(KJV) Esther 21

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⥃Seeking Vashti’s Successor

[1] After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered2 Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed3 against her.4 [2] Then said the king’s servants5 that ministered unto him, Let there be6 fair young virgins sought for the king: [3] And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces7 of his kingdom, that they may gather8 together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody9 of Hege10 the king’s chamberlain11, keeper of the women; and let their things12 for purification be given [them]: [4] And let the maiden13 which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing14 pleased the king; and he did so.

⥃Esther Finds Favor

[5] [¶][Now] in Shushan15 the palace there was a certain Jew16, whose name [was] Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei17, the son of Kish, a Benjamite; [6] Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah18 king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. [7] And he brought up19 Hadassah20, that [is], Esther, his uncle’s21 daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid [was] fair and beautiful22; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took23 for his own daughter.

[8] [¶]So it came to pass, when the king’s commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai24, that Esther was brought also unto the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women. [9] And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained25 kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things26 for purification, with such things27 as belonged to her, and seven maidens, [which were] meet to be given her, out of the king’s house: and he preferred her28 and her maids unto the best [place] of the house of the women. [10] Esther had not shewed29 her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai30 had charged her that she should not shew [it]. [11] And Mordecai31 walked32 every day before the court of the women’s house, to know how Esther did33, and what should become of her.

[12] [¶]Now when every maid’s turn was come to go in34 to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, [to wit], six months35 with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with [other] things for the purifying of the women;)36 [13] Then thus came [every] maiden unto the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king’s house. [14] In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted37 in her, and that she were called38 by name.

[15] [¶]Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken39 her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king’s chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther40 obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her. [16] So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month41, which [is] the month Tebeth, in the seventh42 year of his reign.

⥃Esther Becomes Queen

[17] And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour43 in his sight44 more than all the virgins; so that he set45 the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. [18] Then the king made a great46 feast unto all his princes and his servants, [even] Esther’s feast; and he made47 a release48 to the provinces, and gave gifts49, according to the state of the king.50 [19] And when the virgins51 were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king’s gate52. [20] Esther had not [yet] shewed53 her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther54 did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.

⥃Mordecai Uncovers a Conspiracy

[21] In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king’s gate, two of the king’s chamberlains, Bigthan55 and Teresh, of those which kept the door56, were wroth, and sought57 to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. [22] And the thing58 was known to Mordecai, who told [it] unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified59 the king [thereof] in Mordecai’s name60. [23] And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged61 on a tree: and it was written in the book62 of the chronicles before the king.

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  1. Esth 2:1, Out of the choice of virgins a queen is to be chosen; Esth 2:5, Mordecai the nursing father of Esther; Esth 2:8, Esther preferred before the rest; Esth 2:12, The manner of purification, and going in to the king; Esth 2:15, Esther best pleasing the king, is made queen; Esth 2:21, Mordecai discovering a treason, is recorded in the chronicles. ↩

  2. Dan 6:14-18 ↩

  3. Esth 1:12-21 ↩

  4. am 3543, bc 461 ↩

  5. Esth 1:10, Esth 1:14, Esth 6:14 ↩

  6. Gen 12:14; 1Kgs 1:2 ↩

  7. Esth 1:1-2 ↩

  8. This was the usual way in which the harem, or seraglio, was furnished; the finest women in the land, whether of high or low birth, were sought out and brought to the harem. They all became the king's concubines; but one was raised as chief wife, or sultana, to the throne; and her issue was especially entitled to inherit. ↩

  9. Heb. the hand ↩

  10. Esth 2:8, Hegai ↩

  11. Saris hammelech, "the king's eunuch:" so the LXX, Vulgate, Targum, and Syriac. ↩

  12. Esth 2:12-14; Isa 3:18-23 ↩

  13. Matt 20:16, Matt 22:14 ↩

  14. Esth 1:21, Esth 3:9-10; 2Sam 13:4-6, 2Sam 16:21-23, 2Sam 17:4; Matt 14:6 ↩

  15. Esth 2:3, Esth 1:2, Esth 5:1 ↩

  16. Esth 3:2-6, Esth 10:3 ↩

  17. 1Sam 9:1; 2Sam 16:5 ↩

  18. 2Kgs 24:6, 2Kgs 24:14-15; 2Chr 36:9-10, 2Chr 36:20, Jeboiachin, Jer 22:24, Jer 22:28, Coniah, Jer 24:1 ↩

