(KJV) Esther 112

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⥃Xerxes’ Royal Feast

[1] Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus3, (this [is] Ahasuerus which reigned, from India4 even unto Ethiopia, [over] an hundred5 and seven and twenty provinces:) [2] [That] in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat6 on the throne of his kingdom, which [was] in Shushan7 the palace, [3] In the third year of his reign, he made8 a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia9 and Media, the nobles10 and princes of the provinces, [being] before him:11 [4] When he12 shewed the riches13 of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent14 majesty many days, [even] an hundred and fourscore days. [5] And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present15 in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days16, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace; [6] [Where were] white17, green, and blue18, [hangings], fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds19 [were of] gold and silver, upon a pavement of red20, and blue, and white, and black, marble. [7] And they gave [them] drink in vessels of gold21, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine22 in abundance, according to the state of the king23. [8] And the drinking [was] according to the law; none did compel24: for so the king had appointed to all the officers25 of his house, that they should do according to every man’s pleasure.

⥃Queen Vashti’s Refusal

[9] Also Vashti the queen26 made a feast for the women [in] the royal house which [belonged] to king Ahasuerus.

[10] On the seventh day, when the heart27 of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona28, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains29 that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king, [11] To bring Vashti30 the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she [was] fair to look on31. [12] But the queen32 Vashti refused33 to come at the king’s commandment by [his] chamberlains34: therefore was the king35 very wroth, and his anger burned36 in him.

⥃Queen Vashti Deposed

[13] [¶]Then the king said to the wise37 men, which knew38 the times, (for so [was] the king’s manner toward all that knew law and judgment: [14] And the next unto him [was] Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, [and] Memucan, the seven39 princes of Persia and Media, which saw40 the king’s face, [and] which sat the first in the kingdom;) [15] What shall we do41 unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains? [16] And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti42 the queen hath not done wrong43 to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that [are] in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. [17] For [this] deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise44 their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not. [18] [Likewise] shall the ladies45 of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king’s princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus [shall there arise] too much contempt and wrath. [19] If it please the king46, let there go a royal commandment from him47, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered48, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another49 that is better50 than she. [20] And when the king’s decree which he shall make shall be published throughout51 all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives52 shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small. [21] And the saying pleased the king53 and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan: [22] For he sent letters into all the king’s provinces, into every province54 according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, that every man55 should bear rule in his own house, and that [it] should56 be published according57 to the language of every people.

<< Nehemiah 13 Esther 2 >>

  1. This Book, which derives its name from the person whose history it chiefly relates, is termed in Hebrew, ξβμδ ( ‎מְגִלָּה‎ ) ΰρϊψ ( ‎אֶסְתֵּר‎ ), megillath Esther , “the volume of Esther.” Concerning its author there are various opinions: some attribute it to Ezra; some to Joachim, the son of Joshua the high priest; others to the men of the great synagogue; and others to Mordecai, which seems the most probable opinion. The events here related probably refer to the time of Artaxerxes Longimanus, who, according to Prideaux, was the Ahasuerus of Esther, agreeably to Josephus (Ant. 1 xi. c. 6), the Septuagint version, and the apocryphal additions to this book. The history, therefore, comes in between the sixth and seventh chapters of Ezra 6:22, commencing about am 3540, and continuing through a period of twelve years. It relates the royal feast of Ahasuerus; the disgrace of Vashti (Esther 1); the elevation of Esther to the Persian throne; the essential service rendered to the king by Mordecai, in detecting a plot against his life (Esther 2); the promotion of Haman, and his purposed destruction of the Jews (Esth 3:1-15); the consequent affliction of the Jews, and the measures pursued by them (Esther 4); the defeat of Haman’s plot, through the instrumentality of Esther, against Mordecai (Esther 5-7); and also the defeat of his general plot against the Jews (Esther 8, Esth 9:1-15); the institution of the feast of Purim to commemorate this deliverance (Esther 9:16-32); and the advancement of Mordecai (Esth 10:1-3); and though some Christians have hesitated to receive this book into the sacred canon, yet it has always been received by the Jews, not only as perfectly authentic, but also as one of the most excellent of their sacred books. That it is a genuine and faithful description of a real fact, the observation of the feast of Purim, to the present day, is a sufficient evidence; since it is impossible, and in fact inconceivable, that a nation should institute, and afterwards continue to celebrate without interruption, through every generation of that people, in a long succession of ages, in whatever places they may have sojourned, this solemn annual festival, merely because one of their nation had written an agreeable fable or romance. It has been remarked, as an objection to this book, that the name of God no where occurs in it: His superintending providence, however, is frequently illustrated. It is shewn, indeed, in every part of the work; disconcerting evil designs, and producing great events, by means seemingly inadequate. It also presents an interesting description of mortified pride, and of malice baffled to the destruction of its possessors; and exhibits a very lively representation of the vexations and troubles, the anxieties, treachery, and dissimulation of a corrupt court. ↩

