2:1 When these things had been accomplished and the rage of King Ahasuerus had diminished, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decided against her.
After what things? “After these things” refers to after the six-month campaign party and after the Greek campaign in which Xerxes lost his empire to the Greeks. The power of the Persians was in their large army. The power of the Greeks was in the training of the individual soldier. At Thermopylae, many of the Persian numbers were destroyed by the Greek navy. The Greeks then chose a narrow pass at Thermopylae to neutralize the numbers of the Persians. The result was that the Greeks became the new masters of the world.
According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the king went back to “comfort himself” with his harem. At this time he “remembered Vashti,” but instead, proceeded by examining many “young virgins” from all parts of his kingdom to find a new queen.
2:2 The king’s servants who attended him said, “Let a search be conducted in the king’s behalf for attractive young women.
After the king lost his beautiful wife and his kingdom, his moodiness began to effect the royal cabinet. They wanted a more pleasant king, so they decided to find him a beautiful wife. The council did not want to restore Vashti, because she most likely would have destroyed them. Therefore, they urged an alternate plan.
2:3 And let the king appoint officers throughout all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the attractive young women to Susa the citadel, to the harem under the authority of Hegai, the king’s eunuch who oversees the women, and let him provide whatever cosmetics they desire.
The most beautiful women of Persia were placed in the king’s harem. The pretty and cute girls were placed in the prostitution temples. The not-so pretty girls married the peasants. This was the way of women in ancient pagan cultures. The Bible was the only ancient book which protected women.
2:4 Let the young woman whom the king finds most attractive become queen in place of Vashti.” This seemed like a good idea to the king, so he acted accordingly.
King Xerxes was to be the sole judge of the Miss Persia Beauty Pageant. The fact that Xerxes had a harem in Susa has been found in other ancient sources. New women were constantly being brought into the Persian harem to replace the older women.
2:5 Now there happened to be a Jewish man in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai. He was the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjaminite,
Mordecai was Jewish, from the line of Kish, which could be traced back to King Saul’s father. He possessed the Babylonian name of Marduk, which was the name of the chief god of Babylon. His name has been found on a cuneiform tablet, where he was mentioned as a high official at the court of Xerxes. Therefore, Mordecai was a Jew from the royal line of Saul.
What was Mordecai doing in Persia? The Jews had been commanded to return to Jerusalem. He was out of the will of God.
2:6 who had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the captives who had been carried into exile with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile.
Kish was the great-grandfather of Mordecai. Great-grandfather Kish was a Benjaminite who had been taken captive to Babylon during the second deportation. Daniel and the royal family were taken at the first deportation. Ezekiel and the upper-middle class were taken at the second deportation. Jeremiah and the poor people were taken at the third deportation. Mordecai came from a family of the upper-middle class.
2:7 Now he was acting as the guardian of Hadassah (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, for neither her father nor her mother was alive. This young woman was very attractive and had a beautiful figure. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had raised her as if she were his own daughter.
Esther was a Babylonian name, from the goddess Ishtar. Esther’s Hebrew name was Hadassah, meaning “star.” Mordecai adopted Esther as his own daughter. She was very beautiful, so she was entered into the Miss Persia Beauty Contest. Mordecai worked at the capital building of Susa, so he had some political influence which might have been able to help Esther make it to the finals.
2:8 It so happened that when the king’s edict and his law became known many young women were taken to Susa the citadel to be placed under the authority of Hegai. Esther also was taken to the royal palace to be under the authority of Hegai, who was overseeing the women.
Esther was added to the king’s harem. The Jewish historian Josephus cited a tradition that Xerxes possessed four hundred beautiful virgins in his harem. Skeptics and feminists might balk at God for allowing Esther to enter a pagan harem, but Mordecai and Esther were out of the will of God. They should have moved to Israel, as God had commanded. They had no business in Persia. However, God would take this sin and use it to save Israel. Notice that Esther “was taken” into the harem. She may not have voluntarily joined this beauty contest. Most beautiful girls of ancient cultures had no rights. Beauty was a curse. Beautiful girls were treated as merchandise. They would be sold by their fathers into harems. prostitution temples, or arranged marriages to older men.
2:9 This young woman pleased him, and she found favor with him. He quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her rations; he also provided her with the seven specially chosen young women who were from the palace. He then transferred her and her young women to the best quarters in the harem.
It is important to note that Mordecai is disobeying God. It was against the Mosaic Law for the Jewish people to intermarry with pagans, even if that pagan was the King of Persia. If Esther lost this beauty contest, then she would be forced to become a concubine. She would be exposed to an awful life, but Mordecai was willing to take that risk.
It is clear that the author was making the point that God protected and used Esther and Mordecai in spite of the fact that they were not living according to the Mosaic Law. According to the Mosaic Law, Esther was not to marry a pagan or have sexual relations with a man who was not her husband. Daniel refused to eat food prohibited by the Mosaic Law, but Esther had no problem with the Persian diet.
2:10 Now Esther had not disclosed her people or her lineage, for Mordecai had instructed her not to do so.
Persia was a demonically-influenced nation. They were very anti-Semitic. The Jews may have been blamed for the Persian naval defeats at Thermopylae. Therefore, Mordecai and Esther hid their Jewish identity. This may have been the reason why the author never mentioned God, the Law, or anything else Jewish in this book.
