Esther 2:5-11

B. Solicitude of Mordecai

TEXT: Esther 2:5-11

5

There was a certain Jew in Shushan the palace, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite,

6

who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives that had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.

7

And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maiden was fair and beautiful; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own daughter.

8

So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was taken into the king's house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.

9

And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with her portions, and the seven maidens who were meet to be given her out of the king's house: and he removed her and her maidens to the best place of the house of the women.

10

Esther had not made known her people nor her kindred; for Mordecai had charged her that she should not make it known.

11

And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what would become of her.

Today's English Version, Esther 2:5-11

There in Susa lived a Jew named Mordecai son of Jair; he was from the tribe of Benjamin and was a descendant of Kish and Shimei. When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took King Jehoiachin of Judah into exile from Jerusalem, along with a group of captives, Mordecai was among them. He had a cousin, Esther, whose Hebrew name was Hadassah; she was a beautiful girl, and had a good figure. At the death of her parents, Mordecai had adopted her and brought her up as his own daughter.
When the king had issued his new proclamation and many girls were being brought to Susa, Esther was among them. She too was put in the royal palace in the care of Hegai, who had charge of the harem. Hegai liked Esther, and she won his favor. He lost no time in beginning her beauty treatment of massage and special diet. He gave her the best place in the harem and assigned seven girls specially chosen from the royal palace to serve her.
Now on the advice of Mordecai, Esther had kept it secret that she was Jewish. Every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the courtyard of the harem, in order to find out how she was getting along and what was going to happen to her.

COMMENTS

Esther 2:5-7 Orphanhood: Enter Mordecai! This book might well have been called, The Book of Mordecai. All the way through the book Mordecai is as much a star as Esther and the book ends with an account of the fame and dignity of Mordecai. The Feast or Purim is called the day of Mordecai in 2Ma. 15:36. He is a favorite character in the Rabbinical literature. The name Mordecai is derived from Marduk, chief deity of Babylon and Persia. Marduk means be bold and audacious in acts of rebellion; run strenuously, attack. Some suggest that Nimrod is a Hebrew transmutation of Marduk which in turn has some relationship to the constellation Orion. He who was to the Babylonians a deified hero, was to the Hebrews a rebel Titan, bound in chains among the stars that all might behold his punishment. The fact that the name Mordecai is derived from Marduk substantiates assumption that this famous man was born in captivity. It would seem physically impossible for Mordecai to have been born before the captivity and still be a contemporary of Xerxes. If Mordecai had been carried into captivity (even as an infant) with Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) in 596 B.C., he would be 122 years of age when he became prime minister in the 12th year of Xerxes-' reign (474 B.C.); and Mordecai was in office for a long time after 474 B. C. (cf. Esther 10:2 ff). In the long standing argument about the proper antecedent of the relative pronoun who (Esther 2:6) we have taken the position that it refers to Kishgreat grandfather of Mordecai. The time between the exile of Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) and the time of Mordecai is just the right amount of time for the three generations between Kish and Mordecai. We have already indicated that birah (palace) means more specifically, fortress (cf. Esther 1:1-2). Mordecai did not at this time live within the royal palace itself, but inside the walled fortress known as Susa.

Mordecai was an especially compassionate man toward his own kinsmen. When his uncle and aunt died, they left a beautiful young daughter completely orphaned. Mordecai was a man who went beyond the letter of the law (Exodus 22:22) which forbade exploitation of the widow and the fatherless; he kept the spirit of the law as proclaimed by the prophets (Isaiah 1:17) and defended the fatherless. Mordecai had no way of knowing when he first took Esther into his home as his own daughter that someday his association with Esther would promote him to high office and fame. But Jehovah who rewards the righteous knew! Yes, even Mordecai had come to Persia for such a time as this!

The orphaned girl had been named Hadassah by her parents which means myrtle in Hebrew. The myrtle is a large evergreen shrub with fragrant flowers and spicy-sweet scented leaves. All parts of the plant are somewhat perfumed. The word hadassah in Hebrew came to mean sweetness. It has been used as a symbol of beauty and sweetness (Isaiah 41:19; Isaiah 55:13; Zechariah 1:7-10). It was one of the trees used in the Feast of Tabernacles (Nehemiah 8:15). In ancient times it was sacred to Astarte. The name Esther is probably derived from the Persian stara, i.e. star, or from the goddess Ishtar (also known as Ashtoreth and Astarte). Esther was well named! The Hebrew words yephathto-'ar vetovath mare eh describe Esther's unusual beauty. Yephath means beautiful; to-'ar means the beauty of her form; vetovath means pleasant, desirable; and mare-'eh has as its root in Hebrew that from which we get the word vision, spectacle, appearance, form. Esther must have been strikingly beautiful. Her facial features, her feminine figure, and her personality all combined to make her as beautiful, comely, shapely and desirable as the beloved young bride in Song of Solomon (cf. S.S. Esther 1:8; Esther 1:15-17; Esther 2:14; Esther 4:1-8, etc.). Mordecai, her cousin, took her into his home and into his heart and she became his adopted daughter.

