Esther 1:19

19 If then it seem good to the king, let him make a royal decree, and let it be written according to the laws of the Medes and Persians, and let him not alter : and let not the queen come in to him any more; and let the king give her royalty to a woman better than she.

Esther 1:19 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 1:19

If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from
him
Not only a proclamation made, but a law enacted and published by royal authority: and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and Medes that it
be not altered;
for so it was, that when a law was made, and signed, and sealed, and registered among the laws of the kingdom, it remained unalterable, ( Daniel 6:8 Daniel 6:15 ) , this precaution Memucan took for his own safety; for had the king acted upon his advice, without passing it into a law in such form, he might change his mind, and recall Vashti, who would not fail of venting her wrath upon the counsellor, and so he be in danger of losing his life for it: that Vashti come no more before King Ahasuerus;
but be entirely divorced, never to be received any more: and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than
she;
or "to her companions" ^F26; that was with her in the house of the women in the seraglio; one that was fairer, as the Targum, or of a better disposition than her; let her be made queen, and enjoy all the honour, and dignity, and marks of royalty Vashti did; her throne, her crown, and royal apparel, as it is interpreted in an ancient Jewish writing ^F1.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 (htwerl) "sodali ejus", Montanus; "sociae ejus", Tigurine version, Drusius, Rambachius.
F1 Tikkune Zohar, correct. 21. fol. 59. 2.

Esther 1:19 In-Context

17 for he has told them the words of the queen, and how she disobeyed the king. As then, , she refused king Artaxerxes,

18 so this day shall the other ladies of the chiefs of the Persians and Medes, having heard what she said to the king, dare in the same way to dishonour their husbands.

19 If then it seem good to the king, let him make a royal decree, and let it be written according to the laws of the Medes and Persians, and let him not alter : and let not the queen come in to him any more; and let the king give her royalty to a woman better than she.

20 And let the law of the king which he shall have made, be widely proclaimed, in his kingdom: and so shall all the women give honour to their husbands, from the poor even to the rich.

21 And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did as Muchaeus had said,