Esther 1:7 - Exposition

They gave them drink in vessels of gold . Drinking-vessels of gold were found in considerable numbers in the Persian camp near Plataea (Herod; 9.80) when the Greeks took it. They had been the property of Persian nobles. The king would naturally possess in great abundance whatever luxury was affected by the upper class of his subjects. The vessels being diverse one from another . This is a minute point, which must have come from an eye-witness, or from one who had received the account of the banquet from an eye-witness. It was perhaps unusual. At least, in the grand banquet represented by Sargon on the walls of his palace at Khorsabad, it is observable that all the guests hold in their hands goblets which are exactly alike. Royal wine . Literally, "wine of the kingdom"—wine, i.e; from the royal cellar, and therefore good wine, but not necessarily the "wine of Helbon, which was the only wine that the king himself drank.