Esther 1:9-12·~1 min

Queen Vashti’s Refusal

Queen Vashti also gives a banquet for the women in the royal palace.

Q⁹ueen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.

On the seventh day, with his heart merry from wine, Xerxes commands his eunuchs to bring Vashti before the guests wearing her royal crown so her beauty can be displayed.

¹⁰On 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 — ¹¹to bring Queen Vashti before him, wearing her royal crown, to display her beauty to the people and officials. For she was beautiful to behold.

Vashti refuses to come, and the king's anger flares immediately.

¹²Queen Vashti, however, refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs. And the king became furious, and his anger burned within him.

Section summaryWhile the king feasts with the men, Vashti holds a banquet for the women in the palace. The scene turns when Xerxes, cheerful with wine, summons her to display her beauty, and her refusal abruptly breaks the controlled pageantry of the court.

Role in the chapterThis middle section introduces the act that unsettles the chapter. What begins as another banquet becomes a direct challenge to royal expectation, and the private refusal opens the public crisis that follows.