  2. Esth 1:1, Ahasuerus makes royal feasts; Esth 1:10, Vashti, sent for, refuses to come; Esth 1:13, Ahasuerus, by the counsel of Memucan, puts away Vashti, and makes the decree of men’s sovereignty. ↩

  3. Prideaux has shewn satisfactorily that Ahasuerus was the Artaxerxes Longimanus of the Greeks, agreeably to the Septuagint and Josephus. See note on Ezra 6:14. Ezra 4:6; Dan 9:1 ↩

  4. Esth 8:9; Isa 18:1, Isa 37:9 ↩

  5. Dan 6:1 ↩

  6. 2Sam 7:1; 1Kgs 1:46; Dan 4:4 ↩

  7. Esth 2:3, Esth 3:15, Esth 4:16, Esth 9:12-15; Neh 1:1; Dan 8:2 ↩

  8. Esth 2:18; Gen 40:20; 1Kgs 3:15; Dan 5:1; Mark 6:21 ↩

  9. Esth 1:14; Ezra 1:2; Isa 21:2; Jer 51:11; Dan 5:28, Dan 8:20 ↩

  10. Dan 3:2-3, Dan 6:1, Dan 6:6-7 ↩

  11. am 3542, bc 462 ↩

  12. Isa 39:2; Ezek 28:5; Dan 4:30 ↩

  13. Ps 76:1-4, Ps 145:5, Ps 145:12-13; Dan 2:37-44, Dan 7:9-14; Matt 4:8, Matt 6:13; Rom 9:23; Eph 1:18; Col 1:27; Rev 4:11 ↩

  14. 1Chr 29:11-12, 1Chr 29:25; Job 40:10; Ps 21:5, Ps 45:3, Ps 93:1; Dan 4:36, Dan 5:18; 2Pet 1:16-17 ↩

  15. Heb. found ↩

  16. 2Chr 7:8-9, 2Chr 30:21-25 ↩

  17. Exod 26:1, Exod 26:31-32, Exod 26:36-37 ↩

  18. or, violet, Esth 8:15 ↩

  19. These were couches, covered with gold and silver cloth, on which the guests reclined; for the Orientals do not sit, but recline at their meals. Esth 7:8; Ezek 23:41; Amos 2:8, Amos 6:4 ↩

  20. etc. or, of porphyre, and marble, and alabaster, and stone of blue colour ↩

  21. 1Kgs 10:21; 2Chr 9:20; Dan 5:2-4 ↩

  22. Heb. wine of the kingdom ↩

  23. Heb. hand of the king. ↩

  24. Every person drank what he pleased. Among the Greeks, however, each guest was obliged to keep the round, or leave the company. Hence the proverb Η πιθι, η απιθι, Drink, or begone. Mr. Herbert, in his poem entitled "The Church Porch," has severely reprobated this vile custom. In Britain, however, this demoralizing custom is now almost destroyed, and a new era of social pleasure is arising, by temperate habits, increased domestic comforts, and the spread of gospel truths. Jer 35:8, Jer 51:7; Hab 2:15-16 ↩

