Then said the king's servants that attended upon him, Let there be maidens, virgins of beautiful countenance, sought for the king;
The queen's place stands empty, and it is the king's attendants — not the king — who first speak up with a plan to fill it. It is a proposal made for palace reasons. In a book that never names God, it becomes the opening move in the rescue of a whole people.
The men who suggested the search were protecting themselves. The king had put away Queen Vashti. These men feared he might take her back, and that a restored queen would put them in danger.
God's plan of providence moves plainly forward here. That plan was to shield the Jews from the destruction coming on them, unworthy as they were, and to punish their relentless enemies. Nothing could have seemed less connected with it than the Persian story of the previous chapter. That story ended with the king putting Vashti away. A further step was now taken. A high one was put down, a lowly one is lifted up. But God alone worked in this secretly. The king's servants had no such outcome in view, any more than the king himself. They were afraid that Ahasuerus might break the policy of the empire. They also feared that restoring the queen would put them in immediate danger. So they propose that the king choose as his wife the most beautiful young woman in his lands, whoever pleased him best.
The king's anger had cooled, and that took time. He had been away on campaign, and years passed before he thought about a new queen.
Ahasuerus had returned from his expedition. Several years had passed since the events reported in Esther 1 (see Esther 1:3; Esther 2:16). He remembered what Vashti had done. Taken up with other cares and more pressing interests, he had given his anger time to settle. Now he had leisure to think about his family line and the civil ordering of his kingdom. He followed the advice of his counsellors. From every country in his empire, "beautiful young virgins" were brought to Shushan, so that the king might choose one to replace Vashti.
This is a book where God's name never appears — and that silence is the point. The chain of ordinary events, including this piece of court advice, was carrying a purpose the speakers knew nothing about.
How clearly we see all this in the Book of Esther. Vashti's beauty, the king's pride in it, his improper command, her indignant refusal, the advice of the king's counsellors — these are all simply the unfolding of the Lord's ripening purposes. Of "all the fair young virgins gathered at Shushan the palace," not one may win the king's heart except Esther. She is the daughter of an obscure Jewish house, a desolate orphan.
The same writer adds that God is behind the scenes: "Though His name is not known or acknowledged by the children of earth, His finger is seen."
Another writer applies this to the search commanded here.
God can work where He cannot proclaim Himself. This shows itself in a striking way in the command to seek out young women for the king, so that he could take his choice. Among them, in Shushan the palace, was a certain Jew named Mordecai.
Commentators do not treat this plan as admirable. One writer asks hard questions about Esther's part in it.
Now the question may arise: how far can one of the Jews take advantage of such an occasion? Does holiness make use of corruption? Can the people of God forget their separation to Him? And yet Esther agrees to go before the king at this time, in company with all the daughters of his uncircumcised subjects!
Another writer answers by pointing to the low state of the people themselves. They had "virtually forgotten what was becoming to Jewish character." Yet God still cared for them, "though He could not associate His name with them at the time" (Leslie M. Grant).
The change of queens also carries a larger meaning. One writer reads it as a picture of what is still to come.
Vashti is the Gentile wife. The king puts her away for her disobedience and her failure to display her beauty before the world. Displaying that beauty is what Christendom ought to do. The Gentile, I say, will be broken off and dismissed, and the Jew will be brought in. The call of Esther represents this. She becomes the object of the great king's affection.
- Motive. The servants who proposed the search were guarding their own necks. They never saw where it would lead.
- Timing. Years away on campaign and a cooled temper had to pass before the king looked for a new queen.
- Silence. God's name never appears in this book. He works unnamed, behind advisers and kings who never mention Him.
- Honesty. Writers ask whether this custom was any place for a daughter of Israel. God worked through it without putting His name to it.
- Picture. One queen sent away and another chosen pictures a larger change: the failed witness set aside, and the Jew brought in.
and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the young virgins of beautiful countenance to Shushan the fortress, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hegai the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given.
A king has banished his queen, and his advisers propose how to replace her. It is palace policy with no mention of God in it — yet it is the door through which a Jewish girl walks into the throne room of the empire.
The men who proposed this plan were protecting themselves, not planning anything for God's people.
God's providence was moving to protect the Jews from the destruction hanging over them and to punish their enemies. Nothing could have seemed less connected with that than the Persian story of the chapter before, which ended with the king sending Vashti away. A further step was now taken. A lofty one was put down, a lowly one is exalted. But God alone worked in this secretly. The king's servants had no outcome in view, any more than the king himself. They were afraid that Ahasuerus might overturn the policy of the empire. They were afraid too that bringing the queen back would put them in immediate danger. So they propose that the king choose as his wife the most beautiful young woman in his kingdom, whoever pleased him best.
This plan was not invented for the occasion.
Then the courtiers made their suggestions, and they fit perfectly with the customs of Persia, still practised by rulers in the East. The king was well pleased with this suggestion.
The verse ends by ordering beauty treatments for the women.
All of the women applicants were given 12 months of preparation! (v. 12). So the unbelieving world thinks it can improve by artificial means on the beauty of those God has created. Very likely the king would have been just as impressed with Esther without this long delay. Hegai gave her the best place among the women right from the start.
God is never named in this book.
It has often been remarked that the name of God is not found in the Book of Esther. This is characteristic. God does not show Himself. The government of the world had fallen to that throne. But behind its power and its mistakes, God holds the reins by His providence. He watches over the carrying out of His purposes and over everything needed to fulfil them. And He cares for His people, whatever their condition may be or the power of their enemies. Happy people!
Esther had no say in any of it.
These ways of divine Providence toward Israel were secretly preparing the future reign of His people over the nations. Yet look how humiliated Israel was in her actual condition! We see the Jewish wife handed over by force to the king of the Gentiles, like a slave someone disposes of, without anyone asking her! Her will counts for nothing in this alliance; she is forced into it. Every other young woman in the empire might have wanted such a position. Esther could not want it.
Commentators differ. One sees Esther as free from blame, because the whole nation was out of its proper place:
The people of God were not in their proper place when those strange events happened, and that is what justifies them… Esther is no more blamed for going to the king of Persia than Joseph was for marrying Asenath in Egypt, or Moses for marrying Zipporah in Midian.
Another questions the whole project while still tracing God's care through it:
We may rightly question whether a Jewish woman should think of marrying a Persian, king or not. We may also question whether Mordecai should encourage such a union. But the Jews were in such a state that they had nearly forgotten what suited Jewish character… On the other hand, God cared about the Jews too, though He could not associate His name with them at the time.
Some read this long preparation as a picture of a future time for the faithful remnant of Israel.
Esther undergoes a time of preparation before she can meet the king. In the same way, there will be a preparation time for the remnant. The Holy Spirit, pictured here in Hegai, will guide and instruct the true Esther in her preparation and bring out her beauty. This still applies to Christians today: the Spirit needs to show us the way. We can't attain beauty based on our own thinking.
- Hidden God. God's name never appears in this book. He does not show Himself, but He holds the reins behind a throne that has forgotten Him.
- Hidden motive. Frightened courtiers proposed the search for a new queen to protect themselves. Not one of them had God's people in view.
- Hidden custom. An ordinary Persian practice — officers, a house of women, a keeper, a year of beauty treatments — became the road by which a Jewish girl reached the crown.
- Hidden cost. Officers took Esther; no one asked her. Providence was at work, but her position was a humiliation, not a prize.
- Hidden future. Commentators differ on whether she should have gone at all, yet agree God's care ran through it. Some see in Hegai's work a picture of the Spirit forming a beauty we cannot produce ourselves.