Esther 2:2-3
king's servants ............. king's <05288 04428> [king's servants.]
attractive <02896> [Let there be.]
provinces <04082> [in all the provinces.]
gather <06908> [that they may gather.]
This was the usual way in which the harem, or {seraglio,} was furnished; the finest women in the land, whether of high or low birth, were sought out and brought to the harem. They all became the king's concubines; but one was raised as chief wife, or sultana, to the throne; and her issue was especially entitled to inherit.
authority <03027> [the custody. Heb. the hand. Hege.]
[Hegai. the king's chamberlain.]
{Saris hammelech,} "the king's eunuch:" so the LXX., Vulgate, Targum, and Syriac.
cosmetics <08562> [their things.]
Esther 2:17
loving approval <02617> [favour. or, kindness. in his sight. Heb. before him. so that he set.]
Bishop Patrick observes, that those who suggest that Esther committed a great sin to come at the dignity of queen of Persia, do not consider the custom of those times and countries. Every one that the king took to his bed was married to him, and was his wife of a lower rank, as Hagar was to Abraham.
Esther 2:19
young women <01330> [the virgins.]
sitting .... king's gate <03427 04428 08179> [sat in the king's gate.]
