Esther 1:13

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:

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 the following verse were the "seven counselors" (see the note at Ezra 7:14) who formed the state ministry. The eminence of their station in the Persian court is expressed by 'their seeing the king's face,' (this is metaphorically applied to the angels, Matthew 18:10; Luke 1:9).

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 whose authority was absolute and arbitrarily exercised 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 counselors were too intoxicated or obsequious to oppose the courtly advice of Memucan. It 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.