Esther 2:15-18

D. Selection of Esther

TEXT: Esther 2:15-18

15

Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all them that looked upon her.

16

So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

17

And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained favor and kindness in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

18

Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the bounty of the king.

Today's English Version, Esther 2:15-18

The time came for Esther to go to the king. Estherthe daughter of Abihail and the cousin of Mordecai, who had adopted her as his daughter; Estheradmired by everyone who saw her. When her turn came, she wore just what Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the harem, advised her to wear. So in Xerxes-' seventh year as king, in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, Esther was brought to King Xerxes in the royal palace. The king liked her more than any of the other girls, and more than any of the others she won his favor and affection. He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. Then the king gave a great banquet in Esther's honor and invited all his officials and administrators. He proclaimed a holiday for the whole empire and distributed gifts worthy of a king.

COMMENTS

Esther 2:15-16 Countenance: We do not know how the turns of the maidens to appear before Xerxes were determined. Perhaps by casting lots, perhaps by the arbitrary decision of the eunuch in charge of that portion of the harem. Shimei (Esther 2:5) must have had at least two sons; Jair the father of Mordecai and Abihail, Mordecai's uncle and Esther's father. The Hebrew word dod is translated uncle and means literally, father's brother. Thus we are to understand Esther's father to be Mordecai's paternal uncle. When Esther's turn came she did not seek any of the extras offered to the maidens (Esther 2:12-14) for their appearance before the emperor. Perhaps she refused extra adornment in an attempt to persuade the emperor to reject her from being queen. Or her modesty may have caused her to refuse the cosmetics and alluring clothes available. Whatever the reason, her natural beauty was so radiant and her personality so pleasant she was admired by all that looked at her. It is unusual that there was no jealousy and murmuring among the women against Esther. This verifies that her bearing and demeanor toward her contemporaries was such as to obtain only graciousness, even from those competing for the crown!

When one considers the circumstances under which Esther was probably taken from her uncle's home to the emperor's harem and the cultural mores Esther had to sacrifice, it is nothing short of amazing that she could endure this experience without the exhibition of some animosity on her part. She certainly would seem to have justifiable cause for resentment toward these Persians. Yet she was held in favor by all who looked upon her. No little Jewish girl could be blase about facing what Esther faced. She was about to sacrifice her virginity to a Persian monarch. There was the chance that she might become queen. But there was also the distinct possibility that she might become merely one of his concubines for the rest of her life. Not even the fact that she had been born in Persia and reared in Persian culture could soften the trauma of this experience. Her composure in the face of this moment is marvelous, to say the least.
She was presented to the emperor, in his palace, in the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. From Passover month (March-April) one counts ten months to Tebeth (December-January), because Passover month is the first month of the religious year. This is the only time in the Bible that the month Tebeth is mentioned. One scholar thinks the name Tevet (Heb. for Tebeth) may be related to the word tava which means in Hebrew to dip or sink and Tevet is thus the month of sinking in or the muddy month because of the abundant rainfall during that season. There were Jewish fasts observed on the 5th and 10th days of this month commemorating the fall and siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. It is not certain whether these fasts were being observed in Esther's day or not. Her presentation to Xerxes was dated also in the seventh year of his reign. This was shortly after (less than a year) his ignominious defeat at Salamis and Plataea in about 480 B.C. He returned home in 479 B.C. and selected Esther as his queen. If Xerxes was about 55 when he was assassinated (see Introduction, page 265) in 465 B.C., then he was about 40 years old when Esther appeared before him. We have no way of knowing Esther's age.

Esther 2:17-18 Coronation: There are five or six Hebrew words that may be translated love, but the most common one is -ahav, and that is the word used of the Persian emperor's love for the Jewish maiden. He loved her more than all the other women. The Hebrew word translated women is the generic word for mankind nashim. It is difficult to tell from the word nashim whether the writer meant all the women in the emperor's harem or just those virgins who had appeared before him prior to Esther's appearance. The next phrase, ... more than all the virgins. seems to limit nashim to those virgins appearing just before Esther. The word for virgins is the definitive word bethuloth.

Xerxes set the kethermalekuth, crownroyal, upon Esther's head and made her queen in the place of Vashti. Kether means encircle, circlet, diadem, and was probably a heavily bejeweled turban. The word nezer is the word describing the only crown used in crowning Hebrew kings, so the kether describes the crown of a foreign monarch. To further honor his beautiful new queen, Xerxes decreed a new mishetteh (feast) and named it Esther's Feast. Mishetteh is the word used to describe the drinking-bout in Esther 1:9-11. The word the Hebrews used to describe their religious feasts was chaggim. The feast decreed by Xerxes was strictly a Persian festival and we do not find the Jews observing it. The Jews did later establish the Fast of Esther and observe it on the 13th of Adar (February-March) and followed it with the Feast of Purim on the 14th and 15th of Adar. But none of these holy days had any relationship to the Feast of Esther proclaimed by Xerxes. In addition to the inauguration of a Feast, Xerxes made a release. The word hanachah has been explained by various commentators as; (a) release from paying taxes; (b) release from forced labor; (c) release of some prisoners; (d) release from military service. The root word in Hebrew is nucha and means simply, rest. It may mean what we think of today as simply, a holiday, without any form of amnesty being involved. On this day when the emperor was enjoying the great pleasure of having acquired the most beautiful and personable woman in the empire for his queen, he felt especially generous and gave gifts. He gave them according to the bounty of the king, which means either in quantity or quality or both. It was a common practice for eastern potentates to give gifts at times like this. Herod Antipas offered Salome half of his kingdom when she danced for him. The Magi brought gifts to the king of the Jews. Merodach-baladan sent a present to Hezekiah. It was a custom that served both egomania and politics. It gave kings an opportunity to build their own images as well as to cement national and international political relationships. It still goes on today. Potentates and politicians still curry the favor of constituents with gifts. International relationships are still built, not on truth and honesty, but on loans and gifts. Perhaps we are judging Xerxes-' holiday too harshly. But in view of the customs then and continued practice today it would seem his motive was political or personal and not philanthropic.