After these things, when the fury of king Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her.
The chapter opens on a king alone with a memory. His rage has burned out, the queen is gone, and the decision against her cannot be undone. At exactly this point the rescue of a whole people begins.
The verse follows chapter 1 straight away on the page, but not in time. Commentators point to the dates in the book itself, and to what the king had been doing in between.
This probably did not happen right after the feast. We learn this from verse 16 in this chapter. He took Esther in the place of Vashti in the seventh year of his reign. The feast described in the opening chapter happened in the third year. About four years elapsed. During these years, secular history tells us, Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) led a campaign against Greece. Many disasters came with it. He must have returned exhausted and unhappy. Then his conscience spoke. He probably missed the companionship of Vashti, and he remembered her and what was decreed against her. But why did the king not take Vashti back and forgive her, if remorse troubled him? Nothing more is said of Vashti, so it is more than likely that she was put to death.
The verse says his anger "had abated." That is more than a detail of mood. It belongs to a pattern that runs through the whole book.
Ahasuerus was proudly aware of his own unlimited power. With that pride went a violent temper, whenever an obstacle or any resistance appeared in his path. Again and again, in the course of this account, the king bursts into wrath and his fury blazes. (Esther 1:12; Esther 2:1; Esther 7:7, 10) Violence is never a sign of strength. On the contrary, it shows the weakness of a man who cannot govern himself.
The reason his cooled anger changes nothing is the Persian system he himself boasted in. That system, writers note, appears again in Daniel's day.
The Medes and Persians prided themselves on having just laws which could not be changed (Dan. 6:12), and the king's question therefore was, what should be done according to law. Nebuchadnezzar would not have needed such advice. He was an absolute dictator: "whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished he kept alive; whomever he wished he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down" (Dan. 5:19).
Rossier sees the same custom working two ways. It "gave the king the illusion of being himself a sacred person, unchanging." At the same time it gave "the great men of the empire a way of escaping the power of the ruler on the throne."
The king's helplessness is the space in which God moves.
The unlimited power of Ahasuerus is held in check by a weak woman who resists him. A grain of sand humiliates all the pride of this enormous, thoroughly organised empire. Vashti may be divorced, but her act remains. The humiliated king is powerless to force her to appear in public. Here, from the very beginning, we find the hidden providence of God at work. Her removal was decreed and could not be reversed, yet it is not carried out until Ahasuerus returns. Then the Jewish wife, prepared by Providence, can come on the scene and take the place of the Gentile wife at just the right moment.
The book never names God. What follows the king's remembering shows His hand.
How did this affect the poor people of God? It soon appears in seed form. For was it chance that gave an orphan of Israel a beauty beyond all in those wide provinces?
Kelly reads the substitution of one wife for another as more than palace history.
The book is not only a book of providence — God's secret providence. This was a time when He could not name His name on behalf of His people, the Jews, in their poor and scattered condition among the Gentiles. It is also a picture of the great dealings of God still to come. What does the book open with? This: the great Gentile wife of the great king is discarded, and then a Jewish woman takes her place… Vashti is the Gentile wife discarded for her disobedience and for failing to display her beauty before the world.
- Remembered. About four years, a failed war and an empty throne lie between chapter 1 and this verse. The king remembers Vashti only after his anger burns out and his conscience speaks.
- Powerless. His fury looked like strength. In fact it showed "the weakness of a man who cannot govern himself." The unchangeable Persian law he was proud of now blocks the one thing he wants.
- Delayed. That deadlock is where God's hidden providence works. The place stays empty until the king returns, so the prepared woman can take it at just the right moment.
- Chosen. An orphan girl's beauty was greater than any in those wide provinces. That was not chance. God works where He cannot yet name His name.
- Exchanged. The king set one queen aside for failing to show her beauty, and another took her place. Writers see in this a picture of God's larger dealings still to come.
Then said the king's servants that attended upon him, Let there be maidens, virgins of beautiful countenance, sought for the king;
The queen's place stands empty, and it is the king's attendants — not the king — who first speak up with a plan to fill it. It is a proposal made for palace reasons. In a book that never names God, it becomes the opening move in the rescue of a whole people.
The men who suggested the search were protecting themselves. The king had put away Queen Vashti. These men feared he might take her back, and that a restored queen would put them in danger.
God's plan of providence moves plainly forward here. That plan was to shield the Jews from the destruction coming on them, unworthy as they were, and to punish their relentless enemies. Nothing could have seemed less connected with it than the Persian story of the previous chapter. That story ended with the king putting Vashti away. A further step was now taken. A high one was put down, a lowly one is lifted up. But God alone worked in this secretly. The king's servants had no such outcome in view, any more than the king himself. They were afraid that Ahasuerus might break the policy of the empire. They also feared that restoring the queen would put them in immediate danger. So they propose that the king choose as his wife the most beautiful young woman in his lands, whoever pleased him best.
The king's anger had cooled, and that took time. He had been away on campaign, and years passed before he thought about a new queen.
