Bible Strands
Esther 2:20
Esther still had not revealed her lineage or her people, just as Mordecai had instructed. She obeyed Mordecai’s command, as she had done under his care.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator addresses the reader to describe Esther’s ongoing concealment of her identity at this precise point in the court narrative, immediately following the second assembly of virgins and while Mordecai remains at the king’s gate.
The words — אֵין ('ein) translates literally as "not," and צִוָּה (tzi.Vah) means "he had commanded."
The thread — The concealment of her lineage appears in Esther 2:10 and Esther 2:7, while her obedience to a guardian figure is paralleled in Ephesians 6:1.
Why it lands — The text states plainly that Esther had not revealed her kindred or people as Mordecai directed, and that she continued her established pattern of obeying him. The passage requires the reader to record this factual compliance with his instruction before considering any downstream narrative or theological implications.
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
Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.
Cross-references
- Esther 2:10 Esther did not reveal her people or her lineage, because Mordecai had instructed her not to do so.
- Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
- Esther 2:7 And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, because she did not have a father or mother. The young woman was lovely in form and appearance, and when her father and mother had died, Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter.