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

And the drinking was according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure. No JFB commentary on this verse.

According to the law, none did compel, i.e. according to this law which the king had now made, that none should compel another to drink more than he pleased; which the Persians and other loose and heathenish nations used to do, though that practice was condemned by the wise and sober heathens, and among others by this great prince. Or, no man did compel another to drink, according to the law, i.e. as by the laws or orders of the Persians prescribed and used in their feasts they might have done, if not restrained by this law.

Esther 1:8 And the drinking [was] according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man’ s pleasure.Ver. 8. And the drinking was according to the law] Prescribed by the king, and it was but needful, lest men should make his house a school of intemperance; and lest shameful spueing should be on his glory, Habakkuk 2:15. And, inasmuch as of evil manners come good laws, it appeareth by this edict of the king, that the Persians were now degenerated from their ancient sobriety and moderation in meats and drinks. So likewise were the Cretans when Minos made a law that men should not drink one to another, ειςμεθην, unto drunkenness; and the same we may well think of the inhabitants of this land, when King Edgar made an ordinance for putting pins in cups, to stint men how thr they should drink, and that none should quaff whole ones. Quinetian Spartae mos est laudabilis ille, Ut bibat arbitrio pocula quisque suo. Quinetian of Sparta habit is that praiseworthy, that he toasts everyone with his choice cup. None did compel] Domitius, the father of Nero, slew Liberius, an honest Roman, because he refused to drink so much as he commanded him (Sueton.). Tiberius, for his drunkenness called Caldius Biberius Mero, instead of Claudius Tiberius Nero, made Novellus Tricongius proconsul, for that he could drink three bottles of wine together with one breath. He preferred also Lord Piso to the government of the city of Rome, because he could sit drinking with him continually for two whole days and nights together. Lyra upon this text decries this detestable healthing and carousing too common in all parts of Christendom; and saith that it was brought up first by the barbarians in Normandy, who came and depopulated that country. And what a lamentable thing is it that to this day, in such a state as ours, the civil, sober, and temperate man shall be urged, and it may be forced, to swallow down needless draughts, as a horse doth a drench, by domineering drunkards. The late good act against drunkenness, if well executed, will be some curb to our roaring boys; so they will needs be called by a woeful prolepsis, here for hereafter. Oh that we could persuade such as Mahomet did his followers, that in every grape there dwelt a devil; or, that fire and brimstone storm and tempest, this shall be the portion of the drunkard’ s cup. For so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house] He had appointed, Heb. he had founded or established it for an inviolable decree and officers on purpose (controllers of his house) to see it executed. John 2:8, we read of a governor of the feast. The Jews had such officers or moderators at their merry meetings (called the eyes and overseers of the feast), that took care that none should drink too much himself, Praefecti morum, governor of manners, Oινοπταιοφθαλμοι.

(8) Law.—Rather ordinance or decree, that is, specially put forth for this occasion. What this means is shown by what follows, namely, that the king had issued special orders to allow all to do as they pleased in the matter of drinking, instead of as usual compelling them to drink. This degrading habit is the more noticeable because the Persians were at first a nation of exceptionally temperate habits.

Verse 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 ηπιθιηαπιθι; 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, in merry mood or whim, He fills his goblet to the brim; Or, better pleased to let it pass, Is cheerful with a moderate glass. FRANCIS. At the Roman feasts there was a person chosen by the cast of dice, who was the Arbiter bibendi, and prescribed rules to the company, which all were obliged to observe. References to this custom may be seen in the same poet. ODAR. lib. i., Od. iv., ver. 18: - Non regna vini sortiere talis. And in lib. ii., Od. vii., ver. 25: - ____ Quem Venus arbitrum Dicet bibendi? Mr. Herbert, in his excellent poem, The Church Porch, has five verses on this vile custom and its rule: - Drink not the third glass, which thou canst not tame When once it is within thee, but before Mayst rule it as thou list; and pour the shame, Which it would pour on thee, upon the floor. It is most just to throw that on the ground, Which would throw me there if I keep the round. He that is drunken may his mother kill, Big with his sister; he hath lost the reins; Is outlawed by himself. All kinds of ill Did with his liquor slide into his veins. The drunkard forfeits man; and doth divest All worldly right, save what he hath by beast. Nothing too severe can be said on this destructive practice.

8. according to the law] rather, according to the direction given by the king for the occasion. The words which follow suggest that ordinarily hard drinking was enforced. Drunkenness was common among the Persians.[59][59] See the description of a drunken company put by Xenophon (Cyropaedia, i. 3. 12) into the mouth of Cyrus, who describes the spectacle presented by Astyages himself and his friends on the occasion of the king’s birthday feast. See also Additional Note III, in the first extract from the Jewish commentary called Targum Shçnî.

According to the law - An exception to the ordinary practice of compulsory drinking had been made on this occasion by the king’s order.

8. The drinking… according to the law — That is, according to a specific decree of the king, which decree was, that there should be no compulsion in the matter of drinking at this feast.