Monday 5 September 2016. Thus, people say: “He with gourds and his wife with squash.” Most queens were cloistered to the world except to appear on momentous occasions. We can see that our lives influence others by the actions we take. Thank you! Esther 1:19 "If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she." We must know who we are and live into it. For background, King Xerxes ruled Persia from 486-465 B.C.E., when Persia was considered a major world power. It can be translated "empire, kingdom, realm, reign," etc. Queen Vashti likely knew the potential consequences of refusing the king, but refuse she did. So, what does a king do next to grab the attention of those at his party? In what ways was she (Esther) given favor by the Most High? Esther 1:9 Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus. Something unexpected altered Vashti’s thinking. He throws a party. However, we must also study and honor Queen Vashti: a feminist survivor of the Persian patriarchy, whose prophetic rebellion and self-determination are often forgotten in our teachings on the Book of Esther. Many other lessons can be learn from the character and growth of the heroine of the story. He was one of the wealthiest men in the world. A party of all parties and goes on a benge for seven days. See, the king was a show off. At the same time Queen Vashti held her own feast in the royal palace for the women. What was Esther’s background, and how did she come to live with her cousin Mordecai? And what can we learn from the faith of this remarkable woman? We’ll never truly know why she acted as she did. / And all Queen Vashti's friends were there, / in comfy pants and braided hair.' We can read about Queen Vashti in Esther 1-2. We learn more about her from the Talmud (in Megillah 12). I'm forever trying to eradicate it from my life! We could not value its discoveries too highly, were it only for the accounts that it gives us of creation, and of the great law of marriage resulting from it. The punishment King Ahasuerus gives to Queen Vashti is recorded in Est. The story of Queen Vashti and King Ahasuerus, like most Jewish tales, has many interpretations. Though we do not know exactly what, she had some measure of rule within Ahasuerus' kingdom. Vashti refuses. Darius was so touched, he adopted Vashti and gave her to his son Xerxes to be his wife. Imagine that kind of power! We are given the reason why the king wants Vashti brought in. Ahasuerus can have Vashti brought to him by force. She throws a good party. May we long for making lifegiving and sacrificial decisions as we lead and serve in God’s world. The Talmud gives two answers: 1) because tzaraat (a skin ailment resembling … “Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the palace” – Should the verse not have said, “[Vashti gave a banquet for the women in] the women’s house?” Raba answered, “Both [Ahasuerus and Vashti] had a sinful purpose [that is, they wanted to sleep with the people at their party]. The king was humiliated to have Vashti disobey his orders in the presence of a crowd. How can we explain Esther's abrupt change in behavior from deep despair to determined action and from passiveness to leadership? When we unite Esther who ends up as a powerful queen with Vashti who by the end of the story is absent and therefore powerless, we can begin to grasp the necessity of balancing the need to exercise power with the need to share it. In Esther 5:3 and 5:6, he offers Esther "even to half" of his kingdom. “Who is Queen Vashti and what the heck can I learn from her?” Queen Vashti is widely known as the individual who lost her place due to disobedience and/or as Esther’s predecessor. However, what we do know is that, that one act of disobedience practically undid all of the work that the king had been putting in for 180 plus days to bolster his reputation. Is this a lesson that can be learned and applied on the homefront? Let’s look at this lady and see what we can learn. It seems he enjoyed the spot light and was a party host to all. They feared that the women of Persia would hear of Vashti’s refusal to obey her husband and begin to despise their own husbands. Hegai is immediately taken with Esther's pleasing demeanor. Her punishment may have been banishment to the royal hareem, where she would live out the rest of her life. I was just wondering if you can let me know your source when you laid out the reason why former Queen Vashti was replaced as queen. During his reign he was the most powerful king in the world, reigning over 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. 9 Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes. Esther’s Background. Hearing the horror of the planned genocide, the light went on: Esther connected with her inner self and understood why she had been made queen. First, let us see how Esther got into the unusual position of being a queen in Persia. He called a council of his wise men to determine what should be done to the queen. I grew up with 10 siblings, which is a perfect recipe for contention. Another decree commands young virgins to be brought to Shushan for the king's evaluation. Terrified little Vashti climbed up in Darius’ arms thinking she was clinging to her daddy. One of the king’s wise men, named Memucan, saw a dangerous precedent being set: “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. What I read from Persians back then is that even their faces should not be seen by others, only by their husbands. King