Esther 2, A New Queen

King Xerxes has dismissed his queen for her insubordination.  So he needs a new queen.... 

Esther 2: 1-4, A search begins

Later when the anger of King Xerxes had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her.

Then the king's personal attendants proposed, "Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. Let the king appoint commissioners in every province of his realm to bring all these beautiful girls into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let beauty treatments be given to them. Then let the girl who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti." 

This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it.

Now that Vashti is exiled, a new queen needs to be found. So a search is made for beautiful young virgins.

Esther 2: 5-9, Mordecai and Hadassah

Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin king of Judah.

Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This girl, who was also known as Esther, was lovely in form and features, and Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died.

When the king's order and edict had been proclaimed, many girls were brought to the citadel of Susa and put under the care of Hegai. Esther also was taken to the king's palace and entrusted to Hegai, who had charge of the harem. The girl pleased him and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to her seven maids selected from the king's palace and moved her and her maids into the best place in the harem.

Esther (also called Hadassah) is taken to the king's palace and is entrusted to Hegai.  Hegai is impressed with her and gives her special treatment.

A number of questions are raised by this passage. Mordecai appears to be a devout Jew. Yet Mordecai encourages his cousin to seek to marry a Gentile king. Why? Ezra and Nehemiah would not have approved!

Another question is raised about the identity of the one "taken captive with Jehoiachin".  Is that Mordecai? Or Kish?  Mordecai is a descendant of man named Shimei, identified as the son (or a descendant) of Kish. These are good Benjamite names. Shimei is the name of a Benjamite who hurled curses at David in 2 Samuel 16: 5 and Kish was the name of Saul's father (1 Samuel 9: 1-2.) If we identify Mordecai's ancestors with those two, then it is Mordecai who is taken captive with Jehoiachin in 597 BC. But if we have correctly identified King Xerxes, the banquet of chapter 1 happened about 483 BC, 114 years later! This makes both Mordecai and his cousin quite old! One solution is to recognize Shimei and Kish as good Benjamite names but distinguish these two from the men of David's reign. It is then Kish who is taken captive with Jehoiachin and Mordecai his great grandson.

The name Mordecai (says Huey) is a Hebrew variant on the name Marduk, a Babylonian deity. It was common for Jews in Babylon to be given Babylonian names (see Daniel 1: 6-7 where Daniel and his friends are given Babylonian names.)

Esther 2: 10-14, Beauty contest

Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so. Every day he walked back and forth near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her.

Before a girl's turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics. And this is how she would go to the king: Anything she wanted was given her to take with her from the harem to the king's palace. In the evening she would go there and in the morning return to another part of the harem to the care of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he was pleased with her and summoned her by name.

Esther hides her Jewishness. The tryouts for being a queen are extensive, with a year of beauty treatments! Tryouts for queen include a night with the king. (This parallels the ancient Islamic story of the Arabian Nights, but, presumably here the king's one-night stand does not end with the woman being executed!)

Esther 2: 15-17, Queen!

When the turn came for Esther (the girl Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king's eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested. And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her. She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Esther wins the approval of both Hegai and the king.  She is simple in her obedience to Hegai's suggestions and seems to gain everyone's approval.  The king makes Esther his new queen.

According to the previous chapter (verse 3), the banquet that Vashti did not attend was in the third year of the reign of King Xerxes and he makes Esther queen in the seventh year of his reign, a gap of four years. If this king is indeed Xerxes I, this gap would include the Second Persian Invasion of Greece, during which time Xerxes attempted to conquer Greece and managed to burn Athens before being dispelled after several years of fighting.

The month of Tebeth is a winter month, across December-January. Susa (modern Shush, Iran) has summer temperatures regularly above 110 degrees Fahrenheit and was the winter palace of Persian kings.

Esther 2: 18-20, Banquet for Esther

And the king gave a great banquet, Esther's banquet, for all his nobles and officials. He proclaimed a holiday throughout the provinces and distributed gifts with royal liberality.

When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate. But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai's instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up.

The king gives a lavish banquet in honor of Esther.  Mordecai continues to remain at the king's gate, in support of Esther. We are reminded again that Esther, at Mordecai's instruction, has kept her Jewish identity hidden.

Esther 2: 21-23, Assassination plot

During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai.

And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were hanged on a gallows. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king.

Two guards at the king's gate plot to kill the king. Mordecai, apparently because he hangs out at the gate, becomes aware of the plot and reports it to Esther who reports it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai.  The two plotters are executed on gallows and the results recorded in the king's annals.

If the king here is Xerxes, this plot foreshadows the king's eventual death. In 465 BC both Xerxes and his eldest son, Darius, were assassinated by Artabanus, captain of the king's bodyguards.