Today we continue our study of Esther in Chapter 2,
the point at which Esther herself is introduced to the story, and we begin to
see how God will use this young woman in an amazing way. Last week John took us
through the “Battle of the Sexes,” in Chapter 1 where Queen Vashti refuses the
order of King Xerxes to appear before his party of drunken noblemen, and in
retaliation the king issues a royal decree that could never be repealed that
she could never enter his presence again. She would need to be replaced by
someone better. The king makes this decision in the heat of anger. What will he
do to follow through? We will find out now in Chapter 2. Once again, we’ll make
a comparison with the parallel passage in the Honor Shame Paraphrase, as Carl
has proposed, to supplement the NIV which we normally use.
Later when
King Xerxes’ fury had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done
and what he had decreed about her.—Esther 2:1 NIV
Once King Ahasuerus
calmed down from Vashti’s public insult, he recalled his plan to replace her.—Esther
2:1 HSP
Has the
king started missing his queen? He remembers her. Is there any element of
regret? But he also remembers what she has done and what he has decreed – and
there is no going back, no possibility of reconciliation.
Then the
king’s personal attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young
virgins for the king.—Esther 2:2 NIV
The king’s servants
proposed to him, “Let us find beautiful virgins for your selection.—Esther 2:2
HSP
As far as
it seems, the job description for a queen in those days required mainly two
things: 1) Be beautiful, and 2) Obey the king. The goal was to replace Vashti
with a beautiful girl who would be more submissive. They would need to find the
most beautiful girl in the empire. They would go for the winner of a beauty
pageant, as our title today indicates.
Let the king
appoint commissioners in every province of his realm to bring all these
beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed
under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and
let beauty treatments be given to them. Then let the
young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This advice appealed
to the king, and he followed it.—Esther 2:3-4 NIV
“Administrators from
each province of your kingdom shall find and send the most beautiful virgins to
your royal harem here in Susa. The ladies will be prepared for you, and
whichever one pleases you the most shall become the new queen.” The king liked the
plan.—Esther 2:3-4 HSP
Speaking of
beauty pageants, have you been following the story of Tim Tebow marrying Miss
Universe? They got engaged about 10 days ago at his family’s farm in Florida.
Her name is Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, Miss South Africa 2017. It’s all very
romantic and highly anticipated, as Tim had been looking for that special
someone for some time now. He described his search to People magazine:
“I’m just
looking for someone who has a good heart. They have to be kind, and they have
to care about people who can’t do anything for them in return. They have to really
love God. My faith is important to me — it’s the most important thing — and I
need to be with someone who also shares that faith.” Nel-Peters is exactly what
he has been looking for. “She’s just perfect for me,” he says. “I’m really
blessed to have her by my side for the rest of my life.”
Did Tim
want to marry a beauty queen? He probably doesn’t mind! Actually, he probably
does realize that he needs a wife who can be comfortable with the intense
scrutiny afforded to celebrities like him. But he also realizes that beauty is
only skin deep, and it’s what’s inside that really matters. He wanted someone
who would be passionate with him in loving and serving God.
We’ll see
that Esther was much more than a beauty queen, too. Her looks may have opened
doors for her, but it’s what she did with those opportunities that really
mattered. We should pray that Tim and Demi-Leigh stay on track with the opportunities
that God has for them, too.
It’s a cool
story about Tim Tebow’s life and now his engagement. If you want to read a
great tongue-in-cheek article, there’s one out there called, “Sheltered
Homeschooler Struggles Through Life and Settles for Marrying Miss Universe.” It
speaks of the stigma attached to home schooling and how “difficult” life has
been for Tim Tebow. The article ends, “So before you homeschool your kids,
remember… they may just become a sports icon and marry a beauty queen someday.
And all because you decided education was more important than social skills.
You’ve been warned.”
