Esther 2:3

"Then the king’s servants who served him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king."

Key Reflection

The verse from Esther 2:3 instructs that the king's servants are to seek out beautiful young women for the king’s harem. This practice was common in ancient Persian courts, where the king would maintain a large and exclusive group of royal concubines. The cultural context highlights the hierarchical nature of such institutions, where the king had complete authority over the women who served him, often degrading their social status to the level of his personal possessions or playthings.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

The house of the women -i. e. the “gynaeceon,” or “haram” - always an essential part of an Oriental palace (Compare1 Kings 7:8). In the Persian palaces it was very extensive, since the monarchs maintained, besides their legitimate wives, as many as 300 or 400 concubines (compareEsther 2:14).

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