Verse 3
3. In all the provinces… that they may gather Had the king been wanting a legitimate wife, no Persian officer would have proposed a measure like this. The laws of Persia and Media required the king to select his wives from the seven noble families. ( Herod., 3:84.) Hence this gathering of virgins from all the provinces, irrespective of country or race, shows that the search was for a favourite concubine, not a legitimate queen.
The house of the women The harem, or apartment of the royal palace in which were kept the king’s wives and concubines, numbering often several hundred. See note on 1 Kings 11:3. The necessary degradation of woman under such usages is a matter of note, and the parents of beautiful maidens evidently had no power to withhold their daughters if demanded for the royal harem.
Hege… keeper of the women He seems to have been chief eunuch, and principal overseer of the harem. Rawlinson thinks he may have been the keeper of the virgins only, since Shaashgaz was keeper of the concubines. Esther 2:14.
Things for purification Such as are mentioned in Esther 2:12.
Be the first to react on this!
