Esther 2:9

Est 2:9 And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, [which were] meet to be given her, out of the king’s house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the best [place] of the house of the women.

Ver. 9. And the maiden pleased him] Hegai cast his favour upon her; not because she was the fairest, noblest, most industrious, most courtly, &c., but because God wrought his heart to it; as he did Potiphar’s and Pharaoh’s to Joseph, Jonathan’s to David, Darius’s to Daniel, &c. It is the Lord that gives favour, and fashioneth men’s opinions of us. He gave Solomon honour; and Paul prays to him that his service may be accepted of the saints, Rom 15:31.

And she obtained kindness of him] His favour was not empty favour, professional only, as that of courtiers.

And he speedily gave her, &c.] As resolving shortly to recommend her to the king, who, he knew, would be much ruled by him in his choice. Here were shadows of many excellent virtues in a blind ethnic; who may in some sort teach true kindness, and doth condemn those that boast of false liberality. He dealt not basely, but bountifully, with Esther.

Her things for purification] See Est 2:3; Est 2:12.

With such things as belonged to her] Heb. Her portions or allowances of food, raiment, &c., which this faithful officer interverted not for his own private gain, but rather enlarged himself in the true bestowing thereof.

And seven maidens] When he might have put her off with one; he enlargeth himself, and even stretcheth his authority, that he might, by these maids of honour attending her, set her forth as a queen beforehand.

Which were meet to be given her] Or, which were very comely, speciosae, vel spectatae.

And he preferred] Heb. He changed her, sc. for the better, as God doth his people, when he taketh them to heaven, where they change place, but not company (as that good man, Dr Preston, saith upon his death bed), and are brought from the jaws of death to the joys of eternal life; from shadows to substances, from misery to majesty, &c., a greater change than that of Queen Elizabeth, from a prisoner to a princess; or that of our Henry IV, who was crowned the very same day that the year before he had been banished the realm. The Latins call prosperous things Res secundas, secondary things, because they are to be had hereafter; they are not the first things.

Unto the best place of the house of the women] Or, Unto the best condition. God’s best children shall have the best of the best, fat things full of marrow, wines on the lees well refined, Isa 25:6. Jacob and his family had the best of the land of Egypt, that granary of the world, as one calleth it. His posterity had a land that flowed with milk and honey. What countries comparable to those that profess the gospel? "Godliness is profitable to all things," having the promises of both lives, &c.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Est 2:9. The maiden pleased him — Because she was very beautiful, therefore he supposed she would be acceptable to the king; and by the divine power, which moveth the hearts of men which way he pleaseth.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:9 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.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Hebrew, portions.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 9. The maiden pleased him] He conceived a partiality for her above the rest, probably because of the propriety of her deportment, and her engaging though unassuming manners.

Seven maidens] These were to attend her to the bath, to anoint and adorn her, and be her servants in general.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(9) Obtained kindness of him.—This is the same phrase as that which is rendered “obtained favour in his sight” in Est_2:17.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. she obtained kindness of him] This or a synonymous expression is a favourite one with the author (Est_2:15; Est_2:17, Est_5:2).

speedily] In order that the prescribed period of twelve months’ preparation (see Est_2:12) might be accomplished as soon as possible in Esther’s case, Hegai gave her precedence over others in its commencement.

her things for purification] See on Est_2:3.

with her portions] A.V. has more vaguely, with such things as belonged to her. The reference is not to unguents of any kind, but to special food given as part of the preparation of those who were to be admitted to the king. So Nebuchadnezzar appointed for the youths who were to ‘stand before the king’ (Dan_1:5) a daily portion of the king’s dainties and of the wine which he drank.

and the seven maidens] The article (wrongly omitted in the A.V.) indicates that it was the custom to assign seven attendants or maids of honour to persons in Esther’s position as candidates for the king’s favour.

which were meet to be given her] suitable to her exceptional claims on the ground of her beauty.

and he removed etc.] A.V. has and he preferred etc. In this sense, viz. to advance, promote, the verb (occurring also in A.V. of Dan_6:3; Joh_1:15; Joh_1:27) is now but little used, although the substantive preferment has held its ground in common parlance. The Heb. verb simply denotes change, and it is the remainder of the clause which expresses the fact that the change was for the better.

