TOGETHER ALL THE FAIR YOUNG VIRGINS UNTO SHUSHAN THE PALACE; the metropolis of the kingdom, where was the royal palace: TO THE HOUSE OF THE WOMEN, UNTO THE CUSTODY OF HEGE THE KING'S CHAMBERLAIN, THE KEEPER OF THE WOMEN; in which house it seems were two apartments, one for the virgins before they were introduced to the king, the other for them when they were become his concubines, which had a keeper also; but this Hege seems to have been over the whole house, Esther 2:14. It was not only usual with the eastern people, as with the Turks now, for great personages to have keepers of their wives and concubines, but with the Romans also d: and let

HEGE Or, Hegai, (Esther 2:8)....

ESTHER CHOSEN QUEEN. Ere long Ahasuerus longs for his lost queen's comradeship. He is moved to issue a summons throughout all his territories, commanding all fair maidens to appear as candidates for the queenship. This command removes the fancy that a Jewess had no right to come. She had to come. Among the assembled fair ones was the cousin and ward of Mordecai, called Hadassah, _i.e._ Myrtle. Let us notice that this name is the same as that of the place Adasah in Judah where, on Adar 13th, 161 B.C., the Maccabees defeated Nicanor, the general of the armies of Syria (p. 607). That final victory set Judah free from foreign rule, so that the throne of David was established again after its destruction about 600 B.C. (see 1Ma_7:39 ff.). The maiden seems intended by our writer as a symbol of that victory. She surpasses all her rivals, and is chosen by Ahasuerus as his queen; and now she recei...

CUSTODY. hand. CHAMBERLAIN. eunuch....

_to the house of the women_ the harem, which must have been of large dimensions, and was made up, as we see from Esther 2:14, of more than one building. It most likely consisted of three portions, viz. the house of the queen, such as Solomon built for Pharaoh's daughter (1 Kings 7:8), the house of the virgins (Esther 2:9), and that of the concubines (Esther 2:14). _Hegai_ It is best, for the sake of uniformity, to spell thus throughout (cp. Esther 2:8_; Esther 2:15_). The A.V. fol