Skip to content
mannafest.faith

Esther 2:8

in Esther 2

When the king’s command and edict had been proclaimed, many young women gathered at the citadel of Susa under the care of Hegai. Esther was also taken to the palace and placed under the care of Hegai, the custodian of the women.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

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.

KJV

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 brought also unto the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.

This verse in Esther 2

Commentary

3 notes on this verse
So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and decree was heard,.... In the several provinces of his kingdom: and when many maidens were gathered unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai; Josephus (o) says, there were gathered to the number of four hundred: that Esther was brought also unto the king's house, to the custody of Hegai, the keeper of the women: by force, as Aben Ezra and the former Targum, and so the word is sometimes used. (o) Ibid. (Antiqu. l. 11. c. 6. sect. 2.)

This site's exposition

that Esther was brought also unto the king’s house

on Esther 2:8-9

Esther enters the house of the women along with many maidens, one name folded into a crowd the decree of chapter two has produced, and Hegai’s custody rather than the king’s is her first Persian address. She pleases him and obtains kindness speedily, seven chosen maidens and the best place in the house, favor that arrives before the king has ever seen her. Gill reads Hegai’s preference as the hinge the whole plot turns on, a court official’s ordinary goodwill doing providence’s first quiet work.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Rabanus Maurus

Commentary on Esther · Written before 856.

proposed

Now, what can Esther—whose name means hidden, and who was also called Hadassah, i.e. mercy—signify if not the Church of the nations, which pleases God in the recesses of its heart because its faith is pure, and it finds before the eyes of God more …

The words behind it

24 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיְהִ֗יand it was

    vayhiH19613559 times

  • בְּהִשָּׁמַ֤עwhen were heard

    behishama'H80851159 times

  • דְּבַר־[the] edict of

    devar-H16971440 times

  • הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙the king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

  • וְדָת֔וֹand orders his

    vedatoH188122 times

  • וּֽבְהִקָּבֵ֞ץand when were gathered

    uvehikavetzH6908127 times

  • נְעָר֥וֹתyoung women

    nearotH529163 times

  • רַבּ֛וֹתmany

    rabotH7227454 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • שׁוּשַׁ֥ןSusa

    shushanH780021 times

  • הַבִּירָ֖הthe citadel

    habirahH100216 times

  • אֶל־into

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • יַ֣ד[the] hand of

    yadH30271618 times

  • הֵגָ֑יHegai

    hegaiH18964 times

  • וַתִּלָּקַ֤חand she was taken

    vatilakachH3947966 times

  • אֶסְתֵּר֙Esther

    ʾesterH63555 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • בֵּ֣ית[the] house of

    beitH10042046 times

  • הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

  • אֶל־into

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • יַ֥ד[the] hand of

    yadH30271618 times

  • הֵגַ֖יHegai

    hegaiH18964 times

  • שֹׁמֵ֥ר[the] keeper

    shomerH8104468 times

  • הַנָּשִֽׁים׃of the women

    hanashimH802781 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Esther 2:15

    Now Esther was the daughter of Abihail, the uncle from whom Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter. And when it was her turn to go to the king, she did not ask…

    it leads to

    • Song of Solomon 6:9

      but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the favorite of the mother who bore her. The maidens see her and call her blessed; the queens and concubines sing her praises.

    • Esther 2:3

      and let the king appoint commissioners in each province of his kingdom to assemble all the beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care…

    • Acts 7:10

      and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.

    • Esther 9:29

      So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim.

    • Esther 2:7–8

      And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, because she did not have a father or mother. The young woman was lovely in form and appearance, and when…

  • Through

    Esther 2:3

    and let the king appoint commissioners in each province of his kingdom to assemble all the beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care…

    it leads to

    • Esther 2:12–15

      In the twelve months before her turn to go to King Xerxes, the harem regulation required each young woman to receive beauty treatments with oil of myrrh for six months, and then with perfumes…

    • Esther 1:1–2

      This is what happened in the days of Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Cush.

    • Esther 2:8–9

      When the king’s command and edict had been proclaimed, many young women gathered at the citadel of Susa under the care of Hegai. Esther was also taken to the palace and placed under the…

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About Esther

This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Esther and W. F. Adeney, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Expositor's Bible).