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Commentary on Esther 1 verses 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 abundance of gentlemen, many of whom, it is likely, were in the same condition. When his heart was merry with wine nothing would serve him but Vashti must come, well dressed as she was, with the crown on her head, that the princes and people might see what a handsome woman she was, Est 1:10, Est 1:11. Hereby, 1. He dishonoured himself as a husband, who ought to protect, but by no means expose, the modesty of his wife, who ought to be to her a covering of the eyes (Gen 20:16), not to uncover them. 2. He diminished himself as a king, in commanding that from his wife which she might refuse, much to the honour of her virtue. It was against the custom of the Persians for the women to appear in public, and he put a great hardship upon her when he did not court, but command her to do so uncouth a thing, and make her a show. If he had not been put out of the possession of himself by drinking to excess, he would not have done such a thing, but would have been angry at any one that should have mentioned it. When the wine is in the wit is out, and men's reason departs from them.
II. However, perhaps it was not her wisdom to deny him. She refused to come (Est 1:12); though he sent his command by seven honourable messengers, and publicly, and Josephus says sent again and again, yet she persisted in her denial. Had she come, while it was evident that she did it in pure obedience, it would have been no reflection upon her modesty, nor a bad example. The thing was not in itself sinful, and therefore to obey would have been more her honour than to be so precise. Perhaps she refused in a haughty manner, and then it was certainly evil; she scorned to come at the king's commandment. What a mortification was this to him! While he was showing the glory of his kingdom he showed the reproach of his family, that he had a wife that would do as she pleased. Strifes between yoke-fellows are bad enough at any time, but before company they are very scandalous, and occasion blushing and uneasiness.
III. The king thereupon grew outrageous. He that had rule over 127 provinces had no rule over his own spirit, but his anger burned in him, Est 1:12. He would have consulted his own comfort and credit more if he had stifled his resentment, had passed by the affront his wife gave him, and turned it off with a jest.
IV. Though he was very angry, he would not do any thing in this matter till he advised with his privy-counsellors; as he had seven chamberlains to execute his orders, who are named (Est 1:10), so he had seven counsellors to direct his orders. The greater power a man has the greater need he has of advice, that he may not abuse his power. Of these counsellors it is said that they were learned men, for they knew law and judgment, that they were wise men, for they knew the times, and that the king put great confidence in them and honour upon them, for they saw the king's face and sat first in the kingdom, Est 1:13, Est 1:14. In the multitude of such counsellors there is safety. Now here is,
1.The question proposed to this cabinet-council (Est 1:15): What shall we do to the queen Vashti according to the law? Observe, (1.) Though it was the queen that was guilty, the law must have its course. (2.) Though the king was very angry, yet he would do nothing but what he was advised was according to law.
2.The proposal which Memucan made, that Vashti should be divorced for her disobedience. Some suggest that he gave this severe advice, and the rest agreed to it, because they knew it would please the king, would gratify both his passion now and his appetite afterwards. But Josephus says that, on the contrary, he had a strong affection for Vashti, and would not have put her away for this offence if he could legally have passed it by; and then we must suppose Memucan, in his advice, to have had a sincere regard to justice and the public good. (1.) He shows what would be the bad consequences of the queen's disobedience to her husband, if it were passed by and not animadverted upon, that it would embolden other wives both to disobey their husbands and to domineer over them. Had this unhappy falling out between the king and his wife, wherein she was conqueror, been private, the error would have remained with themselves and the quarrel might have been settled privately between themselves; but it happening to be public, and perhaps the ladies that were now feasting with the queen having shown themselves pleased with her refusal, her bad example would be likely to have a bad influence upon all the families of the kingdom. If the queen must have her humour, and the king must submit to it (since the houses of private persons commonly take their measures from the courts of princes), the wives would be haughty and imperious and would scorn to obey their husbands, and the poor despised husbands might fret at it, but could not help themselves; for the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping, Pro 19:13; Pro 27:15; and see Pro 21:9; Pro 25:24. When wives despise their husbands, whom they ought to reverence (Eph 5:33), and contend for dominion over those to whom they ought to be in subjection (Pe1 3:1), there cannot but be continual guilt and grief, confusion and every evil work. And great ones must take heed of setting copies of this kind, Est 1:16-18. (2.) He shows what would be the good consequence of a decree against Vashti that she should be divorced. We may suppose that before they proceeded to this extremity they sent to Vashti to know if she would yet submit, cry Peccavi - I have done wrong, and ask the king's pardon, and that, if she had done so, the mischief of her example would have been effectually prevented, and process would have been stayed; but it is likely she continued obstinate, and insisted upon it as her prerogative to do as she pleased, whether it pleased the king or no, and therefore they gave this judgment against her, that she come no more before the king, and this judgment so ratified as never to be reversed, Est 1:19. The consequence of this, it was hoped, would be that the wives would give to their husbands honour, even the wives of the great, notwithstanding their own greatness, and the wives of the small, notwithstanding the husband's meanness (Est 1:20); and thus every man would bear rule in his own house, as he ought to do, and, the wives being subject, the children and servants would be so too. It is the interest of states and kingdoms to provide that good order be kept in private families.