and her maidens] The word in the LXX. (ἅβρα) is employed to denote female attendants of the choicer kind, like the French fille d’honneur. If it be an actual Greek word, it properly means graceful, delicate, but in the sense in which it is here used, it may be of foreign origin. Elsewhere it is used of the attendants upon Pharaoh’s daughter (Exo_2:5), also of Judith’s maid (Jdg_8:33), and again in this Book (Est_4:4; Est_4:16) and so in the apocryphal Additions (Esther 15:2, 7).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the maiden pleased him,.... Not the king, into whose presence she was not yet introduced, but the chamberlain; her beauty and her behaviour recommended her to him, and he concluded within himself that she was the person that of all would be acceptable to the king:

and she obtained kindness of him: had favours shown others had not:

and he speedily gave her things for purification; as oil, spices, &c. that she might be the sooner fitted to be had into the king's presence:

with such things as belonged to her; food and drink from the king's table; the Targum interprets it gifts, as chains and royal apparel:

and seven maidens, which were given her, out of the king's house; to wait upon her the seven days of the week, as the same Targum:

and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women; removed her and them to it, which was the most splendid, had large, airy, and pleasant rooms.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And he, Egeus, commanded the under eunuch. (Tirinus) --- Hebrew, "he quickly gave her her things for purifications, (ver. 3.) and her portions, with seven maids, suitable for her, out of the king’s house; and he charged her and her maids to dwell in the best of the women’s house," (Haydock) where things were the most commodious. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The maiden pleased him; partly because she was very beautiful, and therefore he supposed she would be very acceptable to the king, which would be his advantage; and partly by the Divine Power, which moveth the hearts of men which way he pleaseth.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

9. Such things as belonged to her — Hebrew, her portions, that is, proper allowances of food.

Seven maidens… meet to be given her — Each of the virgins probably had seven maids appointed to attend her, but Esther’s seven were selected with special care, (meet, ראיות, looked up, searched out, from ראה, to see, to look after,) and Hegai’s further partiality for her was shown in his preferring, or changing, her and her maids to the choice apartments of the harem.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The maiden pleased him. Literally, "was good in his eyes," the same expression as that which occurs in Est_1:21. And she obtained kindness of him. This is a phrase peculiar to the Book of Esther, and a favourite one with the author. (see vers. 15, 17; and Est_5:2) It is better translated "she obtained favour" (as in all the other places where it occurs) than "she obtained kindness," though the latter translation is more literal. Her things for purification. See ver. 12. With such things as belonged to her. Literally, as in the margin, "with her portions by which is probably meant her daily allowance of food. And seven maidens. Rather, "and her seven maidens." It is implied that each virgin had seven female attendants assigned to her. Meet to be given her. It was in this point that the "favour" or "kindness of Hegel was shown. He selected for her use the most suitable of the attendants.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pleased - Because she was very beautiful, therefore he supposed she would be acceptable to the king; and by the Divine power, which moveth the hearts of men which way he pleaseth.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

and he hastened her ointments He was more diligent and quicker with bringing her [ointments] than those of all of them.

fitting to give to her to serve her, and so they would do for all of them; and our Sages explained what they explained.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

and he changed: He changed the portions, to do good to her. And the explanation of "the house of the women" is that it is connected to, "and he changed her portions and [those of her maidens" - and that was in the house of the women with her colleagues. Some say that Mordekhai did not act correctly when he commanded Esther not to mention her nation, since he was afraid that the king would not take her as a wife if he knew that she was from the exile. And others say that it was by way of prophecy or a dream that he knew that the salvation would come through her to the Jewish people. But what seems correct to me is that Mordekhai did this in order that she could observe the Torah of God secretly, such that she would not eat carcasses and could observe the Shabbat, and the guards would not be aware. For if the matter would be known, perhaps the king would force her [to do otherwise] or kill her, since she was taken by force. And we know that Mordekhai was from the greats of the Jewish people. As behold, he was the third of the ministers that came up [to Israel] with Zerubavel. But when he saw that the Temple was not built, he came to Eilam and was situated at the gate of the king in the palace, which is a great honor. Behold, Daniel had appointed his colleagues over the Babylonian kingdom, and he was at the gate of the king. But had Mordekhai not been among the servants of the king before the story with Esther, the servants would not have let him walk around in the courtyard of the house of the women.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.