What Does Esther 2:14 Mean?
In the evening she came in, and in the morning she turned back to the second house of the women, into the hand of Shaashgaz, the king's chamberlain, the watcher of the concubines. She did not come in to the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was called out by name.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name.THE KEY
Here, a name becomes the gate through which the king’s desire summons a woman already held in custody.
THE MEANING
The verse shows her movement passing from the king’s chamber into the second house of the women and Shaashgaz’s custody. She returns to the king only if he desires her and calls her by name, so identification operates within a system where the king determines whether she is summoned back.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
That being called by name always signals affection or welcome; here, the summons depends on the king’s desire and takes place within her custody.
THE ROOT
וְנִקְרְאָה
wenikre’ah
GROWS FROM
קרא
To call, summon, proclaim, or read aloud.
“called out by name” in this verse is wenikre’ah. The phrase בְּשֵׁם (bəshēm, “by name”) joins identity, the nature compressed into a name, with qara’s act of calling. Here, that call turns identification into a summons back under the king’s control.
ALSO GROWS
miqra: Proclamation, reading, or convocation.
מִקְרָא
The same root can name a formal calling or gathering; here, the call determines whether she is brought back.
qeri’ah: Calling, reading, or summons.
קְרִיאָה
This form holds vocal calling and reading together, revealing qara as an act that brings someone into view.
חָפֵץ
chafets
GROWS FROM
חפץ
To desire, take pleasure in, or be pleased with.
“delighted” in this verse is chafets. The king’s pleasure is the condition for her return. The root also names desire or a desired matter, keeping the focus on his desire for her within the verse’s unequal arrangement.
ALSO GROWS
chephets: Desire, pleasure, or a matter of concern.
חֵפֶץ
The noun carries both pleasure and what occupies someone’s interest; the king’s interest governs whether she is summoned again.
Hephzibah: My delight is in her.
חֶפְצִי־בָהּ
This name in Isaiah 62:4 uses the same root for delight directed toward a woman, echoing the verse’s language of desire.
THE PATTERN
A call by name makes identity the hinge of movement, while the caller’s purpose determines where the summons leads.
And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, for your servant hears and responds.But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and who shaped you, O Israel. Do not fear, for I have bought you back; I have called you by your name; you are mine.To him the gatekeeper opens, and the sheep hear and respond to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.THE THREAD
To him the gatekeeper opens, and the sheep hear and respond to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.John uses the same call-by-name construction and the root קרא (qara, “call”). There, the named summons leads the sheep out; in Esther, it is the condition for being brought back under the king’s desire. The shared wording makes visible how the caller’s authority directs the movement.
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