Esther 1:20

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Esther 1:10-22

(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 served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king, (11) To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people 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 his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth,... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible - Esther 1:10-22

10-22 Ahasuerus's feast ended in heaviness, by his own folly. Seasons of peculiar festivity often end in vexation. Superiors should be careful not to command what may reasonably be disobeyed. But when wine is in, men's reason departs from them. He that had rule over 127 provinces, had no rule over his own spirit. But whether the passion or the policy of the king was served by this decree, God's providence made way for Esther to the crown, and defeated Haman's wicked project, even before it had... read more

Paul E. Kretzmann

The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann - Esther 1:9-22

Vashti's Insubordination and its Punishment v. 9. Also Vashti, the queen, made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to King Ahasuerus, in her own apartments of the palace, for according to Oriental custom the sexes did not mingle at the banquet and feast. v. 10. On the seventh day, the last day of the feast, the climax of the banqueting, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, drunkenly happy with the excess of revelry, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona,... read more

Johann Peter Lange

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal and Homiletical - Esther 1:1-22

PART FIRSTORIGIN AND INCREASE OF DANGER TO THE JEWSEsther 1-5INTRODUCTIONThe Occasion of the History. The Feast of Ahasuerus and Vashti’s RejectionEsther 1:1-22I. Ahasuerus assembles the princes of his empire around him, and prepares a great feast, in which he endeavours to show his power and glory. Esther 1:1-81Now [And] it came to pass [was] in the days of Ahasuerus [Achashverosh], (this is Ahasuerus which reigned [the one being king] from India [Hodu] even unto [and till] Ethiopia [Cush],... read more

Frederick Brotherton Meyer

F.B. Meyer's 'Through the Bible' Commentary - Esther 1:1-22

Vashti’s Noble Refusal Esther 1:1-22 The book opens with a royal festival, which lasted for six months, Esther 1:1-9 . Perhaps the princes came up from their governments to partake of it in rotation. It finished with a banquet, open to all the people who dwelt in Shushan, great and small. Whenever men are overcome with wine, there is grave peril for women. Coarseness, indelicacy, and impurity troop in at the door, which has been unlocked by the excess of wine. Who can tell the anguish which... read more

G. Campbell Morgan

G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible - Esther 1:1-22

The events recorded in the Book of Esther occurred between the completion of the Temple and the mission of Ezra (between Ezra 6:1-22; Ezr 7:1-28 ). In all likelihood the narrative, as we have it, was taken directly from the Persian records. It is a fragment of secular history taken for sacred purposes. The story reveals the same principle of the overruling of God on behalf of His people which marks all their history. The first scene is a great feast in the palace of the king. It was... read more

Arthur Peake

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Esther 1:1-22

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... read more

Joseph Exell

Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary - Esther 1:16-20

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH. Esther 1:16-20COURTIERS FORSAKE A FAILING CAUSEIt is not here asserted that this is a characteristic of courtiers, which may not be observed in other men; for it is a too general custom to push a man or woman down when tokens of falling are visible. But the courtly style is to flatter the powerful, and to speak no helpful words on behalf of the weak. In the multitude of counsellors there is safety, if there be no personal interests at stake; but these courtiers... read more

Chuck Smith

Chuck Smith Bible Commentary - Esther 1:1-22

Let us turn to the book of Esther for our study.The book of Esther is not in a chronological order in these books of history. If the book of Esther were placed in a chronological order, it would have to actually come before the book of Nehemiah.Ezra records the first return from the captivity. Some forty years later Esther came on the scene, and some forty years after that Nehemiah came on the scene. So the book of Esther fits about halfway between the rebuilding of the temple (the decree given... read more

Joseph Sutcliffe

Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments - Esther 1:1-22

Esther 1:1 . From India even to Ethiopia. Darius the Mede appointed one hundred and twenty governors. Hence it appears that this Ahasuérus, the Xerxes Longimanus of Herodotus, had enlarged his conquests, and made the Ganges and the Nile his boundaries. Esther 1:2 . Sat on the throne. He seems to have been employed till now in some conquest, which made him the terror both of the Grecian and the eastern world. Consequently this was a grand coronation, or a military fête, which continued... read more

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