Esther 2:11
in Esther 2And every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn about Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women’s house, to know how Esther did, and what would become of her.
KJV
And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women’s house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.
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This verse in Esther 2
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house,.... Being one of the court, and in an high post, as Aben Ezra thinks, he might walk there without being examined, and called to an account for it: to know how Esther did; to inquire of her health and prosperity, or peace, the word here used signifies, even all sorts of it: and what should become of her; or was done to her, whether she was well used, or as yet introduced to the king, how it fared with her, and what befell her.
This site's exposition
Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred
on Esther 2:10-11
Esther keeps her people and her kindred hidden because Mordecai charged her so, a secret the text records twice in this chapter and will call due at 4:8 when a decree against her people makes silence impossible. Mordecai walks daily before the court of the women’s house, watching what shall become of her, a foster father’s vigil the palace walls cannot fully block. The secret is a plot device and a piece of realism together, a Jew’s wisdom about a hostile court that a later king’s own edict will force into the open.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
So it follows that Scripture demonstrates through the figure of Mordecai the cleverness of the leaders, when it says: "He would stroll every day in front of the forecourt of the house where the chosen virgins were serving, expressing his concern for Esther's welfare and …
Indeed the church of the nations, being instructed with the precepts of the holy teachers, did not want to disclose the place of its homeland and people, because, after being purified through baptism from any corruption of sin or defilement of idolatry, it is no …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Let those whose relations are thus cast upon them by divine Providence be thus kindly affectioned to them and solicitous for them. [2.] How respectful she was to him. Though in relation she was his equal, yet, being in age and dependence his inferior, she honoured him as her father-- did his commandment,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Mordecai occupied, apparently, a humble place in the royal household. He was probably one of the porters or doorkeepers at the main entrance to the palace Est 2:21.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house--The harem is an inviolable sanctuary, and what is transacted within its walls is as much a secret to those without as if they were thousands of miles away.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And what would be done with her. He [Mordechai] was one of two righteous men to whom a hint of salvation was given; Dovid and Mordechai. Dovid as it is stated, “Even the lion and the bear has your servant slain.” 12 I Shmuel:36.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Not to reveal it. So that they should say that she was from an ignoble family and dismiss her, for if they knew that she was of the family of King Shaul, they would keep her. 11 According to Targum, Mordechai feared for Esther’s and the Jews’ safety.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבְכָל־ | uvekhol- | and on every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| י֣וֹם | yom | day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וָי֔וֹם | vayom | and day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| מָרְדֳּכַי֙ | maredokhai | Mordecai | H4782 → | 60 times |
| מִתְהַלֵּ֔ךְ | mithalekh | [was] walking back and forth | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| לִפְנֵ֖י | lifnei | to front of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| חֲצַ֣ר | chatzar | [the] court of | H2691 → | 191 times |
| בֵּית־ | beit- | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| הַנָּשִׁ֑ים | hanashim | the women | H802 → | 781 times |
| לָדַ֙עַת֙ | ladaat | to know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁל֣וֹם | shelom | [the] welfare of | H7965 → | 236 times |
| אֶסְתֵּ֔ר | ʾester | Esther | H635 → | 55 times |
| וּמַה־ | umah- | and what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| יֵּעָשֶׂ֖ה | yeaseh | was it done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| בָּֽהּ׃ | bah | with <the> her |
וּבְכָל־and on every
uvekhol-H3605 →5413 times
י֣וֹםday
yomH3117 →2304 times
וָי֔וֹםand day
vayomH3117 →2304 times
מָרְדֳּכַי֙Mordecai
maredokhaiH4782 →60 times
מִתְהַלֵּ֔ךְ[was] walking back and forth
mithalekhH1980 →1546 times
לִפְנֵ֖יto front of
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
חֲצַ֣ר[the] court of
chatzarH2691 →191 times
בֵּית־[the] house of
beit-H1004 →2046 times
הַנָּשִׁ֑יםthe women
hanashimH802 →781 times
לָדַ֙עַת֙to know
ladaatH3045 →945 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁל֣וֹם[the] welfare of
shelomH7965 →236 times
אֶסְתֵּ֔רEsther
ʾesterH635 →55 times
וּמַה־and what?
umah-H4100 →752 times
יֵּעָשֶׂ֖הwas it done
yeasehH6213 →2628 times
בָּֽהּ׃with <the> her
bah
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 15:36Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are doing.”
it leads to
- Acts 13:4
So Barnabas and Saul, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.
- Acts 14:6
they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding region,
- Acts 13:51
So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.
- Acts 14:24–25
After passing through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.
- Acts 13:13–14
After setting sail from Paphos, Paul and his companions came to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.
- Acts 13:4
Through
1 Samuel 17:18Take also these ten portions of cheese to the commander of their unit. Check on the welfare of your brothers and bring back an assurance from them.
it leads to
- Genesis 37:14
Then Israel told him, “Go now and see how your brothers and the flocks are faring, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron. And when…
- 1 Samuel 16:20
And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and one young goat, and sent them to Saul with his son David.
- Genesis 37:14
Through
Genesis 37:14Then Israel told him, “Go now and see how your brothers and the flocks are faring, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron. And when…
it leads to
- Genesis 35:27
Jacob returned to his father Isaac at Mamre, near Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.
- Genesis 35:27
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Esther
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Esther and Rabanus Maurus, EXPLANATION ON THE BOOK OF ESTHER 3.