Let’s talk about parshat a moment. In some congregations of people who worship Jesus as Messiah, part of the weekly worship service involves readings from the Old Testament. The plural Hebrew word for these readings is “parshat”. The singular word for one such reading is the weekly “parsha”. There are 54 parshat, which means that in some weeks, there is a “double portion” of scripture read.
Why do I bring this up? The reason is that in these congregations and in the Jewish world, the story of Esther is celebrated at the same time of year, in the spring, usually in the Julian calendar month of March. In 2024, it will be celebrated on the rabbinic calendar on March 23-24th. On the biblical calendar, which is a lunar calendar, it is always celebrated on the 14th-15th of the 12th month (Adar). Why? Because this was the date the Jews triumphed over Haman.
The book of Esther was almost not included in the Hebrew bible, and it is said that Martin Luther thought it was so worthless that he wanted it thrown into the River Elba! There is more midrashic debate about this book than any other in the Tanakh. There were no scrolls of Esther found among the Dead Sea scrolls, although there were anywhere from fragments to complete scrolls found of every other Old Testament book. Furthermore, one of the key themes of this book is “concealment”. This is manifested in the fact that that tetragrammaton, the four-letter Hebrew name of GOD, is not found in the book.
This story took place when God was hidden by many and varied veils of concealment, at a time when the Jews were so dispirited that they began to think traitorous thoughts, along the lines of “Do I owe the Almighty more allegiance than a wife spurned or a slave set free?” Just as the name of Yahweh was concealed in the written book of Esther, so was He concealing His face from His people during this period. It was a period of great turmoil. And then, when things seemed darkest, a miracle of deliverance happened in a spiritually forlorn Persian province, a place almost devoid of godly instruction. When all was said and done, God’s presence was recognized everywhere, all throughout the book. Every piece of His divine jigsaw puzzle fit together perfectly!
A couple of additional examples of concealment: Mordecai and Esther concealed their Jewish heritage from the king. Haman concealed his ulterior, evil motives from the king.
Along with the theme of concealment, other themes in the book have to do with the (future) False Messiah and his demonic hatred of the Jews, as well as the Messianic Kingdom of the last days.
The sages say the book was written by either Mordecai or by Esther or by both, and that Esther lobbied hard for its inclusion into the Hebrew Bible, with Ezra, Nehemiah and the Great Sanhedrin of their day eventually making the decision to include it. Other scholars claim that the author of the book is anonymous.
What was the setting in the years just before the story of Esther/Hadassah took place? Two years before the king at the forefront of the Esther story ascended to the throne, it was occupied by King Cyrus, the very “Cyrus” prophesied 200 years earlier, by name, by the prophet Isaiah. This benevolent ruler, who was very favorably inclined toward the Jews, gave an order for the Temple to be rebuilt. 42,000 Jews (the first of three “waves”) returned to Judah, out of the millions who were living in the Persian Empire, formerly Babylon. When Xerxes ascended to the throne, he was not nearly as friendly toward the Jews as had been his predecessor. The Jewish people were somewhat scattered and confused. The teaching of Torah was experiencing a renaissance in Babylon, but in Elam, in Shushan, the seat of Persian royal power, Torah was not allowed to be taught. Although work on the Temple in Jerusalem did begin under Cyrus, it was hindered in the last months of his reign. And, as recorded in Ezra 4, when a vicious letter was sent from the enemies of the Jews to Xerxes, he ordered a halt to the work on the Jerusalem Temple. We will look at that passage a little later, but for now let’s hear the account of Esther, chapter 1, from the Peshitta Holy Bible. Of the vernacular versions of the Bible, the Old Testament Peshitta is second only to the Greek Septuagint in antiquity, dating from probably the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. The earliest parts in Old Syriac are thought to have been translated from Hebrew or Aramaic texts by Jewish Christians at Edessa.
1 And it was in the days of Akhshiresh, he was the son of Akhshiresh who was made king of India and unto Cush, over a hundred and twenty provinces.
2 In those days when King Akhshiresh was sitting on the throne of his kingdom, that was in Shushan the Palace.
3 In year three of his kingdom he made a great feast for all his Princes and his Servants of power, the Persians and Medes and the Parthians and the Nobles of the King before him, and the Nobles of the city
4 When he showed the wealth and the honor of his kingdom and the honor of the glory of his greatness, many days, a hundred and eighty days.
{Basically, this was a party that lasted a half a year.}
5 And when those days were finished, the King made a feast seven days for all the people that were found in Shushan the Palace, from the little one and unto the great, in the court of the garden of the palace of the King.
