Esther 1:10 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Esther 1:10
On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king,
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
heart
לֵבlev-
H3820
the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct
king
הַמֶּ֖לֶךְha.Me.lekh
H4428
a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
merry
טוֹבṭôwb
H2896
good (as an adjective) in the widest sense
wine
בַּיָּ֑יִןbai.Ya.yin
H3196
wine (as fermented) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
commanded
אָמַ֡ר'a.Mar
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Mehuman
לִ֠מְהוּמָןLim.hu.mon
H4104
Mehuman · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
Biztha
בִּזְּתָ֨אbi.ze.Ta'
H968
Biztha · proper noun, a man's name
Harbona
חַרְבוֹנָ֜אchar.vo.Na'
H2726
Charbona or Charbonah · proper noun, a man's name
Bigtha
בִּגְתָ֤אbig.Ta'
H903
Bigtha · proper noun, a man's name
Abagtha
וַאֲבַגְתָא֙va.'a.vag.Ta'
H5
Abagtha · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
Zethar
זֵתַ֣רze.Tar
H2242
Zethar · proper noun, a man's name
Carcas
וְכַרְכַּ֔סve.khar.Kas
H3752
Karkas · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
seven
שִׁבְעַת֙shiv.'At
H7651
seven (as the sacred full one) · cardinal number, both genders singular construct
chamberlains
הַסָּ֣רִיסִ֔יםha.Sa.ri.Sim
H5631
a eunuch · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
served
הַמְשָׁ֣רְתִ֔יםham.Sha.re.Tim
H8334
to attend as a menial or worshipper · definite article + verb, piel active participle, masculine plural absolute
presence
פְּנֵ֖יpe.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Ahasuerus
אֲחַשְׁוֵרֽוֹשׁ'a.chash.ve.Ro.osh
H325
Achashverosh (i.e. Ahasuerus or Artaxerxes · proper noun, a man's name
king
הַמֶּ֥לֶךְha.Me.lekh
H4428
a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Judges 16:25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson ou…
Esther 7:9 And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai,…
2 Samuel 13:28 Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon; the…
Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it…
Genesis 43:34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were…
Daniel 1:18-19 Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnez…
Ephesians 5:18-19 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Esther 1:10–end
We have here a damp to all the mirth of Ahasuerus's feast; it ended in heaviness, not as Job's children's feast by a wind from the wilderness, not as Belshazzar's by a hand-writing on the wall, but by is own folly. An unhappy falling out there was, at the end of the feast, between the king and queen, which broke of the feast abruptly, and sent the guests away silent and ashamed.
I. It was certainly the king's weakness to send for Vashti into his presence when he was drunk, and in company with abundance of gentlemen, many of whom, it is likely, were in the same condition. When his heart was merry with wine nothing would serve him but Vashti must come, well dressed as she was, with the crown o…
On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine--As the feast days advanced, the drinking was more freely indulged in, so that the close was usually marked by great excesses of revelry.
he commanded . . . the seven chamberlains--These were the eunuchs who had charge of the royal harem. The refusal of Vashti to obey an order which required her to make an indecent exposure of herself before a company of drunken revellers, was becoming both the modesty of her sex and her rank as queen; for, according to Persian customs, the queen, even more than the wives of other men, was secluded from the public gaze. Had not the king's blood been heated with wine, or his reason overpower…
He commanded Mehuman - All these are doubtless Persian names; but so disguised by passing through a Hebrew medium, that some of them can scarcely be known. Mehuman signifies a stranger or guest.
We shall find other names and words in this book, the Persian etymology of which may be easily traced.
