Esther 2:4 (KJV)

Passage

And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.

Nearby Context

Esther 2:2 Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

Esther 2:3 And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege the king’s chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given them:

Esther 2:4 And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.

Esther 2:5 Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;

Esther 2:6 Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "maiden", "pleaseth", "king", "queen", "instead", "vashti", and "pleased". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "maiden" and "pleaseth", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "And let the king appoint officers in..." into verse 5's "Now in Shushan the palace there was...", so "maiden" and "pleaseth" 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 "maiden" and "pleaseth" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.