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Esther 1:16-20 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

16 And Memucan H4462 answered H559 before H6440 the king H4428 and the princes, H8269 Vashti H2060 the queen H4436 hath not done wrong H5753 to the king H4428 only, but also to all the princes, H8269 and to all the people H5971 that are in all the provinces H4082 of the king H4428 Ahasuerus. H325

17 For this deed H1697 of the queen H4436 shall come abroad H3318 unto all women, H802 so that they shall despise H959 their husbands H1167 in their eyes, H5869 when it shall be reported, H559 The king H4428 Ahasuerus H325 commanded H559 Vashti H2060 the queen H4436 to be brought in H935 before H6440 him, but she came H935 not.

18 Likewise shall the ladies H8282 of Persia H6539 and Media H4074 say H559 this day H3117 unto all the king's H4428 princes, H8269 which have heard H8085 of the deed H1697 of the queen. H4436 Thus shall there arise too much H1767 contempt H963 and wrath. H7110

19 If it please H2895 the king, H4428 let there go H3318 a royal H4438 commandment H1697 from him, H6440 and let it be written H3789 among the laws H1881 of the Persians H6539 and the Medes, H4074 that it be not altered, H5674 That Vashti H2060 come H935 no more before H6440 king H4428 Ahasuerus; H325 and let the king H4428 give H5414 her royal estate H4438 unto another H7468 that is better H2896 than she.

20 And when the king's H4428 decree H6599 which he shall make H6213 shall be published H8085 throughout all his empire, H4438 (for it is great,) H7227 all the wives H802 shall give H5414 to their husbands H1167 honour, H3366 both to great H1419 and small. H6996

Commentary on Esther 1 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 1

Es 1:1-22. Ahasuerus Makes Royal Feasts.

1. Ahasuerus—It is now generally agreed among learned men that the Ahasuerus mentioned in this episode is the Xerxes who figures in Grecian history.

3. made a feast unto all his princes and his servants—Banquets on so grand a scale, and extending over so great a period, have been frequently provided by the luxurious monarchs of Eastern countries, both in ancient and modern times. The early portion of this festive season, however, seems to have been dedicated to amusement, particularly an exhibition of the magnificence and treasures of the court, and it was closed by a special feast of seven days' continuance, given within the gardens of the royal palace. The ancient palace of Susa has been recently disinterred from an incumbent mass of earth and ruins; and in that palace, which is, beyond all doubt, the actual edifice referred to in this passage, there is a great hall of marble pillars. "The position of the great colonnade corresponds with the account here given. It stands on an elevation in the center of the mound, the remainder of which we may well imagine to have been occupied, after the Persian fashion, with a garden and fountains. Thus the colonnade would represent the 'court of the garden of the king's palace' with its 'pillars of marble.' I am even inclined to believe the expression, 'Shushan the palace,' applies especially to this portion of the existing ruins, in contradistinction to the citadel and the city of Shushan" [Loftus, Chaldaea and Susiana].

6. Where were white, green, and blue hangings, &c.—The fashion, in the houses of the great, on festive occasions, was to decorate the chambers from the middle of the wall downward with damask or velvet hangings of variegated colors suspended on hooks, or taken down at pleasure.

the beds were of gold and silver—that is, the couches on which, according to Oriental fashion, the guests reclined, and which were either formed entirely of gold and silver or inlaid with ornaments of those costly metals, stood on an elevated floor of parti-colored marble.

7. they gave them drink in vessels of gold—There is reason to believe from this account, as well as from Es 5:6; 7:2, 7, 8, where the drinking of wine occupies by far the most prominent place in the description, that this was a banquet rather than a feast.

9. Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women—The celebration was double; for, as according to the Oriental fashion, the sexes do not intermingle in society, the court ladies were entertained in a separate apartment by the queen.

10-12. On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine—As the feast days advanced, the drinking was more freely indulged in, so that the close was usually marked by great excesses of revelry.

he commanded … the seven chamberlains—These were the eunuchs who had charge of the royal harem. The refusal of Vashti to obey an order which required her to make an indecent exposure of herself before a company of drunken revellers, was becoming both the modesty of her sex and her rank as queen; for, according to Persian customs, the queen, even more than the wives of other men, was secluded from the public gaze. Had not the king's blood been heated with wine, or his reason overpowered by force of offended pride, he would have perceived that his own honor, as well as hers, was consulted by her dignified conduct.

13-19. Then the king said to the wise men—These were probably the magi, without whose advice as to the proper time of doing a thing the Persian kings never did take any step whatever; and the persons named in Es 1:14 were the "seven counsellors" (compare Ezr 7:14) who formed the state ministry. The combined wisdom of all, it seems, was enlisted to consult with the king what course should be taken after so unprecedented an occurrence as Vashti's disobedience of the royal summons. It is scarcely possible for us to imagine the astonishment produced by such a refusal in a country and a court where the will of the sovereign was absolute. The assembled grandees were petrified with horror at the daring affront. Alarm for the consequences that might ensue to each of them in his own household next seized on their minds; and the sounds of bacchanalian revelry were hushed into deep and anxious consultation what punishment to inflict on the refractory queen. But a purpose was to be served by the flattery of the king and the enslavement of all women. The counsellors were too intoxicated or obsequious to oppose the courtly advice of Memucan was unanimously resolved, with a wise regard to the public interests of the nation, that the punishment of Vashti could be nothing short of degradation from her royal dignity. The doom was accordingly pronounced and made known in all parts of the empire.