John Gill on Esther 1:10
On the seventh day,.... Of the feast, the last day of it, which the Rabbins, as Jarchi observes, say was the sabbath day, and so the Targum:
when the heart of the king was merry with wine; when he was intoxicated with it, and knew not well what he said or did; and the discourse at table ran upon the beauty of women, as the latter Targum; when the king asserted there were no women so beautiful as those of Babylon, and, as a proof of it, ordered his queen to be brought in:
he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains, that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king; or "eunuchs", as the word is sometimes rendered; and such persons w…
The Church Fathers
The seventh day of the banquet signifies the beauty of the time in which the incarnate Lord manifested with more abundant grace all the mysteries of the law and the prophets on which the pious minds of the faithful had until then pastured. And writing about that fullness to the Galatians, the apostle Paul says, "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba Father.' "
"So on the seventh day when the king was very festive, and after he had drunk too much and grown heated from the wine, he ordered Mehuman, and Biztha, and Harbona, and Bigtha, and Abigtha, and Zethar, and Carcas, the seven eunuchs who ministered in his presence, to bring in Queen Vashti before the king once the diadem had been placed upon her head, so that he could show off her beauty to all the peoples and officials; for she was very beautiful. But she refused, and disdained to come at the king's command." The seventh day of the feast symbolizes the beauty of the time when the Lord incarnate clarified in his abundant grace all the mysteries of the Law and the prophets upon which the pious minds of devout men had been feeding till then. It is about this completion that Paul writes to the Galatians when he says: "And when the time was completed, God sent his own son made from a woman so that he might redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive the adoption given to children. Because you are the children of God, God has sent the spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying: 'Abba! Father (Galatians 4)!'" And it is well said that after drinking too much he had grown heated from the wine, because he poured into his disciples, through the arrival of the Paraclete, abundant grace through the gift of the Holy Spirit. We read about this wine in the Acts of the Apostles that when, in the Cenacle of Zion, the Holy Spirit settled upon one hundred and twenty believers and the Jews thought that they were full of new wine, Peter answered them with: "Brothers, despite what you think these men are sober, since it is the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 'And it will be in the last days, says the Lord, that I will pour out from my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy; and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. And I will indeed pour out from my spirit in those days upon my servants and my maids, and they will prophesy; and I will show marvels in the heavens above, and signs on the earth below (Acts 2).'" When, during the allegorical wedding in the Gospel, the chief steward tastes the sweetness of the wine, he says to the groom: "Every man serves the good wine first, and once they have become drunk he serves the inferior stuff. But you have saved the good…
Dictionary and topics
Abagtha — One of the seven eunuchs in Ahasuerus’s court (Esther 1:10; 2:21).
Bigtha — Garden, or gift of fortune, one of the seven eunuchs or chamberlains who had charge of the harem of Ahasuerus (Esther 1:10).
Biztha — (eunuch), the second of the seven eunuchs of King Ahasuerus’ harem. (Esther 1:10) (B.C. 483.)
Carcas — (severe), the seventh of the seven “chamberlains,” i.e. eunuchs, of King Ahasuerus. (Esther 1:10) (B.C. 483.).
Chamberlain — A confidential servant of the king (Gen. 37:36; 39:1). In Rom. 16:23 mention is made of “Erastus the chamberlain.” Here the word denotes the treasurer of the city, or the quaestor, as the Romans…
Harbona — (a Persian word meaning “ass-driver”), one of the seven eunuchs or chamberlains of king Ahasuerus (Esther 1:10; 7:9).
Mehuman — Faithful, one of the eunchs whom Ahasuerus (Xerxes) commanded to bring in Vashti (Esther 1:10).
Shushan — 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…
Vashti — Beautiful, the queen of Ahasuerus, who was deposed from her royal dignity because she refused to obey the king when he desired her to appear in the banqueting hall of Shushan the palace (Esther…
Zethar — (star), one of the seven eunuchs of Ahasuerus, (Esther 1:10) (B.C. 453.)
Abagtha · A Persian chamberlain — A Persian chamberlain
Biztha · A Persian chamberlain — A Persian chamberlain
Vashti the queen also gave a banquet to the women in the royal house (palace) which belonged to King Ahashverosh, probably in the royal apartments of the palace, which were placed at her disposal for this great feast to be given to the women. The name Vashti may be compared with the Old-Persian vahista, i.e., optimus. In Persian šty, means a beautiful woman. This statement serves as an introduction to the scene which follows. Est 1:10 and Est 1:11. On the seventh, i.e., the last day of the banquet, when the king's heart was merry with wine, he commanded his seven chamberlains to bring Vashti the queen before him, with the royal crown, to show here beauty to the people and princes. וגו לב כּ…
Xerxes was in high spirits: He was probably fairly drunk and apt to do something foolish. • Eunuchs were servants who had been castrated because their roles brought them into frequent contact with the women of the royal harem.
Rashi on Esther 1:10
On the seventh day. Our Rabbis said22Maseches Megillah 12b. that it was on Shabbos.23Corresponding to “the seventh day” of the week.
Wine · Characterised as: Making mirthful — Characterised as: Making mirthful
Zethar · One of the seven chamberlains of the king of Persia — One of the seven chamberlains of the king of Persia
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).