Esther 2:8-11 Opportunity: There must have been hundreds of young women gathered to the emperor's palace. The word ravvoth means large number, great number, myriads. They were all given to the custody (Heb. into the hand of) Hegai, the emperor's eunuch (cf. Esther 2:3) who was in charge of the emperor's harem. It seems clear from these verses that this was no ordinary beauty contest. These contestants had not entered by their own choice. The fact that the many were gathered and Esther was taken indicates they were compelled to be made part of the emperor's harem. In the Jewish Targums there is a story that Mordecai tried to hide Esther from the emperor's servants when they came in search of beautiful maidens. Not only were these maidens forced to compete for the emperor's favor, the losers were probably not allowed to return to their homes but retained in his harem. Polygamy can be traced back to the pre-Noachian times. Lamech is the first recorded polygamist (Genesis 4:19; Genesis 4:23). Some think polygamy was the outcome of tribal wars. When men had separated into clans and had taken up different places of abode, collisions soon occurred between them. In such wars the great majority of men would be massacred; the women and children, driven to the abode of the conquerors, there to become concubines and slaves. Of course the strongest man or the chief of the clan would assert his right to the choice of captives. Thus down through the centuries of time it became a status symbol. So we have even in Solomon's temple a harem of 700 wives and 300 concubines. Emperors and kings, with all of a nation's wealth at their command, could afford to support such harems. There were other facts involved in polygamy. First, there is the natural sex-drive in man, which, not under the control of the express will of God which commands one woman for one man, leads man to sexual promiscuity. The natural sex-drive under control is good, because it is created by God. Second, in an agricultural society which did not have the benefits of technological work-savers, a man would desire to produce as many offspring as possible to become a workforce and produce the highest standard of living possible. Women and children were usually considered property in such cultures. Of course, the principle a man's life does not consist of the things which he possesses was as true then as it is now. Polygamy and harems have always brought jealousy, intrigue, ruination, financial disaster, slavery and moral guilt. Solomon's polygamy bankrupted Israel and brought about a divided kingdom saturated with idolatry. It is doubtful that Esther would have chosen to become a member of Xerxes-' harem. But she had no choice, except death to herself and probably to her family.

Esther pleased (tov) Hegai, supervisor of the emperor's harem. Just how she pleased him we are not told; most probably by her sweetness of disposition and determination to make the most of an unwanted circumstance without complaining or rebelling she was shown kindness (chesed in Hebrew). No doubt, her radiant beauty also prompted him to put her in a position to catch the emperor's eye sooner than the rest of the maidens. First, Hegai quickly gave Esther the ointments (tameruqeyha in Heb.) and cosmetics with which to adorn herself before being taken to the emperor's presence. Second, he gave her the customary portions of food (manotheyha in Heb.; the word used of the special food in Daniel 1:5; see also Esther 9:19; Esther 9:22). Third, Esther was given seven women attendants, probably the loveliest and most efficient of all the servant girls, suitable to the exceptional charm of Esther herself. Fourth, Hegai removed (yeshanneha in Heb., meaning, altered, changed, transfered) Esther and her maidens to the best place of the harem. Apparently she had been given quarters in a less desirable part of the harem when she was first brought to the palace.

Esther had not revealed her ethnic background. We assume she looked enough like a Persian that her Jewishness was not discernible. Since both Persians and Jews were of Semitic origin their physical features were enough alike to present no problem for Esther. Why did Esther not reveal that she was a Jew? And why did Mordecai advise her that she should not do so? Many answers have been given. One says, Mordecai reasoned something like this: If Esther is chosen queen, it can only be because God desires to make her the instrument of His purpose. If she reveals that she is a Jewess, she will prejudice her choice. Another suggests that she did not reveal she was from royal origin (descended from Kish and thus King Saul) hoping the emperor might think she was of humble origin and send her away. There is no evidence Esther was of royal lineage. Ibn Ezra says, So that she might observe her religious obligations secretly. If she revealed her Jewish faith she would be forced to transgress (cf. Daniel 1:6). Another Jewish tradition says Mordecai's modesty dictated that Esther's racial ties not be known; he modestly wanted to forego the advancement and publicity which would come to him if his relationship to Esther (when she became queen) were known. We would question whether Mordecai could have been that accurate with his premonitions. Could he know with certainty that Esther would become queen? The most natural reason, it would seem, for Esther to conceal her racial roots was the anti-Jewish feeling there (cf. Esther 3:5-6; Esther 5:13; Esther 6:13; Esther 8:11). The Jews suffered this anti-Jewish prejudice in Egypt under the Pharaohs, by their pagan neighbors while they were in the Promised Land, when they were taken captive to Babylon and Persia, from the Samaritans after their return from captivity, from the Seleucids (Daniel 11), from the Romans, and from certain people of every nation with which they have been associated since. We think Mordecai's purpose was to protect his beautiful cousin from any violence should her ancestry be made known immediately. That Mordecai was very much concerned for her safety and well-being is evidenced by the fact that every single day he went to the court of the harem to inquire about her present circumstances and what the future might hold for her. It is apparent that Mordecai has some official duty or standing within the palace itself that would allow him easy and continuous access to the harem courts. Perhaps he was one of the porters who watched the many gates of the palace or had the responsibility of storing supplies within the palace.

Some question the ethics of Mordecai and Esther in keeping her racial ties silent. It needs to be understood that it is not unethical to withhold information, the revealing of which would serve no good purpose. The fact that they did not reveal she was a Jewess certainly did not cause others any suffering or loss. When Rahab did not betray the Hebrew spies there was nothing unethical in her action, (Joshua 2:1 ff). Samuel withheld information from Saul at the direction of the Lord (1 Samuel 16:1 ff). Elisha withheld information from enemies (2 Kings 6:19 ff). The Lord Himself was party to military deception in the assault against Ai by Joshua (Joshua 8:3-29, esp. Joshua 8:18). Jesus advised concealment of truth from those who have no claim upon it (Matthew 7:6); Jesus himself would not so much as speak to Herod when questioned. Mordecai knew that the truth about Esther's ethnic background would only bring suffering (perhaps even death) to her and the Jewish people if such information should be divulged at an inopportune time.