{So, this was an additional feast, presumably to include the inhabitants of the palace, perhaps to thank them for all their labor over the previous six months. But, many of the satraps were still in attendance as well.}
6 And, the curtains of wool, of cotton and blue fringes were drawn, and they were extended with cords of fine white linen and of purple on rings of silver, and upon pillars of box tree wood, and couches of gold and of silver laid on pavement of marble, and carpets of fine white linen and of silk.
7 And they were giving drinks in vessels of gold, and the vessels were selected from vessels, and the wine of the kingdom was abundant according to the hand of the King.
8 And the drinking was by the law and there was none who compelled, because thus the King commanded all the Great ones in his house, that they would do the pleasure of every person.
9 Vashti, the Queen, made a great feast for all the women in the house of the kingdom of King Akhashiresh
10 And in the seventh day, when the heart of the King was merry with wine, he said to the Eunuchs, to Beztha and to Rakhbuna and to Bagtha and to Agbutha and to Tarash and to Zethar and to Berkash, seven Eunuchs who serve before King Akhashiresh
11 To bring Vashti the Queen before the King with the crown of his kingdom, to show the people and the Nobles her beauty, because her appearance was beautiful.
12 And Vashti the queen did not desire to enter in response when the King sent for her by the hand of the Eunuchs, and the King was very angry, and his anger was flaming.
Now, let’s look at the Persian Empire and the king, who is at the forefront of the Esther story.
There are 3 separate Persian dynasties which flit in and out of Old Testament scripture.
1. Ahasuerus (Cyaxares I). He had two sons: Cambyses I and Darius the Mede. Cambyses was the father of Cyrus the Great, overarching ruler of Persia from 590-530 B.C. During Cyrus’ reign, he appointed his uncle, Darius the Mede, as prefect/satrap over Babylon; he served in that capacity from 538-536 B.C., right after Judah fell.) This is the Darius of Daniel 6:1 and 9:1. Cyrus the Great was succeeded by Cambyses II, also known as Ahasuerus (the second Ahasuerus mentioned in scripture). Some believe this "second Ahasuerus" was the Ahasuerus referred to in Ezra 4. Cambyses II ruled for only about 8 years, 530-522. This king died, leaving no heirs, a very important point. Accordingly....
2. The next dynasty to come to power was through the Persian satrap, Hystaspes, because Cambyses II left no heirs. Hystaspes' son was Darius I (Darius the Great), who reigned from 522-487 (Darius #2 in scripture). Darius' son was Xerxes I (aka Ahasuerus - - the third Ahasuerus in scripture). Xerxes I ruled from 487- 465 and, as previously mentioned, some scholars believe he is the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther and Ezra 4. Xerxes I is also sometimes called Artaxerxes, but it was actually his son who was Artaxerxes I and who succeeded him.
3. The third Darius in scripture is mentioned in Nehemiah 12:12. This “Darius the Persian” is Darius Codomannus (336-331) of history, the last ruler of Persia before the Persian Empire was defeated by Alexander the Great.
The story of Esther takes place during a lull in the restoration of Jerusalem.
The prophet Ezra says this:
4 Then the people of the land set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to build.
5 They hired counselors against them to frustrate their plans throughout the reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.
6 At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, an accusation was lodged against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
7 And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes.
Ezra 4:4-7
A careful reading of these verses shows that the opposition to rebuilding, which had been occurring for decades, off and on since the reign of Cyrus, intensified to an accusation to King Xerxes I and an outright letter of appeal to his son, King Artaxerxes I. The actually stoppage was ordered by Xerxes I’s son, Artaxerxes.
Many scholars hold to the position that the king in the story of Esther was Xerxes I, and one of those is Andrew Gabriel Roth, who is one of my favorite Bible teachers. Here is an interesting tale about Xerxes I. The Persian Empire, at the time of Esther, stretched from Egypt to India (Esther 1:1 and 8:9): this was over half of the known world at that time. (Of course, the Western Hemisphere was “unknown”.) The Persian Empire consisted of 127 provinces, led by 127 leaders called “satraps”.
The setting of the story is 485-478 BCE. Xerxes succeeded his father Darius, in 485 BCE. The six-month banquet began during the 3rd year of his reign, 482 BCE. Shortly after the banquet, at which he commanded Queen Vashti to appear, Xerxes left Shushan and went on a military campaign. He was gone to war for 3 years after that banquet, from 481 to 478 BCE. He invaded Greece with an army, it is said, of more than 2,000,000 soldiers, only 5,000 of whom returned with him. The Greeks were vastly, vastly outnumbered. Leonidas, with his famous 300, arrested Xerxes’ progress at the Pass of Thermopylae (480 BCE), and then he was defeated disastrously by Themistocles at Salamis. Xerxes I had quite a temper. It’s reported he was so angry at this naval loss to the Greeks, he commanded that his troops “whip the Mediterranean Sea” (with whips!) for the entire 3-day journey from Athens back to Persia!
