ויאהב המלך את אסתר ... אין אסתר מגדת מולדתה ... ואת מאמר מרדכי אסתר עשה כאשר היתה באמנה אתו
“The King loved Esther... Esther would not tell her lineage... and Esther did the commandment of Mordechai, equally as when she was under his guardianship.” (Esther 2:17,20)
There are a number of questions that can be asked on the aforementioned pasukim:
1) The word את is extra — it could have just said לאסתר? 2) It already says (2:10) that “she did not reveal her lineage and nationality,” why is it repeated? 3) What was the מאמר מרדכי - “[lit.] saying or words of Mordechai” - that Esther did?
In Kosnas Ohr, R’ Meir Eizenstat explains: Regarding the ox that is stoned for goring a person the Torah says: ולא יאכל את בשרו - “His flesh may not be eaten” (Shemos 21:28). The Gemara in Bava Kamma (41b) says that from the extra word בשרו את we derive that also: את הטפל לבשרו - that which is auxiliary to its flesh [the hide] is forbidden.
As explained (in the devar Torah titled “Her Real Name Was Hadassah, So Why Was She Called Esther?”), when Achashveirosh desired Esther, a demon was created which would appear in her stead. The extra word, את, teaches that Achashveirosh, who was unaware of this, loved את אסתר - that which was subsidiary to Esther - the demon.
Mordechai passed along to Esther the knowledge of how to make the demon, and thus, the pasuk tells us that when she needed it to act as a substitute, “she would do [i.e. utter] מאמר מרדכי - “the saying [words] Mordechai taught her” - כאשר היתה באמנה אתו - “while [through this] she remained faithful to him [Mordechai].”
The pasuk is also teaching that since “she would not tell her lineage and nationality” not only did Esther not violate the laws of arayos [forbidden relationships], but she also did not cause a chilul Hashem [desecration of Hashem’s Name]. No one could say that a Jewish lady was violating the laws of her Torah. (R’ Moshe Bogomilsky)
