Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Ahasuerus, for a display of his power, institutes a solemn six-month banquet. He summons Vashti his wife to it; but when she refuses to come, he repudiates her.
Vulgate Text: Esther 1:1-22
1. In the days of Ahasuerus, who reigned from India to Ethiopia over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces; 2. when he sat on the throne of his kingdom, the city of Susa was the beginning of his kingdom. 3. Therefore in the third year of his reign, he made a great banquet for all his princes, and his most valiant servants of the Persians, and the illustrious men of the Medes, and the governors of the provinces before him, 4. to show the riches of the glory of his kingdom, and the greatness and boasting of his power, for a long time, namely one hundred and eighty days. 5. And when the days of the banquet were fulfilled, he invited all the people who were found in Susa, from the greatest to the least: and he ordered a banquet to be prepared for seven days in the court of the garden and grove, which had been planted with royal cultivation and care. 6. And on every side hung hangings of sky-blue color, and of fine linen, and of violet, held up by cords of fine linen and purple, which were inserted into ivory rings, and supported by marble columns. Couches also of gold and silver were arranged upon a pavement laid with emerald and Parian stone: which painting of wonderful variety adorned. 7. And the invited guests drank from golden cups, and dishes were brought in one vessel after another. Wine also, as was worthy of royal magnificence, was set before them in abundance and of the finest quality. 8. Nor was there anyone to compel the unwilling to drink, but as the king had decreed, appointing one of his princes over each table, so that each might take what he wished. 9. Queen Vashti also made a banquet for women in the palace, where King Ahasuerus was accustomed to dwell. 10. Therefore on the seventh day, when the king was more cheerful, and after excessive drinking had grown warm with wine, he commanded Maumam, and Bazatha, and Harbona, and Bagatha, and Abgatha, and Zethar, and Charchas, the seven eunuchs who served in his presence, 11. to bring in Queen Vashti before the king, with the diadem set upon her head, to show all the peoples and princes her beauty: for she was exceedingly beautiful. 12. She refused, and scorned to come at the king's command, which he had sent through the eunuchs. Wherefore the king, angered and inflamed with excessive fury, 13. asked the wise men who, according to royal custom, were always at his side, and he did all things by their counsel, who knew the laws and rights of the elders (14. now the chief and nearest were Carshena, and Shethar, and Admatha, and Tarshish, and Meres, and Marsena, and Memucan, seven princes of the Persians and Medes, who saw the face of the king, and were accustomed to sit first after him), 15. to what sentence Queen Vashti should be liable, who had refused to obey the command of King Ahasuerus, which he had sent through the eunuchs. 16. And Memucan answered in the hearing of the king and the princes: Not the king alone has Queen Vashti injured, but also all the peoples and princes who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. 17. For the word of the queen will go out to all women, so that they despise their husbands and say: King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to come to him, and she refused. 18. And by this example all the wives of the princes of the Persians and Medes will make light of the commands of their husbands: wherefore the king's indignation is just. 19. If it please you, let an edict go forth from your presence, and let it be written according to the law of the Persians and Medes, which it is unlawful to transgress, that Vashti shall no longer come before the king, but her royal dignity shall be given to another who is better than she. 20. And let this be published throughout the whole extent of your provinces, and let all wives, both of the greater and the lesser, give honor to their husbands. 21. His counsel pleased the king and the princes; and the king acted according to the counsel of Memucan. 22. And he sent letters to all the provinces of his kingdom, as each nation could hear and read, in diverse languages and scripts, that men should be princes and rulers in their own houses, and that this should be published among all peoples.
Verse 1: In the Days of Ahasuerus
1. IN THE DAYS OF AHASUERUS. The Septuagint has 'Artaxerxes'; that is, Darius Hystaspis, as I have already said: for Ahasuerus was a common name of the kings of the Medes (hence Darius the Mede, Daniel 9:1, is called the son of Ahasuerus, that is, of Astyages, the last king of the Medes); while Artaxerxes was a name of the Persian kings; and Darius was king of both peoples. See what was said at 1 Ezra, chapter 4, verse 7. Add that in Persian these three names Darius, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes signify nearly the same thing. For Darius means the same as 'restrainer'; Xerxes the same as 'warrior'; Artaxerxes the same as 'great warrior,' says Herodotus, book VI, page 175, although Hesychius in his Lexicon asserts that Darius in Persian means the same as phronimos, that is, prudent, wise.
