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.
Esther 1 Bible Commentary
Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown
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.