Esther 1:8

8 Drinking was by flagons, without restraint; for the king had given orders to all the officials of his palace to do as each one desired.

Esther 1:8 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 1:8

And the drinking was according to the law, none did compel,
&c.] 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 Targum is,

`according to the custom of his body;'

that is, as a man is able to bear it, so they drank: some F6 read it, "the drinking according to the law, let none exact"; or require it to be, according to the custom then in use in Persia; for they were degenerated from their former manners, and indulged to intemperance, as Xenophon F7 suggests: the law formerly was, not to carry large vessels into feasts; but now, says he, they drink so much, that they themselves must be carried out, because they cannot go upright: and so it became a law with the Greeks, at their festivals, that either a man must drink or go out F8; so the master of a feast, at which Empedocles was, ordered either that he should drink, or the wine be poured on his head F9; but such force or compulsion Ahasuerus forbad: and thus with the Chinese now, they force none to drink, but modestly invite them F11:

for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that
they should do according to every man's pleasure;
to let them have what wine they would, but not force them to drink more than was agreeable to them.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 Vid. Drusium in loc.
F7 Cyropaedia, l. 8. c. 51.
F8 Cicero. Tusculan. Quaest. l. 5.
F9 Laert. in Vit. ejus, l. 8. p. 608.
F11 Semedo's History of China, par. 1. c. 13.

Esther 1:8 In-Context

6 There were white cotton curtains and blue hangings tied with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and colored stones.
7 Drinks were served in golden goblets, goblets of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king.
8 Drinking was by flagons, without restraint; for the king had given orders to all the officials of his palace to do as each one desired.
9 Furthermore, Queen Vashti gave a banquet for the women in the palace of King Ahasuerus.
10 On the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who attended him,
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.