EstherChapter 2

Esther Chapter 2: Meaning

A young Jewish woman named Esther is chosen to be the new queen of Persia.

Summary

After Vashti was removed as queen, the king's servants came up with a plan. They would gather beautiful young women from across the empire and bring them to the palace. The king would choose the one he liked most to be the new queen.

Among those brought to the palace was a young Jewish woman named Esther. Her Hebrew name was Hadassah. She had no parents, so she had been raised by her older cousin Mordecai. Mordecai told Esther to keep her Jewish background a secret. Each young woman went through twelve months of beauty treatments before meeting the king.

When Esther's turn came, she impressed everyone she met. The king loved Esther more than any of the other women. He put the royal crown on her head and made her queen. Meanwhile, Mordecai spent his days sitting near the palace gate. One day he heard about two of the king's guards who were planning to kill the king. Mordecai told Esther, who told the king. The two men were caught and put to death, and Mordecai's good deed was written down in the royal records.

Historical Context

Esther was a Jewish orphan living in the Persian city of Susa. The Jewish people had been taken from their homeland years earlier and now lived scattered across the Persian Empire. Mordecai, her older cousin, had raised her like a daughter.

The process of gathering young women for the king to choose a queen was a normal part of Persian palace life at that time. It could take years. Esther's ability to win favor with everyone she met, without revealing she was Jewish, would become very important later in the story. Mordecai's report about the assassination plot would also matter later.