Esther 2

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Esther 2:18

Made a release to the provinces - Remitted some kind of tribute or impost, in honor of Esther, at her coronation, as our kings generally do when they are crowned, ordering a discharge from prison of many who are confined for minor offenses. As it was the custom of the Persian kings to give their queens something like what is called with us the aurum reginae , "queen gold," which was a tenth of all fines, etc., above what was given to the king; (for they gave them such a city to... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Esther 2:21

Mordecai sat in the kings gate - Mordecai might have been one of the officers of the king, as the gate was the place where such usually attended to await the king's call. It is not likely that he was the porter; had he been only such, Haman could have removed him at once. Two of the king ' s chamberlains - Eunuchs. Why they conspired against the life of the king, we are not informed. The Targum says that they found out that Esther had intended to use her influence... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Esther 2:22

Was known to Mordecai - Josephus says that a Jew, named Barnabasus, overheard the plot, told it to Mordecai, Mordecai to Esther, and Esther to the king, in Mordecai's name; and he was registered as the discoverer. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Esther 2:23

It was found out - It was proved against them, in consequence of which they were hanged. Perhaps the words עץ על ויתלו vaiyittalu al ets , they were hung upon wood or a tree, may refer to their being impaled. A pointed stake is set upright in the ground, and the culprit is taken, placed on the sharp point, and then pulled down by his legs till the stake that went in at the fundament passes up through the body and comes out by the side of the neck. A most dreadful species of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 2:1

After these things . Probably not very long after. Between the great assembly held in Susa in Xerxes' third year, b.c. 483, and his departure for Greece, b.c. 481, was a period of about two years, or a little more. The application of the officers must have been made to him, and the directions to seek for virgins given, during this space. Ahasuerus … remembered Vashti . With favour probably, or at any rate with regret and relenting. His anger was appeased, and balancing what she had... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 2:1

Memory's visitation. The interval here indicated cannot be measured exactly. It is not important, or probably it would have been stated. But some things respecting it are worthy of note: that time is measurable by what we do in it, and by how the individual character grows in it. It is measurable in sadder ways—by all the heap and accumulation of the undone lying at our feet. And once more, among many other ways, we are reminded here how it is measurable by the duration or the cooling down... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 2:1-4

Evil counsel overruled. When a king takes counsel of flatterers and favourites, it bodes no good either to himself or to his people. Such parasites think only how they may make their masters' vices the stepping-stones to their own preferment and power. And a king encompassed with adulation, and encouraged to gratify his own passions, is not likely to rule over his subjects with justice or with wisdom. The ministers of Ahasuerus, in advising him to have his provinces ransacked for beautiful... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 2:1-4

Vain regrets. We observe here— I. AN ABIDING MEMORY . The past cannot be wholly shut out from the present. The power of memory cleaves to the soul. The king "remembered Vashti." Time, which had appeased his wrath, had not destroyed the queen's image, or cast into oblivion the facts connected with her disgrace. The persons and things of the past continue to live in memory either to sweeten or embitter the life. We should lay up nothing in this storehouse but what will bear... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 2:1-18

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 2:2

The king's servants that ministered unto him . i.e. the great officers of the court, eunuchs and others, who had been more or less concerned in the disgrace of Vashti. Fair young virgins . Or, "young virgins fair to look on" (see Esther 1:11 ). read more

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Esther 2:18

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Esther 2:21

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Esther 2:22

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Esther 2:23

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 2:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 2:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 2:1-4

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 2:1-4

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 2:1-18

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 2:2

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