[Esther 2] Act 1 Scene 2: The Heroes Are Introduced and Strategically Placed

In Esther 1, King Xerxes and Queen Vashti are introduced. But they aren’t the only two characters in the story. There are two more characters we will learn about today: Esther and Mordecai. In Esther 1, we saw how Vashti exiting had an important impact on the story. In Esther 2, we’ll see how Esther and Mordecai enter the story in an important place. So we must ask ourselves, “How are the heroes in Esther 2 strategically placed?”

Start off by reading Esther 2:1-4. A phrase that sticks out to me is “the king’s fury subsided.” Perhaps it means the king waited for his anger to settle down to make a judgment. Do you think King Xerxes might be regretting his decision? Maybe he is because he is no longer drunk and he made a quick movement. Maybe not because he is just waiting to make a sound decision. I think it could either way. Something I do want to point out in these verses is that this is an empire-wide search. This means that every young virgin girl, from Greece to Egypt to Rome, to even including the land that use to be Israel. But this also includes the girls in Susa.

So here enters Esther and Mordecai. Move on to Esther 2:5-7 to meet them. Now we officially know Mordecai is from the tribe of Benjamin. And with that we know Mordecai’s family was sent into exile. An interesting point I may point out is Mordecai’s family line has some interesting names. Kish is the name of King Saul’s father. Shimei was an advisor to King David. The term “the son of” in the Hebrew language simply means a descendant, if taken a little figuratively. Now if we are taking the term “the son of” more literally, it’s still possible he’s a relative of these men because names of famous family members were recycled. Either way, Mordecai and his family had famous family members, and maybe even a direct relative of a brother of King Saul. The other person introduced is who we know as Esther, but before this story was called Hadasseh. I find it funny that Esther has become a Jewish name, but its origins are really either Babylonian or Persian, and not Jewish. The Jewish name is Hadasseh, which means myrtle. Whether the name Esther has Babylonian origin or Persian origin, the name comes from the word “Isthar” means “star.” Historians believe that is linked to what we call Venus, what the ancients thought was the most beautiful “star.” Either way, Esther is seen as beautiful. The connection between our two heroes is that when Esther’s mother and father die, for untold reasons, Mordecai takes his cousin in with him and treats her like direct family.

I believe Esther’s beauty is a important part of these chapter, and the whole book as well. I believe Esther’s beauty is part a bigger picture. Esther is a charming woman, in both looks and personality. Read Esther 2:8-11 and you’ll see what I mean. What happens is when Esther is taken in as a possible virgin to become queen, she is put under the care of Hegai, a eunuch. Under Hegai, she wins over his favor, and thus Hegai gives her special treatment. One of the special treatments is that Esther and Mordecai can communicate with each other by sending messages back and forth.

The process to become a queen is a long one. Read Esther 2:12-14 to see what Esther had to go through. The first step is about a half a year of oil and myrrh. This is what they used to bathe in Persian times. Remember, the virgins were not chosen based on their wealth on social status. Some of them could have been the poorest of poor, who have been living on the streets. They would have smelled poorly. After those 6 months, it’s another 6 months of perfume and cosmetics. It’s another half year on focusing on just becoming beautiful. We’re already up to a yearTo prepare for her night with the king, she is given any clothing or jewelry she wants. She dressed the way she knew best. It seems as if she has access to riches they she wants, so she probably would go all out. Next, she spends the night with the king. and you can guess what that means. If you can’t, the next step will give it away. The last step is the woman goes to another part of the harem, under the care of Shashgaz. I’m not going to lie to you. That part of the harem is probably for the girls who are not virgins. So if they go from the part of the harem for the virgins to the part that is for non-virgins, you should be able to figure out what happens with the night with the king. Going back to our canonicity question, this passage is used both in favor and against Esther. You can probably guess how the critics would speak against it. They would be concerned about the year of preparation. Does it really take six months to bathe with oil and myrrh? Does it really take six months of perfume and cosmetics? It seems too long. How could we use this as a strength for Esther? Well, the author is well informed about the customs of the day. This has to be how things went because the author is able to give good detail about what happened here.