So, the majority of our story took place after Xerxes I returned, in 478 BCE.
Regardless of his pagan roots and culture, the king in the book of Esther represented ultimate authority and supreme worldly power. Although a corrupted, idolatrous pagan, with a terrible temper, who made some disastrous decisions, he is considered by many Bible scholars to be in this story a picture of the authority of the Most High God.
Queen Vashti
If you examine the Queen’s name, it is likely that she was of Indian origin. Scholars say that her name means “beautiful” in the Persian language. Remember that the Persian Empire included the country of India. Persia at the time was larger than the Roman Empire ever became. According to the Haggadah, an extra-biblical book of Jewish oral tradition, Vashti was the daughter of the Babylonian king Belshazzar, who was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar via his daughter, Nitocris. The night that Belshazzar was killed, in 539 BCE, Vashti was captured by the conquering Persians and given to Xerxes as a wife. (However, I find the timeline of this legend to be troubling, as it would require both Vashti AND Xerxes to be quite old at the time of the Esther story, Vashti in her mid-sixties, for instance.
Incidentally, in the introduction of one of my resources for these teachings on Esther, The Megillah of Esther, from the ArtScroll Tanakh series, I learned why Belshazzar was having such an orgiastic feast, the night he died. It seems that the non-Jewish monarchs of the ANE were aware of Jeremiah’s “70-years” prophecy. It’s recorded in Jeremiah 29:10
“For thus saith the LORD: After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will remember you, and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.”
The non-Jewish “nations” had seen what the God of the Israelites was capable of. The Babylonians destroyed Solomon’s Temple because they believed if they destroyed the Temple they were hamstringing Israel’s God. Still, Jeremiah’s “70 years” prophecy loomed over them. Belshazzar began counting the 70 years from his father’s, Nebuchadnezzar’s, ascension to the throne of Babylon. Neb ruled for 45 years. His son, Evil-Merodach, ruled for another 23. Belshazzar was counting the months until the third year of his reign….When he believed the 70 years to be over, he held his brazen, wild feast, at which he had the vessels from the “vanquished” Temple brought out to be used as tableware. Babylon had survived the God’s “deadline” and Jerusalem was relegated to being a deserted field inhabited by jackals. But, by the next morning Belshazzar was dead. His blasphemous miscalculation had cost him not only his throne, but his life.
Ironically, some scholars believe that King Xerxes held his six-month banquet for a similar reason, believing he had escaped the guillotine prophecy, that is, that there was a blade hanging over his head - - the 70 years prophecy. In verse 4, the phrase “the honor of the glory of his greatness” contains a Hebrew word applied in connection with the priestly garments of the kohanim. It is therefore believed by many Jewish scholars that Xerxes arrayed himself for the banquet in the robes looted by Nebuchadnezzar during the Babylonian conquest and the destruction of the Temple. The sages also say that God allowed him to escape death in order to use him to in the story to save the Jewish people from extinction.
When God wants His people to understand His words clearly, he makes them known clearly. God’s prophecies are often cryptic, until we see them having been fulfilled. Future events frequently will illuminate seeming obscurities of the Scriptures as a flash of lightning lights up the skies. So, the arithmetic of the “seventy years” was somewhat mysterious…and foreboding to the nations.
But, back to Vashti . . . When the biblical story of Esther begins, Vashti is the Queen. She is referred to as Queen Vashti until she refuses to answer Ahasuerus’ summons to appear before his guests at a banquet held in the third year of his reign. Women were objectified and abused in this culture. By her refusal to be debased, she made a bold statement that women were to be treated with dignity. My guess is that she knew she was “caught between a rock and a hard place”, that no matter whether she complied with the king’s command or not, this would not end well for her. And, if that were true, it turns out she was exactly right.
After her refusal, her royal title is revoked. The divorce from Queen Vashti occurred after the infamous, royal banquets. Recall from verse 9 that Vashti was holding a banquet for the wives of the noblemen while Xerxes was entertaining the men separately. This was how things were done at the time. It allowed the men the freedom to get drunk, make spectacles of themselves and do as they pleased, without the wives having to witness the foolishness of their husbands. The Oral Torah (Midrash) states that the Esther 1:11 summons for Queen Vashti to appear “in her crown” to be actually “nothing but her crown”, in other words, to be paraded around butt-naked, which would amply explain why she refused.
