Esther 1:14 - Exposition

And the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar , etc. The chief native advisers of Xerxes in the early part of his reign appear to have been Mardonius and Artabanus (Pers, Artapana ) , who was his uncle (Herod; 7.5-17). It is possible that Mardonius may be here represented by Marsena , and Artabanus by Admatha ; but the names could only have taken these shapes by a large amount of corruption. The other form have a general Persian air, but do not admit of even conjectural identification. The seven princes of Persia and Media . Ezra assigns to the Persian monarch seven special counsellors ( Esther 7:1-10 :14), and Herodotus says that there were seven leading families in Persia whose heads were specially privileged (3:84). The title, however, "princes of Persia and Media, " is not found anywhere but here. Which saw the king's face . Among the privileges said by Herodotus to have been reserved to the heads of the great families, one of the most valued was that of free access to the monarch at all times, unless he were in the seraglio.