Esther 1:6

_WHERE WERE WHITE, GREEN, AND BLUE, HANGINGS, FASTENED WITH CORDS OF FINE LINEN AND PURPLE TO SILVER RINGS AND PILLARS OF MARBLE: THE BEDS WERE OF GOLD AND SILVER, UPON A PAVEMENT OF RED, AND BLUE, AND WHITE, AND BLACK, MARBLE._ Where were white, green, and blue hangings ... х_ CHUWR_ (H2353), fine white linen; Septuagint, _ BUSSOS _ (G1040)] "Green" х_ KARPAC_ (H3768), cotton; Septuagint, karpasos]. "And blue" х_ TªKELET_ (H8504)] - cerulean purples, cloth dyed with a colouring matter obtained from the helix Janthina (Linn.), a species of mussel found in the Mediterranean. [Septuagint, _ HUAKINTHOS_ (G5192).] FASTENED WITH CORDS OF FINE LINEN, х_ BUWTS_ (H948

1-9 The pride of Ahasuerus's heart rising with the grandeur of his kingdom, he made an extravagant feast. This was vain glory. Better is a dinner of herbs with quietness, than this banquet of wine, with all the noise and tumult that must have attended it. But except grace prevails in the heart, self-exaltation and self-indulgence, in one form or another, will be the ruling principle. Yet none did compel; so that if any drank to excess, it was their own fault. This caution of a heathen prince, even when he would show his generosity, may shame many called Christians, who, under pretence of sending the health round, send sin round, and death with it. There is a woe to them that do so; let them read it, and tremble, Habakkuk 2:15; Habakkuk 2:16....

Verse Esther 1:6. _WHITE, GREEN_, AND _BLUE_ HANGINGS] It was customary, on such occasions, not only to hang the place about with elegant curtains of the above colours, as Dr. Shaw and others have remarked, but also to have a _canopy_ of rich stuffs suspended on cords from side to side of the place in which they feasted. And such courts were ordinarily paved with _different coloured marbles_, or with _tiles_ painted, as above specified. And this was the origin of the _Musive_ or _Mosaic work_, well known among the Asiatics, and borrowed from them by the _Greeks_ and the _Romans_. The _beds of gold and silver_ mentioned here were the couches covered with gold and silver cloth, on which the guests reclined....

Rather, “where was an awning of fine white cotton and violet.” White and blue (or violet) were the royal colors in Persia. Such awnings as are here described were very suitable to the pillared halls and porches of a Persian summer-palace, and especially to the situation of that of Susa. THE BEDS - Rather, “couches” or “sofas,” on which the guests reclined at meals. A PAVEMENT ... - See the margin. It is generally agreed that the four substances named are stones; but to identify the stones, or even their colors, is difficult....

THE GREAT FEAST OF KING AHASUERUS AT SUSA, AND THE DISGRACE OF VASHTI EXPOSITION THE GREAT FEAST (Esther 1:1). King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) in the third year of his reign, which was B.C. 484-483, entertained at a great feast in the royal palace of Susa all his princes and his servants, "the power of Persia and Media," together with all the nobles and princes of the provinces (Esther 1:2, Esther 1:3). The hospitality was extended over a s

WHERE WERE WHITE, GREEN, AND BLUE HANGINGS,.... Or curtains of fine linen, as the Targum, which were of these several colours; the first letter of the word for "white" is larger than usual, to denote the exceeding whiteness of them. The next word is "carpas", which Ben Melech observes is a dyed colour, said to be green. Pausanias q makes mention of Carpasian linen, and which may be here meant; the last word used signifies blue, sky coloured, or hyacinth: FASTENED WITH CORDS OF FINE LINEN AND PURPLE TO SILVER RINGS, AND PILLARS OF MARBLE; these pillars are said, in the Targum, to be of divers colours, red, green, and shining yellow and white, on which the silver rings were fixed, and into them were put linen strings of purple colour, which fastened the hangings to them, and so made an enclosure, within which the guests sat at the feast: THE BEDS WERE OF GOLD AND SILVER; the couches on w...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS THE BANQUETS AND QUEEN VASHTI DISOWNED CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The first feast of the king (Esther 1:1)_ 2. The king's feast unto all the people (Esther 1:5) 3. The queen's feast for the women (Esther 1:9) 4. The queen's refusal to appear at the king's feast (Esther 1:10) 5. The queen put away (Esther 1:13) Esther 1:1. King Ahasuerus, one of the leading characters of this book, is known in history as Xerxes I. The n

ESTHER 1. THE ROYAL FEAST. VASHTI'S DISOBEDIENCE AND DEGRADATION. The opening words in MT (and it came to pass) are in good Heb style, which shows that an able scribe wrote here. But they prove that something once stood before them. Even Paton translates, And afterward! After what? He says strangely, This expression is used in continuation of a historical narrative, and adds, lamely and incorrectly, It is an imitation of the beginnings of the older histories. The tale has clearly been truncated here, doubtless because the original spoke of Yahweh. A version of the original still exists in LXX: it is a sort of preface, saying that a Jew lived in Shushan (Daniel 8:2 *), who had a Perso-Babylonian name Mordecai, i.e. related to Marduk, Lord of Fate which the scribes would dislike and he was descended from the house of king Saul, also disliked by scribes. He was a court servant of king Artax...

BEDS. couches....

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 a contrast of colour, viz. fine, white linen, mixed with a reddish purple. [58] _Karpas_borrowed by the Greek in the form κάρπασος (Lat. _carbasus_). _pillars of marble_ The remains of the pillars found at Susa are of a dark blue limestone, which the Heb. word may very well denote. _the couches were of gold and silver_ i.e. with coverlets of gold and silver work, or possibly with a framework of these materials (so the Targum explains), like those which Herod. (ix. 82) tells us that Xerxes brought with him on his expedition against Greece. _of red, and white, and yellow, and black marble_ ma...