Anyway,
back to Esther, who may or may not have been homeschooled. She is about to
enter the stage. First we are introduced to her cousin (or perhaps uncle, some
commentators think):
Now there was
in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of
Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, who had been carried into exile from
Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with
Jehoiachin king of Judah.—Esther 2:5-6 NIV
At that time a Jewish
man named Mordecai lived in Susa. He was a Benjaminite from the royal line of
Saul, and his forefathers were taken from Israel into exile 100 years ago. –Esther
2:5-6 HSP
The timing
makes it unlikely that it was Mordecai himself who was taken into exile, so the
HSP version proposes that it was his forefathers who were taken from Israel
into captivity 100 years earlier. But also note that Kish the father of King
Saul is mentioned as an ancestor of Mordecai, which would give him some kind of
distant royal connection. Mordecai was likely some kind of official in the
Persian court.
Mordecai had
a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father
nor mother. This young woman, who was also known as Esther, had a lovely
figure and was beautiful. Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when
her father and mother died.—Esther 2:7 NIV
Mordecai had adopted
and raised his niece, Esther. She was orphaned, so Mordecai cared for her like
a benevolent uncle. Esther was exceedingly beautiful.—Esther 2:7 HSP
Notice Esther at the center of this mini chiastic
structure, surrounded by Mordecai and her parents mentioned before and after.
Another interesting literary device in this book is the number of things that come
in pairs or that are mentioned or occurring twice. Keep an eye open for them as
we go.
Esther is an orphan, under the benevolent care of
Mordecai, her cousin or uncle – it’s not completely clear. Her Hebrew name is
Hadassah, but she goes by her Persian name, Esther, which may reference the god
Ishtar or simply mean “star.” The Jews had tried to fit in by taking local
names. And Esther would be able to conceal her Jewish identity by using one.
The Talmud mentions this with a pun, since the Hebrew word hester means concealment. But her beauty is not concealed, and she
is taken to the palace under the king’s order.
When the king’s order and edict had been proclaimed, many young women were brought to the citadel of Susa and put under the care of Hegai. Esther also was taken to the king’s palace and entrusted to Hegai, who had charge of the harem. She pleased him and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to her seven female attendants selected from the king’s palace and moved her and her attendants into the best place in the harem.—Esther 2:8-9 NIV
When the king issued
the decree to gather beautiful virgins, Esther was also taken to his harem.
There she found special favor with Hegai, the king’s eunuch who oversaw the
harem. Hegai gave Esther cosmetic treatments, seven maids, and the best place
in the harem palace. – Esther 2:8-9 HSP
The historian Josephus says that Esther was one of
400 virgins brought in for this beauty pageant. But she is not lost in the
crowd. Something makes her stand out and please Hegai the eunuch. She wins his
favor, so it must be by more than her appearance. Was it a kind and gentle
spirit? In any case it was God at work in and through her. She was recognized
and cared for in a unique way. To have seven maids must have been quite an
honor. And she was given the best place in the harem, the special, protected
place for women in the palace. Did she eat the special food, unlike Daniel and
his friends in an equivalent situation in Babylon? Palace food would not have
been kosher. But she did not want to stand out by making a fuss about this.
Esther had
not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had
forbidden her to do so. Every day he walked back and forth near the courtyard
of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her.—Esther 2:10-11
NIV
But the entire time
Esther kept her Jewish ethnicity a secret, just as her uncle Mordecai had
instructed.—Esther 2:10-11 HSP
She was obedient to her father figure, and he was
clearly concerned about her. Was he pacing back and forth in his nervousness or
did he just want to hear what he could as he went by, not stopping in a way
that would make him more conspicuous. Or maybe he just went that way on his
commute to and from work. He would not be allowed to see her at this stage, but
he wanted to be reassured that she was doing okay.
