Esther 1:12

But the queen refused to came at the king's commandment by his chamberlains,.... Even though he sent by them again, as the Targum; and so says Josephus (o); which might not purely arise from pride in

To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on. No JFB commentary on these verses.

Vashti refused to come; being favoured in this refusal by the laws and customs of Persia, which was to keep men’ s wives, and especially queens, as much as might be from the view of other men.

Esther 1:12 But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’ s commandment by [his] chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him. Ver. 12. But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’ s commandment] She peremptorily and contumaciously refused, ουκηθελεν (Septuag.), though sent for again and again (as Josephus hath it), by her lord and husband, who had in his cups boasted of his wife’ s beauty, courtesy, and obedience, whereof he would now make proof to the company, sending for her by such an honourable convoy; yet she would not, that she would not, as the Hebrew word signifieth, but carried herself as if she had been his mistress, and not his wife, to his great grief, and the marring of all their mirth. What if the king were not so well advised? what if he were in his cups? what though she had the law on her side and a pretence of modesty, and lest she could, by coming, occasion the king’ s jealousy, &c.? yet Vashti was to have submitted herself unto her own husband (such a husband especially), as it was fit in the Lord, Colossians 3:18, to yield obedience to all his lawful commands and restraints, seem they never so unreasonable. If woman were given to man for a comforter, and in some cases for a counsellor, yet in no case for a controller, as they are apt to be that are fair ( fastus inest formae), rich ( argentum accepi, dote imperium vendidi, saith he in Plautus), better descended, &c., si vis nubere, nube pari. An insolent wife is an insufferable evil; and he hath lost half the comfort of his life who is married to such a one. Therefore was the king very wroth] He even foamed at the mouth like a wild boar, and frothed as the raging sea, as the word importeth. The Persian kings were noted by some for uxorious; such, as though they commanded the whole world, yet were commanded by their wives and concubines, Captivarum suarum captivi Enslaved by their captives! (Plut.). But here it proved otherwise. This mighty monarch could not bear such a public affront and scorn as he construed it; but rageth beyond reason (whereof his wine for the time had bereft him), and resolveth upon revenge. How much better our William the Conqueror, who though he knew that Maud, his wife, maintained her son, Robert Curtoise, in his quarrel for Normandy, and out of her own coffers paid the charge of that war against his father, and her own husband, yet because it proceeded but from a motherly indulgence for advancing her son, he took for a cause rather of displeasure than of hatred. He loved her while alive, often lamented her death with tears, and most honourably interred her (Speed). And his anger burned in him] As Nebuchadnezzar also did upon a like occasion, hotter than his seven times heated oven, or than the mountain Etna doth.

Verse 12. Vashti refused to come] And much should she be commended for it. What woman, possessing even a common share of prudence and modesty, could consent to expose herself to the view of such a group of drunken Bacchanalians? Her courage was equal to her modesty: she would resist the royal mandate, rather than violate the rules of chaste decorum. Her contempt of worldly grandeur, when brought in competition with what every modest woman holds dear and sacred, is worthy of observation. She well knew that this act of disobedience would cost her her crown, if not her life also: but she was regardless of both, as she conceived her virtue and honour were at stake. Her humility was greatly evidenced in this refusal. She was beautiful; and might have shown herself to great advantage, and have had a fine opportunity of gratifying her vanity, if she had any: but she refused to come. Hail, noble woman! be thou a pattern to all thy sex on every similar occasion! Surely, every thing considered, we have few women like Vashti; for some of the highest of the land will dress and deck themselves with the utmost splendour, even to the selvedge of their fortunes, to exhibit themselves at balls, plays, galas, operas, and public assemblies of all kinds, (nearly half naked,) that they may be seen and admired of men, and even, to the endless reproach and broad suspicion of their honour and chastity, figure away in masquerades! Vashti must be considered at the top of her sex: - Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima cygno. A black swan is not half so rare a bird.

12. refused to come] as being aware of the insults likely to be put upon her in a scene of drunken revelry, and by a king so capricious and uncontrolled in temper.

12. Vashti refused to come — Assuming the dignity and boldness of a queen, she refused to be treated as an ordinary concubine, and to suffer her person to be immodestly exposed to the promiscuous crowd of half drunken revellers.