Esther 1:1-9. The great feast given by Ahasuerus at Susa 1. _Now it came to pass_ Heb. _And it came to pass_. -And" is a strange word with which to begin a book. In the case of similar openings to other historical Books (Joshua, Judges, etc.) it implies the continuation of a former narrative. Here,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Shushan the palace_ i.e. Susa. Ecbatana, Babylon, Persepolis, and Susa were all places of sojourn for the Persian court for longer or shorter periods. -Shushan the palace," which is to be distinguished from -Shushan the city" (Esther 9:13-15) was built by Darius, father of Xerxes, on the same plan... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the third year of his reign_ probably b.c. 483. _unto all his princes and his servants_ The ruins at Persepolis and at Susa shew that there was abundant accommodation for the exercise of royal hospitality. Besides the palace built by Darius, Persepolis also contains one erected by Xerxes himsel... [ Continue Reading ]
_the riches etc._ Herod. (vii. 27) tells of the golden plane tree and the golden vine given by Pythius, a rich man of Celaenae, to Darius. Aeschylus (_Persae_, 161) mentions the walls hung with gold. [57] The text may refer among other things to the ingots of gold which Darius had stored in the trea... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the court of the garden_ See notes on Esther 1:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
there were hangings of _white_cloth, of _green, and_of _blue_ marg. _fine_cloth, _white_(or _cotton) and blue_. The word translated -green" in the text is best rendered _cotton_, and is of Persian origin. [58] The cords, which by means of silver rings attached the hangings to the pillars, furnished... [ Continue Reading ]
_vessels of gold_ Many such were captured by the Greeks in the Persian camp near Plataea. _the vessels being diverse one from another_ This seems to be noted as an unusual circumstance. In the representation of Sargon's banquet depicted upon the walls of his palace at Ḳhorsabad, the goblets held by... [ Continue Reading ]
_according to the law_ rather, according to the direction given by the king for the occasion. The words which follow suggest that ordinarily hard drinking was enforced. Drunkenness was common among the Persians. [59] [59] See the description of a drunken company put by Xenophon (_Cyropaedia_, i. 3.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Vashti the queen_ If we identify Ahasuerus with Xerxes, the queen here mentioned must have been Amestris, his only wife known to secular history. She was daughter of Otanes (Herod. vii. 61), one of the seven who conspired against Pseudo-Smerdis (b.c. 522). The name Vashti has been explained as anot... [ Continue Reading ]
Vashti's disgrace 10. _he commanded Mehuman etc._ The names of the seven chamberlains, or rather, eunuchs, who were sent to fetch Vashti, vary much in their form in the LXX. and other versions. Their derivation is, like their nationality, quite uncertain, inasmuch as the Persian market was largely... [ Continue Reading ]
_with the crown royal_ a species of peaked turban, perhaps set off with jewels. _the peoples_ A.V. _the people_. The R.V., by using the plural, brings out more clearly the sense of the original that the company included persons of different races. _to shew … her beauty_ Similar stories are told of... [ Continue Reading ]
_refused to come_ as being aware of the insults likely to be put upon her in a scene of drunken revelry, and by a king so capricious and uncontrolled in temper.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the wise men, which knew the times_ The expression includes two classes of functionaries, (_a_) the astronomers and astrologers, who based their advice upon observation of the heavens, and (_b_) students of the laws and customs which had come into existence in the past, and so formed a guide for th... [ Continue Reading ]
The names of the seven princes have evidently suffered much in transmission. According to Herodotus (vii. 5 17) Mardonius (Xerxes" cousin) and Artabanus (his uncle) were the king's chief advisers in the early part of his reign. These names may be represented in the text by -Marsena" and -Admatha." T... [ Continue Reading ]
_What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law_ Heb. _According to law what is there to do unto the queen Vashti?_thus giving the question a slightly more judicial air, as though the king were considering the matter quite dispassionately, and simply in the interests of his kingdom. _done... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Memucan answered_ From the terms of his answer it is evident that there was no existing law in Persia which would meet the case. Therefore, if it was to be dealt with, one must be enacted. In favour of passing such a law Memucan adduces two considerations; (_a_) that Vashti's perversity constit... [ Continue Reading ]
_to make their husbands contemptible in their eyes_ As compared with A.V. (-so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes") R.V. both improves the English, and furnishes a closer rendering of the Hebrew. _when it shall be reported_ rather, _while they say_. The Vulgate accordingly has _ut... [ Continue Reading ]
Memucan points out that, inasmuch as the disobedience was public and notorious for the princesses who were feasting with Vashti heard her answer they will -say the like," i.e. will meet their husbands" commands with equally insolent replies; or, better, as marg. of R.V., will -tell it," viz. spread... [ Continue Reading ]
_If it please the king_ a standing formula in proposing royal decrees. So often in this book: cp. Nehemiah 2:5. _a royal commandment_ lit. _a commandment of the kingdom_, i.e. an edict which, though directed against an individual, should be registered as a public ordinance, in order that it might co... [ Continue Reading ]
_decree_ Heb. _pithgam_, a loan-word from Old Persian _patigâma_(_patigam, to come to, arrive_). It occurs in its Aramaic form (_pithgâmâ_) in Ezra 4:17; Ezra 5:7; Ezra 5:11. _kingdom_ The usual translation of the Heb. word. By rendering -empire" (here only in O.T.) the A.V. introduces a distinctio... [ Continue Reading ]
_he sent letters into all the king's provinces_ There was an excellent system of posts in Persia, which, according to Herodotus, was in full working order in the time of Xerxes. See further on Esther 3:13. _to every people after their language_ It would be interesting to know in detail the language... [ Continue Reading ]