  25. John 2:8 ↩

  26. Esth 5:4, Esth 5:8 ↩

  27. Gen 43:34; Judg 16:25; 1Sam 25:36-37; 2Sam 13:28; Prov 20:1; Eccl 7:2-4; Eccl 10:19; Eph 5:18-19 ↩

  28. Esth 7:9, Harbonah ↩

  29. or, eunuchs, Dan 1:3-5, Dan 1:18-19 ↩

  30. Prov 16:9, Prov 23:29-33; Mark 6:21-22 ↩

  31. Heb. good of countenance, 1Sam 25:3; 2Sam 14:25; Prov 31:30 ↩

  32. This refusal of Vashti's, to expose herself to the view of such a group of drunken Bacchanalians, was highly praiseworthy, and became the dignity of her rank and the modesty of her sex. ↩

  33. Gen 3:16; Eph 5:22, Eph 5:24; 1Pet 3:1 ↩

  34. Heb. which was by the hand of his eunuchs ↩

  35. Prov 19:12, Prov 20:2; Dan 2:12, Dan 3:13, Dan 3:19; Nah 1:6; Rev 6:16-17 ↩

  36. Exod 32:19, Exod 32:22; Deut 29:20; Ps 74:1, Ps 79:5 ↩

  37. Jer 10:7; Dan 2:2, Dan 2:12, Dan 2:27, Dan 4:6-7, Dan 5:7; Matt 2:1 ↩

  38. 1Chr 12:32; Matt 16:3 ↩

  39. Ezra 7:14 ↩

  40. 2Kgs 25:19; Matt 18:10; Rev 22:4 ↩

  41. Heb. What to do, Esth 6:6 ↩

  42. This reasoning was inconsequent and false. Vashti had not generally disobeyed the king, therefore she could be no precedent for the general conduct of the Persian women. She disobeyed only in one particular; and this, to serve a purpose, Memucan draws into a general consequence, and the rest came into the conclusion, being either too intoxicated to be able to discern right from wrong, or too intent on reducing women to a state of vassalage, to neglect the present favourable opportunity. ↩

  43. Acts 18:14, Acts 25:10; 1Cor 6:7-8 ↩

  44. 2Sam 6:16; Eph 5:33 ↩

  45. Saroth, the princesses, but the meaning is well expressed by our term ladies. Judg 5:29; 1Kgs 11:3 ↩

  46. Heb. it be good with the king, Esth 1:21, Esth 3:9, Esth 8:5 ↩

  47. Heb. from before him ↩

  48. Heb. it pass not away, Esth 8:8; Dan 6:8-15, Dan 6:17; Let it be inserted among the permanent laws, and be made a part of the constitution of the empire. The Persians seem to have affected such a degree of wisdom in the construction of their laws, that they never could be amended, and should never be repealed; and this formed the ground of the saying, "The laws of the Medes and Persians that change not." ↩

  49. Heb. her companion ↩

  50. 1Sam 15:28; 1Kgs 3:28 ↩

  51. Deut 17:13, Deut 21:21 ↩

  52. Eph 5:33; Col 3:18; 1Pet 3:1-7 ↩

  53. Heb. was good in the eyes of the king, Esth 1:19, Esth 2:4; Gen 41:37 ↩

  54. Esth 3:12, Esth 8:9; Dan 3:29, Dan 4:1 ↩

  55. Both the law of God and common sense taught this from the foundation of the world; and this parade of enactment was only to deprive Vashti of her crown. Eph 5:22-24; 1Tim 2:12; Titus 2:4-5 ↩

  56. etc. Heb. one should publish it according to the language of his country, Esth 3:12 ↩

  57. Luke 16:8; Acts 2:5-11; 1Cor 14:19-20 ↩