What Does Esther 2:8 Mean in the King James?
So it came to pass, when the king’s commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The king’s decree gathers the women into a guarded system, and Esther enters it through Hegai’s hand.
THE MEANING
The decree is heard; the women are gathered to Shushan and placed in Hegai’s custody, and Esther is brought into the king’s house under that same keeper. Royal power becomes visible as control over where the women go and who holds them.
THE ROOT
שֹׁמֵר
shomer
GROWS FROM
שמר
To keep, watch, or guard.
Hegai’s title comes from the root of guarding and watching. The Hebrew also places Esther “at the hand” (יַד, yad: hand) of Hegai; together, the words make custody visible inside the keeper’s role.
ALSO GROWS
shamar: To keep, watch, or guard.
שָׁמַר
The verb names the action embedded in Hegai’s title: keeping the women means watching over them.
mishmeret: A guard duty, watch, or charge.
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
This related noun can describe an assigned duty of custody, linking the keeper’s watch to the women’s placement under his care.
בְּהִקָּבֵץ
behiqqavets
GROWS FROM
קבץ
To gather or collect.
“gathered together” in this verse is behiqqavets. The Hebrew uses a passive form: many maidens are gathered, without naming a gatherer in that phrase. The command comes before it and Hegai’s custody follows, so the gathering appears as a collective arrangement under authority.
ALSO GROWS
qavats: To gather or collect.
קָבַץ
The verb supplies the seed of the gathering described here: many women are brought together in one place.
miqbaṣ: A collection or grouping.
מִקְבָּץ
This related noun carries the idea of a collected group, illuminating how the verse presents many women as one assembled body.
בְּהִשָּׁמַע
behiššāmaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
To hear or listen; in some contexts, to heed.
The root can hold hearing together with attention or response when the context carries it. Here the decree’s being heard is followed immediately by the women’s gathering, so the verse shows royal speech taking shape in an arrangement of people.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear, attend, or respond when the context implies it.
שְׁמַע
This familiar form shows that hearing can include a response, a possibility echoed by the gathering that follows the decree.
shemuah: A report or news; something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This noun names what arrives through hearing, connecting the king’s spoken decree to the report that sets events in motion.
THE PATTERN
A ruler’s command takes shape in people’s bodies when officials gather, move, or hold them under custody.
And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes;And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.THE THREAD
And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes;Daniel repeats the same palace structure: a king speaks, an official receives the task, and people are brought into the royal house. Esther’s keeper and custody make that structure explicit in the women’s gathering.
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