Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him ,.... Fearing that, if Vashti should be restored, vengeance would be taken on them; or however to remove the grief and melancholy of the king, they gave the following advice: let there be fair young virgins sought for the king ; that he might enjoy them, and choose one of them, the most agreeable to him, and put her in the room of Vashti. read more
Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king - 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 specially entitled to inherit. read more
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
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
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
Esther 2:2-3. Then said the king’s servants Who, for their own interests, were obliged to quiet the king’s mind, and procure him another amiable consort. To the house of the women Or rather, of the virgins; for the house of those who were wives or concubines was different from this, and under another governor. Keeper of the women Of all the women, both virgins and concubines: only the virgins he himself took care of, as requiring more care and caution, and the concubines he committed to... read more
1:1-2:23 ESTHER BECOMES QUEENOfficials and leading citizens from all over the Persian Empire had gathered in the winter capital for an exhibition designed to display the riches and magnificence of the royal court. The exhibition lasted six months and was brought to a fitting climax by a lavish seven-day banquet (1:1-9). The week of wine and merriment so excited the king that his sexual urges were in danger of getting out of control. Consequently, when he told his queen Vashti to display her... read more
virgins. Hebrew. bethulah. See note on Genesis 24:43 . read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Esther 2:1-20
How God put down one that was high and mighty from her seat we read in the chapter before, and are now to be told how he exalted one of low degree, as the virgin Mary observes in her song (Luke 1:52) and Hannah before her, 1 Sam. 2:4-8. Vashti being humbled for her height, Esther is advanced for her humility. Observe, I. The extravagant course that was taken to please the king with another wife instead of Vashti. Josephus says that when his anger was over he was exceedingly grieved that the... read more