Esther 2:2

Amplified Bible

Then the king's attendants, who served him, said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The king’s personal attendants suggested, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king.

Hebrew Names Version
Then said the king's servants who ministered to him, Let there be beautiful young virgins sought for the king:

King James Version
Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

English Standard Version
Then the king's young men who attended him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king.

New Century Version
Then the king's personal servants suggested, "Let a search be made for beautiful young girls for the king.

New English Translation
The king's servants who attended him said, "Let a search be conducted in the king's behalf for attractive young women.

New American Standard Bible
Then the king's attendants, who served him, said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.

World English Bible
Then said the king's servants who ministered to him, Let there be beautiful young virgins sought for the king:

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the Kings seruants that ministred vnto him, sayd, Let them seeke for the King beautifull yong virgins,

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the young men of the king, who attended to him, said, "Let young virgins, beautiful in appearance, be sought for the king.

Berean Standard Bible
Then the king's attendants proposed, "Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king,

Contemporary English Version
Then the king's personal servants said: Your Majesty, a search must be made to find you some beautiful young women.

Complete Jewish Bible
The king's servants attending him said, "A search should be made for young, good-looking virgins.

Darby Translation
Then said the king's servants that attended upon him, Let there be maidens, virgins of beautiful countenance, sought for the king;

Easy-to-Read Version
Then the king's personal servants had a suggestion. They said, "Search for beautiful young virgins for the king.

George Lamsa Translation
Then the kings servants and his ministers said to him, Let there be beautiful young virgins sought for the king;

Good News Translation
So some of the king's advisers who were close to him suggested, "Why don't you make a search to find some beautiful young virgins?

Lexham English Bible
And the king's servants attending him said, "Let them seek attractive young virgins for the king.

Literal Translation
And the king's servants who served him said, Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde the kynges seruauntes: Let there be fayre yonge virgins soughte for the kynge,

American Standard Version
Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

Bible in Basic English
Then the servants who were waiting on the king said to him, Let search be made for some fair young virgins for the king:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then sayde the kinges seruauntes that ministred vnto hym: Let there be faire young virgins sought for the king,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him: 'Let there be sought for the king young virgins fair to look on;

King James Version (1611)
Then saide the kings seruants, that ministred vnto him, Let there bee faire yong virgins sought for the king:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Then the servants of the king said, Let there be sought for the king chaste and beautiful young virgins.

English Revised Version
Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the children and the mynystris of the kyng seiden to `the kyng, Damyselis, virgyns `and faire, be souyt to the kyng; and `men ben sent,

Update Bible Version
Then the king's attendants that ministered to him said, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

Webster's Bible Translation
Then said the king's servants that ministered to him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

New King James Version
Then the king's servants who attended him said: "Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king;

New Living Translation
So his personal attendants suggested, "Let us search the empire to find beautiful young virgins for the king.

New Life Bible
Then the king's servants who served him said, "Let beautiful young women be found for the king.

New Revised Standard
Then the king's servants who attended him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said the young men of the king, who waited upon him, - Let them seek out for the king young virgins, of pleasing appearance;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the king’s servants and his officers said: Let young women be sought for the king, virgins and beautiful,

Revised Standard Version
Then the king's servants who attended him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king.

Young's Literal Translation
and servants of the king, his ministers, say, `Let them seek for the king young women, virgins, of good appearance,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the king's attendants, who served him, said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.

Contextual Overview

¹After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. ²Then the king's attendants, who served him, said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.³"Let the king appoint administrators in all the provinces of his kingdom, and have them gather all the beautiful young virgins to the citadel in Susa, into the harem, under the custody of Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let their beauty preparations be given to them. ⁴"Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti." This pleased the king, and he did accordingly. ⁵There was a certain Jew in the citadel of Susa whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, ⁶who had been deported from Jerusalem with the captives who had been exiled with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had exiled. ⁷He was the guardian of Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had no father or mother. The young woman was beautiful of form and face; and when her father and mother died, Mordecai took her in as his own daughter. ⁸So it came about when the king's command and his decree were proclaimed and when many young women were gathered together in the citadel of Susa into the custody of Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king's palace [and placed] in the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women. ⁹Now the young woman pleased Hegai and found favor with him. So he quickly provided her with beauty preparations and her [portion of] food, and he gave her seven choice maids from the king's palace; then he transferred her and her maids to the best place in the harem. ¹⁰Esther did not reveal [the Jewish background of] her people or her family, for Mordecai had instructed her not to do so.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

king's servants: Esther 1:10, Esther 1:14, Esther 6:14

Let there be: Genesis 12:14, 1 Kings 1:2

Reciprocal: Genesis 12:15 - princes 1 Kings 1:3 - So 1 Kings 12:14 - the counsel

Cross-References

Genesis 1:31
God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good and He validated it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden (oasis) in the east, in Eden (delight, land of happiness); and He put the man whom He had formed (created) there.

Genesis 2:11
The first [river] is named Pishon; it flows around the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.

Exodus 23:12
"Six days [each week] you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall stop [working] so that your ox and your donkey may settle down and rest, and the son of your female servant, as well as your stranger, may be refreshed.

Exodus 31:17
"It is a sign between Me and the Israelites forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He ceased and was refreshed."

Deuteronomy 5:14
but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the LORD your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock or the stranger who stays inside your [city] gates, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

Isaiah 58:13
"If you turn back your foot from [unnecessary travel on] the Sabbath, From doing your own pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a [spiritual] delight, and the holy day of the LORD honorable, And honor it, not going your own way Or engaging in your own pleasure Or speaking your own [idle] words,

John 5:17
But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now [He has never ceased working], and I too am working."

Hebrews 4:4
For somewhere [in Scripture] He has said this about the seventh day: "AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS";

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him,.... Fearing that, if Vashti should be restored, vengeance would be taken on them; or however to remove the grief and melancholy of the king, they gave the following advice:

let there be fair young virgins sought for the king; that he might enjoy them, and choose one of them, the most agreeable to him, and put her in the room of Vashti.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Esther 2:2. Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king — This was the usual way in which the harem or seraglio was furnished: the finest women in the land, whether of high or low birth, were sought out, and brought to the harem. They all became the king's concubines: but one was raised, as chief wife or sultana, to the throne; and her issue was specially entitled to inherit.