Esther 1:8

8 By order of the king, no limit was placed on the drinking, and every official of his household was to serve each man whatever he 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.

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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 Hangings of white and blue linen were fastened with cords of fine white and purple material to silver rings on the marble pillars. Gold and silver couches were arranged on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and other costly stones.

7 Beverages were served in an array of goblets of gold, each with a different design, and the royal wine flowed freely, according to the king’s bounty.

8 By order of the king, no limit was placed on the drinking, and every official of his household was to serve each man whatever he desired.

9 Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.

10 On the seventh day, when the king’s heart was merry with wine, he ordered the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas—