The king “loved” Esther more than all the other women, and she received “grace and favor” from the king more than all the women (2:17). Let’s do a simple word study of these terms. The relationship Esther had with the king brought the kind of blessings that are also poured out on believers by their God and King.
· He “loved” Esther. The word is “ahab” strangely enough (given the evil king by that name). In one sense, the word is not well-defined in Hebrew because it fits all manner of situations: sexual love, love of friends, love of God and so forth. It is even used of “lust,” most famously when Amnon “loved” his sister Tamar and therefore raped her (2 Sam. 13:1). Thus, the context defines the term. Having said that, note the first use of the term in the Bible, which is usually important in defining a term in the Hebrew Bible. God tells Abraham to take now your son, you only son Isaac whom you love and offer him as a burnt offering (Gen. 22:2). The love of Ahasuerus was not like Amnon but like Abraham. The reason we know this is because of what the love of the king brought forth for Esther: she obtained grace and favor in his sight.
· “Grace.” The Hebrew (hen) is used in 2:15, where the NKJV says Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her. It appears that this term is more of an attitude or general approach the king had towards Esther. As here, it is often what a person has “in the sight of” someone. Think about when you see someone coming and you get are excited to see them and anticipate having a wonderful conversation. The NT word for “grace” is often defined as “unmerited favor.” That is not necessarily part of the OT definition. The first use is in Gen. 6:8 where Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. Noah was a sinner, but in the context God’s grace to Noah was to a man said to be perfect in his generations who walked with God. The same is seen here with Esther: the king loved what he saw and therefore encountered Esther in an attitude of grace.
· “Favor.” This word is “checed.” It is perhaps the most often used term to express God’s general goodness. It is translated by many English words, such as (loving)kindness, mercy and goodness. There are specific Hebrew words for all of these, but checed wraps all of them together in one term. The first use can be seen to include “unmerited favor.” It is in Gen. 19:19 where Lot pleads with the angels: Indeed now, your servant has found favor (hen) in your sight, and you have increased your mercy (checed) which you have shown me by saving my life. In the case of Esther, the king had a strong desire to pour out blessing upon blessing on his queen. He did not want to be her tyrant, nor did he see her merely in terms of her beauty. She had physical beauty, and he knew it, but this was not what moved him to place the royal crown on her head.
There are great devotional thoughts here. God loves us and because of this, we know that He will always do good. Let me close with the words of a song that tell us that God can be trusted even when you have no idea what He’s up to with you.
God is too wise to
be mistaken, God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand, When you don't see His plan,
When you can't trace His hand, Trust His Heart. (Babbie Mason, 2001)
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