And the young woman pleased him and won his favor. And he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her portion of food, and with seven chosen young women from the king's palace, and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem.
Esther is an orphan from a people carried off into exile. She is swept into a foreign king's palace with crowds of other young women. At once the official in charge takes to her and moves her to the front. The book of Esther never names God. So this verse raises a question: is such kindness luck, taste, or something else at work behind the scenes?
God at work without His name
Commentators read this book as the record of God at work while staying out of sight. That is the setting in which Esther wins Hegai's kindness.
William KellyNow I return to explain a little the facts traced in it. They are the grand development of secret providence, at a time when God's name cannot be named. God can work where He cannot proclaim Himself.
The kindness is not an isolated piece of good fortune. It is one move in a sequence that will matter later.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinIn all this we see the hand of the Lord. Step by step He is preparing the help His people will need to be kept safe and delivered in the coming crisis.
What the kindness gave her
The favour was concrete, not sentimental. It came as supplies, staff, and a better room.
Leslie M. GrantHegai was pleased with her. So he gave her everything needed to enhance her beauty. He also gave her seven maidens to help her get ready to meet the king. In fact, Hegai was so impressed with her that he gave her the best place in the house of the women.
Favour that did not stop with one man
Everyone who saw her reacted the same way, and it changed her standing.
F. B. HoleThe corrupt customs of those days brought large numbers of beautiful young women to Shushan for the king. Out of them all, Esther won universal favour. One of them was sure to win the king's favour. But Esther won more than that. She also won the favour of the king's chamberlain, and indeed "of all who saw her." So she rose at once into a position of extraordinary influence.
The same hand that moved Joseph and Daniel
Commentators link this moment to two earlier exiles who also pleased the men who held them. Daniel, carried off to Babylon, met the same warmth from the official over him.
Edward DennettWe now read, as explaining what follows, that "God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs" (Daniel 1:9). Again we are reminded of the similar case of Joseph. Sold into Egypt, and becoming a member of Potiphar's household, "he found grace" in his master's sight… He was later thrown into prison, where the Lord also "gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison."
So who is really at work in the man holding the power?
Hamilton SmithThe Lord was not only with Joseph, but He was for Joseph, disposing the heart of the master in favour of his servant.
A hidden woman, prepared in secret
Why did she, out of all the women there, come out on top?
H. L. RossierDid she have advantages that set her apart from all her companions? Certainly her origin would have excluded her from the start, and Mordecai, who knew how low his people had been brought, was well aware of it. So Esther is a hidden wife, but her grace and her beauty attract the sympathy and love of all. She pleased Hegai, the keeper of the women, and finds favour before him. Everyone who sees her feels the same. She pleases the king "above all the women." In her still secret character she is lifted up to the dignity of queen of the nations, in place of Vashti.
One writer treats Hegai as a picture of the Holy Spirit, preparing a people to meet the King.
Michael HardtEsther goes through a time of preparation before she can meet the king… The Holy Spirit, pictured here by Hegai, will guide and teach the true Esther in the same way. He will prepare her and bring her beauty into display. By the way, this still applies to Christians today: the Spirit needs to show us the way. We can't attain beauty based on our own thinking.
Questions the chapter leaves open
Readers ask whether Mordecai and Esther were right to go along with this. The account gives no verdict, and the crisis comes fast.
William KellyWhatever may be thought of Mordecai or of Esther in the matter, Scripture is silent here. It neither accuses nor excuses. We do not have long to wait before the vital question is raised. The Jews must perish or be delivered, beyond all outward hope, yet without sign, wonder, or miracle.
Summary
- Source. God's name is absent from the book, but His work is not: He can work where He cannot proclaim Himself.
- Gift. The favour arrives as ordinary things — supplies, seven attendants, the best place in the house of the women.
- Reach. The same favour reached everyone who saw her and lifted her into great influence.
- Pattern. Joseph in prison and Daniel in Babylon met the same welcome. The Lord was moving the heart of the man in charge.
- Purpose. Every step prepared the help His people would need in the coming crisis. Scripture stays silent on whether those involved acted rightly.