Ester 2:16 Commento

Two things are recorded in this chapter, which were working towards the deliverance of the Jews from Haman's conspiracy: - 1I. The advancement of Esther to be queen instead of Vashti. Many others were candidates for the honour (Est 2:1-4); but Esther, an orphan, a captive-Jewess (Est 2:5-7), recommended herself to the king's chamberlain first (Est 2:8-11) and then to the king (Est 2:12-17), who made her queen (Est 2:18-20). II. The good service that Mordecai did to the king in discovering a plot against his life (Est 2:21-23).

INTRODUCTION TO ESTHER 2 By the advice of the ministers of King Ahasuerus, fair virgins were sought for throughout his dominions, and brought to his chamberlain, the keeper of the women, among whom was Esther, a Jewish virgin, Est 2:1, who found favour with the chamberlain, and afterwards with the king, who made her queen instead of Vashti, and a feast on that account, Est 2:9. Mordecai, to whom Esther was related, and according to whose advice she acted, sitting in the king's gate, discovered a conspiracy against the king, which he now made known to Esther, Est 2:19.

So Esther was taken unto King Ahasuerus, into his house royal,.... Did not return on the morrow to the house of the women, as those who only became the king's concubines did, Est 2:14, but she was taken to be his wife, and designed for his queen, and so was retained in his palace, and placed in an apartment suitable to the dignity she was about to be advanced unto: and this was done in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth; and answers to part of December and part of January; not the twelfth month Adar, as the Septuagint version, and so Josephus (q), contrary to the original text: either that law had not obtained among the Persians, or the king thought himself not bound by it, which forbid marriage at any other time than the beginning of the vernal equinox (r): in the seventh year of his reign; and the divorce of Vashti being in the third year of his reign, it was four years before Esther was taken by him; who, if Xerxes, it may be accounted for by his preparation for, and engagement in, a war with Greece, which took him up all this time; and from whence he returned in the seventh year of his reign, at the beginning of it, and married Esther at the close of it, see Est 2:1 as may be suggested. (q) Ut supra (Antiqu. l. 11. c.6. sect. 2.) (r) Strabo. Geograph. l. 1. p. 504.

Hence we should also bear in mind the crucial moment when Esther was brought to the king’s bedchamber: “So she was brought to the bedchamber of King Ahasuerus in the tenth month, which is called Tevet, in the seventh year of his reign; and the king loved her more than all the women, and placed the diadem of kingship on her head, and had her rule in place of Vashti.” For Tevet is that month in the Hebrew calendar which corresponds to the Greek Eudymos and the Latin Januarius, when the Lord incarnate was circumcised on the eighth day and was adored even as a tiny infant by the Magi, who were brought there by a star that led the way, and honored as God, man and king with the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh that were offered to him. This was also the month when he was heralded and baptized by John. So in the seventh year of Ahasuerus, Esther went up to the king’s bed; and the Church was brought to and joined with the king Christ, in whom she remains without change by the grace of the sevenfold Spirit. “Whom he loved more than all the women;” and she had before him grace and mercy above all women, that is, above all the nations of the world. “He placed on her head the diadem of kingship,” when he summoned her as his consort in kingship; “and he had her rule in place of Vashti,” i.e. the Synagogue of the Jews which lost its place of honor when it spurned and crucified our king. That is, the prophet is looking at the excellence of this queen when he says to Christ the king: “The queen stood at your right hand in golden robes, cloaked in colorful clothing” (Psalms 45). And right after that, he speaks to her as follows: “Listen daughter, and see, and lend your ear, and forget your people and your father’s home, because the king has desired your beauty. He is the Lord your God, and the daughters of Tyre will adore him; with gifts all the wealthy among the people will seek your face” (ibid.).

The counsellors advise that a selection of virgins should be made throughout the empire, out of whom the king should choose one to be queen in place of Vashti, Est 2:1-4. Account of Mordecai and his cousin Esther, Est 2:5-7. She is chosen among the young women, and is placed under the care of Hegai, the king's chamberlain, to go through a year's purification, Est 2:8-11. The manner in which these young women were introduced to the king, and how those were disposed of who were not called again to the king's bed, Est 2:12-14. Esther pleases the king, and is set above all the women; and he makes her queen in the place of Vashti, and does her great honor, Est 2:15-20. Mordecai, sitting at the king's gate, discovers a conspiracy formed against the king's life by two of his chamberlains; he informs the king, the matter is investigated, they are found guilty and hanged, and the transaction is recorded, Est 2:21-23.

The tenth month - Tebeth - Answering to part of our December and January.

ESTHER CHOSEN TO BE QUEEN. (Est. 2:1-20) After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was appeased--On recovering from the violent excitement of his revelry and rage, the king was pierced with poignant regret for the unmerited treatment he had given to his beautiful and dignified queen. But, according to the law, which made the word of a Persian king irrevocable, she could not be restored. His counsellors, for their own sake, were solicitous to remove his disquietude, and hastened to recommend the adoption of all suitable means for gratifying their royal master with another consort of equal or superior attractions to those of his divorced queen. In the despotic countries of the East the custom obtains that when an order is sent to a family for a young damsel to repair to the royal palace, the parents, however unwilling, dare not refuse the honor for their daughter; and although they know that when she is once in the royal harem, they will never see her again, they are obliged to yield a silent and passive compliance. On the occasion referred to, a general search was commanded to be made for the greatest beauties throughout the empire, in the hope that, from their ranks, the disconsolate monarch might select one for the honor of succeeding to the royal honors of Vashti. The damsels, on arrival at the palace, were placed under the custody of "Hege, the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women," that is, the chief eunuch, usually a repulsive old man, on whom the court ladies are very dependent, and whose favor they are always desirous to secure.

Elevation of Esther to the Throne - Esther 2 Service Rendered by Mordochai to the King When the wrath of King Ahashverosh was appeased, and he remembered his harsh treatment of Vashti, his courtiers proposed that he should send to fetch fair young virgins from all parts of his realm to the house of the women in Susa, that he might choose a new queen from among them. This proposal pleasing the king, was acted upon (Est 2:1-4). In the fortress of Susa, however, there dwelt one of the Jews who had been carried into captivity from Jerusalem, and whose name was Mordochai. This man had brought up Esther, his uncle's daughter, as his own child (Est 2:5-7). When, then, in pursuance with the king's commands, many maidens were gathered together in Susa, Esther also was brought into the king's house, and found favour with the keeper of the women while, according to order, she was going through a course of purification and anointing (Est 2:8-14). Then her turn came to be brought before the king, she found favour in his sight above all the other maidens, and was chosen by him to be queen in the place of Vashti. By Mordochai's command, however, she disclosed her race and lineage to no one (Est 2:15-20). At the same time two courtiers conspired against the life of the sovereign. Their conspiracy being discovered by Mordochai, was by him revealed to Esther, who gave information of it to the king, whereupon the matter was investigated, and found to have been correctly stated. The offenders were punished, and the event duly registered in the chronicles of the kingdom.