Esther 1:9
in Esther 1Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.
KJV
Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.
⋯
This verse in Esther 1
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAlso Vashti the queen made a feast for the women.... For it was not customary with the Persians, nor other eastern nations, to admit of women to their festivals (m), but they feasted by themselves. Who Vashti was is not known with any certainty. Bishop Usher, who takes Ahasuerus to be Darius Hystaspis, thinks Vashti was Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus, whom he married. The Targumist says, she was the daughter of Evilmerodach, the son of Nebuchadnezzar.
This site's exposition
made a feast for the women in the royal house
on Esther 1:9-12
Vashti hosts her own feast for the women, a mirror court inside the court, before the king, merry with wine on the seventh day, sends for her to be displayed before the princes wearing the crown royal. The readings on her refusal are named and neither is pressed as settled: many of the bench read a queen guarding her dignity against an indecent summons before drunken men, while others read plain disobedience to a lawful royal command. Either way the text records only the refusal and the king’s burning anger, and leaves the reason to the reader.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
The person of Queen Vashti provides a clear expression of the Jewish people who themselves appeared to reign as queen when they were found to prevail over all the other nations in the worship of the one God. Therefore when she gave a banquet for …
"Vashti the queen also held a feast for the women in the palace where King Ahasuerus liked to stay." Queen Vashti must symbolize the Jewish people, which at the time seemed to have ruled like a queen since it was found to stand apart from …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
An unhappy falling out there was, at the end of the feast, between the king and queen, which broke of the feast abruptly, and sent the guests away silent and ashamed. It was certainly the king's weakness to send for Vashti into his presence when he was drunk, and in company with abundance of gentlemen, many of whom, it is likely, were in the same condition.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Vashti - If Ahasuerus is Xerxes, Vashti would be Amestris, whom the Greeks regarded as the only legitimate wife of that monarch, and who was certainly married to him before he ascended the throne. The name may be explained either as a corruption of Amestris, or as a title, vahishta, (Sanskrit: vasishtha, the superlative of vasu, “sweet”); and it may be supposed that the disgrace recorded (Est 1:19-21, see the note) was only temporary; Amestris in the later part of Xerxes’ reign recovering her former dignity.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women--The celebration was double; for, as according to the Oriental fashion, the sexes do not intermingle in society, the court ladies were entertained in a separate apartment by the queen.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Also Vashti the queen - Vashti is a mere Persian word; and signifies a beautiful or excellent woman. Made a feast for the women - The king, having subdued all his enemies, left no competitor for the kingdom; and being thus quietly and firmly seated on the throne, made this a time of general festivity. As the women of the East never mingle with the men in public, Vashti made a feast for the Persian ladies by themselves; and while the men were in the court of the garden, the women were in the royal house.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
On the seventh day. Our Rabbis said. Maseches Megillah 12b. that it was on Shabbos. 23 Corresponding to “the seventh day” of the week.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
On the seventh day, when the king and the hundred and twenty-seven crowned princes who were with him were merry with wine, a dispute arose among them about indecent things. The kings of the West said, Our women are the handsomest. The others said the same of their women.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 1 further source is cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גַּ֚ם | gam | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| וַשְׁתִּ֣י | vashti | Vashti | H2060 → | 10 times |
| הַמַּלְכָּ֔ה | hamalkah | the queen | H4436 → | 35 times |
| עָשְׂתָ֖ה | ʾasetah | she made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| מִשְׁתֵּ֣ה | mishteh | a feast of | H4960 → | 46 times |
| נָשִׁ֑ים | nashim | women | H802 → | 781 times |
| בֵּ֚ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| הַמַּלְכ֔וּת | hamalkhut | <the> royalty | H4438 → | 91 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֖ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לַמֶּ֥לֶךְ | lamelekh | [belonged] to the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אֲחַשְׁוֵרֽוֹשׁ׃ ס | ʾachashveroosh | Ahasuerus | H325 → | 31 times |
גַּ֚םalso
gamH1571 →769 times
וַשְׁתִּ֣יVashti
vashtiH2060 →10 times
הַמַּלְכָּ֔הthe queen
hamalkahH4436 →35 times
עָשְׂתָ֖הshe made
ʾasetahH6213 →2628 times
מִשְׁתֵּ֣הa feast of
mishtehH4960 →46 times
נָשִׁ֑יםwomen
nashimH802 →781 times
בֵּ֚ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
הַמַּלְכ֔וּת<the> royalty
hamalkhutH4438 →91 times
אֲשֶׁ֖רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לַמֶּ֥לֶךְ[belonged] to the king
lamelekhH4428 →2525 times
אֲחַשְׁוֵרֽוֹשׁ׃ סAhasuerus
ʾachashverooshH325 →31 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Esther 5:8If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, may the king and Haman come tomorrow to the…
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:9
A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
- Esther 7:3
Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, grant me my life as my petition, and the lives of my people as my…
- Esther 8:5
“If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if I have found favor in his sight, and the matter seems proper to the king, and I am pleasing in his sight, may an order…
- Esther 6:1–14
That night sleep escaped the king; so he ordered the Book of Records, the Chronicles, to be brought in and read to him.
- Proverbs 16:9
Through
Esther 5:4“If it pleases the king,” Esther replied, “may the king and Haman come today to the banquet I have prepared for the king.”
it leads to
- Proverbs 29:11
A fool vents all his anger, but a wise man holds it back.
- Esther 5:8
If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, may the king and Haman come tomorrow to the…
- Psalms 112:5
It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely, whose affairs are guided by justice.
- Esther 3:15
The couriers left, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was…
- Proverbs 29:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
On this chapter
About Esther
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Rabanus Maurus, EXPLANATION ON THE BOOK OF ESTHER 2; Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Esther and W. F. Adeney, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Expositor's Bible).