Est 2:5-7 | KingComments | STEP | At this point in the story two new persons are portrayed in an intermediate part ( ). This insertion shows us who God is about to put forward for the fulfilment of the advice of the attendants in the previous verses. They are Mordecai and Esther. Together with Ahasuerus they will play a leading role in the history of God’s people. In Mordecai is first introduced to us. However, before his name is mentioned, it is first said that he is “a Jew”. This emphasizes him being a Jew. That Mordecai is a Jew is further shown by his genealogy. He is a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin who was brought by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon with the exiles from Jerusalem with Jeconiah, the king of Judah ( ). The fact that he was taken away with Jeconiah makes it easy to say that he could not have been taken away personally from Jerusalem with the exiles. In that case he would have been about one hundred and twenty years old in the seventh year of Ahasuerus. This is very unlikely, also in view of the age of his young and attractive cousin Esther. However, he is so attached to his ancestors as a Jew that what happened to them is stated here as it happened to himself. Their history is his history, their pain of being taken away is his pain. In the other new person, Esther, appears who will also play a leading role in this book, in close relationship with the just presented protagonist Mordecai. That close relationship is shown in the beginning of , where we read: “It was he who raised Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle”. She also emphasizes her Jewishness by first mentioning her Jewish name, Hadassah, and only then her Persian name, Esther. Her Jewish identity is also apparent from the mention of her family relationship with Mordecai. She is his cousin. Halfway through the gaze is completely focused on Esther, on her beautiful stature and her handsome appearance. However, immediately after this, her close relationship with Mordecai is pointed out again, who “took her as his own daughter”, because “her father and her mother died”. Her past is dead, cut off. In this situation she is completely dependent on Mordecai’s mercy and care. In this way she has been accepted, albeit in secret, by the LORD (cf. ). God shows Himself in this care through Mordecai, behind the scenes, “a father of the fatherless” ( ). In Mordecai’s care for the education of Esther we see the care of the Lord Jesus, of whom Mordecai is a picture, for the faithful remnant, of whom Esther is a picture. Esther owes her life to him and therefore also her exaltation to queen. Things that we say happen to us as misfortune are things that God controls and uses for our benefit. Circumstances related to our birth are not determined or chosen by us. We cannot choose our parents or the country or the date of our birth. Nor can we bring about our birth ourselves. What we can say is that God had our salvation in mind with the circumstances of our birth. For that we must thank Him. Esther’s original name is Hadassah, which means ‘myrtle’. The myrtle tree occurs in connection with the Feast of Booths ( ), a feast that refers to the realm of peace under the rule of the Messiah ( ). The fact that her parents gave her that name says something of their faith in the restoration of God’s people.

‏ Esther 2:5-7

Mordecai and Esther

At this point in the story two new persons are portrayed in an intermediate part (Est 2:5-7). This insertion shows us who God is about to put forward for the fulfilment of the advice of the attendants in the previous verses. They are Mordecai and Esther. Together with Ahasuerus they will play a leading role in the history of God’s people.

In Est 2:5 Mordecai is first introduced to us. However, before his name is mentioned, it is first said that he is “a Jew”. This emphasizes him being a Jew. That Mordecai is a Jew is further shown by his genealogy. He is a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin who was brought by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon with the exiles from Jerusalem with Jeconiah, the king of Judah (Est 2:6).

The fact that he was taken away with Jeconiah makes it easy to say that he could not have been taken away personally from Jerusalem with the exiles. In that case he would have been about one hundred and twenty years old in the seventh year of Ahasuerus. This is very unlikely, also in view of the age of his young and attractive cousin Esther. However, he is so attached to his ancestors as a Jew that what happened to them is stated here as it happened to himself. Their history is his history, their pain of being taken away is his pain.

In Est 2:7 the other new person, Esther, appears who will also play a leading role in this book, in close relationship with the just presented protagonist Mordecai. That close relationship is shown in the beginning of Est 2:7, where we read: “It was he who raised Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle”. She also emphasizes her Jewishness by first mentioning her Jewish name, Hadassah, and only then her Persian name, Esther. Her Jewish identity is also apparent from the mention of her family relationship with Mordecai. She is his cousin.

Halfway through Est 2:7 the gaze is completely focused on Esther, on her beautiful stature and her handsome appearance. However, immediately after this, her close relationship with Mordecai is pointed out again, who “took her as his own daughter”, because “her father and her mother died”. Her past is dead, cut off. In this situation she is completely dependent on Mordecai’s mercy and care. In this way she has been accepted, albeit in secret, by the LORD (cf. Psa 27:10).

God shows Himself in this care through Mordecai, behind the scenes, “a father of the fatherless” (Psa 68:5). In Mordecai’s care for the education of Esther we see the care of the Lord Jesus, of whom Mordecai is a picture, for the faithful remnant, of whom Esther is a picture. Esther owes her life to him and therefore also her exaltation to queen.

Things that we say happen to us as misfortune are things that God controls and uses for our benefit. Circumstances related to our birth are not determined or chosen by us. We cannot choose our parents or the country or the date of our birth. Nor can we bring about our birth ourselves. What we can say is that God had our salvation in mind with the circumstances of our birth. For that we must thank Him.

Esther’s original name is Hadassah, which means ‘myrtle’. The myrtle tree occurs in connection with the Feast of Booths (Neh 8:15-16), a feast that refers to the realm of peace under the rule of the Messiah (Isa 41:19 ; Isa 55:12-13). The fact that her parents gave her that name says something of their faith in the restoration of God’s people.