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Texts -- Esther 1:1-6 (NET)

Context
The King Throws a Lavish Party
1:1 The following events happened in the days of Ahasuerus . (I am referring to that Ahasuerus who used to rule over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces extending all the way from India to Ethiopia .) 1:2 In those days , as King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa the citadel , 1:3 in the third year of his reign he provided a banquet for all his officials and his servants . The army of Persia and Media was present , as well as the nobles and the officials of the provinces . 1:4 He displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor of his majestic greatness for a lengthy period of time – a hundred and eighty days , to be exact! 1:5 When those days were completed , the king then provided a seven-day banquet for all the people who were present in Susa the citadel , for those of highest standing to the most lowly . It was held in the court located in the garden of the royal palace . 1:6 The furnishings included linen and purple curtains hung by cords of the finest linen and purple wool on silver rings , alabaster columns , gold and silver couches displayed on a floor made of valuable stones of alabaster , mother-of-pearl , and mineral stone .

Pericope

NET
  • Est 1:1-9 -- The King Throws a Lavish Party

Bible Dictionary

  • Shushan

    [ebd] a lily, the Susa of Greek and Roman writers, once the capital of Elam. It lay in the uplands of Susiana, on the east of the Tigris, about 150 miles to the north of the head of the Persian Gulf. It is the modern Shush, on the...
    [isbe] SHUSHAN - shoo'-shan (shushan; Sousan, Sousa): 1. Position, Eytmology and Forms of Its Name: This city, the Susu or Susan of the Babylonians, and the native (Elamite) Susun, is the modern Shush (Sus) in Southwestern Persia, ...
    [nave] SHUSHAN 1. Capital of the Medo-Persian empire, Esth. 1:2, 3; 8:15. 2. King's palace at, Neh. 1:1; Esth. 1:2, 5; 2:5, 8; 4:8, 16; 8:14, 15; 9:11, 15.

  • Medes

    [isbe] MEDES - medz (madhi; Assyrian Amada, Mada; Achaem. Persian Mada; Medoi (Gen 10:2; 2 Ki 17:6; 18:11; 1 Ch 1:5; Ezr 6:2; Est 1:3,14,18,19; 10:2; Isa 13:17; 21:2; Jer 25:25; 51:11,28; Dan 5:28; 6:1,9,13,16; 8:20; 9:1; 11:1)): M...
    [nave] MEDES Inhabitants of Media. Israelites distributed among, when carried to Assyria, 2 Kin. 17:6; 18:11. Palace in the Babylonian province of, Ezra 6:2. An essential part of the Medo-Persian empire, Esth. 1:1-19. Supremacy ...

  • Servant

    [nave] SERVANT Distinguished as bond servant, who was a slave, and hired servant. Bond Laws of Moses concerning, Ex. 21:1-11, 20, 21, 26, 27, 32; Lev. 19:20-22; 25:6, 10, 35-55; Deut. 15:12, 14, 18; 24:7. Kidnapping forbidden, D...

  • India

    [ebd] occurs only in Esther 1:1 and 8:9, where the extent of the dominion of the Persian king is described. The country so designated here is not the peninsula of Hindustan, but the country surrounding the Indus, the Punjab. The p...
    [isbe] INDIA - in'-di-a (hoddu: he Indike): The name occurs in canonical Scripture only in Est 1:1; 8:9, of the country which marked the eastern boundary of the territory of Ahasuerus. The Hebrew word comes from the name of the Ind...
    [smith] The name of India does not occur in the Bible before the book of Esther where it is noticed as the limit of the territories of Ahasuerus in the east, as Ethiopia was in the west. (Esther 1:1; 8:9) The India of the book of Est...
    [nave] INDIA, probably the eastern limit of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, Esth. 1:1; 8:9.

  • Feasts

    [nave] FEASTS Ancient customs at: Men alone present at, Gen. 40:20; 43:32, 34; 1 Sam. 9:22; Esth. 1:8; Mark 6:21; Luke 14:24; women alone, Esth. 1:9. Men and women attend, Ex. 32:6, with vs. 2,3;Dan. 5:1-3. Riddles propounded at,...

  • ESTHER, BOOK OF

    [isbe] ESTHER, BOOK OF - 1. The Canonicity of Esther 2. Its Authorship 3. Its Date 4. Its Contents 5. The Greek Additions 6. The Attacks upon the Book 7. Some of the Objections 8. Confirmations of the Book This book completes the h...

