Esther 2:12
10 Esther did not reveal her people or her lineage, because Mordecai had instructed her not to do so.
11 And every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn about Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her.
In the twelve months before her turn to go to King Xerxes, the harem regulation required each young woman to receive beauty treatments with oil of myrrh for six months, and then with perfumes and cosmetics for another six months.
13 When the young woman would go to the king, she was given whatever she requested to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace.
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.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- In the twelve months before her turn to go to King Xerxes, the harem regulation required each young woman to receive beauty treatments with oil of myrrh for six months, and then with perfumes and cosmetics for another six months.
- KJV
- Now when every maid’s turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women;)
- WEB
- Each young woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after her purification for twelve months (for so were the days of their purification accomplished, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet fragrances and with preparations for beautifying women).
- ASV
- Now when the turn of every maiden was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that it had been done to her according to the law for the women twelve months (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, [to wit], six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odors and with the things for the purifying of the women),
- DARBY
- And when every maiden's turn came to go in to king Ahasuerus after that she had been treated for twelve months, according to the manner of the women (for so were the days of their purification accomplished six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with spices, and with things for the purifying of the women,
- BLB
- And in the approaching of the turn of young woman by young woman to come in to King Ahasuerus, from the end of her being there, according to the law of the women, two [and] ten months—for thus were filled the days of their beautification: Six months with the oil of myrrh, and six months with the spices and with the cosmetics of women.
- ÅB
- Nå var det så at når raden kom til en av de unge piker at hun skulle gå inn til kong Ahasverus, etter at der i tolv måneder var blitt gjort med henne slik som det var foreskrevet om kvinnene - for så lang tid gikk det med til deres salving, seks måneder med myrraolje og seks måneder med velluktende saker og med andre salver for kvinner -
- OTB
- Før en ung kvinne fikk sin tur til å gå inn til kong Xerxes, måtte hun fullføre tolv måneder med skjønnhetsbehandlinger som foreskrevet: seks måneder med myrraolje og seks måneder med parfymer og kosmetikk.
- B1930
- Nu var det så at når raden kom til en av de unge piker at hun skulde gå inn til kong Ahasverus, efterat der i tolv måneder var blitt gjort med henne således som det var foreskrevet om kvinnene - for så lang tid gikk det med til deres salving, seks måneder med myrraolje og seks måneder med velluktende saker og med andre salver for kvinner -
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Proverbs 7:17
I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, with aloes, and with cinnamon.
Read in context1 Thessalonians 4:4–5
each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,
Read in contextIsaiah 57:9
You went to Molech with oil and multiplied your perfumes. You have sent your envoys a great distance; you have descended even to Sheol itself.
Read in contextSong of Solomon 3:6
Who is this coming up from the wilderness like a column of smoke, scented with myrrh and frankincense from all the spices of the merchant?
Read in contextLuke 7:37–38
When a sinful woman from that town learned that Jesus was dining there, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume.
Read in context