  19. Heb. nourished, Eph 6:4 ↩

  20. Dan 1:6-7 ↩

  21. Esth 2:15; Jer 32:7-12 ↩

  22. Heb. fair of form and good of countenance, Esth 1:11 ↩

  23. Gen 48:5; 2Cor 6:18; 1John 3:1 ↩

  24. One of Dr. Kennicott's manuscripts, instead of Hegai has Hege, as in Esth 2:3. ↩

  25. Gen 39:21; 1Kgs 8:50; Ezra 7:6; Neh 2:8; Ps 106:46; Prov 16:7; Dan 1:9; Acts 7:10 ↩

  26. Esth 2:3, Esth 2:12 ↩

  27. Heb. her portions ↩

  28. Heb. changed her. ↩

  29. Esth 3:8, Esth 4:13-14, Esth 7:4; Matt 10:16 ↩

  30. Esth 2:7, Esth 2:20; Eph 6:1 ↩

  31. The apartments of the women are accounted so inviolable, that it is even a crime to enquire what passes within their walls. A man, says Chardin, may walk a hundred days, one after the other, by the house where the women are, and yet know no more what is done there than at the farther end of Tartary. This sufficiently explains the conduct of Mordecai. ↩

  32. Esth 2:13-14 ↩

  33. Heb. the peace of Esther, Gen 37:14; 1Sam 17:18; Acts 15:36 ↩

  34. 1Thess 4:4-5 ↩

  35. Prov 7:17; Song 3:6; Isa 57:9; Luke 7:37-38 ↩

  36. am 3546, bc 458 ↩

  37. Esth 4:11; Gen 34:19; Deut 21:14; Isa 62:4-5 ↩

  38. Isa 43:1, Isa 45:4 ↩

  39. Esth 2:7 ↩

  40. Song 6:9, Song 8:10; Acts 7:10 ↩

  41. Esth 8:9 ↩

  42. Esth 2:1, Esth 2:3; Ezra 7:8 ↩

  43. or, kindness ↩

  44. Heb. before him ↩

  45. Esth 4:14; 1Sam 2:8; Ps 75:6-7, Ps 113:7-8; Ezek 17:24; Luke 1:48-52; Bishop Patrick observes, that those who suggest that Esther committed a great sin to come at the dignity of queen of Persia, do not consider the custom of those times and countries. Every one that the king took to his bed was married to him, and was his wife of a lower rank, as Hagar was to Abraham. ↩

  46. Esth 1:3-5; Gen 29:22; Judg 14:10-17; Song 3:11, Song 5:1; Matt 22:2; Luke 14:8; Rev 19:9 ↩

  47. We learn from Herodotus and Atheneus, that the Persian monarchs were accustomed to give their wives distinct cities and provinces for the purpose of supplying them with different articles of dress. One was assigned for ornamenting the head and neck; another provided robes, zones, etc.; and the city of Anthilla was given to a Persian queen, we read, to supply her with shoes and sandals. It is probable, therefore, that, at the desire of Esther, Ahasuerus relieved those cities and provinces that had before paid it, from this expense. ↩

  48. Heb. rest ↩

  49. Esth 9:22; 1Sam 25:8; Neh 8:11; Rev 11:10 ↩

  50. am 3547, bc 457 ↩

  51. Esth 2:3-4 ↩

  52. Esth 2:21, Esth 3:2-3, Esth 5:13 ↩

  53. Esth 2:10 ↩

  54. Eph 6:1-3 ↩

  55. Esth 6:2, Bigthana ↩

  56. Heb. threshold ↩

  57. 2Sam 4:5-6, 2Sam 16:11; 1Kgs 15:25-27, 1Kgs 16:9; 2Kgs 9:22-24, 2Kgs 12:20, 2Kgs 21:23; Ps 144:10 ↩

  58. Eccl 10:20; Acts 23:12-22 ↩

  59. Esth 6:1-2; Rom 11:33 ↩

  60. Phil 2:4 ↩

  61. Esth 5:14, Esth 7:10; Gen 40:19, Gen 40:22; Deut 21:22-23; Josh 8:29 ↩

  62. Esth 6:1-2; Mal 3:16 ↩