Matthew Poole and continuators on Esther 2:12

12 Now when every maids turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus; after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women , for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrhe , and six months with sweet odours , and with other things for the purifying of the women.)

Who were kept so long, partly for their better purification, as it here follows; partly out of state, as that which became so great a King, & partly that being so long in safe custody, the King might be sure that the Child▪ begotten upon any of them was his own.

Which is useful both for making the skin exactly clean▪ and smooth and solid, and for giving strength and vigour to the body.

Which was the more necessary, because the bodies of men and women in those hot Countries, did of themselves yield very ill scents, if not corrected and qualified by art.