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

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

Chamberlains, or eunuchs; which were much in use and in favour in the eastern courts, and particularly with the Persian emperors, as ancient histories inform us.

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,Ver. 10. On the seventh day] Here we have Luxuriosi convivii luctuosum exitum, a sad end of a luxurious feast. Sin usually endeth tragically. On the six former days of the feast, having farced his body with good cheer like a woolsack, and inflamed it with wine wherein was excess, he bethinks himself of other pleasures. Vina parant animos Veneri (Ovid). Aristophanes calleth wine the milk of Venus and fuel of lust. Ambrose saith that lust is fed with feasts, nourished with delicacies, kindled with wine, set on flame with drunkenness (lib. i. de Paenit. c. 4). A belly filled with wine foameth out filthiness, saith Jerome. When the heart of the king was merry with wine] The property whereof is to exhilarate the heart of man, as the Scripture speaketh, Judges 9:13 Psalms 104:15. Pluto calleth wine the mitigator of man’ s misery. Euripides saith, Qui non hilarescit bibendo, nihil sapit. He who is not gladdened by drinking, understands nothing. But Ahasuerus’ s heart was too merry; the wine was so in, that the wit was out; drunkenness had bereft this Polyphemus of his eye of right reason. This is a vice hateful in all, but in a ruler most of all. See Proverbs 31:4, What mad work made Alexander the Great many times in his drunkenness, killing those then whom he would afterwards have revived, if he could, with his own heart blood! Therefore it was that the Carthaginians forbade their magistrates all use of wine. Solon punished drunkenness in a ruler with death. And Ferdinand I, emperor of Germany, sharply reproved the ambassadors of the electors and princes sent to an imperial diet, for their quaffing and careless performance of their trust, saying, Abstinete a maledicta ebrietare, &c., Abstain, for shame, from this cursed drunkenness (which is neither good for body nor soul), and look better to your offices. He commanded Mehuman] These should have advised him better (for now drunkenness had robbed him of himself, and laid a fool in his room, wine had overshadowed his wisdom, vine sapientia obumbratur, as Pliny phraseth it), and not have been so ready to execute his unreasonable and illegal commands. For the Persians had a law (Josephus saith, lib. xi. Antiq. cap. 6) that matrons should not be seen at feasts among men; though harlots might. But kings are never without their court parasites, who will humour them in anything, and whose song is, Mihi placet quicquid regi placet, That which pleaseth the king pleaseth me, howsoever.

(10) Was merry with wine.—The habit of the Persians to indulge in wine to excess may be inferred from Esther 1:8. Chamberlains.—Literally, eunuchs. The names of the men, whatever they may be, are apparently not Persian. The enumeration of all the seven names is suggestive of personal knowledge on the part of the writer.

Verse 10. 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. [Persian] 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.

10–22. Vashti’s disgrace 10. he commanded Mehuman etc.] The names of the seven chamberlains, or rather, eunuchs, who were sent to fetch Vashti, vary much in their form in the LXX. and other versions. Their derivation is, like their nationality, quite uncertain, inasmuch as the Persian market was largely supplied with men of other races for this purpose.

DIVORCE OF VASHTI, Esther 1:10-22. 10. On the seventh day — The last day of the feast. Compare Esther 1:5.