Matthew Henry on Esther 1:1-9
Which of the kings of Persia this Ahasuerus was the learned are not agreed. Mordecai is said to have been one of those that were carried captive from Jerusalem (Est 2:5, Est 2:6), whence it should seem that this Ahasuerus was one of the first kings of that empire. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that he was that Artaxerxes who hindered the building of the temple, who is called also Ahasuerus (Ezr 4:6, Ezr 4:7), after his great-grandfather of the Medes, Dan 9:1. We have here an account,
I. Of the vast extent of his dominion. In the time of Darius and Cyrus there were but 120 princes (Dan 6:1); now there were 127, from India to Ethiopia, Est 1:1. It had become an over-grown kingdom, which in time would s…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Esther 1:7
they gave them drink in vessels of gold--There is reason to believe from this account, as well as from Est 5:6; Est 7:2, Est 7:7-8, where the drinking of wine occupies by far the most prominent place in the description, that this was a banquet rather than a feast.
Adam Clarke on Esther 1:8
None did compel: for so the king had appointed - Every person drank what he pleased; he was not obliged to take more than he had reason to think would do him good.
Among the Greeks, each guest was obliged to keep the round, or leave the company: hence the proverb Η πιθι, η απιθι; Drink or begone. To this Horace refers, but gives more license: -
Pasco libatis dapibus; prout cuique libido est.
Siccat inaequales calices conviva, solutus
Legibus insanis: seu quis capit acria fortis
Pocula; seu modicis humescit aetius.
Horat. Sat. lib. ii., s. vi., ver. 67.
There, every guest may drink and fill
As much or little as he will;
Exempted from the Bedlam rules
Of roaring prodigals and fools.
Whether,…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Gill on Esther 1:8
And the drinking was according to the law, none did compel,.... According to the law Ahasuerus gave to his officers next mentioned, which was not to oblige any man to drink more than he chose; the Targum is,`according to the custom of his body;'that is, as a man is able to bear it, so they drank: some (f) read it, "the drinking according to the law, let none exact"; or require it to be, according to the custom then in use in Persia; for they were degenerated from their former manners, and indulged to intemperance, as Xenophon (g) suggests: the law formerly was, not to carry large vessels into feasts; but now, says he, they drink so much, that they themselves must be carried out, because they…
