This man had a very beautiful and lovely young cousin, Hadassah, who was also called Esther. When her father and mother died, Mordecai adopted her into his family and raised her as his own daughter.
Parallel translations
- WEB He brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter; for she had neither father nor mother. The maiden was fair and beautiful; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own daughter.
- KJV And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.
- BSB 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 in as his own daughter.
- NKJV And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.
- NASB He was the guardian to Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young woman was beautiful of form and face, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Mordecai had adopted his orphaned cousin Hadassah, also called Esther, a beautiful young woman. The future queen is introduced as a vulnerable orphan in his care.
Overview
Esther, given the Hebrew name Hadassah (myrtle) and the Persian name Esther, is fatherless and motherless, raised by Mordecai as his own daughter. Her humble, vulnerable origins contrast with the royal destiny ahead. God delights to lift up the lowly, and the orphan girl will become the means of saving an entire people, a pattern fulfilled supremely in Christ, who exalts the humble.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Esth 2:15Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, came to go in to the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the keeper of the women, advised. Esther obtained favor in the sight of all those who looked at her.
- Esth 1:11to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown, to show the people and the princes her beauty; for she was beautiful.
- 2 Cor 6:18I will be to you a Father. You will be to me sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty.”
- Eph 6:4You fathers, don’t provoke your children to wrath, but nurture them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
- Jer 32:7–12‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle shall come to you, saying, “Buy my field that is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.”’”
- Gen 48:5Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine.
- 1 Jn 3:1See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him.
- Dan 1:6–7Now among these were, of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
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Christ at the center
Though God is never named, his hidden hand preserves the people from whom the Messiah will come — a deliverance 'for such a time as this' that anticipates the open deliverance of Christ.
How Esther 2:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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