Esther 1:1 - Exposition

In the days of Ahasuerus . Ahasuerus, in the original Akhashverosh, corresponds to Khshayarsha (the Persian name from which the Greeks formed their Xerxes) almost as closely as possible. The prosthelic a was a necessity of Hebrew articulation. The only unnecessary change was the substitution of v for y ( vau for yod ) in the penultimate syllable. But this interchange is very common in Hebrew. This is Ahasuerus which reigned, etc . The writer is evidently acquainted with more than a single Ahasuerus. Ezra had mentioned one ( Ezra 4:6 ), and Daniel another ( Daniel 9:1 ). If he knew their works, he would necessarily know of these two. Or he may have known of them independently. The Ahasuerus of his narrative being different from either, he proceeds to distinguish him

Cambyses (see comment on Ezra 4:6 ) had not ruled over India. India is expressed by Hoddu , which seems formed from the Persian Hidush ('Nakhsh-i-Rus-tam Inser.,' par. 3, 1. 25), by the omission of the nominatival ending, and a slight modification of the vocalisation. The Sanscrit and the Zend, like the Greek, retained the n , which is really an essential part of the native word. Ethiopia is expressed, as usual, by Cush . The two countries are well chosen as the extreme terminal of the Persian empire. An hundred and twenty-seven provinces . The Hebrew medinah, "province," does not correspond to the Persian satrapy, but is applied to every tract which had its own governor. There were originally no more than twenty satrapies (Herod; 3:89-94), but there was certainly a very much larger number of governments. Judaea was a medinah ( Ezra 2:1 ; Nehemiah 11:3 ), though only a small part of the satrapy of Syria.