Esther 2:1

1 After these things, when the anger of King Ahasu-e'rus had abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her.

Esther 2:1 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 2:1

After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus was
appeased
Which went off with his wine, and so was quickly after, a few days at most, unless this can be understood as after the expedition of Xerxes into Greece, from whence he returned to Shushan, in the seventh year of his reign; and if he is the Ahasuerus here meant, he married Esther that year, ( Esther 2:16 ) and it seems certain, that after his expedition he gave himself up to his amours, and in his way to Sardis he fell in love with his brother's wife, and then with his daughter F2: he remembered Vashti;
her beauty, and was grieved, as Jarchi observes, that she was removed from him; and so Josephus says F3, that he passionately loved her, and could not bear parting with her, and therefore was grieved that he had brought himself into such difficulties: the Targumists carry it further, and say that he was wroth with those that advised him to it, and ordered them to be put to death, and that they were: and what she had done;
that it was a trivial thing, and not deserving of such a sentence as he had passed upon her; that it was not done from contempt of him, but from modesty, and a strict regard to the laws of the Persians: and what was decreed against her;
that she should come no more before him, but be divorced from him; the thought of which gave him great pain and uneasiness.


FOOTNOTES:

F2 Herodot. Calliope, sive, l. 9. c. 107.
F3 Antiqu. l. 11. c. 6. sect. 2.

Esther 2:1 In-Context

1 After these things, when the anger of King Ahasu-e'rus had abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her.
2 Then the king's servants who attended him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king.
3 And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the capital, under custody of Hegai the king's eunuch who is in charge of the women; let their ointments be given them.
4 And let the maiden who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti." This pleased the king, and he did so.
5 Now there was a Jew in Susa the capital whose name was Mor'decai, the son of Ja'ir, son of Shim'e-i, son of Kish, a Benjaminite,
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.