3.The edict that passed according to this proposal, signifying that the queen was divorced for contumacy, according to the law, and that, if other wives were in like manner undutiful to their husbands, they must expect to be in like manner disgraced (Est 1:21, Est 1:22): were they better than the queen? Whether it was the passion or the policy of the king that was served by this edict, God's providence served its own purpose by it, which was to make way for Esther to the crown.
But let us hear what Scripture has to say about the stubbornness of Vashti, that most foolish of queens: “So the king was angered, and enflamed by his excessive rage he questioned his wise men, who were always at his side according to royal custom; and he used to do whatever they advised him, since they knew the laws and the rules of the ancestors. And in the first and second place were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven leaders of Persia and Media who would see his face and whose authority was normally second only to his own; and it was to their judgment that Queen Vashti was subject when she did not want to obey the command of King Ahasuerus given to her through the eunuchs. And as the king and his officials listened to him, Memucan said: ‘Vashti has injured not only the king, but all the officials and peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. For her words will go out to all the women, so that they will despise their husbands and say: “King Ahasuerus ordered Queen Vashti to come to him, and she did not want to.” And with this example, all the wives of the officials of Persia and Media will hold cheap the authority of their husbands; so that the king’s indignation is just. And if it pleases you, let an edict go forth from your face, and let it be written according to the law of Persia and Media— which it is forbidden to ignore—that Vashti may no longer come into the king’s presence, but that her reign should be given to another who is better than her.’” Now, when Vashti shows her arrogance, King Ahasuerus seeks the advice of the seven wise men who are always at his side according to royal custom, and commands that their judgment about her should be carried out; and this can only mean that our Savior— through his learned men who are filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, and always take care to stand in his presence with upright faith and good works—bases his verdict upon the stubbornness of the Jewish people who are guilty of punishing and condemning him. He ruled, in other words, that they should be driven from the seat of the king, i.e. from their relationship with God for which they were ordained and chosen; and that another, better people—namely, the Church of the nations—should take its place in genuine faith and full devotion. So the Lord promised by the Law and the prophets shows in the Gospel itself that he was destined, at the behest of the Father, to summon Judea when he says: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15)”; and likewise: “It is not good to take the bread of children and toss it to the dogs” (ibid.). But when the gentile woman continues to petition him, the Lord himself rightly praises her great faith; and elsewhere the faith of the centurion is shown preference over the faith of the Jews, when he says: “Amen, I tell you, many will come from the East and the West and will recline with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of Heaven; while the children of this kingdom will be cast into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8). Likewise, in another passage the Truth herself says to Jerusalem: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you kill your prophets and you stone those who were sent to you; how often have I wanted to gather your children, like the hen gathers her chicks beneath her wings, but you did not want me to. See, your house will be left to you desolate” (Luke 13). Moreover, after his resurrection he commanded his disciples as follows about summoning the nations: “Go and teach all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to keep everything I have ordered you to do. And see, I myself am with you for all the days until the very end of the age” (Matthew 28). It is also fitting that he was publishing his decision about Vashti through Memucan, who is mentioned last in the series of seven wise men, because he symbolizes the persona of the apostle Paul who was the last to be called as an apostle, and through whom the Jews are properly reproached for their faithlessness. For he says about himself: “But I am the least of the apostles” (1 Corinthians 15).And elsewhere he says: “To me, the least among the saints, has been given this grace, so that I might evangelize Christ among the nations” (2 Corinthians 3). So while he had been preaching the word of God together with Barnabas in the Synagogue of the Jews, and the Jews—who were full of zeal— were speaking out blasphemously against what Paul was saying, he said to them firmly: “It was proper that the word of God should first be spoken to you; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves undeserving of eternal life, see we are turning to the nations. For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I placed you as a light for the nations, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ And hearing this, the nations rejoiced, and they glorified the word of the Lord, and whoever had been preordained for eternal life believed” (Acts 13).
