This is an interesting and unresolved issue in the story. Here are the surrounding verses and the full context:
Verse 17: “The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she won his grace and favor more than all the other betulot. He set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.”
Verse 18: “The king gave a great banquet for all his officials and courtiers, ‘the banquet of Esther … ’”
Verse 19: “When the betulot were assembled a second time (‘behikabetz betulot shenit’), Mordechai sat in the palace gate.”
Verse 20: “Esther did not reveal her kindred or her people, as Mordechai had instructed her … ”
If Esther had already been crowned, and a banquet in her honor had already taken place, why was there a second gathering of women?
Here are some suggestions:
It was a second round for latecomers in the large kingdom. They were still being given a chance to compete. Even though we thought Esther had already been chosen, they could still supplant her.
The king wanted another contest so he could marry more women. He was not satisfied with one queen.
This was a contest to be assistants to Esther. At Esther 4:16, we see that she had “naarot” who fasted with her.
It was not another contest, but merely a query of where each of the prior contestants had come from.
When Achashverosh saw that even after he made her queen, Esther still refused to reveal her ancestry, he thought that, perhaps, she came from a family of slaves or of lowly birth and was not worthy of the throne. Therefore, he started a new contest to hopefully find someone of royal lineage and even more attractive than her, (Rabbi Joseph Kara, 12th century).
The king was preparing women for the future, in case Esther made a mistake like Vashti did. The reader is being reminded that one wrong move on Esther’s part would bring her the same fate as Vashti’s. A whole stable of women was being prepared and ready to take her place if she tripped up. Winning meant little in a contest that could take place again and again. (This suggestion is one of several mentioned by Erica Brown and seems to be the one she prefers. See her “Esther: Power, Fate, and Fragility in Exile,” page 162.)
This was part of an effort by the king to upset her and rouse her jealousy so that she might reveal her ancestry. The implied threat was that if she would not disclose it, she would be replaced. This view is expressed in the Talmud, at Megillah 13a. It is supported by the adjacency between the phrase in verse 19: “When the betulot were gathered a second time,” and the phrase in verse 20: “Esther did not reveal her kindred nor her people.”
(The Talmud says that this idea was suggested to the king by Mordechai, since Mordechai is mentioned at the end of verse 19. The Artscroll commentary to Esther cites Meam Loez for the idea that Mordechai made this suggestion because he wanted to ascertain whether Esther’s coronation was truly the will of Heaven. If the King could find no superior to Esther, Mordechai would be assured that her reign was part of God’s plan. The Torah Temima suggests something completely different. This advice was Mordechai’s way of helping Esther get out of being the queen, since perhaps Achashverosh would be able to find a different queen.)
The Anchor Bible (following an earlier scholar Arnold Ehrlich, died 1919) suggests a miniscule vocalization change: “shonot—various (שנות),” instead of “shenit.” There was no new contest here. The phrase is referring to the past gathering of the various women. Similarly, Rashbam gets to this same result without any vocalization change. He suggests that “shenit” is another way of describing the initial contest where the goal was to find someone who was “shenit” to Vashti, i.e., someone to come after her. (This Rashbam is found on alhatorah.org.)
Finally, it occurred to me that “shenit” here could mean “repeatedly,” and is referring to the time period of the prior contest.
It has also been observed that the entire problematic phrase is missing from the Greek translation of Esther (which dates to around 100 BCE).
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There are many oddities in the Greek translation of Esther. Here is another one:
At Esther 2:7, we are told: “He brought up Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of דדו, for she had neither father nor mother; the maiden was shapely and beautiful; and when her father and mother died, Mordechai took her to himself לבת.” “Dodo” normally means “his uncle.” This would make Esther his first cousin.
The simplest meaning of “lekacha Mordechai lo levat” is that he treated her as if she was his own daughter. But the Greek translation of this verse has: “He educated her to be a wife.” The meaning seems to be that he married her. Perhaps, there was an ancient tradition to this effect. I have also seen the suggestion that the Greek translation had a Hebrew text which read לבית.
Interestingly, at Megillah 13a, we have a statement by Rabbi Meir (second century CE): “Do not read לבת, but לבית.” Of course, Rabbi Meir is not advocating a textual change; this is just a type of drasha. But with this drasha, Rabbi Meir is taking the position that Mordechai married Esther. (The verb לקח is often used as a verb for marriage in Tanach.)
What is motivating Rabbi Meir here? Perhaps, he had the same tradition that the Septuagint had. Or, perhaps, he was trying to eliminate the impropriety presented by a beautiful single woman living in Mordechai’s household. Yet, he is then creating a greater impropriety when Esther has relations with Achashverosh!
Interestingly, according to the Zohar, God sent down a female spirit in the guise of Esther to take her place when she was with the king! (See the JPS commentary on Esther, citing Raaya mehemna, Ki Tetzei, 3:276a.) The Zohar’s comment is based on the root סתר in the name Esther and its meaning “to hide.”
Much more can be written about the idea that Mordechai and Esther were married and its effect on the story. For one article, see Barry Walfish, Prooftexts 22, “Kosher Adultery? The Mordecai-Esther-Ahasherus Triangle in Midrash and Exegesis.”
Mitchell First can be reached repeatedly (שנית) at [email protected].
