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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Esther 2:8 - 2:8
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When, then, the king's commandment and decree was heard, i.e., proclaimed throughout the kingdom, and many maidens gathered together in Susa, Esther also was received into the royal harem, under the keeping of Hegai. The maiden pleased him and won his favour (חֶסֶד נָשָׂא, to bear away love, i.e., to obtain favour, synonymous with חֵן נָשָׂא, Est 2:15 and Est 5:2). וגו וַיְבַהֵל, and he hastened to give her her ointments for purification, and the seven maidens appointed to her from the king's house. The infinitives לָהּ לָתֶת are, according to the Aramaean idiom, placed after their objects and dependent on יְבַהֵל. On תַּמְרוּקִים, see on Est 2:3. מָנֹות, portions, are here portions of food, as in Est 9:19, Est 9:22, and 1Sa 1:4. The seven maidens (הַנְּעָרֹות with the article) are the maids appointed to wait upon a young virgin selected for the king. The participle רְאֻיֹּות: chosen for a particular purpose-in the Talmud and rabbinical Hebrew רָאוּי, dignus, decens, conveniens, - occurs only here. יְשַׁנֶּהָ, he changed her and her maids into the best of the house of the women, i.e., he took them out of the ordinary rooms and placed them in the best apartments, probably in the state-rooms, where those who were accustomed to be brought to the king used to dwell.