| Esther 14:15
| And thou knowest that I hate the glory of the wicked, and abhor the bed of the uncircumcised, and of every stranger.
| Stranger. Only those near Chanaan were forbidden to marry; and St. Paul commends Eunice, who had espoused an infidel. (Capellus) --- But this was not the reason of his commendation; for he ordains, Bear not the yoke with infidels. A pious woman might, therefore, very well refrain from such contracts, to which the Jews, at this time, were in a manner forced. Still Esther might have a conjugal love for her husband, (Houbigant) though she would have preferred to marry one poorer of her own religion; and here she only submitted to the designs of God, in raising her to such an elevated station. (Menochius)
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