Add parallel Print Page Options

Let the young woman whom the king finds most attractive[a] become queen in place of Vashti.” This seemed like a good idea to the king,[b] so he acted accordingly.

Now there happened to be a Jewish man in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai.[c] He was the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjaminite, who had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the captives who had been carried into exile with Jeconiah[d] king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Esther 2:4 tn Heb “who is good in the eyes of the king.”
  2. Esther 2:4 tn Heb “the matter was good in the eyes of the king.” Cf. TEV “The king thought this was good advice.”
  3. Esther 2:5 sn Mordecai is a pagan name that reflects the name of the Babylonian deity Marduk. Probably many Jews of the period had two names, one for secular use and the other for use especially within the Jewish community. Mordecai’s Jewish name is not recorded in the biblical text.
  4. Esther 2:6 sn Jeconiah is an alternative name for Jehoiachin. A number of modern English versions use the latter name to avoid confusion (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).