Esther Chapter 2

Esther 1:16b-22

Esther Becomes Queen

¹ After that, when King Ahasuerus calmed down, he remembered what Vashti had done and what he’d decreed against her. ² Then the king’s advisors that attended him said,

“Have beautiful young virgins be sought for you. ³ Appoint officers in all the provinces to gather them to the harem in Susa under the custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch in charge of the women. Give them ointments, ⁴ and have the young woman that pleases you replace Vashti as queen.”

He liked that; so that’s what he did.                                                                                 Esther 2:1-4

⁵ There was a Jew in Susa named Mordecai Ben-Jair (Ben-Shimei Ben-Kish), a Benjamite. ⁶ He was among the captives Nebuchadnezzar took from Jerusalem with Jeconiah, king of Judah. ⁷ He’d raised Hadassah (Esther), his uncle’s daughter, because she didn’t have any parents. She was beautiful and lovely. Mordecai adopted her when her parents died. ⁸ When the king declared his edict and many young women were brought to Susa and put in Hegai’s custody, Esther was also taken to his palace. ⁹ The young woman pleased him and won his approval. Right away he provided her with her ointments, her portion of food, and seven chosen maids from the king’s palace. He advanced her and her maids to the best place in the harem. ¹⁰ Esther hadn’t told anybody who her people or relatives were; Mordecai had charged her not to. ¹¹ Every day he walked past the court of the harem to find out how she was doing.                   Esther 2:5-11    

¹² Each young woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after the end of her twelve months under the regulations for the women.  Their time of beautification lasted six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and women’s cosmetics.  ¹³ She’d go in to the king with anything she wanted to take from the harem to his palace. ¹⁴ In the evening she’d go in, and in the morning she’d go to the second harem, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch in charge of the concubines. She wouldn’t go in to the king again unless he delighted in her and summoned her by name. ¹⁵ When Esther’s turn came—the daughter of Abihail, Mordecai’s uncle—she didn’t ask for anything except what Hegai advised.  She was pleasing to everybody that saw her. ¹⁶ She was taken to the king’s royal palace in the tenth month (Tebeth), seventh year of his reign. ¹⁷ He liked Esther more than any of the other women. He showed her more kindness, and she was more pleasing to him than the other virgins. So he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. ¹⁸ Then he held a grand banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his nobles and officials. He made a holiday for the provinces and gave gifts with royal liberality.             

Esther 2:12-18

Mordecai’s Uncovers a Conspiracy

¹⁹ When the virgins had become part of the second harem, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. ²⁰ Esther hadn’t yet told anybody about her relatives and what her nationality was. She did what Mordecai told her like she’d done under his care. ²¹ During that time, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s officials that guarded the door, got mad and tried to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. ²² But Mordecai found out about it and told Queen Esther. She informed the king in Mordecai’s name. ²³ When the plot was investigated and found to be true, they were both hanged on gallows. It was recorded in The Book of Chronicles in the king’s presence. Esther 2:19-23