Esther 1:9 - Exposition

Vashti, the queen . The only wife of Xerxes known to the Greeks was Amestris, the daughter of Otanes, one of the seven conspirators (Herod; 7.61). Xerxes probably took her to wife as soon as he was of marriageable age, and before he ascended the throne had a son by her, who in his seventh year was grown up ( ibid. 9.108). It would seem to be certain that if Ahasuerus is Xerxes, Vashti must be Amestris. The names themselves are not very remote, since will readily interchange with v ; but Vashti might possibly represent not the real name of the queen, but a favourite epithet, such as vahista, " sweetest. " Made a feast for the women . Men and women did not take their meals together in Persia unless in the privacy of domestic life. If the women, therefore, were to partake in a festivity, it was necessary that they should be entertained separately. In the royal house. In the gynaeceum or harem, which was probably on the southern side of the great pillared hall at Susa (Fergusson).