In the fortress of Susa, there was a Jewish man named Mordecai(A) son of Jair, son of Shimei,(B) son of Kish,(C) a Benjaminite. He had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the other captives when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took King Jeconiah[a] of Judah into exile.(D) Mordecai was the legal guardian of his cousin[b] Hadassah (that is, Esther), because she didn’t have a father or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was extremely good-looking. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. Esther 2:6 = Jehoiachin in 2Kg 24; 25:27; 1Ch 3:16-17
  2. Esther 2:7 Lit uncle’s daughter

Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish,(A) who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin[a](B) king of Judah.(C) Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This young woman, who was also known as Esther,(D) had a lovely figure(E) and was beautiful. Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died.

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Footnotes

  1. Esther 2:6 Hebrew Jeconiah, a variant of Jehoiachin