Esther 1:7

7 And they that were invited, drank in golden cups, and the meats were brought in divers vessels one after another. Wine also in abundance and of the best was presented, as was worthy of a king’s magnificence.

Esther 1:7 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 1:7

They gave them drink in vessels of gold, the vessels being
divers one from another
In the pattern and workmanship of them, though of the same metal, which diversity made the festival the more grand; earthen cups, with the Persians, were reckoned very mean; when a king would disgrace a man, he obliged him to use earthen cups ^F4. The Targum represents these vessels to be the golden vessels of the temple at Jerusalem Nebuchadnezzar carried away; which could not be, since they had been delivered by Cyrus to Zerubbabel, ( Ezra 1:7-10 ) ,

and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king;
such as the king was able to give, the best he had, and that in great plenty; the wine the kings of Persia used to drink, as Strabo ^F5 relates, was Chalybonian wine, or wine of Helbon, as it is called, ( Ezekiel 27:18 ) , (See Gill on Ezekiel 27:18), but by the wine of the kingdom, as it may be rendered, is meant wine of the country; the wine of Schiras is reckoned the best in Persia ^F6.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 Ctesias in Athenaei Deipnosoph. l. 11.
F5 Geograph. l. 15. p. 505.
F6 Universal History, vol. 5. p. 85.

Esther 1:7 In-Context

5 And when the days of the feast were expired, he invited all the people that were found in Susan, from the greatest to the least: and commanded a feast to be made seven days in the court of the garden, and of the wood, which was planted by the care and the hand of the king.

6 And there were hung up on every side sky coloured, and green, and violet hangings, fastened with cords of silk, and of purple, which were put into rings of ivory, and were held up with marble pillars. The beds also were of gold and silver, placed in order upon a floor paved with porphyry and white marble: which was embellished with painting of wonderful variety.

7 And they that were invited, drank in golden cups, and the meats were brought in divers vessels one after another. Wine also in abundance and of the best was presented, as was worthy of a king’s magnificence.

8 Neither was there any one to compel them to drink that were not willing, but as the king had appointed, who set over every table one of his nobles, that every man might take what he would.

9 Also Vasthi the queen made a feast for the women in the palace, where king Assuerus was used to dwell.