Xerxes consulted his advisers in the law who declared that Vashti had wronged all the people of the land. He doesn't just invite the royals. Queen Vashti refused to humble herself before the king and even though the king wanted Queen Vashti to come before him for the wrong reason, it is still true that “Pride brings a person low” (Prov 29:23) and “Before a downfall the heart is haughty” (Prov 18:12a). Others propose she was killed by Xerxes in a drunken rage. It was a seven day long feast and on the last day ... We could learn much from Esther's example. Few suggest she met a happy end. ... We learn from it, that God has created one man for one woman. Looking forward to your answer here. In chapter 2 the king decides to fill the vacancy left by Queen Vashti. It tells us Vashti would have Jewish women brought before her, force them to undress and coerce them into working for her on Shabbat. I've been married for 37 years. Hearing of the decree, Mordecai brings Esther before Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the king's harem. He rolls out the red carpet for everyone. She refuses to have her appearances before the king regulated solely by his desires. 1. Camps/groups? Were they right in their thinking in How Queen vashti’s behavior wld affect the women of their kingdom? As we encounter Vashti in chapter one, we learn the following about her: She is beautiful and headstrong. Queen Esther, the heroine of the Purim story, is widely regarded as one of the greatest Jewish women in history. Vashti was the original wife of King Ahasuerus, and what a mighty king he was. The Bible gives us a clue as to the source of her new perspective. We have limited insight into Vashti’s motivation, since she exits the Purim story at the end of the book’s first chapter. Her amazing life story contains lessons that apply to all of us. Here are nine practical life lessons we can learn from Queen Esther:. Anger is one of my demons. We never learn of Vashti’s fate. In this buoyant, rhyming take, Queen Vashti 'played gin rummy all night long / and sang her favorite silly song. The Talmud then asks why did she refuse to come before Achashverosh (not being known as a modest woman)? But he needs her to appear voluntarily so he can seem like a benevolent husband with a loving, compliant wife. 4. 1:9: “In addition, Queen Vashti gave a banquet for women, in the royal palace of King Ahasuerus” that Vashti held her banquet in the royal palace of King Ahasuerus, a place meant for men, and not in the natural venue for such an event, the harem. As I recently studied Esther, I had a change of heart regarding Queen Vashti. They comment on Esth. Queen Vashti’s refusal was unexpected, for the king never would have made an announcement to all the princes of his kingdom that he was going to send for her had he had any reason to suspect she might refuse. This is not inconsistent with who Ahasuerus was as a person or monarch. This is the only article I've encountered citing that she shew herself undressed in public. It is time for us to make room in our myths and in our communities for more than one model of leadership. What about in our community? Characteristics of Esther in the Bible “‘Of all the biblical heroines,’ one scholar has observed, ‘Esther has enjoyed greatest popularity among writers, artists, and musicians, representing feminine modesty, courage and self-sacrifice’” ( A Complete Literary Guide to the Bible, 1993, p. 222). Supporting Information. What can we learn from Queen Esther? For this last offense, Vashti pays dearly, losing her crown and incurring perpetual banishment from the king’s presence. Faced with their unique circumstances and challenges as women called to lead, the stories of Queen Vashti and Queen Esther interact with our own stories. We read that it was “when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine” that he gives the order for Queen Vashti to be brought in to a room full of excessively drunken men like himself. Vashti was not queen "in name only." She understood why she had to suffer through her relationship with this irritable king. Still others, unsympathetic to the plight of a pagan queen, contend that Vashti grew a tail! And what can we learn from her, alongside other women, who are defying expectations and choosing their own paths? 2. Conclusion. She’s often looked down upon, if ever mentioned. Queen Vashti refused the king’s request, and he became enraged. 4 Esther was an orphan. In actual fact, Vashti might not have been exiled (i.e., forced to leave the city/country). Read more. The style lessons we can all learn from the Duchess of Cambridge She may be a future queen, but we can all take notes from Kate's fashion evolution over the past decade At this time, Vashti, his queen before Esther, made a grand feast for her women friends and disobeyed the king, refusing to display herself at his drunken feast. Believe in your hidden powers. Many midrashic interpretations suggest she was formally executed. When we take a comparative look at the life of these two characters in the scripture, though one appeared in just few chapter and the other was just the main character, there is a great lesson to be be learned from their lifestyle. 1:19: …Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus. This is because, although Vashti was queen, she … We all know the story of Esther, but if not for the actions of Vashti, there would be no Queen Esther. 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