According to other, various Jewish legends, Vashti’s refusal to appear before the king was due to
1. fear for her husband’s life (she figured she would be mobbed by the drunken crowd and the king would be killed),
2. loathing for her husband (whom she considered to have non-royal blood - - allegedly he was formerly her father’s stable master), or
3. the fact that she herself had suddenly developed leprosy.
4. Another tradition says that Vashti was not simply banished from the king’s presence but was executed.
5. It’s important to note that none of these details are in the biblical account, and there is no way to confirm their veracity.
Yet, as Matthew Henry said in his commentary, and with which I quite agree: “Seasons of peculiar festivity often end in vexation.”
Some scholars believe Vashti represents those caught up in paganism, including faux-Christian paganism, who reject King Jesus’ summons (Luke 14:16-24) and who will be replaced with the true Bride of Christ (both Gentile and Jewish believers).
Continuing on with the first chapter of Esther, vs. 13:
13 And the King said to the Wisemen, men who knew the times, because thus was the custom of the King; he would speak before all who knew law and judgment
14 And to those who were close to him: Barnashay and Esthtar and Armuth and Remus and Tarshish and Mesriah and Mukan, Princes of Persia and of Media who were sitting before the King, and they appeared before him in the gate of the Kingdom.
The expression “Who knew the times” includes two classes of advisors: (a) the astronomers and astrologers, who based their advice upon observation of the heavens, and (b) students of the laws and customs which had come into existence in the past, and so together these “wise men” formed a guide for the direction of present conduct. Some of the Jewish sages assert that the Jewish wise men, i.e. the local rabbis, were consulted first, but that they wisely refused to issue an opinion, deferring instead to the Persian advisors.
Some have assumed that this inquiry took place immediately, while the king was still very inebriated. However, I don’t know that we can assume that.
15 They said, “What ought to be done to Queen Vashti, because she has not done the word of King Akhashiresh who sent by the hand of the Eunuchs?”
16 And Mukan said before the King and before the Princes: “It was not the King only that Vashti the Queen has despised, but all the Nobles and all the people in all the provinces of King Akhashiresh.
Memucan, one of the seven vice-regents of King Ahasuerus, counseled the king to depose Vashti, based on her insubordination. The Rabbis observe that Memucan jumped the gun in offering advice without being asked, from which they deduced that “A commoner (hedyot, here: fool) leaps first.” Or, “an ignoramus always puts himself at the forefront.” He was mentioned last in verse 14, yet he speaks first… The name “Memucan” is a combination of two words that mean “a blemish is here”. Memucan can be thought of as a “nickname”, similar to Ploni Almoni, in the book of Ruth. Interestingly, some of the sages state that Memucan is none other than Haman.
17 And when the report of this matter will come forth to all women, their husbands will be scorned and despised in their eyes, and they shall be saying: ‘King Akhashiresh commanded to bring Vashti the queen before him and she did not enter!'.
18 Today the Princes of Persia and of Media who heard the response of the Queen of all the Princes of the King, will tell, and all the contempt and the anger.
19 If it is pleasing to the King, the response of the kingdom will come forth from before him and it will be written in the law of Media and Persia that does not pass away, and Vashti the Queen shall not again enter to King Akhashiresh, and the King will give her kingdom to her companion who is better than she. 20 And the response of the King will be heard and it shall travel into all the kingdom, because it is great, and all the women will do honor to their husbands, from great to small.”
In verse 19, Memucan is suggesting that an irrevocable royal edict be issued, thus establishing the precedent for future such edicts that will appear later in the story, with these types of edicts being issued without regard to the consultation of advisors. In other words, if Memucan was the same as Haman, he is literally digging the hole into which he will later fall. Indeed, Almighty God wove a web of intrigue and paradox to accomplish miracles for His people, the nation of Judah!
Irrespective of Memucan digging his own death pit….
Memucan had his own reasons when he advised the king to remove Vashti. What might those have been? There are three different conjectures as to why Memucan wished to be revenged upon Vashti. According to one, Vashti would strike him back and forth on the face with her shoe. In consequence, Memucan says (Esth. 1:16) : “Queen Vashti has committed an offense not only against Your Majesty,” that is, she acted unjustly towards him, as well, and because of this he wanted a severe punishment to be inflicted upon her.
