Esther — Chapter 1

In diebus Assueri, qui regnavit

The Septuagint reads \"Artaxerxes,\" meaning Darius Hystaspes, as I have already explained — for \"Assuerus\" was the common name of the Median kings (whence Daniel 9:1 calls Darius the Mede \"the son of Ahasuerus,\" that is, of Astyages, the last king of the Medes), while \"Artaxerxes\" was the common name of Persian kings, and Darius was king of both peoples. See what was said at 1 Esdras ch. 4 v. 7. Add that in Persian these three names — Darius, Xerxes, Artaxerxes — mean almost the same thing: \"Darius\" means \"the coercer,\" \"Xerxes\" means \"the warrior,\" and \"Artaxerxes\" means \"the great warrior,\" says Herodotus bk. VI p. 175, although Hesychius in the Lexicon asserts that \"Darius\" in Persian is the same as Greek ἐπήμερος, meaning \"prudent\" or \"wise.\"

Susan civitas regni ejus exordium fuit

This was the royal city of Darius and the Persian kings, in which Darius wished in the third year of his reign to be crowned king with great solemnity and a public royal banquet — which is described in this chapter. Susa is situated near the river Choaspes in a most pleasant spot, so named from its abundant production of lilies, as Athenaeus bk. XII, Eustachius on Dionysius, and the Etymologicon Magnum attest. For \"Susan\" in Hebrew means \"lily\"; hence the Phoenicians, Persians, and others call the lily \"Susan\" or \"Susanna\"; hence also the unguent called \"Susinum,\" whose chief ingredient was lilies, as Hesychius and Pliny bk. 13 ch. 1 witness — though Stephanus in his work on cities thinks Susan was named from the abundance of springs (fountains), which in Persian are called \"Susan.\" In like fashion many cities have been named from flowers: Rhodes from the rose (for ῥόδον is rose), Florence from flowers. Memnon son of Tithonus first founded Susan, say Herodotus, Aelian, Strabo, and Cassiodorus; it was therefore surnamed \"Memnonia.\" But Darius Hystaspes greatly enlarged it with new palaces and made it a royal seat, as Aelian testifies. Some think Susan is the present-day Tabriz, the seat of the Persian Shah.

Tertio igitur anno imperii sui fecit

The Chaldean paraphrast here invents a legend that Assuerus wanted to sit on Solomon's throne, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem to Babylon and Cyrus from Babylon to Persia; but when the throne was too large for Darius, he ordered a similar one to be made, and the craftsmen labored two years in fashioning it, so that in the third year Darius sat upon it and held this banquet. Some think Darius arranged this feast to celebrate his birthday with public rejoicing, for Athenaeus bk. IV ch. 6 and Plato in the Alcibiades show this was the custom of the Persians. \"And of the Medes most distinguished\" — in Hebrew \"Parthenim,\" which some render as \"peers,\" as if these were the same as the ὁμότιμοι mentioned by Xenophon, i.e., those held in equal honor. More correctly, \"Parthenim\" is not a Greek but a Persian name for satraps.

Quod regio cultu et manu consitum

The garden had been planted with royal care and by hand. Cicero in De Senectute testifies that Cyrus king of Persia cultivated fields and gardens with his own hand. He says: \"When Lysander expressed admiration at the height of the trees, the orderly arrangement of them in quincunx, the cultivated and clean soil, and the sweetness of the perfumes wafting from the flowers, he said he marveled at this care and at the skill of whoever had measured it all out and laid it out; and Cyrus replied: 'Indeed, I myself measured all this; these are my rows, this is my design; I planted many of these trees with my own hand.'\"

Et pendebant ex omni parte tentoria aerii

By the hangings understand tapestries and curtains hung on poles and trees throughout the garden, both for ornament and to shelter the guests from sun, rain, and wind. These were \"of sky-blue color\" — that is, white, as the Hebrew, Pagninus, and Vatablus say; for clear air, illuminated by light, appears white. \"And of fine linen\" — in Hebrew כרפס carpas, meaning \"green.\" Hence many scholars hold that the text should read \"carpasini\" (with the letter b changed to its cognate p, as often happens), as the Septuagint reads, meaning green. This color remarkably refreshes the eyes. Others by similarity of sound suspect that \"carbasus\" here is crimson — what is commonly called \"carmine.\" The Hebrew \"carpas\" occurs in this passage alone, so its exact meaning is uncertain; but the first interpretation — that carpasine means green — is favored by the fact that the Arabs still call garden-parsley (petroselinum), which is intensely green, \"kars,\" the same word as the Hebrew \"carpas.\" Thus \"carpasinus\" means green; \"carbasus\" properly means white, being named from a most fine species of linen that shines white. \"Upon a pavement of porphyry and white marble\" (Pario) — a white marble from the island of Paros, the finest and most precious of all. The \"picture\" refers to work fashioned from the variety of stones, inlaid and interlaced like mosaic.

Bibebant autem qui invitati erant aureis

The ancient Persians under Cyrus and before him were very frugal in food and drink, having, as Xenophon (bk. I of the Cyropaedia) says, \"bread for food, cress for seasoning, and river water for drink.\" Hence Cicero in Tuscul. I: \"The fare of the Persians is set forth by Xenophon, who says they add nothing to their bread except cress.\" The result was that they were hardened and strong for labors and wars by which they gained their kingdom and empire; but when gluttony and luxury increased, they lost it. On the temperance of the ancient Persians and the luxury of their descendants, see Xenophon bk. VIII, Stobaeus serm. 42 and 44, Herodotus bk. IX, Athenaeus bk. IV. The guests at this banquet lay on couches (lectuli) of gold and silver, after the ancient Eastern custom of reclining at meals. Note: ancient peoples first used chairs and sat at table (as we do now), as is clear from Gen. 43:33, Philo's Life of Joseph, and Athenaeus bk. I. But later Jews, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and nearly all nations adopted the custom of reclining at dinner and supper on couches.

