Esther 2:7

2:7 Now he was acting as the guardian ¹  of Hadassah ²  (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, for neither her father nor her mother was alive. ³  This young woman was very attractive and had a beautiful figure. ⁴  When her father and mother died, Mordecai had raised her ⁵  as if she were his own daughter.

Esther 2:9

2:9 This young woman pleased him, ⁶  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 ⁷  young women who were from the palace. He then transferred her and her young women to the best quarters in the harem. ⁸ 

Esther 2:12

2:12 At the end of the twelve months that were required for the women, ⁹  when the turn of each young woman arrived to go to King Ahasuerus – for in this way they had to fulfill their time of cosmetic treatment: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfume and various ointments used by women –

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¹ tn According to HALOT 64 s.v. II אמן the term אֹמֵן (’omen) means: (1) “attendant” of children (Num 11:12; Isa 49:23); (2) “guardian” (2 Kgs 10:1, 5; Esth 2:7); (3) “nurse-maid” (2 Sam 4:4; Ruth 4:16); and (4) “to look after” (Isa 60:4; Lam 4:5). Older lexicons did not distinguish this root from the homonym I אָמַן (’aman, “to support; to confirm”; cf. BDB 52 s.v. אָמַן). This is reflected in a number of translations by use of a phrase like “brought up” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NIV) or “bringing up” (NASB).

² sn Hadassah is a Jewish name that probably means “myrtle”; the name Esther probably derives from the Persian word for “star,” although some scholars derive it from the name of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. Esther is not the only biblical character for whom two different names were used. Daniel (renamed Belteshazzar) and his three friends Hananiah (renamed Shadrach), Mishael (renamed Meshach), and Azariah (renamed Abednego) were also given different names by their captors.

³ tn Heb “for there was not to her father or mother.” This is universally understood to mean Esther’s father and mother were no longer alive.

⁴ tn Heb “beautiful of form.” The Hebrew noun תֹּאַר (to’ar, “form; shape”) is used elsewhere to describe the physical bodily shape of a beautiful woman (Gen 29:17; Deut 21:11; 1 Sam 25:3); see BDB 1061 s.v. Cf. TEV “had a good figure.”

⁵ tn Heb “had taken her to him.” The Hebrew verb לָקַח (laqakh, “to take”) describes Mordecai adopting Esther and treating her like his own daughter: “to take as one’s own property” as a daughter (HALOT 534 s.v. I לקח 6).

⁶ tn Heb “was good in his eyes”; NLT “Hegai was very impressed with Esther.”

⁷ tn Heb “being looked at (with favor).”

⁸ tn Heb “of the house of the women” (so KJV, ASV). So also in vv. 11, 13, 14.

⁹ tc The LXX does not include the words “that were required for the women.”

tn Heb “to be to her according to the law of the women”; NASB “under the regulations for the women.”