  • Marble

    [ebd] as a mineral, consists of carbonate of lime, its texture varying from the highly crystalline to the compact. In Esther 1:6 there are four Hebrew words which are rendered marble:, (1.) Shesh, "pillars of marble." But this wor...
    [isbe] MARBLE - mar'-b'-l (shayish, shesh, 'abhne shayish, "stones of marble" (1 Ch 29:2); ritspath bahat wa-shesh we-dhar we-cochareth, "a pavement of red, and white, and yellow, and black marble," or, according to the margin, "a ...
    [nave] MARBLE In the temple, 1 Chr. 29:2. Pillars of, Esth. 1:6; Song 5:15. Merchandise of, Rev. 18:12. Mosaics of, Esth. 1:6.

  • Persia

    [isbe] PERSIA - pur'-sha, (parats; Persia; in Assyrian Parsu, Parsua; in Achemenian Persian Parsa, modern Fars): In the Bible (2 Ch 36:20,22,23; Ezr 1:1,8; Est 1:3,14,18; 10:2; Ezek 27:10; 38:5; Dan 8:20; 10:1; 11:2) this name deno...
    [nave] PERSIA An empire which extended from India to Ethiopia, comprising one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, Esth. 1:1; Dan. 6:1. Government of, restricted by constitutional limitations, Esth. 8:8; Dan. 6:8-12. Municipal gov...

  • Bed

    [smith] The Jewish bed consisted of the mattress, a mere mat, or one or more quilts; the covering, a finer quilt, or sometimes the outer garment worn by day, (1 Samuel 19:13) which the law provided should not be kept in pledge aft...
    [nave] BED Made of wood, Song 3:7-9; of iron, Deut. 3:11; of ivory, Amos 6:4; of gold and silver, Esth. 1:6. Used at meals, Amos 6:4. Exempt from execution for debt, Prov. 22:27. Perfumed, Prov. 7:17. Figurative Psa. 139:8.

  • Gold

    [smith] Gold was known from the very earliest times. (Genesis 2:11) It was at first used chiefly for ornaments, etc. (Genesis 24:22) Coined money was not known to the ancients till a comparatively late period; and on the Egyptian tom...
    [nave] GOLD Exported from Havilah, Gen. 2:11, 12. From Ophir, 1 Kin. 9:28; 10:11; 1 Chr. 29:4; 2 Chr. 8:18; Job 22:24; Tarshish, 1 Kin. 22:48; Parvaim, 2 Chr. 3:6; Sheba, 1 Kin. 10:10; 2 Chr. 9:9; Psa. 72:15; Uphaz, Jer. 10:9. Re...

  • LINEN

    [ebd] (1.) Heb., pishet, pishtah, denotes "flax," of which linen is made (Isa. 19:9); wrought flax, i.e., "linen cloth", Lev. 13:47, 48, 52, 59; Deut. 22:11. Flax was early cultivated in Egypt (Ex. 9:31), and also in Palestine (Jo...
    [isbe] LINEN - lin'-en (badh, "white linen," used chiefly for priestly robes, buts, "byssus," a fine white Egyptian linen, called in the earlier writings shesh; pesheth, "flax," cadhin; bussos, othonion, linon, sindon): Thread or c...

  • MEALS

    [smith] Our information on the subject of meals is but scanty. The early Hebrews do not seem to have given special names to their several meals, for the terms rendered "dine" and "dinner" in the Authorized Version ((Genesis 43:16; Pr...

  • AHASUERUS

    [smith] (lion-king), the name of one Median and two Persian kings mentioned in the Old Testament. In (Daniel 9:1) Ahasuerus is said to be the father of Darius the Mede. [DARIUS] This first Ahasuerus is Cyaxares, the conqueror of Nin...

  • Palace

    [ebd] Used now only of royal dwellings, although originally meaning simply (as the Latin word palatium, from which it is derived, shows) a building surrounded by a fence or a paling. In the Authorized Version there are many differ...
    [nave] PALACE For kings, 1 Kin. 21:1; 2 Kin. 15:25; Jer. 49:27; Amos 1:12; Nah. 2:6. Of David, 2 Sam. 7:2. Of Solomon, 1 Kin. 7:1-12. At Babylon, Dan. 4:29; 5:5; 6:18. At Shushan, Neh. 1:1; Esth. 1:2; 7:7; Dan. 8:2. Archives k...