Ahasuerus had returned from his expedition. Several years had passed since the events reported in Esther 1 (see Esther 1:3; Esther 2:16). He remembered what Vashti had done. Taken up with other cares and more pressing interests, he had given his anger time to settle. Now he had leisure to think about his family line and the civil ordering of his kingdom. He followed the advice of his counsellors. From every country in his empire, "beautiful young virgins" were brought to Shushan, so that the king might choose one to replace Vashti.
This is a book where God's name never appears — and that silence is the point. The chain of ordinary events, including this piece of court advice, was carrying a purpose the speakers knew nothing about.
How clearly we see all this in the Book of Esther. Vashti's beauty, the king's pride in it, his improper command, her indignant refusal, the advice of the king's counsellors — these are all simply the unfolding of the Lord's ripening purposes. Of "all the fair young virgins gathered at Shushan the palace," not one may win the king's heart except Esther. She is the daughter of an obscure Jewish house, a desolate orphan.
The same writer adds that God is behind the scenes: "Though His name is not known or acknowledged by the children of earth, His finger is seen."
Another writer applies this to the search commanded here.
God can work where He cannot proclaim Himself. This shows itself in a striking way in the command to seek out young women for the king, so that he could take his choice. Among them, in Shushan the palace, was a certain Jew named Mordecai.
Commentators do not treat this plan as admirable. One writer asks hard questions about Esther's part in it.
Now the question may arise: how far can one of the Jews take advantage of such an occasion? Does holiness make use of corruption? Can the people of God forget their separation to Him? And yet Esther agrees to go before the king at this time, in company with all the daughters of his uncircumcised subjects!
Another writer answers by pointing to the low state of the people themselves. They had "virtually forgotten what was becoming to Jewish character." Yet God still cared for them, "though He could not associate His name with them at the time" (Leslie M. Grant).
The change of queens also carries a larger meaning. One writer reads it as a picture of what is still to come.
Vashti is the Gentile wife. The king puts her away for her disobedience and her failure to display her beauty before the world. Displaying that beauty is what Christendom ought to do. The Gentile, I say, will be broken off and dismissed, and the Jew will be brought in. The call of Esther represents this. She becomes the object of the great king's affection.
- Motive. The servants who proposed the search were guarding their own necks. They never saw where it would lead.
- Timing. Years away on campaign and a cooled temper had to pass before the king looked for a new queen.
- Silence. God's name never appears in this book. He works unnamed, behind advisers and kings who never mention Him.
- Honesty. Writers ask whether this custom was any place for a daughter of Israel. God worked through it without putting His name to it.
- Picture. One queen sent away and another chosen pictures a larger change: the failed witness set aside, and the Jew brought in.
and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the young virgins of beautiful countenance to Shushan the fortress, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hegai the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given.
A king has banished his queen, and his advisers propose how to replace her. It is palace policy with no mention of God in it — yet it is the door through which a Jewish girl walks into the throne room of the empire.
The men who proposed this plan were protecting themselves, not planning anything for God's people.
God's providence was moving to protect the Jews from the destruction hanging over them and to punish their enemies. Nothing could have seemed less connected with that than the Persian story of the chapter before, which ended with the king sending Vashti away. A further step was now taken. A lofty one was put down, a lowly one is exalted. But God alone worked in this secretly. The king's servants had no outcome in view, any more than the king himself. They were afraid that Ahasuerus might overturn the policy of the empire. They were afraid too that bringing the queen back would put them in immediate danger. So they propose that the king choose as his wife the most beautiful young woman in his kingdom, whoever pleased him best.
This plan was not invented for the occasion.
Then the courtiers made their suggestions, and they fit perfectly with the customs of Persia, still practised by rulers in the East. The king was well pleased with this suggestion.
The verse ends by ordering beauty treatments for the women.
All of the women applicants were given 12 months of preparation! (v. 12). So the unbelieving world thinks it can improve by artificial means on the beauty of those God has created. Very likely the king would have been just as impressed with Esther without this long delay. Hegai gave her the best place among the women right from the start.
God is never named in this book.
It has often been remarked that the name of God is not found in the Book of Esther. This is characteristic. God does not show Himself. The government of the world had fallen to that throne. But behind its power and its mistakes, God holds the reins by His providence. He watches over the carrying out of His purposes and over everything needed to fulfil them. And He cares for His people, whatever their condition may be or the power of their enemies. Happy people!
Esther had no say in any of it.
These ways of divine Providence toward Israel were secretly preparing the future reign of His people over the nations. Yet look how humiliated Israel was in her actual condition! We see the Jewish wife handed over by force to the king of the Gentiles, like a slave someone disposes of, without anyone asking her! Her will counts for nothing in this alliance; she is forced into it. Every other young woman in the empire might have wanted such a position. Esther could not want it.
Commentators differ. One sees Esther as free from blame, because the whole nation was out of its proper place:
The people of God were not in their proper place when those strange events happened, and that is what justifies them… Esther is no more blamed for going to the king of Persia than Joseph was for marrying Asenath in Egypt, or Moses for marrying Zipporah in Midian.
Another questions the whole project while still tracing God's care through it:
We may rightly question whether a Jewish woman should think of marrying a Persian, king or not. We may also question whether Mordecai should encourage such a union. But the Jews were in such a state that they had nearly forgotten what suited Jewish character… On the other hand, God cared about the Jews too, though He could not associate His name with them at the time.
