Or, Fit to Please a King
Scripture: Esther 2:1-18
Date: September 7, 2025
Speaker: Sean Higgins
We are still in the setup part of this story. The theme of the book is the covenant people protected by Providence, but we’re through chapter 1 and we haven’t heard about any Jews yet or about any threats against them. We will meet two of the three remaining key characters in this chapter, who both happen to be Jews, though, at least in this chapter, they keep that part of their identity hidden.
Esther 2 is like a mule wearing mascara: it carries a lot of weight but the closer you look the less pretty it is. This part of the story is not fun, though of course it’s no less providential. It’s not romantic, nor is it a comedy for most involved. The only way to view anything here as glamorous is through part-egesis, that is, only looking at parts of the text.
Two comments on the context. The last paragraph of chapter 2 concerns a different episode than the first 18 verses. It’s a bridge not just to the next chapter, but another providential brick in the wall for the main conflict in the book. We’ll let verses 19-23 introduce the next message. And also for context, we should note the references to time. The chapter opens with “after these things,” and those “things” took place in the third year of Ahasuerus’ reign (1:3). The climax of this little plot takes place in the tenth month of the seventh year of his reign (2:16). Plus part of the action includes twelve months of beautification for a whole harem. The point being, the royal crown had no queen for four years.
A lot happened in those four years that this book does not include. We know from Herodotus and other histories that Ahasuerus, a.k.a. Xerxes, did muster the army of the Medes and Persians and crossed the Hellespont and attacked Greece and lost. Most of his money was gone and his reputation caked with mud.
To one extent or another, Ahasuerus is licking his wounds like a dog after being neutered. Whatever contempt he earned from banishing Vashti and broadcasting it throughout the empire, his military losses didn’t help. He’s humbled, and he’s lonely.
We can see two parts in verses 1-18, the plan in general and then how it affected two people in particular (1-11), followed by the process and also how it affected one person in particular (12-18).
If you were a king, how difficult would it be to find a queen? It could be harder than you think, though it probably also doesn’t need to be as expensive and time consuming as the plan to please the king is here.
We note that Ahasuerus seems almost regretful. He wasn’t angry anymore, but now he looks around and realizes he’s lonely. Maybe there were political motivations, a benefit to having a queen, though no motivation like that is mentioned. It would be hard to argue that the plan he agrees to is for sake of the empire’s good.
He misses Vashti, but he made a law that she couldn’t see him again. And the guys around him make sure that he doesn’t try to figure out a way to get Vashti back, because who would she have taken it out on? So they propose something that the king could do, though they don’t stop to consider if he should.
They will create a new government office, the Department of Beautification. Officials throughout the empire ( in all the provinces) will search and then secure and then send any good-looking single ladies to Susa (verse 3). This will not be a volunteer opportunity. The women will be sought out and gathered and brought under custody.
The desired demographic is beautiful young virgins, unmarried females, not sure how young would be too young. How much of a head’s up did families have? Could they successfully hide their pretty daughters somewhere? Were there some fast weddings with less prudent marriages? Did some of the young women think of it as a possible rags to riches upward social climb? How many realized what the stakes would be if they weren’t selected by the king?
Herodotus wrote that 500 young boys were gathered every year and castrated. As one commentator observed (Jones), maybe it would be better to be a girl after all.
Let their cosmetics be given them. A smearing with oil or ointment as an aid to beauty, skin treatments, facials, also called “beauty treatments” (NASB).
The plan was fit to please a king.
We finally meet the crucial cousins.
Mordecai had relatives who had been taken captive under Nebuchadnezzar, and this is a Babylonian name (similar to those given in Daniel 1:7). He was living in the capital city, so to be clear, he had not returned to Israel.
Perhaps one reason for staying was because he was taking care of his uncle’s daughter. We know her as Esther, the Babylonian version of her name, perhaps related to their goddess Ishtar. Her name in Hebrew is Hadassah, which means “myrtle.” There are prophecies of myrtle — with their green leaves and white flowers and dark berries — that replace brier as a sign of the Lord’s giving life and joy (Isaiah 55:13, Baldwin). That she is given two names in the story suggests that she was caught between two cultures.
Whatever other qualities she had, she was “lovely in form and features” (NIV). She was more than just a pretty face.
So she was taken along with many other young women into custody. All the women were taken care of, but they were not free. As we’ll see, they would never be free again.
Once inside the palace Esther stood out. She gained favor with the man in charge of the women, a man named Hegai (verses 8-9). He even gave her a team of (more homely?) young women to serve her.
And following her cousin’s counsel she did not reveal that she was a Jew (verse 10). Not only do we want to know why, we probably should ask if it was okay. Was she even trying to follow the Jewish laws, including what she ate and what she did on the Sabbath?
This is an ugly part after the process of beautification.
There are estimates on how many women we’re talking about. If you calculated one woman per night over four years, you’d have 1460. The Jewish historian Josephus gave a number closer to 400, but he didn’t reveal his source.
The women were given The Treatment™. It was a twelve month program, half a year with oil of myrrh and half of year with spices and ointments for women (verse 12). Even though the middle east has been known for its perfumes and such, this would be expensive: twelve months of perfume for one night of performance.
There were two groups: the Already’s and the Not-Yets. You got one shot, one night with the king. We can easily speculate that some days the king was busy, some days he was bored, some days he was more drunk, some days he was distracted. Were there some women that he had taken away as soon as he saw them?
And what does it mean that she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem? What kinds of things could she take with her?
Did they talk? Flirt? Play games? Just get in bed?
But in the morning she would be moved to the second group, under the custody of Shaashgaz (verse 14), still belonging to the king but likely to never seek the king again. Were there any he asked for a second or third time? We’re not told. They could not leave, they could not get married to someone else, they lived with all the other leftover ladies, and whatever children came about.
Then the turn came for Esther (verse 15). What did she take with her? Nothing except what Hegai the king’s eunuch…advised.
What about her did the king fall in love with? Was this love at first night?
It is a problem that Hadassah spent the night with the king; isn’t fornication sin? It is a problem that Hadassah married the king; isn’t a Jew marrying a Gentile sin?
The fact is that the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. (verse 17)
Ahasuerus throws another great feast (verse 18). The ESV translates that he “granted a remission of taxes” while the NASB understands that he “made a holiday.” He relieved some sort of burden for sake of a banquet.
We know that the heart of the king is in the hands of God and that God turns it wherever He wants (Proverbs 21:1). This is an example of why people say that God draws straight lines with crooked sticks. Even if Esther was reluctant, she still compromised, and yet God was at work.
This is a story of pretty people that is not pretty, of powerful people ruled by their passions not principles.
“The author is carefully stacking the odds against the success of Esther and Mordecai” (Jones).
The moral of the story is that God uses characters who aren’t obviously full of morals. Esther was fit — by God — to please a king, and He got her into position.
By God’s grace you are being filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him (Colossians 1:9-10).
As a Christian YOU are being FIT to please the King of kings. Align all your conduct with His cares.
Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible. (Ephesians 6:23–24 ESV)