Esther 2:8-11
Esther Was Also Taken
8When the king’s command and edict had been proclaimed, many young women gathered at the citadel of Susa under the care of Hegai. Esther was also taken to the palace and placed under the care of Hegai, the custodian of the women.
9And 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.
10Esther did not reveal her people or her lineage, because Mordecai had instructed her not to do so.
11And every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn about Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her.
Berean Standard Bible
The edict has gone out and the collecting has begun. Young women arrive at the citadel of Susa from all over the empire and are put under the care of Hegai, the king's eunuch in charge of the women. Then the account says the thing it could easily have said more gently:
Esther was also taken to the palace and placed under the care of Hegai, the custodian of the women.
Taken. Not chosen, not invited, not sent for. A girl from an exiled family in a foreign capital is gathered up by the state along with everybody else who fits the description, and the book uses the plainest word it has and leaves it lying there.
Then something goes right for her, and again there is no comment. Hegai likes her. He moves quickly, gives her the beauty treatments and the special diet without waiting, assigns her seven chosen maidservants out of the palace, and shifts her and them into the best place in the harem. No reason is offered for any of it. Nothing on the page says God arranged it, and nothing on the page says he did not.
Then the one thing Esther does herself, which turns out not to be her idea either.
Esther did not reveal her people or her lineage, because Mordecai had instructed her not to do so.
She keeps quiet about who she is because Mordecai told her to, and the account sets it down flat, with no verdict attached. No praise for her obedience, no criticism of the concealment, no note on whether hiding was faithful or cowardly. Two people with almost no power made a decision about safety in a place where being known could be dangerous, and the book writes it down and moves on to the next thing.
And every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn about Esther's welfare and what was happening to her.
Every day, and he cannot go in. He has no rank at the palace, no authority over anybody there and nothing he can do for her now that she is inside, so he goes to the wall and walks, and asks whoever will speak to him how she is. A man who raised a girl as his own daughter, pacing up and down outside a building he is not allowed to enter, because it is the closest he is permitted to stand.
How We Know
Three things happen here and none of them is explained, which is the pattern the whole book runs on and a small point in favor of a record rather than a case.
Verse 8 says Esther was taken. It does not soften the verb and it does not comment on it.
Verse 9 says Hegai favored her and moved her to the best place in the harem, without giving a reason. Something goes right and the account only notes it.
Verse 10 says she hid her people because Mordecai told her to, and offers no verdict on the instruction. The same fact is repeated at 2:20, and it is still not assessed, and it becomes the thing that makes chapter 7 possible when she finally does say it.
An account arguing a case would tell us what to think about at least one of these. This one does not.
Questions
1 One word tells us how Esther got to the palace. What is it, and what does it rule out?
AnswerTaken. She was not chosen, not invited and not sent for. The state gathered her up along with the other young women who fitted the description, and the account uses the plainest word available to it.
2 Hegai favors her, and nobody says why. What do you make of that?
AnswerHe gives her the treatments and the special diet without waiting, assigns her seven maidservants and moves her to the best place in the harem, and no reason appears anywhere on the page. The account reports that it happened and stops there.
3 Why does Esther keep quiet about her family?
AnswerBecause Mordecai told her to and she did as she was told. The book records the instruction and passes no judgment on it either way. Two people with almost no power made a decision about staying safe in a place where being known could be dangerous.
4 Who is somewhere the rest of us cannot follow at the moment? Mordecai spent his days at the nearest wall they would let him stand at.
AnswerBack and forth in front of the court of the harem, trying to find out how she was. He could not go in, he had no authority and nothing to offer, and he went anyway, every day of it. Some days that is the entire list of what is available.
What This Means for Us
He walked up and down outside a wall. Mordecai could not get in, could not step in and could not protect her, so he did the one thing still open to him and showed up at the closest point he was allowed to stand, and asked after her.
Most love looks like that once the power runs out. Not rescue, but presence at the edge of what we are permitted. There is somebody in most families who is somewhere the rest cannot follow: a hospital, a decision, a season we have been shut out of. Working out what our own version of that wall is, and then going back to it the following day, is most of the job.
Prayer
Father, there are people we love that we cannot reach or help, and it is unbearable. Thank you for a man who paced outside a wall every day for a girl he could not protect. Keep us faithful at the edge of what we are allowed, and be with the ones we cannot follow. Amen.