Back to Esther, we continue to see her win favor in verses 15 to 18. First we see that while every women seems to be maxing out what she can take, Esther takes a small minimum. The result is Esther wins over everyone’s favor. Then she presents himself to the king, and she wins over his favor as well. This makes Esther queen, and everyone celebrates with more feasting.

A majority of this chapter focuses on Esther being made queen, but another little story happens in Esther chapter 2. It goes back to Mordecai. Mordecai is at the king’s gate. The king’s gate is the most important and busiest place in the marketplace and the whole city of Susa. A lot of talk happens here. Among the talk, Mordecai overhears an assassination attempt on King Xerxes. Two men are attempting to kill King Xerxes. So what happens is Mordecai tells Queen Esther, and Queen Esther tells King Xerxes, giving Mordecai the credit. When they find out the story is true, the two men are executed.

It’s important to note this story in this chapter because the one common connection is that both characters are being strategically replaced. This goes back into our original question, “How the heroes are strategically placed?” Let’s quickly state why we can say the heroes are strategically placed. Esther is strategically placed because she is made queen. For Mordecai, Mordecai is given credit for preventing an assassination on the king’s head. His credit will show that he is in favor of the king and sides with him. Mordecai is not the king’s enemy.

 

Esther 1 showed us God’s providence as setting the stage, or preparing things behind the scenes, whether we know it or not. In Esther chapter 2, God’s providence can be seen in a similar way, but more specifically. It’s about God’s providence strategically placing us. What’s the difference? : In setting the stage, God is working before we get there. In strategically placing us, it is more specifically to us, being put in the right place. What good is it if God perfectly set the scene, but we are not there, or we are in the wrong place? We need to be in the right place. I put up a picture of Risk to help remind you of strategic placing, but if you’re not familiar with it, you can use another game, like Monopoly or chess. But I’m going to stick with Risk because, frankly, it’s one of my favorite board games. In Risk, you start out by splitting up the territories, and then splitting up the starting soldiers among the territories. Some players evenly split them out. Other players bunch them in one spot. Yet others will focus on one continent. This decision can make the different in who wins and who loses. We can relate to this in real life. Where we are placed in life determines how our life plays out. How comforting it is to know God is at work placing us.

The example I would use in my life is my student teaching. Finding me a place to student teach at was hectic. Technically, I was suppose to have two different places to student teach, but it was so hectic finding me one, the college and I settled at just one place. When the education department finally found a school for me to teach at, it was all the way in York, a whopping 45 minute drive from Lancaster, where I was living. This was going to be hard on me (getting up earlier, leaving later, spending time in traffic, etc.), but also hard on my gas tank, for I had little gas money. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do it! But God knew what he was doing when he strategically placed me. Because I stayed at one school (as compared to two schools, which I was suppose to do), there were some things I didn’t have to do a second time. At sometimes, I felt like I had half the work compared to my other classmates. Unlike my classmates, I didn’t have to get re-accustomed to a new school. Furthermore, I was suppose to do 2 middle schools, instead I did 1 middle school, and even got to do a bit of high school, which is what I preferred to do. It even extends to after my student teaching. It would just so happen that, 3 months later, I would find out my girlfriend lived 10 minutes away from that school. A few months later, my co-op teacher from that school would help me connect with someone who would help me find a place to live closer to my girlfriend. Now that’s divine providence. God strategically placed me in York in order to have the best possible student teaching experience, as well as know the area for when I would begin dating my girlfriend.

In closing, notice how the two scenes from this first act go hand-in-hand. Without the position being opened in scene 1, Esther could not fill it in scene 2. But if you remember, Act 1 is all about introducing the characters and the main plot. We’re still missing one more character, the antagonist, who will introduce the conflict into the story. All that will happen in the next chapter.

*Picture Credits: “Sony Pictures Sets Its Sights on Risk: A Feature Remake of the Original Boardgame.” 10 June 2011. Social Hollywood Magazine. 6 Sept 2012.