Contemplative Bible Reading

Esther 1:16-18 (New International Version 2011)

¹⁶ Then Memukan replied in the presence of the king and the nobles, “Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes. ¹⁷ For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’ ¹⁸ This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen’s conduct will respond to all the king’s nobles in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect and discord.

So concludes the first story in the book of Esther. Queen Vashti has disobeyed King Xerxes and she has done so in public; everyone knows about it.

What must be done? A group of advisers gather. The conclusion?

If Queen Vashti is not publicly punished, all the women will follow her example and disrespect their husbands

Note several items:

• The advisers were all men discussing women
• They assumed that all the women were currently respecting their husbands
• They exaggerated an outcome
• The kinds of things men decide when it is only men deciding

I have always found this to be one of funniest histories recorded in the Bible. How silly and how stupid can a group of royal advisers be? At least their decision sets in motion a series of events to that lead to good for God’s people.