THE LIFE OF THE JEWS OF THE DISPERSION THE STORY OF ESTHER, Esth. 1-10 suerus's great for his § 206. Repudiation of Queen Vashti by Ahasuerus, Esth. 1 Esth. 1 1Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus [Xerxes]a-that is Ahathe Ahasuerus who reigned from India even to Ethiopia over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces-2in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on the feast throne of his kingdom, which was in the royal palace at Shushan, 3in the court third year of his reign, he made a feast for all his princes and his servants. And the commanders of the military forces of Persia and Media, the nobles and satraps, were before him, while he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his great majesty many days, even a hundred and eighty days. 5And when these days came to an end, the king made for all the people who were present in the royal palace at Shushan, both great and small, a seven days' feast, in the court of the garden of the royal palace. "There were fine linen, cotton, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of The Life of the Jews of the Dispersion.-Beginning with the fall of Samaria in 722 B.C., the tragic fate of the Israelitish race was to have large numbers of its most prominent and intelligent members carried away in successive deportations and thus scattered throughout the ancient world from northern Africa to central Asia, and from the Black and Caspian seas to the Indian ocean. The result was that from 586 B.C. nearly, if not fully, half of the race were to be found outside Palestine. The importance of the exile in Jewish history is shown by the writings of Ezek., Is. 40-55, and probably a large part of the priestly code, which the exiles contributed to the O.T., and by the work of Joshua, Zerubbabel, and Nehemiah. Of the life of the Jews of the dispersion the O.T. says little. It was a chapter that lacked unity and vital connection with the main current of Israel's history. It is not recorded in the historical writings, but reflected, and for the most part idealized, in the popular stories of the first six chapters of Dan., and in their apocryphal supplements, the History of Susannah, Bel and the Dragon, and the Song of the Three Holy Children. With these belong the story of the Three Young Men in I Esdr. 3, 4, the books of Esther and Tobit, and the tales regarding the Jews in Egypt found in III Mac. It is a striking, suggestive fact that without exception these appear to be the products of the imagination, although possibly in some cases they are based on historical incidents. It would seem, however, that the facts were so few or so unattractive that fancy was called in to invest them with a halo of romance. It is also significant that, while most of the stories are placed in a much earlier age, none of them in their present literary form antedates the beginning of the Maccabean period. That stirring age, with its brilliant achievements, fired the imagination and produced this large group of historical romances. They correspond in many ways to the Sunday-school books of to-day. They were all written with a didactic aim and were intended to arouse the patriotism and inspire their readers to emulate the examples of the heroes and heroines who figure in them. The book of Esther is the best known of these historical romances. The origin, date, and purpose of the story have already been considered in Chap. V of the Introd. (pp. 39, 40). Its present historical value is due not to the incidents which it purports to record, but to the life of the Jews of the dispersion, which it reflects, and the attitude of the Jews toward their heathen neighbors during the second and first centuries B.C., which it vividly sets forth. 11 The Gk. has, Artaxerxes, but Herodotus's pictures of Xerxes (IX, 109), best accords with the present description and the Heb. form of the word, especially the marginal reading in 101, represents the Old Persian, Khshayarsh, Bab., Khishiarsha (Xerxes). The same form also occurs in Ezra 46. Cf. the one hundred and twenty satraps of Dan. 61. Darius I divided the kingdom into twenty satrapies. b 12 Heb., castle, the winter residence of the Persian kings. Cf. Neh. 11. 13 Completing the Hebrew as the context demands. Vashti's re fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble; the couches were of gold and silver upon a mosaic pavement of alabaster and white marble and mother-of-pearl and spotted stone.d 7And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, and the vessels were all different from one another, and the royal wine was abundant according to the liberality of the king. And the drinking was according to the law; none could compel, for so the king had given direction to all the officers of his house, to do according to each man's wishes. 9Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal palace fusal to which belonged to King Ahasuerus. 10On the seventh day, when the heart appear of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven eunuchs who ministered in the presence of Ahasuerus the king, 11to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was fair to look upon. 12But the Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command by the eunuchs; therefore the king was very angry, and his rage burned within him. at the feast Advice of the wise men to pun Vashti 13Then the king said to the wise men who knew the times-for thus the king was accustomed to consult all who knew the law and precedent; 14and those next to him were Carshena, Sethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marish sena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media who saw the king's face and occupied the first place in the kingdom, 15What shall we do to the Queen Vashti according to law, because she has not done the bidding of the King Ahasuerus by the eunuchs? 