The advice which King Ahasuerus asks of his seven sages who were, according to royal custom always by his side, concerning the insolent Vashti—as well as the sentence he orders them to pass concerning her—undoubtedly signifies the sentence our Savior passes against the arrogance of the Jewish people. He passes this sentence through his teachers who are always in his presence and full of the grace of the Holy Spirit in their orthodox faith and good works. The Jewish people themselves who incurred this judgment bear the responsibility for the punishment and condemnation they have received of being expelled from the royal bridal room, that is, from the congregation of God for which they had been ordained and elected, so that another, better bride, namely, the church of the nations, may take their place with sincere faith and full devotion.
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SUMMARY
Esther 1:14 meticulously names the seven most influential and highest-ranking advisors to King Ahasuerus: Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan. These "princes of Persia and Media" held unparalleled access to the monarch, being those who "saw the king's face" and "sat the first in the kingdom," thereby signifying their preeminent status and indispensable role in the Persian court's decision-making processes, especially in the immediate aftermath of Queen Vashti's unprecedented defiance.
CONTEXT
Literary Context: This verse is strategically positioned within the opening narrative of the Book of Esther, immediately following King Ahasuerus's grand feast and Queen Vashti's controversial refusal to appear before him as commanded in Esther 1:12. The king, described as "very angry" and seeking counsel from "the wise men who knew the times" in Esther 1:13, is presented as a ruler who, despite his absolute power, operates within a structured legal framework. Verse 14 then provides the specific names of these seven elite advisors, identifying them as the very individuals consulted. This detailed introduction sets the stage for Memucan's pivotal and influential advice in Esther 1:16, which directly leads to Vashti's dethronement and the subsequent search for a new queen, ultimately paving the way for Esther's ascent. The naming of these human agents underscores the formal, legalistic, and human-driven unfolding of events, subtly highlighting the unseen divine hand at work.
Historical & Cultural Context: King Ahasuerus is widely identified with Xerxes I, who reigned over the vast Persian Empire from 486-465 BC. The events of the book are set in Susa, one of the empire's key administrative capitals. The Persian Empire was renowned for its highly organized bureaucracy and a legal system that emphasized the immutability of its laws, a characteristic also noted in Daniel 6:8. The concept of "seven princes" holding such privileged access and authority was a recognized feature of the Persian court, possibly referring to a specific council of the most powerful noble families or satraps. The phrase "seeing the king's face" was a potent idiom denoting direct, personal access to the monarch, a rare privilege reserved for the most trusted and highest-ranking officials who could offer advice and receive commands without intermediaries. This detail powerfully conveys their immense influence and proximity to the very center of imperial power.
Key Themes: Esther 1:14 introduces several foundational themes that resonate throughout the book. Firstly, it highlights the theme of Royal Authority and Counsel, demonstrating that even an absolute monarch like Ahasuerus relied heavily on a council of influential advisors for governance and legal interpretation. These seven princes represent the apex of power and influence beneath the king, underscoring the structured, hierarchical nature of the Persian monarchy. Secondly, the verse emphasizes Access and Influence, with the phrases "which saw the king's face" and "which sat the first in the kingdom" signifying their unparalleled proximity and preeminent status, illustrating how power was both concentrated and exercised through a rigid system. Finally, it subtly introduces the theme of Upholding Law and Order, as the king's immediate consultation with these legal experts underscores the Persian emphasis on formal legal procedures and the maintenance of social order. Vashti's defiance was not merely a personal slight but a challenge to royal authority that demanded a formal, legal response. This legalistic framework becomes a critical element in the unfolding narrative, particularly concerning the decree against the Jews and Esther's later intervention, where the unchangeable nature of Persian law plays a crucial role.
