Esther 1:10-22

Esther 1:10-22

[10] On the seventh  day,  when the heart  of the king  was merry  with wine,  he commanded  Mehuman,  Biztha,  Harbona,  Bigtha,  and Abagtha,  Zethar,  and Carcas,  the seven  chamberlains  that served  in the presence  of Ahasuerus  the king,  [11] To bring  Vashti  the queen  before  the king  with the crown  royal,  to shew  the people  and the princes  her beauty:  for she was fair  to look on.  [12] But the queen  Vashti  refused  to come  at the king's  commandment  by  his chamberlains:  therefore was the king  very  wroth,  and his anger  burned  in him. [13] Then the king  said  to the wise men,  which knew  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 seven  princes  of Persia  and Media,  which saw  the king's  face,  and which sat  the first  in the kingdom;)  [15] What shall we do  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,  Vashti  the queen  hath not done wrong  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 despise  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  [18] Likewise shall the ladies  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 king,  let there go  a royal  commandment  from him,  and let it be written  among the laws  of the Persians  and the Medes,  that it be not altered,  That Vashti  come  no more before  king  Ahasuerus;  and let the king  give  her royal estate  unto another  that is better  [20] And when the king's  decree  which he shall make  shall be published  throughout all his empire,  (for it is great,)  all the wives  shall give  to their husbands  honour,  both to great  and small.  [21] And the saying  pleased  the king  and the princes;  and the king  did  according to the word  of Memucan:  [22] For he sent  letters  into all the king's  provinces,  according to the writing  thereof, and to every people  after their language,  that every man  should bear rule  in his own house,  and that it should be published  according to the language  of every people. 

What does Esther 1:10-22 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The Persian kings castrated many of the men who served the king and his family ( Esther 1:10) so they could not have sexual relations with the female members of the royal court and start dynasties of their own.
"Vashti" ("best," "the beloved," or "the desired one," Esther 1:11) was evidently the Persian name of the queen whom Herodotus referred to as Amestris (her Greek name). [1] It is not possible to determine why Vashti refused to obey the king"s summons ( Esther 1:12).
"The Rabbis added midrashic embellishments to the story of Vashti, holding that her refusal was the king"s order that she appear naked before his guests.... According to the Talmud the queen refused to come because Gabriel had smitten her with leprosy." [2]
The important point for the writer was that she did not appear, not why she did not.
The counsel of seven ( Esther 1:13-14) continued in existence for at least25 years after this event (cf. Ezra 7:14). These men were cabinet-level officials in the government. The king"s advisers feared that Vashti"s rebellion would lead to a popular women"s liberation movement and to a revolution among the aristocratic wives particularly ( Esther 1:17-18).
There is extra-biblical evidence that no one could revoke Persian laws once they were official ( Esther 1:19; cf. Esther 8:8; Daniel 6:8). [3]
Herodotus (ca484-426 B.C.) traveled in western Persia shortly after Ahasuerus" reign. He wrote the following concerning the Persian postal service (the original Pony Express), to which the writer of Esther alluded several times ( Esther 1:22; cf. Esther 8:10).
"Nothing mortal travels so fast as these Persian messengers. The entire plan is a Persian invention; and this is the method of it. Along the whole line of road there are men (they say) stationed with horses, in number equal to the number of days which the journey takes, allowing a man and horse to each day; and these men will not be hindered from accomplishing at their best speed the distance which they have to go, either by snow or rain, or heat, or by the darkness of night. The first rider delivers his dispatch to the second, and the second passes it to the third; and so it is born from hand to hand along the whole line." [3]
The last phrase of Esther 1:22 evidently means that the husband"s authority in the home was evident by the fact that his family spoke only his native language. [5] The Persian Empire encompassed many different language groups.
"When a marriage took place between people of different ethnic backgrounds, the mother"s language would normally prevail in the home and tend to become the language of the children [6]." [7]
The first chapter, even the whole book, is highly satirical of the Persian nobility and empire.
"It is indeed a derisive eye that our narrator has cast upon the royal court he describes: A king who rules the whole known world spends his time giving lavish banquets! ...
"From the satirical depiction of the grandiose and lavishly excessive lifestyle of the Persian court, our narrator turns to undisguised farce: the king who rules the whole world cannot bend his own wife to his will! ...
"But its [2] mockery has also a sinister side. It reveals a society fraught with danger, for it is ruled by the pride and pomposity of buffoons whose tender egos can marshal the state"s legislative and administrative machinery for the furtherance of selfish and childish causes. Indeed, in such a setting, it will not seem incongruous to find this same machinery of state mobilized to effect the slaughter of one of its own minorities, or to find that this is an end that the king can both blissfully contemplate and cavalierly condone." [9]
"The Bible doesn"t tell us what happened to Vashti. Many biblical scholars believe she was Amestris, the mother of Artaxerxes who ruled from464to425 B.C. It"s likely that Esther was either out of favor or dead; for Amestris exercised great influence as the queen mother during her son"s reign.
"Artaxerxes was born in483 , the year of the great banquet described in Esther 1. It"s possible that Vashti was pregnant with her son at the time and therefore unwilling to appear before the men." [9]