Advanced Commentary

(ex.: John 3:14-18)

Table of Contents Bible Dictionary
Arts
Questions
Resources/Books

Context
1:1 The following events happened <01961> in the days <03117> of Ahasuerus <0325>. (I am referring to that <01931> Ahasuerus <0325> who used to rule over <04427> a hundred <03967> and twenty-seven <06242> <07651> provinces <04082> extending all the way <05704> from India <01912> to Ethiopia <03568>.) 1:2 In those <01992> days <03117>, as King <04428> Ahasuerus <0325> sat <07675> on <05921> his royal <04438> throne <03678> in Susa <07800> the citadel <01002>, 1:3 in the third <07969> year <08141> of his reign <04427> he provided <06213> a banquet <04960> for all <03605> his officials <08269> and his servants <05650>. The army <02426> of Persia <06539> and Media <04074> was present <06440>, as well as the nobles <06579> and the officials <08269> of the provinces <04082>. 1:4 He displayed <07200> the riches <06239> of his royal <04438> glory <03519> and the splendor <03366> of his majestic <08597> greatness <01420> for a lengthy period of time <07227> <03117>– a hundred <03967> and eighty <08084> days <03117>, to be exact! 1:5 When those <0428> days <03117> were completed <04390>, the king <04428> then provided <06213> a seven-day <03117> <07651> banquet <04960> for all <03605> the people <05971> who were present <04672> in Susa <07800> the citadel <01002>, for those of highest <01419> standing to <05704> the most lowly <06996>. It was held in the court <02691> located in the garden <01594> of the royal <04428> palace <01055>. 1:6 The furnishings included linen <03768> and purple <08504> curtains hung <0270> by cords <02256> of the finest linen <0948> and purple wool <0713> on <05921> silver <03701> rings <01550>, alabaster <08336> columns <05982>, gold <02091> and silver <03701> couches <04296> displayed on <05921> a floor <07531> made of valuable stones <0923> of alabaster <08336>, mother-of-pearl <01858>, and mineral stone <05508>. 1:7 Drinks <08248> were served in golden <02091> containers <03627>, all of which differed from one another <08138>. Royal <04438> wine <03196> was available in abundance <07227> at the king’s <04428> expense <03027>. 1:8 There were no <0369> restrictions <01881> on the drinking <08360>, for <03588> the king <04428> had instructed <03245> all <03605> of his supervisors <01004> <07227> that they should do <06213> as everyone <0376> <0376> so desired <07522>.

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

• 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...
  

• 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,...
  

• 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 ...
  [smith] The Hebrew shesh , the generic term for marble, may probably be taken to mean almost any shining stone. The so-called marble of Solomon?s architectural works may thus have been limestone. There can be no doubt that Herod both...
  [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.
  

• 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.
  

• 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...
  

• 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...
  

• 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...
  

• 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...
  

• 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.
  

• 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...
  

• 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...
  

• 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...
  

• Temperance

  [nave] TEMPERANCE. Esth. 1:7, 8; Prov. 23:1-3; Prov. 25:16; Dan. 1:8, 12-16; Rom. 13:14; 1 Cor. 9:25, 27; Phil. 4:5; 1 Thess. 5:6-8; 1 Tim. 3:2, 3 [Tit. 1:7, 8.] 1 Tim. 3:8; Tit. 2:2, 3, 12; 2 Pet. 1:5, 6 Appetite kept in subjecti...
  

• Colour

  [ebd] The subject of colours holds an important place in the Scriptures. White occurs as the translation of various Hebrew words. It is applied to milk (Gen. 49:12), manna (Ex. 16:31), snow (Isa. 1:18), horses (Zech. 1:8), raiment...
  

• 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 ...
  

• Seven

  [nave] SEVEN Interesting facts concerning the number. Days Week consists of, Gen. 2:3; Ex. 20:11; Deut. 5:13, 14. Noah in the ark before the flood, Gen. 7:4, 10; remains in the ark after sending forth the dove, Gen. 8:10, 12. M...
  

• 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.
  

• Queen Vashti Deposed

  

• Was it realy feasible for Mordecai or Ester to return to Jerusalem during their time in Persia? (Since it seems that they fall between the returns of Zerubbabel and Ezra.) How does this affect their disobedience for not returning?
  I found these remarks in the Bible Knowledge Commentary, which may be of interest: Historical Setting. The Book of Esther is unique in several ways. For one thing it is a book with several historical problems. The book ...

Back to Commentary Page