Ester 2:2

2:2 The king’s servants who attended him said, “Let a search be conducted in the king’s behalf for attractive young women. ¹ 

Ester 2:19

Mordecai Learns of a Plot against the King

2:19 Now when the young women were being gathered again, ²  Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. ³ 

Ester 3:14

3:14 A copy of this edict was to be presented as law throughout every province; it was to be made known to all the inhabitants, ⁴  so that they would be prepared for this day.

Ester 6:7

6:7 So Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king wishes to honor,

[2:2]  ¹ tn Heb “young women, virgins, good of form.” The same phrase also occurs in v. 3.

[2:19]  ² tc The LXX does not include the words “Now when the young women were being gathered again.” The Hebrew word שֵׁנִית (shenit, “a second time”) is difficult in v. 19, but apparently it refers to a subsequent regathering of the women to the harem.

[2:19]  ³ sn That Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate apparently means that he was a high-ranking government official. It was at the city gate where important business was transacted. Being in this position afforded Mordecai an opportunity to become aware of the plot against the king’s life, although the author does not include the particular details of how this information first came to Mordecai’s attention.

[3:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “peoples” (so NASB, NRSV).