Then the king's young men who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out 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.
Why the Servants Spoke
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.
William KellyGod'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 Gap of Years
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.
H. L. RossierAhasuerus 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.
Advice That Served a Purpose Nobody Saw
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.
C. H. MackintoshHow 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.
William KellyGod 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.
A Plan That Was Not Clean
Commentators do not treat this plan as admirable. One writer asks hard questions about Esther's part in it.
J. G. BellettNow 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 Picture Behind the Search
The change of queens also carries a larger meaning. One writer reads it as a picture of what is still to come.
William KellyVashti 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.
Summary
- 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.