To bring Vashti the queen before the king ,.... Not against her will, or by force; but they were sent to let her know it was the king's pleasure that she should come to him immediately: with the crown royal ; that is, upon her head, to make her look the more grand and majestic: to show the people and the princes her beauty ; for she was fair to look upon; which was not wisely done, neither was it comely nor safe. read more
To bring Vashti the queen - The Targum adds naked. For she was fair to look on - Hence she had her name Vashti , which signifies beautiful. See Esther 1:9 . read more
The Book of Esther. There is a striking contrast between the Books of RUTH and ESTHER . The earlier book is an idyll; the later a chronicle. The earlier relates to lowly persons and to rural life; the later to kings and queens, and to a great Oriental metropolis. The earlier is the story of a family, and its interest is domestic; the later is a chapter from the history of a people, and deals with the intrigues of a court and the policy of a state. The religious character and aim of... read more
Queen Vashti. It would seem that the character of Vashti has been by many writers darkened in order to bring out the brightness of Esther's virtues. But it is not fair to make one queen simply the foil to the other. Haughty, disobedient, defiant, Vashti may have been, but she was placed in no ordinary position, and treated in no ordinary manner. I. Observe THE POSITION OF VASHTI . Her name (according to some) indicates her beauty, and it is expressly said that she was fair to... read more
The fruit of excess. The king's inconsistent excess betrayed him into an unworthy and foolish act. When heated with wine he summoned Queen Vashti to appear before him, crowned, that she might "show the princes and people her beauty." I. AN OUTWARD RESPECTFULNESS OF MANNER DOES NOT MAKE AMENDS FOR ANY DISHONOURABLE INTENT . In sending to Vashti the seven chamberlains who waited on himself, the king showed some respect for her dignity. He perhaps hoped by this... read more
A noble womanly refusal. We know from actual history literally nothing of Vashti, except her name, and what is written of her in the present connection. But it is evident that she could not have been merely one of the inferior wives of the Eastern king, although this has been suggested. She is not only emphatically called queen, but she acts as the queen, "making a feast for the women," while Ahasuerus makes his for the princes and the general people; and the choice and the bearing of... read more
The tyrant-slave. Distance frequently gives us exaggerated notions of greatness, while closer intimacy would speedily dispel the illusion. To the best part of the known world the name of Ahasuerus was associated with unrestrained power, but this passage reveals his real position. Extremes meet; an absolute tyrant may be at the same time an absolute slave. This was precisely the case with Ahasuerus. He was— I. AN ABSOLUTE TYRANT . He occupied a position of unlimited authority,... read more
On the seventh day of the feast "to all in Shushan" ( Esther 1:5 ), the king having excited himself with drink, took it into his head to send a message to Vashti, requiring her to make her appearance in the banquet of the men, since he desired to exhibit her beauty to the assembled guests, as "she was fair to look on" ( Esther 1:11 ). His design must have been to present her unveiled to the coarse admiration of a multitude of semi-drunken revellers, in order that they might envy him... read more
Vashti … with the crown royal. We have no representation of a Persian queen among the sculptures; but Mousa, a Parthian queen, appears on a coin of her son Phraataces, crowned with a very elaborate tiara. It consists of a tall stiff cap, not unlike the cidaris of a Persian king, but is apparently set with large jewels. Vashti's "crown royal" was probably not very dissimilar. To show the princes and the people her beauty . More than one Oriental monarch is reported to have desired to have... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Esther 1:10-22
We have here a damp to all the mirth of Ahasuerus's feast; it ended in heaviness, not as Job's children's feast by a wind from the wilderness, not as Belshazzar's by a hand-writing on the wall, but by is own folly. 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. I. It was certainly the king's weakness to send for Vashti into his presence when he was drunk, and in company with... read more