Before a
young woman’s turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve
months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of
myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics. And this is how she would
go to the king: Anything she wanted was given her to take with her from the
harem to the king’s palace. –Esther 2:12-13 NIV
Every girl in the harem
received a twelve-month cosmetic treatment before her turn with the king. (This
period also confirmed her purity as a virgin.) – Esther 2:12-13 HSP
It’s not clear why twelve months of beauty
treatments would be required. The HSP suggests that this would confirm the
girl’s purity as a virgin. But it only takes 9 months to have a baby, if she
had come in pregnant. I wonder if part of the process was getting her used to
being in the palace and learning how to operate there. She would also have to
know how to behave with the king. What did it mean for her to be a queen in
training? She would need to begin to think of herself as someone special.
There is an important debate going on right now
about beauty pageants: do they objectify or empower women? The swimsuit
competition has generally fallen out of favor, but so much of each contest is
still based on appearance. Women are able to do so many significant things in
the world without needing to look beautiful. What is the definition of female
beauty anyway? It is not absolute. It is so informed by culture and constantly
changing over time. Some of the important female figures in the Bible are
described as beautiful; others are not. Sarah, Rachel, Abigail, Bathsheba, and
the Beloved in the Song of Solomon, for example, are all identified as
beautiful women – as well as Esther, of course. However, we have no idea what
Mary the mother of Jesus looked like, for instance. It simply doesn’t matter.
So what is the purpose of beauty? Why is it even
important? This is a huge topic, of course, and we are talking about just one
aspect of it here. God created men to appreciate feminine beauty in a
particular way. How do you think Adam felt when he saw Eve for the first time?
This isn’t to say that women do not appreciate beauty, too. Men are also
frequently judged by their appearance. In 1 Samuel 16:7 God acknowledges that
people look at the outward appearance – but the Lord looks at the heart. We
need to judge people by God’s standards, while keeping in mind that appearances
do matter, too. Beauty can create opportunities, as it did with Esther. It can
also be misused, leading to terrible manipulation and badly distorted
priorities. The appreciation of female beauty is one of those things that God
created as good, but it has been marred by sin and needs to be redeemed and put
in its proper place.
Do you think that after 12 months of beauty
treatments that the young women in King Xerxes’ palace had the proper
perspective on their appearance? It seems that Esther managed to keep her
humility. But all the girls were no doubt looking at each other and making
comparisons. It was a beauty pageant with just one judge. Each girl realized
that all this was preparation for her one chance to make a good impression on
the king.
In the
evening she would go there and in the morning return to another part of the
harem to the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the
concubines. She would not return to the king unless he was pleased with
her and summoned her by name.—Esther 2:14 NIV
A girl would go into
the king’s palace at the night, then in the morning depart to the harem for
concubines. The girl would stay in the concubine harem unless the king asked
for her by name.—Esther 2:14 HSP
After the girl spent the night with him, the king
would decide if he ever wanted to see her again. He would call her by name if
he wanted the relationship to develop further. If not, she would stay with the
other concubines, taken care of, but not available for anyone else to marry.
Many ancient rulers had hundreds of concubines that had a lower status than
wives. The book of 1 Kings tells us that King Solomon had 300 concubines as
well as 700 wives. It actually seems unusual that Xerxes was looking for just
one special woman to be queen alongside him.
When the turn
came for Esther (the young woman Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his
uncle Abihail) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what
Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested. And Esther
won the favor of everyone who saw her. She was taken to King Xerxes in the
royal residence in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of
his reign.—Esther 2:15-16 NIV
Then one evening four
years after Vashti was demoted, it was Esther’s turn to be with the king.
Esther, who was widely adored for her beauty, went just as Hegai the eunuch had
advised her. Without being greedy for honor, she was content to trust God for
her future status. – Esther 2:15-16 HSP
Submissive Esther was not self-seeking. She did not
look to maximize her advantage in the competition by taking all she could from
the harem. That in itself was evidently enough to win favor in the competitive
palace environment. Her future was in God’s hands.
