Esther 2:2

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The king’s personal attendants suggested, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king.

Hebrew Names Version
Then said the king's servants who ministered to him, Let there be beautiful young virgins sought for the king:

King James Version
Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

English Standard Version
Then the king's young men who attended him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king.

New Century Version
Then the king's personal servants suggested, "Let a search be made for beautiful young girls for the king.

New English Translation
The king's servants who attended him said, "Let a search be conducted in the king's behalf for attractive young women.

Amplified Bible
Then the king's attendants, who served him, said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.

New American Standard Bible
Then the king's attendants, who served him, said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.

World English Bible
Then said the king's servants who ministered to him, Let there be beautiful young virgins sought for the king:

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the Kings seruants that ministred vnto him, sayd, Let them seeke for the King beautifull yong virgins,

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the young men of the king, who attended to him, said, "Let young virgins, beautiful in appearance, be sought for the king.

Berean Standard Bible
Then the king's attendants proposed, "Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king,

Contemporary English Version
Then the king's personal servants said: Your Majesty, a search must be made to find you some beautiful young women.

Complete Jewish Bible
The king's servants attending him said, "A search should be made for young, good-looking virgins.

Darby Translation
Then said the king's servants that attended upon him, Let there be maidens, virgins of beautiful countenance, sought for the king;

Easy-to-Read Version
Then the king's personal servants had a suggestion. They said, "Search for beautiful young virgins for the king.

George Lamsa Translation
Then the kings servants and his ministers said to him, Let there be beautiful young virgins sought for the king;

Good News Translation
So some of the king's advisers who were close to him suggested, "Why don't you make a search to find some beautiful young virgins?

Lexham English Bible
And the king's servants attending him said, "Let them seek attractive young virgins for the king.

Literal Translation
And the king's servants who served him said, Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde the kynges seruauntes: Let there be fayre yonge virgins soughte for the kynge,

American Standard Version
Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

Bible in Basic English
Then the servants who were waiting on the king said to him, Let search be made for some fair young virgins for the king:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then sayde the kinges seruauntes that ministred vnto hym: Let there be faire young virgins sought for the king,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him: 'Let there be sought for the king young virgins fair to look on;

King James Version (1611)
Then saide the kings seruants, that ministred vnto him, Let there bee faire yong virgins sought for the king:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Then the servants of the king said, Let there be sought for the king chaste and beautiful young virgins.

English Revised Version
Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the children and the mynystris of the kyng seiden to `the kyng, Damyselis, virgyns `and faire, be souyt to the kyng; and `men ben sent,

Update Bible Version
Then the king's attendants that ministered to him said, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

Webster's Bible Translation
Then said the king's servants that ministered to him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

New King James Version
Then the king's servants who attended him said: "Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king;

New Living Translation
So his personal attendants suggested, "Let us search the empire to find beautiful young virgins for the king.

New Life Bible
Then the king's servants who served him said, "Let beautiful young women be found for the king.

New Revised Standard
Then the king's servants who attended him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said the young men of the king, who waited upon him, - Let them seek out for the king young virgins, of pleasing appearance;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the king’s servants and his officers said: Let young women be sought for the king, virgins and beautiful,

Revised Standard Version
Then the king's servants who attended him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king.

Young's Literal Translation
and servants of the king, his ministers, say, `Let them seek for the king young women, virgins, of good appearance,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the king's attendants, who served him, said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.

