(Heb. Bigthan', " בַּגְתָן, on the signif. (See BIGTHA); Esther 2:21; Sept. omits; Vulg. Bagathan) or Big'thana (Heb. Bigtha'na, בַּגְתָנָא, prob. the full form: Gesenius here well compares the Sanscrit bagadana,fortune- given; Sept. here also omits; Vulg. again Bagathan), the first named of the eunuchs (Auth. Vers. again chamberlains") in the court of Xerxes (Ahasuerus) 'who kept the door" (marg. "threshold," Sept. ἀρχισωματοφύλακες ); he conspired with Teresh, one of his coadjutors, against the king's life. The conspiracy was detected by Mordecai, and the culprits hung. B.C. 479. Prideaux (Conn. i, 363) supposes that these officers had been partially superseded by the degradation of Vashti, and sought revenge by the murder of Ahasuerus. This suggestion falls in with that of the Chaldee version and of the Sept. (which in Esther 2:21 interpolates the words ἐλυπήθησαν οἱ δύο εὐνοῦχοι τοῦ βασίλεως . . . . ὅτι προήχθη Μορδοχαῖος ). This person may be the same as the foregoing.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More