Bible Strands
Esther 2:14
She would go there in the evening, and in the morning she would return to a second harem under the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he delighted in her and summoned her by name.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The text describes the standardized rotation of a young woman from the harem as she prepares to meet King Ahasuerus, following the prior note that she may request supplies to take to the palace.
The words — בָּ/עֶ֣רֶב (ba./'E.rev) = in the evening and שָׁבָה (sha.Vah) = returning. The verse records her daily departure to the king’s quarters and her subsequent return to a secondary harem under Shaashzag’s supervision.
The thread — This conditional access to the monarch reinforces Esther 4:11’s warning that approaching the king without a summons violates royal law. It also mirrors Deuteronomy 21:14’s principle that a woman’s standing remains tied to the male authority’s continued favor.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to note how institutional routines govern personal movement and survival. It demands acknowledgment that access to power is strictly regulated by royal discretion rather than personal merit.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name.
Cross-references
- Esther 4:11 “All the royal officials and the people of the king’s provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned—that he be put to death. Only if the king extends the gold scepter may that person live. But I have not been summoned to appear before the king for the past thirty days.”
- Genesis 34:19 The young man, who was the most respected of all his father’s household, did not hesitate to fulfill this request, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter.
- Deuteronomy 21:14 And if you are not pleased with her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes. But you must not sell her for money or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.
- Isaiah 43:1 But now, this is what the LORD says—He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine!
- Isaiah 45:4 For the sake of Jacob My servant and Israel My chosen one, I call you by name; I have given you a title of honor, though you have not known Me.
- Isaiah 62:4 No longer will you be called Forsaken, nor your land named Desolate; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be His bride.