⁷ Mordecai was the legal guardian of his cousin^[a] Hadassah (that is, Esther), because she didn’t have a father or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was extremely good-looking. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter.^(A)

¹⁰ Esther did not reveal her ethnic background or her birthplace, because Mordecai had ordered her not to.