Est 2 | TNotes

2:6 ^a His family (literally He): Since King Jehoiachin was exiled in 597 BC (2 Kgs 24:6-16 ^b), over 100 years earlier, it was probably one of Mordecai’s ancestors who was part of the group taken into Babylonian captivity.
2:7 ^c Hadassah is a Hebrew name that means myrtle; Esther is a Persian name that means star.
2:9 ^d ordered a special menu ... beauty treatments: Hegai knew the king’s taste and singled out the best prospects for special attention.

• Hegai assigned seven of the best assistants to Esther, indicating that he thought she was one of the very best candidates for becoming the queen.
2:10 ^e Mordecai had probably already experienced some prejudice against Jews. Esther’s Jewish background would later become the key to her exposing Haman’s terrible plot.
2:12 ^f The twelve months of preparation no doubt involved training in court customs as well as beauty treatments, but the focus here is on physical beauty.
2:14 ^g the second harem: Each woman would spend one night with the king in his bedroom and then live essentially as a widow the rest of her life unless the king remembered her name and called for her. The women in the second harem lived an easy life in a luxurious setting under the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch.
2:15 ^h Hegai apparently knew the king’s preferences, so he was able to give Esther good advice, which she wisely accepted and followed.
2:17 ⁱ he set the royal crown on her head: Now Esther had access to the king’s heart as his favored wife. She was now in a place where God could use her to impact the thoughts and actions of the king.
2:18 ^j he gave a great banquet in Esther’s honor: Now the king honored his wife instead of putting her on display (cp. 1:11 ^k).

• declaring a public holiday: The Hebrew word translated “public holiday” (hanakhah) is related to the verb that means “rest” (nukh). The book as a whole describes how the Jewish people obtained rest from the threats of their enemies (see 9:16-22 ^l).
2:19 ^m Even after all the young women had been transferred to the second harem: Since the queen had been chosen, those in waiting would join the other concubines.

• Mordecai had become a palace official (literally Mordecai was sitting in the gate of the king): Court cases were decided and much official business was conducted at the gate. There Mordecai was able to hear about the plot against the king (2:21-23 ⁿ).
2:20 ^o keep her family background and nationality a secret: That this is mentioned twice (see also 2:10 ^p) indicates how important it was for the rest of the story.

• With humility, she was still following Mordecai’s directions. She did not become conceited and forget her people or the family that raised her.
2:21 ^q Bigthana might be the Bigtha of 1:10 ^r, one of the king’s seven eunuchs. He and Teresh guarded the king’s bedroom, so it would not have been hard for them to carry out their plot if they hadn’t been discovered.
2:22 ^s gave the information to Queen Esther: The quickest, safest way for the information to get to the king was through the queen.

• Although Esther could have promoted herself by taking credit for this information, she gave Mordecai credit for the report, an important point later in the story (6:1-3 ^t).
2:23 ^u impaled on a sharpened pole (literally hanged on a tree, or hanged on wood): This phrase has traditionally been translated hanged on a gallows, but inscriptions from ancient Persia show that impalement was a standard form of execution. Xerxes’ father, Darius I, claimed to have impaled 3,000 Babylonians when he conquered Babylon. Sometimes criminals were executed first and then displayed on a stake, as with the execution of Haman’s sons (9:5-14 ^v).

• This was all recorded: Mordecai was not rewarded until much later (6:1-14 ^w).

• While various records of Xerxes’ reign have been found, the particular book mentioned here no longer exists.