Esther 1:9-12

B. Defiance

TEXT: Esther 1:9-12

9

Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.

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 ministered in the presence of Ahasuerus the king,

11

to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the peoples 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 the chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.

Today's English Version, Esther 1:9-12

Meanwhile, inside the royal palace Queen Vashti was giving a banquet for the women.
On the seventh day of his banquet the king was drinking and feeling happy, so he called in the seven eunuchs who were his personal servants, Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas. He ordered them to bring in Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown. The queen was a beautiful woman, and the king wanted to show off her beauty to the officials and all his guests. But when the servants told Queen Vashti of the king's command, she refused to come. This made the king furious.

COMMENTS

Esther 1:9-11 Demand: Three different lexicons give three different meanings to the name Vashti; one lexicon says it means, beauty (a word of Persian origin); another says Vashti means, best; while still another says the meaning is while drinking (from the Hebrew root shatha). It is more likely to be of Persian origin. Some have suggested that Vashti was not the actual name of the queen but a word of endearment such as, sweetheart or darling. There is no evidence that Persian custom demanded women feast separately from men. Esther invited Haman and the emperor to a feast (Esther 5:3 ff). Vashti made her feast in the beth-hammalekuth, or, house of the king (palace). On the last day of the drinking bout, when the heart of the king was detov (lit. at good) or merry with wine, he ordered seven of his most trusted servants to bring the beautiful queen into the huge hall where all the inebriated men were carousing. The Jewish Talmud and other Jewish commentators think the command to be that Vashti should be brought in with only the royal crown, that is, naked. The custom of women appearing publicly only when veiled was doubtless as serious then in Persia as it is now in Iran. It would have been threatening enough to her modesty to appear fully dressed but without her veil before hundreds of drunken men. She would have been ridiculed ever after as a common trollop. Of course, the king's demand might have actually required her to appear completely naked. That is more in character with the behavior of an intemperate man like Xerxes after drinking too much wine. The word translated fair is the Hebrew word tov which means literally, good, pleasing, delightful or very excellent.

Esther 1:12 Denial: Vashti refused. That was all there was to it. She presumptuously and deliberately disobeyed the emperor's demand and sent the servants back empty-handed. Why did Vashti refuse? We must speculate. Perhaps her moral standards were high enough that she refused to do what was wrong. It would not be impossible that Vashti had adopted the higher moral standards of the Hebrew people around her. Some would question Vashti's morals because the feast she made for the women (Esther 1:9) was also a mishetteh (drinking bout). Most likely, Vashti's refusal was motivated by her desire to retain her social and political status. Any queen who would allow herself to be exploited and degraded like a common prostitute could never command respect for her person or position again. Vashti, too, may have become inebriated and with the false courage that comes with drunkenness, dared to defy the emperor's command. Whatever Vashti's reason, the emperor was enraged. A literal rendering would be, And was angry the king, very (exceedingly), and his anger blazed within him. The word translated very is -ud and means, steaming, powerful, excessively, fiery. Xerxes, who just moments ago was feeling good all over and merry in his heart, is now steaming and burning with red-hot anger. What fools we are to put into our mouths that which would take away our brains! (Shakespeare). How devastating drunkenness is to cause a monarch to lose all sense of propriety toward one who occupies the position of queen of the realm!