Esther 1:7
in Esther 1Beverages were served in an array of goblets of gold, each with a different design, and the royal wine flowed freely, according to the king’s bounty.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they gave them drink in vessels of gold (the vessels being diverse one from another), and royal wine in abundance, according to the bounty of the king.
KJV
And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king.
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This verse in Esther 1
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThey gave them drink in vessels of gold, the vessels being divers one from another,.... In the pattern and workmanship of them, though of the same metal, which diversity made the festival the more grand; earthen cups, with the Persians, were reckoned very mean; when a king would disgrace a man, he obliged him to use earthen cups (d).
This site's exposition
At the end of this time
on Esther 1:5-8
A second feast of seven days follows for all the people, "from the least to the greatest". Verse 8 puts even the drinking under a royal word: "By order of the king, no limit was placed on the drinking". An order reaches into matters no law needs to govern.
This site's exposition
Beverages were served in an array
Gill notes that in Persia earthen cups counted as mean, and a king disgraced a man by making him drink from one. Every goblet at this feast was gold. The Chaldee paraphrase, as Henry reports, claimed the vessels of the sanctuary were among the goblets.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
"So in the third year of his rule, King Ahasuerus held a grand feast for all his officials and young men, the famous heroes of Persia and Media, and the chiefs of the provinces in his presence, so that he could show off the wealth …
Even though from the historical point of view it simply appears to show the abundance of riches and the luxury of delights of a powerful king, … according to the holier mystery of our most powerful king, namely, Our Lord Christ, this preparation of a …
Though these preparations for so rich a feast seem intended to portray in concrete terms the parade of wealth and the abundance of delights possessed by a powerful king, it is actually a very sanctified allegory which symbolizes the magnitude of spiritual riches, and the …
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
they gave them drink in vessels of gold--There is reason to believe from this account, as well as from Es 5:6; 7:2, 7, 8, where the drinking of wine occupies by far the most prominent place in the description, that this was a banquet rather than a feast.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Vessels being diverse - They had different services of plate.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהַשְׁקוֹת֙ | vehashkot | and they gave to drink | H8248 → | |
| בִּכְלֵ֣י | bikhlei | in vessels of | H3627 → | 325 times |
| זָהָ֔ב | zahav | gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| וְכֵלִ֖ים | vekhelim | and vessels | H3627 → | 325 times |
| מִכֵּלִ֣ים | mikelim | from vessels | H3627 → | 325 times |
| שׁוֹנִ֑ים | shonim | [were] differing | H8138 → | 21 times |
| וְיֵ֥ין | veyein | and wine of | H3196 → | 141 times |
| מַלְכ֛וּת | malkhut | royalty | H4438 → | 91 times |
| רָ֖ב | rav | [was] much | H7227 → | 454 times |
| כְּיַ֥ד | keyad | according to [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
וְהַשְׁקוֹת֙and they gave to drink
vehashkotH8248 →
בִּכְלֵ֣יin vessels of
bikhleiH3627 →325 times
זָהָ֔בgold
zahavH2091 →389 times
וְכֵלִ֖יםand vessels
vekhelimH3627 →325 times
מִכֵּלִ֣יםfrom vessels
mikelimH3627 →325 times
שׁוֹנִ֑ים[were] differing
shonimH8138 →21 times
וְיֵ֥יןand wine of
veyeinH3196 →141 times
מַלְכ֛וּתroyalty
malkhutH4438 →91 times
רָ֖ב[was] much
ravH7227 →454 times
כְּיַ֥דaccording to [the] hand of
keyadH3027 →1618 times
הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃the king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 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
1 Kings 10:21All King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, because it was accounted as nothing in the…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 10:17
He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
- 1 Kings 7:2
He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high, with four rows of cedar pillars supporting the cedar beams.
- 1 Kings 10:17
Through
Esther 2:18Then the king held a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his officials and servants. He proclaimed a tax holiday in the provinces and gave gifts worthy of the king’s bounty.
it leads to
- Revelation 11:10
And those who dwell on the earth will gloat over them, and will celebrate and send one another gifts, because these two prophets had tormented them.
- Luke 14:8
“When you are invited to a wedding banquet, do not sit in the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited.
- Esther 9:22
as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to…
- Genesis 29:22
So Laban invited all the men of that place and prepared a feast.
- Song of Solomon 3:11
Come out, O daughters of Zion, and gaze at King Solomon, wearing the crown his mother bestowed on the day of his wedding— the day of his heart’s rejoicing.
- Revelation 11:10
Through
2 Chronicles 9:20All King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, because it was accounted as nothing in the…
it leads to
- Isaiah 2:22
Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
- Isaiah 2:22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
On this verse
About Esther
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Esther and Rabanus Maurus, EXPLANATION ON THE BOOK OF ESTHER 1.