It is important to note that most nations of the world are anti-Semitic. The Jews are feared, because they serve the one true God who will one day judge all demonic Gentiles, Also, during the Millennial Kingdom, it is predicted that a Jewish descendant from King David will rule the world. This Jewish Messianic king is Jesus. The demonic Gentile nations are scared of this coming King, because He will rule with a rod of iron. He will sentence them to life imprisonment in the eternal Lake of Fire. Therefore, the Gentiles are born with this hatred for Jews. They cannot get this hatred out of their soul, unless they are born from above and filled with Bible doctrine from the entire counsel of the Word of God.
2:11 And day after day Mordecai used to walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem in order to learn how Esther was doing and what might happen to her.
Mordecai is out of the will of God, so he is pacing back and forth nervously wondering what will happen to Esther. Will she live the terrible life of a concubine? Worry is a sin, because one is not trusting in God
God is not mentioned even once in this book, but He was provident over this entire situation. What is providence? Providence is the way that God leads the man who will not be led. God will take the sinful, free-will decisions of Mordecai and Esther and turn these human viewpoint decisions into good. God is a Master of turning evil into good.
2:12 At the end of the twelve months that were required for the women, when the turn of each young woman arrived to go to King Ahasuerus—for in this way they had to fulfill their time of cosmetic treatment: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfume and various ointments used by women
Modern American women spend a few hours a week at the beauty salon, but the Persian women spent twelve months at the beauty pageant in order to spend one night with the king. Pagan cultures placed tremendous emphasis on the physical beauty and not the internal beauty of a woman. The modern cosmetic industry makes a fortune by relying on this sinful condition of man. The farther away that America gets from the Word of God, the more profit the cosmetics industries will make.
2:13 the woman would go to the king in the following way: Whatever she asked for would be provided for her to take with her from the harem to the royal palace.
This was the royal form of pagan prostitution. The harem girls would receive whatever they wanted in return for their services.
2:14 In the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to a separate part of the harem, to the authority of Shaashgaz the king’s eunuch who was overseeing the concubines. She would not go back to the king unless the king was pleased with her and she was requested by name.
If a girl was not chosen, then she would become a concubine to an old, fat, and ugly king. This was a terrible life for any young girl. The second house was the the palace of the concubines.
2:15 When it became the turn of Esther daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai (who had raised her as if she were his own daughter) to go to the king, she did not request anything except what Hegai the king’s eunuch, who was overseer of the women, had recommended. Yet Esther met with the approval of all who saw her.
Esther was a natural beauty who needed no make-up. She and the other women were being prepared to have sexual relations with the king.
2:16 Then Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus at his royal residence in the tenth month (that is, the month of Tebeth) in the seventh year of his reign.
Tebeth was the tenth month, which corresponds to late December, early January. The seventh year of his reign was 479–478 B.C. This was four years after Vashti’s fall from favor. Xerxes was a very old man at this time.
2:17 And the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she met with his loving approval more than all the other young women. So he placed the royal high turban on her head and appointed her queen in place of Vashti.
The king loved Esther, but the Scripture does not say that Esther loved the king.
2:18 Then the king prepared a large banquet for all his officials and his servants—it was actually Esther’s banquet. He also set aside a holiday for the provinces, and he provided for offerings at the king’s expense.
A pagan feast was established to honor this beautiful Jewish queen. However, no one knew that she was Jewish. This holiday could possibly result in a release from taxes, a vacation, or a release of prisoners.
2:19 Now when the young women were being gathered again, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.’’
This looks like nepotism at work. Is it possible that Esther is made queen, she whispers in the king’s ear, and Mordecai is made a royal judge at the city gate? The city gate was the court house of ancient nations.
Notice that the women were being gathered again. Xerxes may have been adding to his concubine collection.
2:20 Esther was still not divulging her lineage or her people, just as Mordecai had instructed her. Esther continued to do whatever Mordecai said, just as she had done when he was raising her.
Esther is a queen, but she still listens to the father who adopted her.
2:21 In those days while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who protected the entrance, became angry and plotted to assassinate King Ahasuerus.
Oriental kings always lived in fear of assassination. This was why Nehemiah was promoted to cupbearer. Nehemiah was a trusted man of the king who protected him from being poisoned.
2:22 When Mordecai learned of the conspiracy, he informed Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in Mordecai’s behalf.
God’s providence placed Mordecai into a political position where he discovered and reported this assassination attempt.
2:23 The king then had the matter investigated and, finding it to be so, had the two conspirators hanged on a gallows. It was then recorded in the daily chronicles in the king’s presence.
The king investigated this matter with his Persian FBI and found these men guilty. He did not conduct a long and expensive trial at the tax payer’s expense. He did not give these assassins free room and board for life in an air-conditioned facility with gyms, libraries, and cafeteria services. He did not attempt to rehabilitate these men and place them on the street again so that they could attempt a second assassination. These men quickly went to trial, they were found guilty, and they were hung. Liberals will find this kind of law-making primitive, but the Persian streets were much safer than the streets of the liberals. The pagan kings understood the doctrine of total depravity. Capital punishment kept their nation much safer than that of the liberals.
Persians did not hang their criminals from the gallows by a rope. Instead, they copied the Assyrians and the Babylonians and impaled them on a pole. The sharp pole went through the hole of their buttocks and into their stomach. It was a very painful form of capital punishment that controlled crime in the region. Darius, Xerxes’ father, was known to have once impaled 3,000 men.