Esther 1 - Meaning, Themes & Application

And it came to pass after these things in the days of Ahasuerus, —(this Ahasuerus ruled over one hundred twenty-seven provinces from India)—

in those days, when King Ahasuerus was on the throne in the city of Susa,

in the third year of his reign, he made a feast for his friends, for people from the rest of the nations, for the nobles of the Persians and Medes, and for the chief of the local governors.

After this—after he had shown them the wealth of his kingdom and the abundant glory of his wealth during one hundred eighty days—

when the days of the wedding feast were completed, the king made a banquet lasting six days for the people of the nations who were present in the city, in the court of the king’s house,

which was adorned with fine linen and flax on cords of fine linen and purple, fastened to golden and silver studs on pillars of white marble and stone. There were golden and silver couches on a pavement of emerald stone, and of mother-of-pearl, and of white marble, with transparent coverings variously flowered, having roses arranged around it.

There were gold and silver cups, and a small cup of carbuncle set out, of the value of thirty thousand talents, with abundant and sweet wine, which the king himself drank.

This banquet was not according to the appointed law, but as the king desired to have it. He charged the stewards to perform his will and that of the company.

Also Vashti the queen made a banquet for the women in the palace where King Ahasuerus lived.

Now on the seventh day, the king, being merry, told Haman, Bazan, Tharrha, Baraze, Zatholtha, Abataza, and Tharaba, the seven chamberlains, servants of King Ahasuerus,

to bring in the queen to him, to enthrone her, and crown her with the diadem, and to show her to the princes, and her beauty to the nations, for she was beautiful.

But queen Vashti refused to come with the chamberlains; so the king was grieved and angered.

And he said to his friends, “This is what Vashti said. Therefore pronounce your legal judgment on this case.”

So Arkesaeus, Sarsathaeus, and Malisear, the princes of the Persians and Medes, who were near the king, who sat chief in rank by the king, drew near to him,

and reported to him according to the laws what it was proper to do to queen Vashti, because she had not done the things commanded by the king through the chamberlains.

And Memucan said to the king and to the princes, “Queen Vashti has not wronged the king only, but also all the king’s rulers and princes;

for he has told them the words of the queen, and how she disobeyed the king. As she then refused to obey King Ahasuerus,

so this day the other wives of the chiefs of the Persians and Medes, having heard what she said to the king, will dare in the same way to dishonor their husbands.

If then it seems good to the king, let him make a royal decree, and let it be written according to the laws of the Medes and Persians, and let him not alter it: ‘Don’t allow the queen to come in to him any more. Let the king give her royalty to a woman better than she.’

Let the law of the king which he will have made be widely proclaimed in his kingdom. Then all the women will give honor to their husbands, from the poor even to the rich.”

This advice pleased the king and the princes; and the king did as Memucan had said,

and sent into all his kingdom through the several provinces, according to their language, so that men might be feared in their own houses.