Some read this long preparation as a picture of a future time for the faithful remnant of Israel.
Esther undergoes a time of preparation before she can meet the king. In the same way, there will be a preparation time for the remnant. The Holy Spirit, pictured here in Hegai, will guide and instruct the true Esther in her preparation and bring out her beauty. This still applies to Christians today: the Spirit needs to show us the way. We can't attain beauty based on our own thinking.
- Hidden God. God's name never appears in this book. He does not show Himself, but He holds the reins behind a throne that has forgotten Him.
- Hidden motive. Frightened courtiers proposed the search for a new queen to protect themselves. Not one of them had God's people in view.
- Hidden custom. An ordinary Persian practice — officers, a house of women, a keeper, a year of beauty treatments — became the road by which a Jewish girl reached the crown.
- Hidden cost. Officers took Esther; no one asked her. Providence was at work, but her position was a humiliation, not a prize.
- Hidden future. Commentators differ on whether she should have gone at all, yet agree God's care ran through it. Some see in Hegai's work a picture of the Spirit forming a beauty we cannot produce ourselves.
And let the maiden that pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.
The book opens with a royal banquet, a king's anger, and a queen dismissed. Now the court proposes a beauty contest to fill the empty throne. Nervous courtiers hatched the plan, and the king approved it. Neither of them knew that this choice would one day rescue a nation.
The advice served the men who gave it. They feared the queen's return.
Providence planned to shield the Jews from the destruction hanging over them, unworthy as they were, and to punish their unrelenting enemies. That plan clearly moves forward here. A further step was now taken. A lofty one was put down, a lowly one is exalted. But God alone worked in this secretly. The king's servants had no idea of the outcome, any more than the king himself. They were afraid that Ahasuerus might break the policy of the empire, and that bringing the queen back would put them in immediate danger. So they propose that the king should choose as his wife the fairest young woman in his lands, whoever pleased him best.
The whole plan turned on one thing: which girl would please the king. So where did her beauty come from?
How did this affect the poor people of God? It soon appears in seed form. Was it chance that gave an orphan of Israel a beauty beyond all others in those wide provinces?
A drunken feast, a failed war and a king's rage lie behind this proposal. Those were the raw materials God used.
How much had to happen before Israel could have help ready in time of need! On the surface, what great things had to come first! Only then could a Jewish girl rise to the throne of the Persian Empire by the power of her beauty. Look at the great meeting of all the officers of state, and the dreadful war with Greece with its unhappy end. In the hands of Providence, were these not so many stepping stones on Esther's path upward? … First drunkenness, then murderous rage, then fresh desire — these were the sad instruments that came before Israel's redemption.
Becoming queen sounds like a promotion. For this Jewish girl it was not.
In all these things we see a God of providence. He directs the thoughts and hearts of men, and the thoughts and heart of the king, according to His own purpose. In this way He carries out His plans of grace toward His people… These ways of divine Providence toward Israel were secretly preparing the future reign of His people over the nations. Yet see how humiliated she was in her actual condition! They hand the Jewish wife over by force to the king of the nations, like a slave that someone disposes of, and no one asks her! Her will counts for nothing in this alliance; she is forced into it. Every other young woman in the empire would have longed for such a position, but Esther could not.
Israel's own sin had put her there.
The law (Deuteronomy 7:3) forbade these marriages. It told an Israelite not to give his daughter to a Gentile. But here everything had changed. The kings of the nations ruled over the unfaithful Jews. God had withdrawn Himself, and Nehemiah had to say that they were servants that day, and that the kings God had set over them because of their sins ruled over their bodies.
The order against Vashti stood, but her replacement waited. The gap was not wasted time.
Here, from the very beginning, we find the hidden providence of God at work. Vashti's dismissal was decreed and could not be reversed. Yet it is not carried out until Ahasuerus returns. Only then can the Jewish wife, prepared by Providence, come on the scene and take the place of the Gentile wife at the right moment.
Vashti was a Gentile, not a Jew. Kelly reads the exchange of the two wives as a picture of something larger.
The great Gentile wife of the great king is discarded, and then the remarkable thing happens: a Jewess takes her place. I cannot doubt myself that this is what will follow. It comes when the Gentile has proved himself disobedient and has failed to display the beauty that ought to mark God's testimony before the world… According to the language of Romans 11, the branches of the wild olive — the Gentile — will be broken off, and the Jew will be grafted in again.
- Pleased men. Frightened courtiers made the proposal to protect themselves, and it pleased the king. Human motives shaped it all.
- Pleased God. God alone was at work behind their self-interest. The beauty of one orphan girl in all those provinces was no accident.
- Poor materials. Drunkenness, a lost war and a king's rage became stepping stones. God used them to have help ready for Israel before the need came.
- Painful for her. No one asked Esther. Other girls would have envied her place; the law forbade it, and for her it was humiliation.
- Prophetic picture. The Gentile wife goes for failing to show her beauty, and a Jewish one takes her place. Kelly sees Romans 11 here — branches broken off, and Israel grafted in again.