Esther 2:6 - Exposition

Who had been carried away . The word "who" may have either Kish or Mordecai for its antecedent. It is simplest, however, and most grammatical , to refer it to Kish. Chronological considerations also lead to the same result; and indeed, if we suppose Mordecai to be intended, we must give up the identification of Ahasuerus with Xerxes . The captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah . There were at least three captivities of Judah the first when Daniel was carried away, in the third year of Jehoiakim ( Daniel 1:1 ), which was b.c. 605; the second that here referred to, when Jehoiachin, or Jeconiah, was made prisoner, eight years later, or b.c. 597; and the third when Zedekiah was taken and Jerusalem burnt, in b.c. 586. Kish belonged to the second captivity. Whom Nebuchadnezzar … carried away . See 2 Kings 24:15 ; 2 Chronicles 36:10 ; Jeremiah 24:1 .