Esther 1:17
15 What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?
16 And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus.
For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.
18 Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king’s princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath.
19 If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- For the conduct of the queen will become known to all women, causing them to despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes ordered Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she did not come.’
- KJV
- For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.
- WEB
- For this deed of the queen will become known to all women, causing them to show contempt for their husbands when it is reported, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she didn’t come.’
- ASV
- For this deed of the queen will come abroad unto all women, to make their husbands contemptible in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.
- DARBY
- For the act of the queen will come abroad to all women, so as to render their husbands contemptible in their eyes, when they shall say, The king Ahasuerus commanded the queen Vashti to be brought in before him, and she came not!
- BLB
- For the matter of the queen will go forth upon all the women, to despise their husbands in their eyes, when they say, ‘King Ahasuerus said to bring Vashti the queen before his face, and she did not come.’
- ÅB
- For dronningens adferd vil komme ut blant alle kvinnene og få dem til å forakte sine ektemenn; de vil si: Kong Ahasverus befalte at dronning Vasti skulle føres fram for ham, men hun kom ikke.
- OTB
- For dronningens oppførsel vil bli kjent for alle kvinner, og få dem til å se med forakt på sine ektemenn, og si: 'Kong Ahasverus befalte dronning Vashti å bli ført fram for ham, men hun kom ikke.'
- B1930
- For dronningens adferd vil komme ut blandt alle kvinnene og få dem til å forakte sine ektemenn; de vil si: Kong Ahasverus bød at dronning Vasti skulde føres frem for ham, men hun kom ikke.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Ephesians 5:33
Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
Read in context2 Samuel 6:16
And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.
Read in context