The king wanted to impress his subjects with a great display of his own wealth and power and majesty and generosity. The basic reason for these feasts was, of course, pride. The king made a feast lasting seven days for all the people who were present in Shushan the citadel: The second feast was for the citizens of the capital city, Shushan and it lasted for seven days. He made a feast for all his officials and servants: The first feast was for all the government officials, where Ahasuerus showed off the glory and splendor of the riches of his kingdom. Queen Vashti also made a feast for the women in the royal palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus.Ī. In accordance with the law, the drinking was not compulsory for so the king had ordered all the officers of his household, that they should do according to each man’s pleasure. And they served drinks in golden vessels, each vessel being different from the other, with royal wine in abundance, according to the generosity of the king. There were white and blue linen curtains fastened with cords of fine linen and purple on silver rods and marble pillars and the couches were of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of alabaster, turquoise, and white and black marble. And when these days were completed, the king made a feast lasting seven days for all the people who were present in Shushan the citadel, from great to small, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace. That in the third year of his reign he made a feast for all his officials and servants the powers of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the princes of the provinces being before him when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, one hundred and eighty days in all. In 40 years, under the successor of Ahasuerus (Artaxerxes I), Nehemiah would return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the previously conquered city. The temple had been rebuilt some 30 years before, although more simply and without the glory of Solomon’s temple. Also at this time Ezra had returned to Jerusalem after it had been conquered by the Babylonians. It covered what we call today Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon, and Israel and also, parts of modern day Egypt, Sudan, Libya, and Arabia. At this time, the Persian Empire was the largest the world had ever seen. At this time the city of Athens was in its classical glory and in Greece they were celebrating the 79 th Olympic games. In those days when King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom: At this time (approximately 483 B.C.), Ahasuerus was planning for a doomed invasion of Greece, which would take place several years later. The fact of the existence of this king and circumstance is extremely well attested archaeologists have discovered the ruins of the very palace where these events happened.ī. He inherited the vast Persian Empire from his father, Darius I (who is mentioned in passages such as Ezra 4:24, 5:5-7, 6:1-15 Daniel 6:1 and 6:25 Haggai 1:15 and 2:10). It came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus: This king Ahasuerus is well known to history, though more commonly under the name Xerxes. Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus (this was the Ahasuerus who reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India to Ethiopia), in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the citadel,Ī. ( Esther 1:1-2) King Ahasuerus and his domain. King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) holds a grand feast.ġ. Thus, the deeds of Queen Esther cast a ray of light forward into Israel’s history from a dark time.Ī. Esther is the last of the historical books of the Bible, so its main character is named Esther - that is, Venus, the morning star, which sheds its light after all the other stars have ceased to shine, and while the sun still delays rising.
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