Now the king
was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his
favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown
on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. And the king gave a great
banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his nobles and officials. He
proclaimed a holiday throughout the provinces and distributed gifts with royal
liberality.—Esther 2:17-18 NIV
The king esteemed
Esther more than all the other women. He favored and admired her, so he placed
the royal crown on her head. The exiled Jewish orphan had become the esteemed
queen of Persia! Her status was completely reversed! Thanks to many unexpected
favors, she was graced with royal honor. To celebrate the occasion, the king
hosted a grand banquet with all his officials in honor of Esther. He also
declared that day a national holiday and bestowed lavish gifts as only a king
could do. – Esther 2:17-18 HSP
Esther was the winner of the beauty pageant. It was
no doubt her inner beauty that really won the heart of the king. He wanted to
be with her, and it was more than just sexual attraction. He was used to having
as many new partners in his bed as he wanted. King Xerxes had more than lust
for Esther, and she had more than physical beauty. If she had only been
beautiful we would never have heard of her. The king was looking for a queen
not another concubine, not another toy. He would summon her by name. She would
be a real person to him. Esther was given a place of great honor, and her
coronation was a source of blessing for all the people. God was rewarding her
obedience.
When the
virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. But
Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai
had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she
had done when he was bringing her up.—Esther 2:19-20 NIV
(Esther still obeyed
her uncle and kept her Jewish ethnicity a secret. Even after marrying the king,
she remained loyal to her kin.) – Esther 2:19-20 HSP
These verses may not appear in chronological order
with the rest of the narrative. It’s not clear why there would have been a
second beauty pageant after Esther was already chosen. These verses may just be
supporting the pairing of statements that we have noted already. In any case,
they serve to introduce Mordecai’s position of some importance in the city gate
and to reinforce Esther’s faithful submission to his authority and teaching.
During the
time Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the
king’s officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired
to assassinate King Xerxes. But Mordecai found out about the plot and told
Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai.—Esther
2:21-22 NIV
One day Mordecai was
sitting at the gate of the king’s citadel. Nearby he heard two of the king’s
eunuchs scheming to kill the king. Mordecai told Esther what he had heard, and
Esther reported the plot to the king for Mordecai. – Esther 2:21-22 HSP
Here again we can see God’s sovereign hand at work,
even though he is not mentioned. He arranges for Mordecai’s position, working
in some official capacity in the king’s gate, to allow him to overhear these
officers who are plotting against the king. And Mordecai must have had some
access to Esther after she became queen to be able to tell her of the plot. She
is responsible enough not only to pass on the information to the king but also
to credit Mordecai, thereby registering him as a loyal subject.
And when the
report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were
impaled on poles. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in
the presence of the king.—Esther 2:23 NIV
The two conspirators
were caught and executed—death with dishonor was the required punished for
treason. Mordecai had spared the king’s life—an act of loyalty that indebted
the king to honor him. The court historians recorded this event in the king’s
chronicles. Through these chance circumstances, Esther and Mordecai had risen
to positions of favor and honor near the king of Persia. – Esther 2:23 HSP
In an honor-shame society doing someone a favor
obligates them to return a favor at some point, to preserve honor. We will see
later how this debt of gratitude incurred by the king would work not just in
Mordecai’s favor but would also lead to the salvation of the Jewish people. All
of this was working out according to God’s plan. He was entrusting Mordecai and
Esther with places of honor to accomplish his purposes through them.
What do you think of the story of Esther so far?
God was asking a lot of her. Did it feel overwhelming? Being an orphan was no
doubt hard and painful in many ways. Then she was suddenly taken away from
Mordecai and everything she knew. He would continue to do what he could to help
her but that would be very limited once she entered the gate of the harem. We
can only speculate as to what was going on in her mind as she was taken away to
the citadel. It was such a crucial moment in her life.
Many modern commentators assume her suffering at the
prospect of being forced into a marriage with a man she did not love. But this reflects
an individualistic, western mindset that does not account for a world at that
time where romantic love was not considered a prerequisite for marriage.
Arranged marriages are still very common in honor-shame cultures throughout the
world today, where proper alignment of status, beneficial alliances between
families, and strict preservation of virtue before marriage are pursued to
maximize honor rather than fulfill any romantic inclinations of the couple
themselves. Love is considered to be a fortunate byproduct if it flowers later,
after the wedding. The bond between the husband and wife is hopefully secured
by their sexual relationship, as well as by the expectations of their community
and indeed by the commitment of the couple themselves.
