Esther 2:9

THE MESSAGE

Hegai 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.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The young woman pleased him and gained his favor so that he accelerated the process of the beauty treatments and the special diet that she received. He assigned seven hand-picked female servants to her from the palace and transferred her and her servants to the harem’s best quarters.

Hebrew Names Version
The maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her things for her purification, with her portions, and the seven maidens who were meet to be given her out of the king's house: and he removed her and her maidens to the best place of the house of the women.

King James Version
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.

English Standard Version
And the young woman pleased him and won his favor. And he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her portion of food, and with seven chosen young women from the king's palace, and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem.

New Century Version
Esther pleased Hegai, and he liked her. So Hegai quickly began giving Esther her beauty treatments and special food. He gave her seven servant girls chosen from the king's palace. Then he moved her and her seven servant girls to the best part of the women's quarters.

New English Translation
This young woman pleased him, and she found favor with him. He quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her rations; he also provided her with the seven specially chosen young women who were from the palace. He then transferred her and her young women to the best quarters in the harem.

Amplified Bible
Now the young woman pleased Hegai and found favor with him. So he quickly provided her with beauty preparations and her [portion of] food, and he gave her seven choice maids from the king's palace; then he transferred her and her maids to the best place in the harem.

New American Standard Bible
Now the young lady pleased him and found favor with him. So he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and food, gave her seven choice female attendants from the king's palace, and transferred her and her attendants to the best place in the harem.

World English Bible
The maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her things for her purification, with her portions, and the seven maidens who were meet to be given her out of the king's house: and he removed her and her maidens to the best place of the house of the women.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the mayde pleased him, & she founde fauour in his sight: therefore he caused her things for purification to be giuen her speedily, and her state, and seuen comely maides to be giuer her out of the Kings house, and he gaue change to her and to her maydes of the best in the house of the women.

Legacy Standard Bible
And the young lady was good in his eyes, and she advanced in lovingkindness before him. So he hurried to give her cosmetics and portions of food to her, and to give to her seven choice young women from the king's house. And he transferred her and her young women to the best place in the harem.

Berean Standard Bible
And the young woman pleased him and obtained his favor, so he quickly provided her with beauty treatments and the special diet. He assigned to her seven select maidservants from the palace and transferred her with them to the best place in the harem.

Contemporary English Version
and from the first day, Esther was his favorite. He began her beauty treatments at once. He also gave her plenty of food and seven special maids from the king's palace, and they had the best rooms.

Complete Jewish Bible
The girl pleased him and won his favor, so that he lost no time in giving her her cosmetics, her portions [of special food] and seven girls from the king's palace to attend her; he also promoted her and the girls attending her to the best place in the harem's quarters.

Darby Translation
And the maiden pleased him, and obtained favour before him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, and her portions, and the seven maidens selected to be given her, out of the king's house; and he removed her and her maids to the best [place] of the house of the women.

Easy-to-Read Version
He liked Esther. She became his favorite, so he quickly gave Esther beauty treatments and special food. He chose seven slave women from the king's palace and gave them to Esther. Then he moved Esther and her seven women servants into the best place where the king's women lived.

George Lamsa Translation
And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained favor of him; and he speedily gave her things for purification, such things which were her portion, and seven maidens who were worthy to be given her from the kings house; and he preferred her and her maidens much more than all the other women.

Good News Translation
Hegai liked Esther, and she won his favor. He lost no time in beginning her beauty treatment of massage and special diet. He gave her the best place in the harem and assigned seven young women specially chosen from the royal palace to serve her.

Lexham English Bible
The young woman pleased him and she won favor in his presence, and he quickly provided for her beauty treatment and her portion of food, with seven chosen maids to give to her from the king's palace, and he advanced her and her maids to the best part of the harem.

Literal Translation
And the young woman was good in his eyes, and she rose in favor before him. And he hastened her purifiers, and her portions, to give them to her. And seven young women were seen to be given to her out of the king's house. And he moved her andher maids to the best place in the house of the women.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
& the damsell pleased him, & she founde grace in his sighte. And he put her wt hir maydes in ye best place of ye Womes buildige.

American Standard Version
And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with her portions, and the seven maidens who were meet to be given her out of the king's house: and he removed her and her maidens to the best place of the house of the women.

Bible in Basic English
And he was pleased with the girl and was kind to her; and he quickly gave her what was needed for making her clean, and the things which were hers by right, and seven servant-girls who were to be hers from the king's house: and he had her and her servant-girls moved to the best place in the women's part of the house.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the mayden pleased hym, and she founde fauour in his sight: and he caused ornamentes to be geuen her speedyly, and such thinges as belonged to her, and appoynted her seuen comely maydens out of the kinges house, & fauoured both her and her gentlewomen singularly in the house of the women.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her ointments, with her portions, and the seven maidens, who were meet to be given her out of the king's house; and he advanced her and her maidens to the best place in the house of the women.

King James Version (1611)
And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindnesse of him, and hee speedily gaue her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seuen maidens, which were meet to be giuen her, out of the Kings house, and hee preferred her and her maids, vnto the best place of the house of the women.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the damsel pleased him, and she found favour in his sight; and he hasted to give her the things for purification, and her portion, and the seven maidens appointed her out of the palace: and he treated her and her maidens well in the women’s apartment.

