NOTES for Est 2:12-23

The account in the second chapter of Esther ends with a picture that ought to astonish the reader with the supreme worldly success of its participants. Folk tales often offer us such “happy endings.” Esther became queen, the king’s beloved wife, and her uncle Mordecai proved his loyalty to the king and earned the king’s gratitude. All that is missing is a medal... These events matter because they form the background against which subsequent events unfold. The choice Mordecai and Esther will face is a choice between faith and dizzying worldly success. Yet which of us has never faced a similar choice?