B. Esther Elevated 2:1-20The fact that God placed Esther in a position so she could deliver her people-even before they were in danger-shows His far-reaching providence at work for His chosen people. This revelation would have been a great encouragement to the Jews of the postexilic period, as it has been to all believers since then. read more
2. Esther’s selection 2:5-11Apparently it was Kish, Mordecai’s great-grandfather, who went into captivity with Jehoiachin (Esther 2:5-6). [Note: Wright, p. 38.] This means Mordecai and Esther were probably descendants of the leading citizens of Jerusalem who went into exile in 597 B.C., perhaps nobility (cf. 2 Kings 24:12).Mordecai’s name is Persian, as is Esther’s, and it has connections with the god Marduk. [Note: Horn, p. 16.] All the same, it was common for the Jews in captivity to receive... read more
The Choice of Esther to be Queen. Mordecai’s Service1. He remembered, etc.] LXX has ’he thought no more of Vashti, remembering what,’ etc. 3. The house of the women] This was the house of the virgins, as contrasted with the house of the concubines (Esther 2:14).Their things for purification] Various perfumed oils and ointments (Esther 2:12).5. Mordecai] The name, though used by Jews (cp. Ezra 2:2; Nehemiah 7:7), was derived from tfie Babylonian deity Merodaeh (Marduk).Shimei.. Kish] probably... read more
(6) Who had been . . .—The antecedent is obviously Kish, though as far as the mere grammar goes it might have been Mordecai.Jeconiah.—That is, Jehoiachin. (See 2 Kings 24:12-16.)Nebuchadnezzar . . . had carried away.—This was in 598 B.C., 117 years before this time, so that the four generations are readily accounted for. read more
MORDECAIEsther 2:5-6; Esther 4:1; Esther 6:10-11; Esther 9:1-4THE hectic enthusiast who inspires Daniel Deronda with his passionate ideas is evidently a reflection in modern literature of the Mordecai of Scripture. It must be admitted that the reflection approaches a caricature. The dreaminess and morbid excitability of George Eliot’s consumptive hero have no counterpart in the wise, strong Mentor of Queen Esther, and the English writer’s agnosticism has led her to exclude all the Divine... read more
ESTHER CHOSEN AS QUEEN (vv. 1-18) We read nothing more as to Vashti, whether she was simply banished from the king's court or killed. But it was four years before the king married a queen to take Vashti's place (cf. ch. 1:3 and ch. 2:16). For this marriage there was much preparation. The king's servants advised the king to appoint officers throughout all his kingdom to pick out beautiful virgins and send them to Shushan, to be under the custody of Hegai, the king's eunuch, who would... read more
THE JEWS IMPERILLED The events of this book belong chronologically after Zerubbabel’s company have gone to Jerusalem, and before the commissions of Ezra and Nehemiah. The scene is laid in Persia. Cyrus and Darius 1 have passed away, and Ahasuerus, son of the last named, and identified by some with Xerxes, and by others with Darius Hystaspes, is on the throne. He is a sensual, fickle, cruel despot. It was his great fleet that was defeated by the much smaller one of Greece at Salamis, about... read more
Esther 2:0 1. After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her. 2. Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king: 3. And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women [the harem, always a prominent feature in the... read more
(5) Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite; (6) Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. Most likely the whole cause for which the history of this transaction in the Persian court is recorded in the scriptures of GOD, is only to introduce certain great events... read more
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E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Esther 2:6
Jeconiah = Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:6 ). carried away. Compare 2 Kings 24:14 , 2 Kings 24:15 . Jer 52:24-34:133 years before the generally received date (i.e. 598-465 = 133), which, therefore, cannot be correct. From the carrying away of Jeconiah to the marriage of Esther to Astyages in his seventh year was only twenty-two years (489-467). See App-50 . read more