ESTHER 2.…
Esther 2 - tells us about the gathering together of a harem for King Xerxes & Esther being crowned queen.
Verses 1-4, tell us a SEARCH is made for a replacement for Queen Vashti.
“After these things, when the wrath of King Xerxes subsided, he remembered Vashti, what she had done, and what had been decreed against her. Then the king’s servants who attended him said: “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king; and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to Shushan the citadel, into the women’s quarters, under the custody of Hegai the king’s eunuch, custodian of the women. And let beauty preparations be given them. Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti. This thing pleased the king, and he did so.”
This is broader than just the events of the previous chapter. Esther 2:16 indicates that there was a FOUR YEAR SPAN between chapters one and two. During that time King Xerxes MADE his great, unsuccessful invasion of Greece and he came home a DEFEATED man, wanting to cheer his heart through sensual diversions. Jewish historians tell us that there were a total of 400 women selected.
Verses 5-7 tell us about Esther and her family.
“In Shushan the citadel there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai…And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.”
Esther (whose Jewish name Hadassah means “Myrtle”; the Persian name Esther means “star”) was raised by her cousin Mordecai since the death of her father and mother.
Verse 8 tells us Esther is TAKEN, not that she AGREES, but is TAKEN without consent into the king’s harem by Hegai, the King‘s Chief Eunuch & custodian of the women in the harem. It is also worth noting that Hegai is SPECIFICALLY mentioned by the Greek historian Herodotus as being a TRUSTED officer of King Xerxes.
Verse 9 tells us that Esther enters the courts of the king & enters the harem & is given favored treatment in the palace by Hegai. Esther is separated from the other women, & given the BEST & MOST spacious rooms, a bigger allowance, & 7 maidservants to tend to her every need.
In this, her godliness ensured a fulfillment of Proverbs 3:3-4, which says, “Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man.”
Verses 10-11 tells us that Esther conceals her Jewish identity, because Mordecai ordered her to…, yet Mordecai worriedly paced in front of the court of women each day awaiting word of how Esther was doing & what was happening to her.
Verses 12-14 tells us that it took A YEAR to prepare a woman to be presented to the King.
The FIRST six months they were anointed with oil of myrrh.
The SECOND six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women.
After one year, EACH young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the women’s quarters to the king’s palace. In the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to the SECOND HOUSE of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who kept the concubines. None of them would return to XERXES again unless He delighted in her and called for her by name.
Persia was one of many countries famous for its aromatic perfumes and ancient customs for the preparations of brides, including ritualistic baths, plucking of the eyebrows, the painting of hands and feet with henna, facial make-up, and applications of a beautifying paste all over the body, meant to lighten the color of the skin and to remove spots and blemishes and all hair from their bodies.
Another REASON for the lengthy time of preparation was to tell if the women had been pregnant upon coming into the harem, so that the king would not be charged with fathering a child that was not his.
On the surface this sounds wonderful. A whole year of constant spa treatments. Yet the destiny of these women should also be considered: one evening with the king. If he chose them from the 400 others to be his queen, then she would be his companion (until she displeased him). As for the 399 who lost, they were banished to the harem where they stayed the wife or the concubine of the king, but rarely if ever saw him afterwards. And they were NEVER freed nor allowed to marry another man, essentially living as a perpetual widow for life.
Verses 15-18 tells us that Esther IS selected as queen.
“Now when the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her. So Esther was taken to King Xerxes, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. Then the king made a great feast, the Feast of Esther, for all his officials and servants; and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the generosity of a king.”
Esther’s humble wisdom was shown in the way that she allowed HEGAI, the custodian of the women, who KNEW the King best, to assist her preparations & advise her.
This remarkable course of events WASN’T an accident; it WASN’T just because of luck or fortune or Esther’s good looks or sparkling personality. God had a plan, and Esther is part of it. As Psalm 75:6-7 says. “For exaltation comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the Judge: He puts down one, and exalts another.”
In EXACTLY the SAME way, we HAVE a place in God’s plan. Wherever you are at right now, God HAS a purpose for it - maybe a short purpose, or a long one; perhaps a large purpose or a small purpose, but Jesus Christ HAS a reason.
Verses 19-20 tells us Mordecai saves Xerxes life & rises in prominence.
“Mordecai sat within the king’s gate”… This position indicates that Mordecai was associated with the decision makers and men of influence in the kingdom.
Verses 21-23 tell Mordecai hears an assassination conspiracy and informs the king, saving the king’s life.
“In those days, while Mordecai sat within the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Xerxes. So the matter became known to Mordecai, who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name. And when an inquiry was made into the matter, it was confirmed, and both were hanged on a gallows; and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.”
This threat of assassination was real. Xerxes WAS eventually murdered by his prime minister, who placed Artaxerxes I on the throne.
The word gallows is literally tree; refers not to a hanging with a noose around the neck, but to impalement on a stake. A pointed stake is set upright in the ground, and the culprit is taken, placed on the sharp point, and then pulled down by his legs till the stake that went in at the groin passes up through the body and comes out through the neck. A most dreadful species of punishment, & the culprit lives a considerable time in excruciating agony.