Esther 2:5-7

International Standard Version

Esther’s Background

⁵ In Susa the capital there was a Jewish man from the tribe of Benjamin, Jair’s son Mordecai, who was a descendant of Kish’s son Shimei the descendant of Benjamin. ⁶ He had been taken into captivity from Jerusalem along with the exiles who had been deported with Jeconiah, king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon had taken into exile.^{[a] 7} Mordecai^[b] had raised his cousin^[c] Hadassah, or Esther,^[d] because she had no father or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was very attractive. After her mother and father died, Mordecai had taken her as his daughter.