king for his liking; for it seems that these virgins came
in turns to him, according to the time they had been
in the house; as did the wives of the kings of Persia,
as Herodotus relates {p}: .for so were the days of their
purifications accomplished; that is, in the space of 12
months, which were thus divided: to wit, six months
with oil of myrrh; which Ben Melech interprets of
musk: and six month.s with sweet odours ; the former
was used to make the skin smooth and soft, and these
to remove all ill scents th rough sweat, or any other cause:
and with other things for the purifying of women: by
bathing, rubbing, &c. and such a space of time was
observed not only for the thorough purification of them,
but partly was of state and grandeur, and partly that
it might be a clear case they were not with-child by
another, before they came to the king.
Vet. 13. Thes thus came every virgin unto the king,
&c.] When her 12 months were up, and she was
purified in the manner before observed: whatsoever she
desired was given her to go uith her out of the house o
the women unto the king's house; whatever she
manded the chamberlain was obliged to furnish her
with, or grant it to her, whether for ornament, as
jewels, rich apparel, &c. or for attendance; whatever
prince or peer she required to accompany her to the
king, was to be obtained for her, as the Targum: and
every thing for mirth, all kinds of songs, or instruments
ú of music, as Jarchi.
Vet. 14. In the evening she went, and on the morrow
she returned into the second house of the women, &c.]
Or the other apartment of the house of the worries,
where were kept those the king had made Iris con-
cubines or secondary wives. Aben Ezra interprets it
the second time, and so the Targum by again: to the
custody of Shaashgaz the king's chamberlain, which kept
the concubines; or' which the kings of Persia had a
great number; Darius, whotn Alexander conquered,
had 360 {q}: she came in unto the king no more, except
the king delighted in her, and that she was called by
name; but remained .shut up in the house, and might
not lie with, nor be married to, another man.
Vet. 1.5. Now when the turn of Esther the daughtcr
ofAbihail, &c.] For this was her father's name, and
not Aminadab, as the Septuagint version: the uncle of
Mordecai, who had takes herJbr his daughter; which
makes it quite cleat' that Mordecai was not Esther's
uncle, as Josephus, but her own cousin: now when
her turn was come to go in usto the king; which the
virgins under purification took by turns, vet. 14. she
required nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain,
the keeper of the women, appointed; what he ordered
her to have, or to do, she submitted to, being in his
hands, and so obeyed his orders; but more she asked
not, either for ornament or attendance, being not at
all solicitous whether the king liked her or not; for it
was not of choice, but by constraint, she went unto
him; nor needed she any thing to recommend her,
her virtue, modesty, and beauty, were sufficient: and
.Esther obtained favour of all them that looked upon her:
when she came to court, the eyes of all were attracted
to her; all' admired her beauty, her innocent and
modest look, and her graceful mien and deportment.
Ver. 16. So Esther was taken unto King Ahasuerus,
i.oto his house-royal, &c.] Did not return on the mor-
row to the house of the women, as those who only
became the king's concubines did, vet. 14. but she
was taken to be his wife, and designed for his queen,
and so was retained in his palace, and placed in an
apartment suitable to the dignity she was about to be
advanced unto: and this was done in the tenth month,
which is the month Tebeth ; and answers to part or'
December and part of January; not the lc2. th month
Adar, as the Septuagint version, and so Josephus [q},
contrary to the original text: either that law had not
obtained among the Persians, or the king thought
himself not bound by it, which forbid marriage at any
other tithe than the beginning of' the vernal equinox":
in the 7th .year of his reign; and the divorce of Vashti
being in the third year of his reign, it was four years
before Esther was taken by him; who, if Xerxes, it
may be accounted for by his preparation for, and en-
gagement in, a war with Greece, which took him up
all this time; and from whence he returned in the
seventh year of his reign, at the beginning of it, and
married Esther at the close of it, see ver. 1. as may be
suggested.
Ver. 17. And the king loved Esther above all the wo-
men, &c.] The virgins he made his concubines, as
next explained; though Jarchi interprets it of' married
women, for such he supposes were gathered and
brought to him, as well as virgins: and she obtained
grace and fayour in his sight more than all the virgins;
who had been purified, and in their turns brought to
him: so that he set the ro!/al crown upon her head, and
made her queen instead of Vashti ; declared her queen,
and gave her all the ensigns of royalty: so it was usual
with the eastern kings to put a crown or diadem on
the heads of their wives at the time of marriage, and
declare them queens '.
Ver. 18. Then the king made a great feast unto all
his princes and servants, even Esther's .feast, &c.] A.
feast to all his nobles, courtiers, and miustcrs of state,
on account of his marriage with Esther; which, ac-
cording to the Greek version, was held seven days;
but, according to Josephus, it lasted a whole month {t}:
and he made a release to the provinces; of taxes and
tribute due to him, as was the custom of the kings of
Persia when they came to the throne, as Herodotus{u}
relates; so Smerdis the magus, that monnted the
throne after Cambyses, pretending to be his brother,
released them for three years to come "{w}; and Grotius
says kings used to do it at their marriage, but gives
no instance of it: and gave gifts: according to the
latter Targnm, to the provinces, all of them, that he
might be sure t. hat the people of Esther shared his
fayours, who were as yet unknown; but rather these
gifts were given to his nobles, or it mav be to Esther;
so the former Targum," he gave to her a gift and
"portion:" according to the state of the king ; his
royal ability and muniticence, and suitable to his


{p} Thalia, sive, l. 3. c. 69.
{q} Curt. Hist. l. 3. c. 3.
{q} Ut supra
{r} Strabo. Geograph. l. 1. p. 504.
{s} Vid. Paschalium de Coronis, l. 10. c. 8. p. 689.
{t} Ut supra.
{u} Erato, sive, l. 6. c. 59.
{w} Thalia, sive, l. 3. c. 67.