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
The verse employs several significant literary devices to convey its meaning and establish the setting. Enumeration is prominently featured, as the explicit listing of the seven princes' names emphasizes their specific identity and the formal, structured nature of the Persian court. This detailed naming adds a strong sense of historical verisimilitude and serves to concretize the human agents involved. The pervasive use of Idiom is also crucial, with phrases like "saw the king's face" and "sat the first in the kingdom" serving as powerful shorthand to convey the immense status, privilege, and influence of these individuals within the royal hierarchy. These idioms communicate far more than a literal description, immediately establishing their preeminence and the highly stratified nature of the court. Furthermore, the introduction of these specific advisors, particularly Memucan, serves as a subtle form of Foreshadowing, hinting at their critical, decision-making role in the unfolding drama of Vashti's dethronement and the subsequent events that will lead to Esther's rise to power and the deliverance of the Jewish people.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Esther 1:14, though seemingly a simple list of names and titles, profoundly illustrates God's providential working through human institutions and decisions, even in a seemingly secular context. The reliance of King Ahasuerus on his "wise men" for counsel reflects a universal human need for guidance, a theme frequently addressed in scripture. While the Book of Esther does not explicitly mention God, His unseen hand is evident in how He orchestrates events through the actions and advice of human agents. The unchangeable nature of Medo-Persian law, which these princes uphold, ironically becomes a backdrop for God's extraordinary intervention later in the book, demonstrating that His decrees ultimately supersede all earthly ones. This verse sets the stage for the dramatic interplay between human power, human counsel, and divine sovereignty, highlighting that even the most powerful human systems are ultimately subject to a higher, unseen plan.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Esther 1:14 offers profound insights into the dynamics of leadership, the critical importance of counsel, and the subtle yet powerful ways God works within human systems. It reminds us that leaders, whether in government, business, or the church, rarely operate in a vacuum; their decisions are often shaped by the counsel they receive. The quality of that counsel—its wisdom, integrity, and alignment with truth—can have far-reaching consequences, impacting countless lives. For believers, this verse underscores the critical importance of both seeking and providing wise, godly counsel, understanding that while human advice is fallible, it can be a conduit for divine wisdom when submitted to God's will and His Word. It also calls us to discernment, to carefully weigh the counsel we receive and to recognize that even in seemingly secular or chaotic situations, God's sovereign plan is unfolding, often using the very structures and decisions of human authority to achieve His purposes. We are invited to trust in His overarching control, even when His presence is not overtly declared, knowing that He is orchestrating all things for His glory and the good of His people.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Who were these seven princes, and why are their names listed?
Answer: The seven princes—Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan—were the highest-ranking and most trusted advisors to King Ahasuerus. They were likely the "wise men who knew the times" mentioned in Esther 1:13, experts in law and custom. Their names are explicitly listed to add historical authenticity to the narrative and to emphasize their specific, crucial role in the immediate crisis concerning Queen Vashti. This highlights the formal, structured nature of the Persian court and introduces the key human agents whose counsel directly influences the king's decisions, setting the stage for the dramatic events that follow in the Book of Esther.
What does it mean that they "saw the king's face" and "sat the first in the kingdom"?
Answer: These are powerful idiomatic expressions signifying the unparalleled privilege, direct access, and preeminent status of these seven princes. To "see the king's face" meant they had direct, personal access to the monarch, a rare and highly coveted position reserved for the most trusted and influential officials who could advise the king without intermediaries. To "sat the first in the kingdom" further emphasizes their supreme rank and authority, indicating they held the highest positions of power and influence, perhaps as members of a royal council, placing them at the very pinnacle of the Persian administration, just below the king himself. This underscores their immense influence on the king's decisions and the weight of their counsel.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
While Esther 1:14 describes the earthly hierarchy and the reliance on human counsel within a pagan empire, it subtly points to a greater reality perfectly fulfilled in Christ. The seven princes, with their privileged access to the king's "face" and their position as "first in the kingdom," represent the pinnacle of human influence and authority. Yet, their counsel, though crucial to the narrative, is ultimately fallible and limited, leading to decrees that are subject to human manipulation and even circumvention. In stark contrast, Jesus Christ is the ultimate and perfect Counselor (Isaiah 9:6), the one who perfectly "sees the Father's face" in eternal communion (John 1:18), and who "sits first in the kingdom"—not merely an earthly empire, but the eternal, unshakable Kingdom of God, having all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). Unlike the laws of the Medes and Persians, which could be influenced by human advisors and later circumvented by subsequent decrees (Esther 8:8), Christ's decrees are eternal, unchangeable, and salvific. Through Him, believers are granted direct, confident access to the Father's presence (Hebrews 4:16), becoming "co-heirs with Christ" in His unbreakable kingdom (Romans 8:17). Thus, the human wisdom and power displayed in Esther 1:14 ultimately serve as a shadow, highlighting the surpassing wisdom, supreme authority, and perfect counsel found in our Lord Jesus Christ, who reigns forever.