Rashi
Jewish
1040–1105
“to the second house of the women Heb. שֵּׁנִי [Like the usual form] הַשֵּׁנִי.”
The interpretation timeline
Esth 2:14
How this passage has been read — the sources, oldest to newest.
From the early Church Fathers to now.
1 Jewish · 1 Reformed · 1 Methodist
Esth 2:14 · Douay-Rheims
“And she that went in at evening, came out in the morning, and from thence she was conducted to the second house, that was under the hand of Susagaz the eunuch, who had the charge over the king’s concubines: neither could she return any more to the king, unless the king desired it, and had ordered her by name to come.”
Scholastic
c. 1100 – 1500
1105
A.D.
666 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
Post-Reformation
c. 1650 – 1900
1771
A.D.
John Gill
Reformed
1697–1771
“In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women,.... Or the other apartment of the house of the women, where were kept those the king had made his concubines or secondary wives. Aben Ezra interprets it the second time, and so the Targum by "again": to the custody of Shaashgaz the king's chamberlain, which kept the concubines; of which the kings of Persia had a great number; Darius, whom Alexander conquered, had three hundred and sixty (q): she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she was called by name; but remained shut up in the house, and might not lie with, nor be married to, another man. (q) Curt. Hist. l. 3. c. 3.”
1832
A.D.
Adam Clarke
Methodist
1762–1832
“She returned into the second house - This was the place where the king's concubines were kept. They went out no more, and were never given in marriage to any man, and saw the king's face no more unless specially called. Custody of Shaashgaz - This is probably another Persian name; sheshkhunj, beardless, a proper epithet of a eunuch; or sestgunj, weak loins, for the same reason. Names of this kind at once show the reason of their imposition, by describing the state of the person.”
Modern · 1953 →
The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.