From the early Church Fathers to now.
1 Jewish · 1 Reformed · 1 Methodist · 1 Catholic
“And let some persons be sent through all the provinces to look for beautiful maidens and virgins: and let them bring them to the city of Susan, and put them into the house of the women under the hand of Egeus the eunuch, who is the overseer and keeper of the king’s women: and let them receive women’s ornaments, and other things necessary for their use.”
“And let the king appoint commissioners since each commissioner is familiar with the beautiful women in his province. their ointments These are things that cleanse, like (Lev. 6:21): “it shall be scoured (וּמֹרַק) and rinsed.” [This includes] perfumed oil, various ingredients and spices that cleanse and smoothen the skin.”
“And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom,.... Who best knew where beautiful virgins might be found in their respective provinces, in which they dwelt: that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace; the metropolis of the kingdom, where was the royal palace: to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women; in which house it seems were two apartments, one for the virgins before they were introduced to the king, the other for them when they were become his concubines, which had a keeper also; but this Hege seems to have been over the whole house, Est 2:14. It was not only usual with the eastern people, as with the Turks now, for great personages to have keepers of their wives and concubines, but with the Romans also (d): and let their things for purification be given them; such as oil of myrrh, spices, &c. to remove all impurity and ill scent from them, and make them look smooth and beautiful. (d) "Pone seram, cohibe", &c. Juvenal. Satyr. 6. ver. 346, 347.”
“Hege the king's chamberlain - הגא סריס המלך Hege seris hammelech, "Hege, the king's eunuch;" so the Septuagint, Vulgate, Targum, and Syriac. In the Eastern countries the women are intrusted to the care of the eunuchs only. Let their things for purification be given them - תמרקיהן tamrukeyhen, their cosmetics. What these were we are told in Est 2:12; oil of myrrh, and sweet odours. The myrrh was employed for six months, and the odours for six months more, after which the person was brought to the king. This space was sufficient to show whether the young woman had been chaste; whether she were with child or not, that the king might not be imposed on, and be obliged to father a spurious offspring, which might have been the case had not this precaution been used. Instead of the oil or myrrh, the Targum says it was the oil of unripe olives which caused the hair to fall off, and rendered the skin delicate.”
“House. Distinct from the palace, ver. 14. — Women’s. Hebrew, “things for rubbing, (Calmet) or purification;” (Haydock) such as perfumes, but not clothes.”
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.