The second midrashic opinion is that Memucan wanted to be avenged because Vashti did not invite his wife to the women’s banquet. And so he says (Esth. 1:17) : “For the queen’s behavior will make all wives despise their husbands.” He speaks in general language and not in a personal tone, because he did not include himself and his wife in this statement. According to the third position, Memucan had a daughter and wanted Vashti to be deposed so that his daughter could marry Ahasuerus. Therefore he says (Esth. 1:19) : “And let Your Majesty bestow her royal state upon another who is more worthy than she,” hinting at his own daughter (Esth. Rabbah 4.6).
Even though Memucan may have carried a grudge, he was right about one thing. With great power comes great responsibility. Vashti, whether she liked it or not, WAS a role model for every wife in the kingdom. The women of Persia watched her every move.
What can you learn from Vashti? We all are part-good, part-evil. That is the human condition. We have the choice to follow God courageously and faithfully, regardless of the circumstances or consequences. We must not rush to judgment of others. There is always a back-story.
What did the two queens in this story have in common?
1. Each queen was faced with a decision whether to accept or reject the role expected of her.
2. Each had to face the consequences of her decision. (Esther, to appear in the throne room unsummoned; Vashti, to fail to appear when she was summoned).
3. Each woman had the unprecedented experience to have the ear of the King.
4. Both violated the king’s edicts-Vashti to preserve her modesty, Esther to save her people.
Vashti might have been a villainess. She might have been a heroine. The midrashic opinions vary and we’ll never know…. But every decision each of us makes has a ripple effect. Choose to make a difference for God, as Esther did.
21 And this answer was pleasing in the eyes of the King and of his Princes, and the King did according to the word of Mukan. 22 And he sent a letter to all the provinces of the King, to each province according to its writing, and to each people according to its language, to cause every man to be authorized in his house, and communicating according to the language of its people.
I have discovered in my studies of the Persian Empire, via the historians Herodotus and Xenophon, that the Persians developed a very sophisticated “postal service” and that they were the first major empire to accomplish this. As large as this world empire was, it would seem this was a necessity. The system was in place at the very beginning of the Esther story, and its existence certainly served well the Jewish people later on in the story as well.
The latter portion of vs. 22 literally says this in the Hebrew: ‘be ruling in his own house, and speaking according to the language of his own people’. (The English translation does distinct violence to the original Hebrew….). In other words, if a Persian citizen, a man, marries a foreign woman, this decree declares that she shall be required to communicate within her husband’s household according to his native language, not hers. Raising one’s children as bilingual, in this case, was frowned upon. Do you find that curious?
This decision, recommended by Memucan and adopted by the king was intended to preserve the power of Persia, as were the two lavish banquets. The intent of the banquets was that the invited satraps would return to the far-flung reaches of the kingdom and “sing the praises” of King Xerxes and of Persia in general. Vashti’s non-compliance flew in the face of Persian dominance in the world. This is why the king agreed to remove her from her position, to “take her out”, perhaps in more ways than one. The king’s edict, considered by Persians to be irrevocable, had a similar purpose. It served to cement who would rule each individual Persian household (the man) and also it would keep the language of the kingdom pure.
Many think that this edict only served to make the king look more foolish, as it was a decree that could never be widely enforced. And, that this worked to the Jews’ advantage because, when the later and similar decree “came down”, the one that stated all the Jews should be killed on the 14th of Adar….the people “took that with a grain of salt” too, not choosing to kill all the Jews immediately, but instead hanging back and taking a “wait and see” attitude. Throughout this story we see this king making hasty, ill-thought-out decisions, often accompanied by anger, which were particularly problematic because, as just mentioned, they could not be revoked, once made.
In the Oral Torah, it is said that when Xerxes grew sober, he regretted what he had done. He recalled Vashti and her proper behavior, and he also remembered how he had improperly condemned her ( Esther Rabbah 5:2).
Another midrashic tradition has Ahasuerus wanting his wife when the effects of his intoxication wore off. He was told: “You killed her!” He asked: “Why?” They replied: “You said for her to come before you naked and she did not come.” He admitted to them: “I did not act nicely. And who counseled me to kill her?” They told him: “The seven ministers of Persia and Media.” He immediately killed them. Of course, if Memucan was indeed Haman, this midrashic tradition could not be true.
Now, again, it was at this juncture that Xerxes did what many rulers do when they want to deflect the attention of the people away from their own incompetence. They start a war. Xerxes’ father, one of the Dariuses, had waged war unsuccessfully against the Greeks. Xerxes decided to try his hand at it, and as we have already discussed, was not successful either. All of this served to make him more and more angry. It was after he returned from the Greek wars that Esther’s role in this epic drama comes to the forefront, and we will resume our analysis together next week.
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