Esther 2:11

And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women’s house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Mordecai	מָרְדֳּכַי֙ ma.re.do.Khai	H4782	Mordecai · proper noun, a man's name
walked	מִתְהַלֵּ֔ךְ mit.ha.Lekh	H1980	to walk (in a great variety of applications · verb, hithpael active participle, masculine singular absolute
day	י֣וֹם Yom	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
before	לִפְנֵ֖י lif.Nei	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
court	חֲצַ֣ר cha.Tzar	H2691	a yard (as inclosed by a fence) · noun, common both genders singular construct
women’s	הַנָּשִׁ֑ים ha.na.Shim	H802	a woman · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
house	בֵּית beit-	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
know	לָדַ֙עַת֙ la.Da.'at	H3045	to know (properly · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
Esther	אֶסְתֵּ֔ר 'es.Ter	H635	Ester · proper noun, a woman's name
did	שְׁל֣וֹם she.Lom	H7965	safe · noun, common masculine singular construct
become	יֵּעָשֶׂ֖ה ye.'a.Seh	H6213	to do or make · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Genesis 37:14 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent…
1 Samuel 17:18 And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.
Acts 15:36 And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lor…
Esther 2:13-14 Then thus came every maiden unto the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king’s…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Esther 2:1-20

How God put down one that was high and mighty from her seat we read in the chapter before, and are now to be told how he exalted one of low degree, as the virgin Mary observes in her song (Luk 1:52) and Hannah before her, Sa1 2:4-8. Vashti being humbled for her height, Esther is advanced for her humility. Observe, I. The extravagant course that was taken to please the king with another wife instead of Vashti. Josephus says that when his anger was over he was exceedingly grieved that the matter was carried so far, and would have been reconciled to Vashti but that, by the constitution of the government, the judgment was irrevocable - that therefore, to make him forget her, they contrived how t…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Esther 2:11

Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house--The harem is an inviolable sanctuary, and what is transacted within its walls is as much a secret to those without as if they were thousands of miles away. But hints were given him through the eunuchs.

Adam Clarke on Esther 2:10

Esther had not showed her people - This might have prejudiced her with the king; for it was certainly no credit at the Persian court to be a Jew; and we shall find from the sequel that those who were in the Persian dominions were far from being reputable, or in a safe state. Besides, had her lineage been known, envy might have prevented her from ever having access to the king.

John Gill on Esther 2:11

And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house,.... Being one of the court, and in an high post, as Aben Ezra thinks, he might walk there without being examined, and called to an account for it: to know how Esther did; to inquire of her health and prosperity, or peace, the word here used signifies, even all sorts of it: and what should become of her; or was done to her, whether she was well used, or as yet introduced to the king, how it fared with her, and what befell her.

The Church Fathers

So it follows that Scripture demonstrates through the figure of Mordecai the cleverness of the leaders, when it says: "He would stroll every day in front of the forecourt of the house where the chosen virgins were serving, expressing his concern for Esther's welfare and wanting to know what was happening to her." Because every day the sacred teachers take care to keep watch, venturing out to teach the Gospel so that they might examine the faith and the works of the people entrusted to them, to see if they are following with attentive concern the rule of proper faith through which we obtain eternal salvation; or if they are diligent about worshipping God and doing good works, which is how we may win the reward of the heavenly kingdom in the life to come. For those whose hearts burn incessantly with the heat of proper faith and the fire of divine love cannot be free of this concern for even an hour. Hence when the teacher of the nations glories in his labors and in the persecutions which he suffered for Christ, he adds as follows: "And in addition to any secondary concerns, I am faced every day with my concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is offended without my being disturbed?" (2 Corinthians 11) And to the Romans: "God, whom I serve in my spirit in the Gospel of his Son, is my witness that I remember you in my prayers always, and without interruption" (1 Romans).
— Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Esther

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Chamberlain · An officer of a king — An officer of a king
Woman · Generally lived in a separated apartment or tent — Generally lived in a separated apartment or tent
Women · Had separate apartments in dwellings — Had separate apartments in dwellings

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Esther 2:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Esther 2:1-20

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Esther 2:11

Adam Clarke on Esther 2:10

John Gill on Esther 2:11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Esther 2:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Esther 2:1-20

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Esther 2:11

Adam Clarke on Esther 2:10

John Gill on Esther 2:11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Esther 2:10-11

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Esther 2:10

Rashi on Esther 2:11