Esther - Lesson Two - Day 1...Continued from page 1
Thomas Klock
Please carefully read Esther 2:1-4 and answer the following questions.
1. The time period between Esther 1 and 2 was 481 to 479 BC when Ahasuerus carried out his failed war with Greece. The events of Esther 2 took place from 479 to 478 BC, four years after Vashti was banished.[i] What did Ahasuerus experience when he returned to Susa in defeat (v. 1)?
2. Ahasuerus’ anger and alcohol abuse led to foolish actions, and now, too late, he had regrets about this. Although he had concubines, he no longer had a wife to comfort and support him. His servants noticed his depressed mood and surmised what was wrong. What did they begin to propose, which obviously would catch his attention (v. 2)?
NOTE: Young as used here referred to young women around adolescence or marrying age.[ii] The word virgin,
normal">bethula, can mean either a true virgin or a young woman, depending on the context (for example, Joel 1:8 used this word to describe a young widow; those chosen here were eventually no longer virgins, but this term is used of them again in v. 19).
Importantly, there is another Hebrew word for virgin,
almah, which clearly refers to one who is a virgin sexually.
This word was used in Isaiah 7:14, prophesying the virgin birth of the Messiah, confirming that both the Old and New Testaments claim Jesus’ birth was miraculously virginal (see Matthew 1; Luke 1).
[iii]