  • Ethiopia

    [ebd] country of burnt faces; the Greek word by which the Hebrew Cush is rendered (Gen. 2:13; 2 Kings 19:9; Esther 1:1; Job 28:19; Ps. 68:31; 87:4), a country which lay to the south of Egypt, beginning at Syene on the First Catara...
    [nave] ETHIOPIA, a region in Africa, inhabited by the descendants of Ham. The inhabitants of, black, Jer. 13:23. Within the Babylonian empire, Esth. 1:1. Rivers of, Gen. 10:6; Isa. 18:1. Bordered Egypt on the S., Ezek. 29:10. Wa...

  • RING

    [isbe] RING - (Anglo-Saxon, Hring, "ring"): The word renders (the American Standard Revised Version) two Hebrew words (in the King James Version and the English Revised Version three) and two Greek words. Tabba`ath, the principal H...

  • Tapestry

    [nave] TAPESTRY Prov. 7:16; 31:22. Of the tabernacle, Ex. 26:1-14, 31-37; 27:9-17; 36:8-18. Gold thread woven in, Ex. 39:3. In palaces, Esth. 1:6; Song 1:5. In groves, 2 Kin. 23:7. See: Curtains; Embroidery.

  • WORLD, COSMOLOGICAL

    [isbe] WORLD, COSMOLOGICAL - wurld, koz-mo-loj'-i-kal: 1. Terms and General Meaning 2. Hebrew Idea of the World 3. Its Extent 4. Origin of the World--Biblical and Contrasted Views 5. The Cosmogony of Genesis 1--Comparison with Baby...

  • PROVINCE

    [smith] In the Old Testament this word appears in connection with the wars between Ahab and Ben-hadad. (1 Kings 20:14,15,19) The victory of the former is gained chiefly "by the young" probably men of the princes of the provinces ...

  • Botanical Gardens

    [nave] BOTANICAL GARDENS Gen. 2:8; Esth. 1:5; Eccl. 2:5, 6; 1 Kin. 4:33; 10:22; 2 Kin. 21:26.
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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The month Chislev (v. 1) corresponds to our late November and early December. The year in view was the twentieth year of Artaxerxes' reign (i.e., 445-444 B.C.). Susa (or Shushan, in Hebrew) was a winter capital of Artaxerxes ...
  • The events of the Book of Esther took place during the Persian period of ancient history (539-331 B.C.) and during the reign of King Ahasuerus in particular (486-464 B.C.).Chronology of the Book of Esther483Ahasuerus' militar...
  • I. God's preparations 1:1-2:20A. Vashti deposed ch. 11. The king's feast 1:1-92. The queen's dismissal 1:10-22B. Esther elevated 2:1-201. The plan to replace Vashti 2:1-42. Esther's selection 2:5-113. The choice of Esther as ...
  • This chapter records the providential circumstances whereby Esther was able to rise to her influential position with the Persian king."Though no mention is made of God's providence, it nevertheless plays a prominent part, and...
  • Ahasuerus is the Hebrew name of the Persian king, Khshayarsha, whom we know better in ancient history by his Greek name, Xerxes.22He reigned over the Persian Empire from 486 to 464 B.C. and was the son of Darius I (521-486 B....
  • "The setting of the Mesopotamian dream-visions--which occurred in both the Assyrian period and the Babylonian period . . . --consisted of four elements: (1) the date, (2) the place of reception, (3) the recipient, and (4) the...
  • 40:17-19 The passageway in the eastern gate complex led into a courtyard. This was the outer court that contained an inner court within it. Around the perimeter of this outer court were 30 rooms. It is not clear if they were ...
  • 5:1 Older critical scholars have claimed that Belshazzar was never a king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.167However modern discoveries have shown that Belshazzar acted as king during his father's frequent and prolonged absences...
  • 6:1-2 When the Medo-Persian alliance overthrew the Neo-Babylonian Empire, it acquired much geographic territory that it proceeded to incorporate into its kingdom. The Persian Empire became the largest that the world had yet s...
  • 8:2 Evidently Daniel was in Babylon when he had this vision, but what he saw, including himself, was in Susa (Shushan, AV; cf. Ezek. 8:3; 40:1).293Daniel probably knew where he was in his vision because he had visited Susa. I...
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