So could Esther’s be more of a Cinderella story, a
dreamy leap from the bottom of society to its very top? It’s possible she might
have welcomed it as an escape from the precarious life of an alien. As part of
a conquered people, she faced a life-long prospect of discrimination,
persecution, and vulnerability. In the palace she would be cared for and kept
secure. Yes, she would lose much of her present identity, her freedom would be severely
curtailed, and her family life would be completely redefined. Was she weighing
these tradeoffs?
Or, looking at it from another angle, did it feel
like a betrayal? Here was the man ultimately responsible for the subjugation of
her people. Was she repulsed by the thought of joining herself with him? Perhaps
the closest parallel in our day may be the story of Kayla Mueller, the young
American woman captured by ISIS in Syria and forced into “marriage” with their
leader. One report that I saw told the story of how she passed up an escape
attempt to give other hostages a better chance at freedom. She was a Christian,
so I wonder if she thought of Esther as she put her own life at risk to try to
save others. We will never know, because she was killed in Raqqa in 2015 – in
an airstrike, according to ISIS, but more likely executed.
Kayla stood strong in her faith to the end, as far
as we know. Esther, too, we believe, must have kept trusting God. But she must
have grieved the loss of her ability to observe Jewish rituals. She would be
defiled and considered unclean. Would God see her as an apostate? Was joining
with this pagan king forcing her to betray her people and their religion and
therefore their divine covenant? They had held onto this much, despite losing
everything else. But there are no clues from the text as to what Esther’s faith
meant to her at this point and how she might try to continue to practice it in
secret.
We naturally interpret such stories in the Bible
from our own cultural perspective. Following one’s dreams, controlling one’s
own destiny, is part of the American dream. But that is a relatively recent
luxury. We need to remember that as a young woman 2500 years ago, and certainly
as an alien in a foreign land, Esther had no expectation of being able to make
her own life decisions. She apparently had no choice in this matter, certainly,
as she was identified as a beautiful virgin to be rounded up and taken to the
palace. What good would it have been to resist and bring a spotlight of trouble
on herself and her people? They were doing their best to not draw attention to
themselves but to blend in among their Persian neighbors.
Was she worried about blending in too much?
Becoming part of the royal family would require complete immersion in a system
and culture that acknowledged nothing of the God she knew. Living her new life
would erase so much of what she thought it meant to be a Jew. Her people had
already lost so much when they were taken into exile. It must have been a
struggle for her on all these levels. What sort of future would she have and
where would her identity be?
So what did she do? What could she do? She chose to
make the best of it and trust God. She must have been afraid of what was about
to happen. When did she first get a glimpse, an assurance, of God’s amazing,
sovereign purpose in it? When she found favor with the eunuch in the harem? When
the king chose her over all the others? When she was able to help Mordecai save
the life of the king and be recognized for that? We don’t know. And there is so
much more that God has in store, unfolding in subsequent chapters.
What can we learn from the life of Esther so far? I
can think of three truths that have stood out to me tin this chapter:
1. Aligning with God’s purposes may require us to
be immersed in the culture of the world.
In one way Esther effectively disappeared as a follower
of the one true God. She looked and had to act like a Persian queen, under the
complete control of a pagan ruler. But on the other hand, the witness of her
life continued, and God would still see what was in her heart. One day His work
in and through her would be acknowledged, and He would receive the glory.
2. Submitting to God and then to others will grant
us favor where we need it.
Esther’s submissive spirit is an example for all us
as we “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ,” as it says in
Ephesians. Unhealthy submission can lead to abuse, as can be seen in so many
tragic domestic violence cases. But submitting to God first will allow us to
submit to others in the right way and find the rewards that God desires.
3. If we are not self-seeking, God will be able to
place us in positions of power and influence for his glory.
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