Esther 2:19 (DBY)

Passage

And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai sat in the king's gate.

Nearby Context

Esther 2:17 And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins, and he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Esther 2:18 And the king made a great feast to all his princes and his servants, Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave presents according to the king's bounty.

Esther 2:19 And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai sat in the king's gate.

Esther 2:20 (Esther, as Mordecai had charged her, had not yet made known her birth nor her people; for Esther did what Mordecai told her, like as when she was brought up with him.)

Esther 2:21 In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the threshold, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "virgins", "gathered", "together", "second", "time", "mordecai", "king's", and "gate". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "virgins" and "gathered", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 18's "And the king made a great feast..." into verse 20's "Esther as Mordecai had charged her had...", so "virgins" and "gathered" belong inside that flow. In Esther context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "virgins" and "gathered" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.