Esther 1:3

In the third year of his reign he made a feast unto all his princes, and his servants,.... The nobles and officers in his court; on what account this was cannot be said with certainty, whether the

In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him: Made a feast unto all his princes and his servants.

The power of Persia, i.e. the mighty men; the chief officers of state, and commanders of all his forces; whom by this splendid entertainment he endeavoured to oblige and assure to himself.

Esther 1:3 In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, [being] before him:Ver. 3. In the third year of his reign he made a feast] Such a feast, as that all other feasts were but hunger to it, whether we regard the number of guests, the greatness of preparation, or the continuance of time; yet it had an end. But so hath not the feast of a good conscience, Proverbs 15:15. Unto all his princes and his servants] To gratify them for their former valour and victory; and to inflame them to a new expedition, viz. against Greece; for the conquest whereof he was now addressing himself; as also that his glory and wealth appearing herein, might make them all the more willing to live in subjection to him, so royal and munificent a prince. The power of Persia] Or to the army of Persia and Media. The nobles] Satrapis, παραταμοπις, of which the word Parthemim is made, as some think. Others derive it of Perath, quasi principes Euphrataei, the princes that were beyond the river Euphrates (Kimchi Arias.).

(3) In the third year of his reign.—Assuming, as we do, the identity of Ahasuerus and Xerxes, this will be 483 B.C., when Xerxes held a meeting at Susa of his princes to make arrangements for invading Greece. At so important a gathering, the feasting was a very obvious adjunct; and besides the coming campaign, a successful war had just been concluded in Egypt, and rejoicings for the past might have mingled with high hopes for the future, when the whole strength of the empire should be put forth to crush the presumptuous foe who had dared to measure swords with the “king of kings.” Nobles.—The word in the Hebrew, partemim, occurring here, in Esther 6:9. and Daniel 1:3. is a Persian word, literally meaning “first.” The Greek protos and Latin primus are evidently akin to it.

3. in the third year of his reign] probably b.c. 483. unto all his princes and his servants] The ruins at Persepolis and at Susa shew that there was abundant accommodation for the exercise of royal hospitality. Besides the palace built by Darius, Persepolis also contains one erected by Xerxes himself. Herodotus (i. 126) mentions the feasts given by the Persian kings. But the amplitude of the entertainments provided was doubtless much exaggerated in the statement of the Greek historian, Ctesias[56] (a contemporary of Herodotus, but an untrustworthy historian), to the effect that no less than fifteen thousand persons were ordinarily feasted at the table of Persian monarchs, and that 400 talents were spent upon a feast. [56] Fragment xxxvii. ed. A. Lion, Gφttingen, 1823. Ctesias was physician to Artaxerxes Mnemon, who reigned b.c. 405–359.the power of Persia and Media] The Medes were governed by a number of independent chiefs (the ‘kings of the Medes’ referred to in Jeremiah 51:11; Jeremiah 51:28). They were united with the Persians under the sway of Cyrus, and he, as well as subsequent kings of Persia, treated them as the most favoured nation of those under their rule. This was especially the case in respect to the exercise of the Persian king’s patronage as to important governorships. the nobles] lit. the first men. The Heb. is a modification of the old Persian word fratama. princes of the provinces] i.e. satraps, each having (see above) a plurality of provinces under his rule, and being in the position of a tributary king. FIRST OF THE SECOND TARGUM (TARGUM SHENI) ON ESTHER(on chap. Esther 1:3 ff.) In the third year of Ahasuerus’s reign he made a feast for all his great men and ministers who were set over the peoples of Persia and Media, the governors and great men, who were in charge of districts, arrayed in woollen robes, clothed in purple, eating and drinking and making merry before him. The Scripture does not say that he displayed his riches, but it says, ‘when he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom’ (Esther 1:2), and that means that what he displayed to them was taken from the Holy House; for mortals [lit. flesh and blood] have no riches. All riches come from the Holy One, blessed be He, according as it is written, ‘The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts’ (Haggai 2:8). Six treasuries did he shew them daily for one hundred and eighty days, as it is written, ‘the riches of the glory of his kingdom and the honour of the excellence of his majesty’ (Esther 1:4): here we have six descriptive words. But when Israel saw there the vessels of the Holy House, they refused to take their seats at the feast [lit. in his presence]. And it was told the king that the Jews refused to take their seats, because they saw the vessels of the Holy House. And the king said, Then prepare another place for them to sit by themselves.

In the third year - In this year, 483 B.C., Xerxes assembled the governors of provinces at Susa, in connection with his contemplated expedition against Greece.

3. The third year of his reign — This coincides with the time just after his reduction of Egypt, when, according to Herodotus, (vii, 7, 8,) Xerxes convoked a great assembly of the principal Persians,