Charles Ellicott Commentary Esther 1

Ahasuerus. —Three persons are called by this name in the Old Testament:

1. The Ahasuerus of Daniel 9:1, the father of “Darius the Mede.” If, as is probable, this latter is the same as Astyages, Ahasuerus must be identified with Cyaxares.
2. The Ahasuerus of Ezra 4:6, who is doubtless the same as Cambyses, the son of Cyrus.
3. The one now before us, whom we have shown in the Introduction to be almost certainly Xerxes.

For the history and character of this sovereign, reference must be especially made to the contemporaneous writers, Herodotus (vii., viii. 1-90), and Aeschylus in his play of The Persians.

The spirited lines of Juvenal should also be read (Sat. x. 173-187).

We find that Xerxes succeeded his father, Darius Hystaspes, in the year 485 B.C., five years after the momentous battle of Marathon.

Undeterred by his father’s failure, he resolves upon a fresh attack on Greece and sets out in 481 B.C. from Susa for the West. He winters at Sardis, leaving it in the spring of the following year.

The summer sees the battle of Thermopylae, which has covered the name of Leonidas and his three hundred, though vanquished and slain, with undying glory. In the autumn, Themistocles, by his victory over the Persians at Salamis, changes the history of the world, and this beginning is carried on by the victories at Plataea and Mycale in 479 B.C.

From the rout at Salamis, Xerxes had fled to Sardis, which he did not leave until the spring of 478 B.C. All that we know of the further course of Xerxes' reign is but one unbroken tale of debauchery and bloodshed, which came to an end in 464 B.C. when he was murdered by two of his officers, Mithridates and Artabanus; and his son, Artaxerxes Longimanus (Nehemiah 2:0), reigned in his place.

This is Ahasuerus. —This phrase is added to make clear which particular sovereign we are dealing with here. We have seen that three individuals with this name are mentioned in the Old Testament.

Ethiopia. —Herodotus tells us that Ethiopia paid tribute to Xerxes (iii. 97).

An hundred and seven and twenty. —In Daniel 6:1, we find that Darius the Mede appointed one hundred and twenty satraps, but the similarity in numbers is probably quite accidental. There seems to have been a gradually increasing number of satrapies in the kingdom of Darius—20, 21, 23, 29 (Herodotus, iii. 89-94), and the nations in the empire of Xerxes are said to be sixty (Herodotus, vii. 61-95). Thus, the provinces mentioned here must include subdivisions of these.

Shushan. —Susa. Mentioned also in Nehemiah 1:1. It was the usual residence of the Persian kings. (See Herodotus 7.6.)

In the third year of his reign. Assuming, as we do, the identity of Ahasuerus and Xerxes, this would be 483 B.C. In that year, Xerxes held a meeting of his princes at Susa to make arrangements for invading Greece.

At such an important gathering, feasting was a natural accompaniment. Moreover, a successful war in Egypt had just concluded. Thus, besides the upcoming campaign, rejoicings for the past might have mingled with high hopes for the future, when the empire's full strength would be exerted to crush the presumptuous enemy who had dared to challenge the “king of kings.”

Nobles. The Hebrew word partemim, occurring here and in Esther 6:9 and Daniel 1:3, is a Persian word literally meaning “first.” The Greek protos and Latin primus are evidently akin to it.

An hundred and fourscore days. —As a period of mere feasting, this long time (half a year) is simply incredible, but we must understand it as a time during which troops were collected, and the plan of invasion settled.

All the people. —So we find Cyrus feasting “all the Persians” (Herod. i. 126).