Esther 2:20 - Exposition

Esther had not yet showed , etc. This is inserted to account for the humble position still occupied by Mordecai. In the East a person's relations usually rise with him; and the reader would naturally expect that when Esther was once queen, Mordecai would have become rich and great. Esther's silence accounts for Mordecai's low estate; Mordecai's command (see verse 10) accounts for Esther's silence . For Esther did the commandment of Mordecai . The royal dignity did not change Esther's heart. She was still the dutiful child she had been so many years. Mordecai had forbidden her to tell her kindred; he had not removed his prohibition, so she had kept silence.