Esther 1:17-18

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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Esther 1:17

For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women ,.... It will soon be spread all over the king's dominions, and reach the ears of the wives of all his subjects, and become their general talk everywhere: so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes : make light of their authority, refuse subjection to them, slight their commands, and neglect to yield obedience to them, and so not give them the honour that is due unto them: when it shall be reported, the King... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Esther 1:18

Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto the king's princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen ,.... From henceforward they will give a like answer to their husbands, when they lay their commands upon them, as Vashti has to the king; they will tell them to their faces they will not obey their orders: thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath ; there will be in wives a general contempt of their husbands, which will cause discord and strife,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Esther 1:18

The ladies of Persia - שרות saroth , the princesses; but the meaning is very well expressed by our term ladies. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 1:1-22

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 1:10-22

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 1:13-20

Counsel. The king of Persia had two bad counsellors, wine and anger. It showed some degree of common-sense on his part that, instead of acting upon impulse, he waited to ask the advice of his ministers, those privileged and trusted men who were nearest to the throne. If they had advised him well he might have avoided making an exhibition of his own folly to his people. But their plan was to fall in with the inclinations of their sovereign. This, whilst we must blame it, we cannot wonder... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 1:16-18

Court influence. We may admit the general truth of a principle, and yet deny its application to a particular case. Doubtless wrong-doing on the part of the queen might have exerted an unwholesome influence upon other women, but it by no means follows that her conduct in the present instance was open to this objection. On the contrary, might not her bravery in maintaining the honour of her sex in the face of so much danger strengthen the hands of others when placed in similar difficulties?... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 1:16-22

The parody of legislature. If any be tempted at first to think of the king's conferences (as here reported) with those whom we will call his statesmen as though they were scarcely serious and in earnest,—fortunate to be carried on within the protection of closed doors; the monarch, in fact, secretly smiling at his ministers, and they in turn scarcely dissembling in his presence their real convictions of his impossible folly and of their own obsequious and shallow proposals,—yet it would be... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 1:17

They shall despise their husbands . Literally, "their lords ," but the word is the one ordinarily used for "husband." When it shall be reported . Rather, "while they say," or "and shall say." (So the Vulgate—" ut contemnant et dicant. ") read more

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