16And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen has not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes and to all the peoples, that are in all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus. 17 For this act of the queen will be reported to all women to make their husbands contemptible in their eyes, when it shall be said, 'The King Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.' 18And this day will the princesses of Persia and Media who have heard of the act of the queen relate it to all the king's princes, and there will be corresponding contempt and rage. 19If it please the king, let a royal command go forth from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, and it cannot be altered, that Vashti may never again come before King Ahasuerus, and that the king will give her royal dignity to another wife who is better than she. 20And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his kingdom-for it is great-all the wives will give to their husbands honor, both to great and small. 21And the proposal pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan. 22So the king sent letters to all the provinces, into every province according to its system of writing and to every people according to their language, that every man should be master in his own house, and should speak according to the language of his people.f d 16 Several of these words do not occur elsewhere in the O.T. and their meaning is not certain. e 113 The astrologers. Cf. Dan. 227, 515. f 122 The last clause is obscure. The Targs. interpret it to mean in the case of mixed marriages that the language of the husband shall be employed in the household. The Gk. omits it. The Lat. translates, and this shall be made known among all peoples-or slightly amending the Hebrew, and should speak all that seems proper to him. 207. Choice of Esther as Queen and Mordecai's Service to King Ahasuerus, Esth. 2. maid the Esth. 2 1After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus was paci- Assemfied, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what was decreed all the bly of against her. Then the king's servants who ministered to him said, Let fair fair young virgins be sought for the king, and let the king appoint officers ens of in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the realm fair young virgins to Shushan the palace, to the women's quarters, under the custody of Hegai, the king's eunuch, who has charge of the women; and let the things for their beautifying" be given them. And let the maiden who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the proposal pleased the king, and he did so. cai and Esther 5There was a certain Jew in Shushan the palace whose name was Mor- Mordedecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite,h who his had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been cousin deported with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzari the king of Babylon had carried away. And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had neither father nor mother; and the maiden was fair and beautiful; and when her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. favor able re in the harem 8So when the king's command and his decree were made known, and when Her many maidens were gathered together to Shushan the palace under the custody of Hegai, Esther was also taken into the king's palace under the ception custody of Hegai, keeper of the women. 9And the maiden pleased him and royal she received kindness at his hands, and he quickly gave her things for beautifying herself, with her allowance of food, and the seven maidens who were chosen to be given her from the king's palace. And he removed her and her maidens to the best place in the women's quarters. 10Esther had not made known her people nor her kindred; for Mordecai had charged her that she should not make it known. 11And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's quarters, to know how Esther did and what would become of her. custom harem 12 Now when the turn of each maiden came to go in to King Ahasuerus, The after it had been done to her according to the regulation for the women in the twelve months for so long the days of their beautifying lasted, six months royal with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odors and with the things for the beautifying of the women-13then3 the maiden came to the king; whatever she desired was given her to go with her from the house of the women to the king's palace. 14In the evening she went and on the following day she returned into the second women's apartmentsk to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch, who kept the concubines. She came in no more to the king, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name. 23 Lit., their rubbing off, i.e., with oils and cosmetics to enhance their beauty. Cf. 13. b 25 A relative therefore of King Saul, cf. Introd., p. 39. 126 This late Jewish spelling of this word is found here as in Ezra and Dan. 213 So Gk., or, in this way. k 214 Heb., house. |