English Revised Version
And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with her portions, and the seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the king's house: and he removed her and her maidens to the best place of the house of the women.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And sche pleside hym, and foond grace in his siyt, that he hastide the ournement of wymmen, and bitook to hir her partis, and seuene the faireste damesels of the kyngis hows; and he ournede and araiede bothe hir and damesels suynge hir feet.

Update Bible Version
And the maiden was good in his eyes, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with her portions, and the seven maidens who were meet to be given her out of the king's house: and he removed her and her maidens to the best place of the house of the women.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness from him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens [who were] meet to be given her, out of the king's house: and he preferred her and her maids to the best [place] of the house of the women.

New King James Version
Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor; so he readily gave beauty preparations to her, besides her allowance. Then seven choice maidservants were provided for her from the king's palace, and he moved her and her maidservants to the best place in the house of the women.

New Living Translation
Hegai was very impressed with Esther and treated her kindly. He quickly ordered a special menu for her and provided her with beauty treatments. He also assigned her seven maids specially chosen from the king's palace, and he moved her and her maids into the best place in the harem.

New Life Bible
Now the young lady pleased Hegai and she found favor with him. He was quick to give her oils and special food, and gave her seven of the best women servants from the king's special house. He moved her and her women servants to the best place in the house for the king's wives.

New Revised Standard
The girl pleased him and won his favor, and he quickly provided her with her cosmetic treatments and her portion of food, and with seven chosen maids from the king's palace, and advanced her and her maids to the best place in the harem.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and the maiden was pleasing in his eyes, and she received lovingkindness before him, and he hastened to give her, the things needed for her purification, and things apportioned her, and to give her, seven select maidens, out of the house of the king, - and he removed her and her maidens to the best place in the house of the women.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And she pleased him, and found favour in his sight. And he commanded the eunuch to hasten the women’s ornaments, and to deliver to her her part, and seven of the most beautiful maidens of the king’s house, and to adorn and deck out both her and her waiting maids.

Revised Standard Version
And the maiden pleased him and won his favor; and he quickly provided her with her ointments and her portion of food, and with seven chosen maids from the king's palace, and advanced her and her maids to the best place in the harem.

Young's Literal Translation
and the young woman is good in his eyes, and she receiveth kindness before him, and he hasteneth her purifications and her portions -- to give to her, and the seven young women who are provided -- to give to her, from the house of the king, and he changeth her and her young women to a good [place in] the house of the women.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now the young lady pleased him and found favor with him. So he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and food, gave her seven choice maids from the king's palace and transferred her and her maids to the best place in the harem.

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

she obtained: Genesis 39:21, 1 Kings 8:50, Ezra 7:6, Nehemiah 2:8, Psalms 106:46, Proverbs 16:7, Daniel 1:9, Acts 7:10

her her things: Esther 2:3, Esther 2:12

such things: Heb. her portions

preferred her: Heb. changed her.

Reciprocal: Genesis 12:15 - taken

Cross-References

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.

Deuteronomy 6:25
"It will be a set-right and put-together life for us if we make sure that we do this entire commandment in the Presence of God , our God, just as he commanded us to do."

Proverbs 11:30
A good life is a fruit-bearing tree; a violent life destroys souls.

Isaiah 44:25
He makes the magicians look ridiculous and turns fortunetellers into jokes. He makes the experts look trivial and their latest knowledge look silly. But he backs the word of his servant and confirms the counsel of his messengers. He says to Jerusalem, "Be inhabited," and to the cities of Judah, "Be rebuilt," and to the ruins, "I raise you up." He says to Ocean, "Dry up. I'm drying up your rivers." He says to Cyrus, "My shepherd— everything I want, you'll do it." He says to Jerusalem, "Be built," and to the Temple, "Be established."

Ezekiel 31:18
"‘Which of the trees of Eden came anywhere close to you in splendor and size? But you're slated to be cut down to take your place in the underworld with the trees of Eden, to be a dead log stacked with all the other dead logs, among the other uncircumcised who are dead and buried. "‘This means Pharaoh, the pompous old goat. "‘Decree of God , the Master.'"

Ezekiel 47:12
"But the river itself, on both banks, will grow fruit trees of all kinds. Their leaves won't wither, the fruit won't fail. Every month they'll bear fresh fruit because the river from the Sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing."

1 Corinthians 8:1
The question keeps coming up regarding meat that has been offered up to an idol: Should you attend meals where such meat is served, or not? We sometimes tend to think we know all we need to know to answer these kinds of questions—but sometimes our humble hearts can help us more than our proud minds. We never really know enough until we recognize that God alone knows it all.

Revelation 2:7
"Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. I'm about to call each conqueror to dinner. I'm spreading a banquet of Tree-of-Life fruit, a supper plucked from God's orchard."

Revelation 22:14
"How blessed are those who wash their robes! The Tree of Life is theirs for good, and they'll walk through the gates to the City. But outside for good are the filthy curs: sorcerers, fornicators, murderers, idolaters—all who love and live lies.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Esther 2:9. 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.