Esther 2:17

So that he set the royal crown upon her head— According to this account, this Persian monarch seems to have had but one wife, at least but one in chief favour and esteem with him, though it is evident that he had a vast number of secondary wives or concubines. But in behalf of Esther it may be said, that the word ותלקח vattilacach, Esther 2:8 which we render she was brought, may equally signify she was taken away, 1:e. by violence; and thus the Targum upon the passage relates the matter: "Mordecai, hearing of the king's edict for the collection of all the beautiful virgins in his dominions, hid his cousin in a private place, where the officers could not find her; but when Esther, whom all the neighbourhood knew to be a great beauty, was missing, an order from the king to Mordecai was procured, which, upon pain of death, obliged him to produce her."