Esther 1:17

17 For this deed of the queen {will be known}^[a] to all the women, causing them {to look with contempt on their husbands},^[b] as they will say, 'King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him but she did not come!'

Esther 1:17 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 1:17

For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women,
&c.] It will soon be spread all over the king's dominions, and reach the ears of the wives of all his subjects, and become their general talk everywhere: so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes:
make light of their authority, refuse subjection to them, slight their commands, and neglect to yield obedience to them, and so not give them the honour that is due unto them: when it shall be reported, the King Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the
queen to be brought in before him, and she came not;
was disobedient to his commands, refused to go along with the chamberlains sent by the king to fetch her.

Esther 1:17 In-Context

15 "According to [the] law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti, because she has not done the command of King Ahasuerus {conveyed by} the eunuchs?

16 And Memucan said before the king and the officials, "Not only has Queen Vashti done wrong to the king, but to all the officials and all of the people who [are] in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

17 For this deed of the queen {will be known} to all the women, causing them {to look with contempt on their husbands}, as they will say, 'King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him but she did not come!'

18 This day the women of nobility from Persia and Media will respond to all the officials of the king and there will be no end to contempt and anger.

19 {If it pleases} the king, let {a royal edict} go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of Persia and Media so that it will not be altered, that Vashti cannot come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to her neighbor who [is] better than she.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "will go out"
• [b]. Literally "to despise their husbands in their eyes"