Contextual Overview

¹Later, when King Xerxes' anger had cooled and he was having second thoughts about what Vashti had done and what he had ordered against her, the king's young attendants stepped in and got the ball rolling: "Let's begin a search for beautiful young virgins for the king. Let the king appoint officials in every province of his kingdom to bring every beautiful young virgin to the palace complex of Susa and to the harem run by Hegai, the king's eunuch who oversees the women; he will put them through their beauty treatments. Then let the girl who best pleases the king be made queen in place of Vashti." The king liked this advice and took it. ⁵Now there was a Jew who lived in the palace complex in Susa. His name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish—a Benjaminite. His ancestors had been taken from Jerusalem with the exiles and carried off with King Jehoiachin of Judah by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon into exile. Mordecai had reared his cousin Hadassah, otherwise known as Esther, since she had no father or mother. The girl had a good figure and a beautiful face. After her parents died, Mordecai had adopted her. ⁸ When the king's order had been publicly posted, many young girls were brought to the palace complex of Susa and given over to Hegai who was overseer of the women. Esther was among them. ⁹Hegai liked Esther and took a special interest in her. Right off he started her beauty treatments, ordered special food, assigned her seven personal maids from the palace, and put her and her maids in the best rooms in the harem. Esther didn't say anything about her family and racial background because Mordecai had told her not to. ¹¹ Every day Mordecai strolled beside the court of the harem to find out how Esther was and get news of what she was doing. ¹²Each girl's turn came to go in to King Xerxes after she had completed the twelve months of prescribed beauty treatments—six months' treatment with oil of myrrh followed by six months with perfumes and various cosmetics. When it was time for the girl to go to the king, she was given whatever she wanted to take with her when she left the harem for the king's quarters. She would go there in the evening; in the morning she would return to a second harem overseen by Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch in charge of the concubines. She never again went back to the king unless the king took a special liking to her and asked for her by name. ¹⁵ When it was Esther's turn to go to the king (Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had adopted her as his daughter), she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king's eunuch in charge of the harem, had recommended. Esther, just as she was, won the admiration of everyone who saw her. ¹⁶ She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal palace in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of the king's reign. ¹⁷The king fell in love with Esther far more than with any of his other women or any of the other virgins—he was totally smitten by her. He placed a royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. Then the king gave a great banquet for all his nobles and officials—"Esther's Banquet." He proclaimed a holiday for all the provinces and handed out gifts with royal generosity. ¹⁹On one of the occasions when the virgins were being gathered together, Mordecai was sitting at the King's Gate. All this time, Esther had kept her family background and race a secret as Mordecai had ordered; Esther still did what Mordecai told her, just as when she was being raised by him.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

king's servants: Esther 1:10, Esther 1:14, Esther 6:14

Let there be: Genesis 12:14, 1 Kings 1:2

Reciprocal: Genesis 12:15 - princes 1 Kings 1:3 - So 1 Kings 12:14 - the counsel

Cross-References

Genesis 1:31
God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! It was evening, it was morning— Day Six.

Genesis 2:8
Then God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. He put the Man he had just made in it. God made all kinds of trees grow from the ground, trees beautiful to look at and good to eat. The Tree-of-Life was in the middle of the garden, also the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.

Exodus 23:12
"Work for six days and rest the seventh so your ox and donkey may rest and your servant and migrant workers may have time to get their needed rest.

Isaiah 58:13
"If you watch your step on the Sabbath and don't use my holy day for personal advantage, If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy, God 's holy day as a celebration, If you honor it by refusing ‘business as usual,' making money, running here and there— Then you'll be free to enjoy God ! Oh, I'll make you ride high and soar above it all. I'll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob." Yes! God says so!

John 5:17
But Jesus defended himself. "My Father is working straight through, even on the Sabbath. So am I."

Hebrews 4:4
When the Promises Are Mixed with Faith For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God's goal for us, we need to be careful that we're not disqualified. We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn't do them a bit of good because they didn't receive the promises with faith. If we believe, though, we'll experience that state of resting. But not if we don't have faith. Remember that God said, Exasperated, I vowed, "They'll never get where they're going, never be able to sit down and rest." God made that vow, even though he'd finished his part before the foundation of the world. Somewhere it's written, "God rested the seventh day, having completed his work," but in this other text he says, "They'll never be able to sit down and rest." So this promise has not yet been fulfilled. Those earlier ones never did get to the place of rest because they were disobedient. God keeps renewing the promise and setting the date as today, just as he did in David's psalm, centuries later than the original invitation: Today, please listen, don't turn a deaf ear... And so this is still a live promise. It wasn't canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn't keep renewing the appointment for "today." The promise of "arrival" and "rest" is still there for God's people. God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we'll surely rest with God. So let's keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience. God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God's Word. We can't get away from it—no matter what. Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him,.... Fearing that, if Vashti should be restored, vengeance would be taken on them; or however to remove the grief and melancholy of the king, they gave the following advice:

let there be fair young virgins sought for the king; that he might enjoy them, and choose one of them, the most agreeable to him, and put her in the room of Vashti.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Esther 2:2. Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king — 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 specially entitled to inherit.