Esther 1:12

1:12 But Queen Vashti refused ¹  to come at the king’s bidding ²  conveyed through the eunuchs. Then the king became extremely angry, and his rage consumed ³  him.

Esther 1:15

1:15 The king asked, ⁴  “By law, ⁵  what should be done to Queen Vashti in light of the fact that she has not obeyed the instructions of King Ahasuerus conveyed through the eunuchs?”

Esther 2:20

2:20 Esther was still not divulging her lineage or her people, ⁶  just as Mordecai had instructed her. ⁷  Esther continued to do whatever Mordecai said, just as she had done when he was raising her.

Esther 3:14

3:14 A copy of this edict was to be presented as law throughout every province; it was to be made known to all the inhabitants, ⁸  so that they would be prepared for this day.

Esther 8:14

8:14 The couriers who were riding the royal horses went forth with the king’s edict without delay. ⁹  And the law was presented in Susa the citadel as well.

¹ sn Refusal to obey the king was risky even for a queen in the ancient world. It is not clear why Vashti behaved so rashly and put herself in such danger. Apparently she anticipated humiliation of some kind and was unwilling to subject herself to it, in spite of the obvious dangers. There is no justification in the biblical text for an ancient Jewish targumic tradition that the king told her to appear before his guests dressed in nothing but her royal high turban, that is, essentially naked.

² tn Heb “at the word of the king”; NASB “at the king’s command.”

³ tn Heb “burned in him” (so KJV).

⁴ tn These words are not present in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity (cf. NIV, NCV, CEV, NLT, all of which supply similar phrases).

⁵ tc The location of the prepositional phrase “according to law” is somewhat unusual in the Hebrew text, but not so much so as to require emendation. Some scholars suggest deleting the phrase as an instance of dittography from the final part of the immediately preceding word in v. 14. Others suggest taking the phrase with the end of v. 14 rather than with v. 15. Both proposals, however, lack adequate justification.

⁷ sn That Esther was able so effectively to conceal her Jewish heritage suggests that she was not consistently observing Jewish dietary and religious requirements. As C. A. Moore observes, “In order for Esther to have concealed her ethnic and religious identity…in the harem, she must have eaten…, dressed, and lived like a Persian rather than an observant Jewess” (Esther [AB], 28.) In this regard her public behavior stands in contrast to that of Daniel, for example.

⁸ tc The LXX adds the words “to fear God.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “peoples” (so NASB, NRSV).

¹³ tn Heb “making haste and hurrying”; KJV, ASV “being hastened and pressed.”