Nec erat qui nolentes cogeret ad

There was no one to compel the unwilling to drink. For it is the act not of a friend but of an enemy and a hostile man to force drinking even beyond nature's limit, which no beast does. Xenophon bk. VIII of the Cyropaedia says that among the ancient Persians it was fixed by law that no wine-jar should be brought to banquets, because they considered that bodies were less weakened than minds if no one drank too much. The Salic law (as Beatus Rhenanus testifies, bk. II of Germanic Matters) was: \"Let no one invite his fellow soldier or any other person to drink.\" St. Augustine (serm. 231 De Tempore) gravely censures those who force guests to drink for one's health — \"an alleged act of devotion\": \"He seems not to love the Emperor who will not drink to his health. Let us then drink for the safety of the armies, for the virtue of the counts, for the children. And these vows are judged to belong to God — just as those who bring cups to the tombs of martyrs and drink there in the evening and believe they cannot otherwise be heard. O the folly of men who think drunkenness a sacrifice!\" The praeposed for each table was to see that everyone took what he wished.

Vasthi quoque regina fecit convivium feminarum

In Hebrew \"Vasthi\" means \"and a drinking-feast,\" or \"and warp threads,\" for threads and warp are the work of women. According to some, Vashti was the daughter of Hystaspes, and thus the sister of her husband Darius — for the Persians married their sisters, as Herodotus proves in the case of Cambyses, as Curtius bk. VIII, and Pliny bk. 36 ch. 8 attest. Others think Vashti was the daughter of Cyrus; for Darius married her to confirm his kingship, as Justin bk. I and Herodotus bk. III teach — Herodotus calling her Atossa.

Cum rex esset hilarior, et post nimiam

The laws of the Persians permitted the king of Persia to become drunk once a year, at the feast of the Sun, whom the Persians worshiped as a god — but what the law allowed once, the king could usurp more often at his own pleasure. \"Mauham\" in Greek is Aman, although the Hebrews think Aman was Mamuchan, mentioned in v. 14. The king commanded that Vashti be brought in so as to display her beauty to all peoples and princes — he did this partly from drunkenness, partly from lust. His command was therefore heedless, imprudent, shameful, dishonorable, and immodest; thus Vashti was not bound to obey it, for the sake of modesty and chastity, lest her beauty inflame the eyes and passions of the princes already heated with wine. \"She was very beautiful\" — the women of Persia surpassed all others in beauty; hence Alexander the Great refused to see the wife and daughters of Darius whom he had vanquished, saying that Persian women were \"pains to the eyes,\" as Plutarch and Curtius relate: \"In Persia the beauty of women excels,\" says Ammianus bk. 23.

Quae renuit, et ad regis imperium

Vashti refused and would not come at the king's command delivered through the eunuchs. She seems therefore to have sinned in pride, disobedience, and contempt of her husband; but setting aside that fault, she honestly and modestly declined the dishonorable and immodest parade of herself before the drunken princes — especially because, as Josephus bk. XI ch. 6 says, \"she wished to keep the laws of the Persians, which forbade wives to be seen by strangers.\" Hence Macrobius bk. VII ch. 1 says it was the custom among the Parthians to bring concubines but not wives to banquets; and St. Ambrose, bk. De Elia ch. 15, says the same. Thus Severus Sulpicius on Vashti: \"More prudent than her foolish king, chaste, she refused to make her person a spectacle for men's eyes when so commanded.\" Hence the king in his fury moved against her.

Septem duces Persarum atque Medorum, qui

The seven princes of Persia and Media who saw the king's face — that is, who were his intimates, counselors, and most familiar friends with the king. For as Justin bk. I in fine says: \"Among the Persians the person of the king is hidden under the guise of majesty.\" Hence in ch. 7 v. 8, Haman, who had incurred the king's anger, had his face covered, as if unworthy to see the king he had so offended. A similar pride was affected by some kings, and is still affected today by the kings of China. The Persians received this haughtiness from the Medes equally with their kingdom. Concerning Dejoces king of the Medes, Herodotus bk. I p. 91 says: \"He took care that the king should not be seen by anyone.\" As Valerius Maximus bk. II ch. 7 rightly says: \"Whatever is placed in an exalted position ought to be free from familiar and common intercourse, that it may be the more venerable.\"

Ut nequaquam Vasthi ultra ingrediatur

That Vashti should no longer enter into the king's presence, and that her royal dignity be given to another better than she. Plutarch in the Artaxerxes, speaking of the Persians: \"They are barbarians, most jealous, and fierce toward their wives.\" Commenting on this place, Luther, rejecting all bounds of modesty, taught that if a wife is somewhat reluctant to the conjugal act, a maidservant should be called, and the husband should say: \"If you won't, another will; if the wife won't, let the maidservant come\" — a fitting lid for such a pot, a fitting oracle of Priapus for such a prophet. More soberly, St. Jerome (Ep. to Rusticus): \"The philosophers of this age are accustomed to drive out old love with a new love, as one nail drives out another — which is what the seven princes of Persia did for Assuerus, that they might check his longing for Vashti with love for other girls. They cure vice with vice, sin with sin; let us overcome vices with the love of virtue.\"

Esse viros principes ac majores in domibus

That the men should be princes and masters in their own houses, and should rule over their wives, children, and servants.