Vashti

Vashti is the queen of King Ahasuerus whose refusal to appear at the royal banquet sets the opening machinery of Esther in motion. She is named in two adjacent chapters: deposed in Esther 1, replaced in Esther 2.

The two banquets

The narrative pairs the king's feast with one of Vashti's own. "Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to King Ahasuerus." (Es 1:9). The king's banquet is in the men's quarters; Vashti's is in the royal house, with the women.

The summons and the refusal

On the seventh day, with the king "merry with wine," he sends his seven chamberlains: "On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that ministered in the presence of Ahasuerus the king, to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty; for she was fair to look at." (Es 1:10-11).

Her refusal is given in a single verse, with the king's reaction in the same breath: "But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by the chamberlains: therefore the king was very angry, and his anger burned in him." (Es 1:12).

The deliberation of the seven princes

The king consults the legal experts. "Then the king said to the wise men, who knew the times (for so was the king's manner toward all who knew law and judgment; and the next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom), What shall we do to the queen Vashti according to law, because she has not done the bidding of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?" (Es 1:13-15).

Memucan answers, escalating the offense from a personal slight to a kingdom-wide threat to male authority. "And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen has not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the peoples in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. For this deed of the queen will come abroad to all women, to make their husbands contemptible in their eyes, when it will be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she didn't come. And this day the princesses of Persia and Media who have heard of the deed of the queen will say [the like] to all the king's princes. So [there will arise] much contempt and wrath." (Es 1:16-18).

The decree of permanent removal

Memucan recommends a written, irrevocable law and a transfer of the queen's place: "If it pleases the king, let there go forth a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it not be altered, that Vashti come no more before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate to her fellow woman who is better than she. And when the king's decree which he will make will be published throughout all his kingdom (for it is great), all the wives will give to their husbands honor, both to great and small." (Es 1:19-20).

The king accepts and the decree is dispatched empire-wide: "And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan: for he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to its writing, and to every people after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house, and should speak according to the language of his people." (Es 1:21-22).

Replaced by Esther

When the king's anger cools, the narrative remembers her. "After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus was pacified, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her." (Es 2:1). The search for her successor is framed by her absence: "and let the maiden who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so." (Es 2:4). The replacement is made when Esther wins favor: "And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained favor and kindness in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown on her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti." (Es 2:17). The crown that had been ordered onto her head and that she refused to display is finally set on Esther's.