The All-Controlling Interest

After Esther had been chosen to replace Vashti as the wife of king Ahasuerus -- and thus also to become the queen of that vast empire of Persia with its 127 provinces -- and even after the king had made a great feast in her honour, the king's servants still brought a new group of virgins for his sinful gratification. That must be the meaning of the statement in Esther 2:19 that "when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king's gate." After Esther had...