Verse 2: Susa Was the Beginning of His Kingdom
2. SUSA WAS THE BEGINNING OF HIS KINGDOM. This was the royal city of Darius and the kings of Persia, in which Darius wished to be most solemnly crowned as king in the third year of his reign, having provided a public royal banquet, which is described in this chapter. Susa is situated near the river Choaspes in a most pleasant place, so called from its fertility and abundance of lilies, according to Athenaeus, book XII; Eustathius in his commentary on Dionysius, and the Etymologicum Magnum: for Susan in Hebrew is 'lily'; hence the Phoenicians, Persians, and others call the lily Susan, or Susanna: hence also the perfume called Susinum, whose principal ingredient was lilies, as Hesychius testifies under the word sousinon, and Pliny, book XIII, chapter 1; although Stephanus, in his book On Cities, thinks Susa was named from an abundance of springs, which in Persian are called Susan. In a similar way various cities have been named from flowers; Rhodes from the rose: for rhodon is 'rose'; Florence from flowers.
Moreover, Susa was first founded by Memnon, son of Tithonus, say Herodotus, Aelian, Strabo, and Cassiodorus; hence it was surnamed Memnonea: but Darius Hystaspis enlarged it, adorned it with new palaces, and graced it with a royal seat, according to Aelian. Some think Susa is Tabriz, which today is the royal city of the Shah of Persia. Moreover, the kings of Persia, says Xenophon, book VIII of the Cyropaedia, spend winter in Babylon, which is the hottest region; spring in Susa, summer in Ecbatana, and therefore, he says, they feel neither winter nor summer; but the climate and weather perpetually seem like spring to them. Aelian and Athenaeus, book XII, chapter 3, say that the kings of Persia spend winter in Susa, and summer in Ecbatana.
Verse 3: In the Third Year of His Reign
3. THEREFORE IN THE THIRD YEAR OF HIS REIGN HE MADE A GREAT BANQUET. The Chaldee here fabricates the tale that Ahasuerus wanted to sit on the throne of Solomon, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem to Babylon, and Cyrus from Babylon to Persia, and since the throne did not fit Darius, he ordered another similar one to be made, and that craftsmen labored for two years in fashioning it; and therefore in the third year Darius sat upon it and prepared this banquet. Some think Darius prepared this feast to celebrate his birthday with a public celebration. For Athenaeus, book IV, chapter 6, and Plato in the Alcibiades, teach that this was the custom among the Persians.
AND THE ILLUSTRIOUS MEN OF THE MEDES. In Hebrew, Parthenim, which some translate as paratimi, as if these were the same as the homotimoi ('those of equal honor') in Xenophon; namely, those who are held in equal honor and rank, as if to say, 'princes of equal standing.' It is more true that Parthenim is not Greek, but a Persian name for Satraps.
Verse 5: Planted with Royal Cultivation
5. WHICH HAD BEEN PLANTED WITH ROYAL CULTIVATION AND CARE. For Cicero, in his book On Old Age, testifies that Cyrus, king of Persia, cultivated fields and gardens with his own hand. For he says: "When Lysander admired both the height of the trees, and the rows arranged in a quincunx pattern, and the ground that was well-worked and clean, and the sweetness of the fragrances that wafted from the flowers: then he said he admired the diligence in this, but also the skill of him who had measured and laid out those things; and Cyrus replied: 'Indeed, I myself measured these things; the rows are mine, the plan is mine, and many of these trees were planted by my own hand.'"
Verse 6: Hangings of Sky-Blue, Fine Linen, and Violet
6. AND THERE HUNG ON EVERY SIDE HANGINGS OF SKY-BLUE (so it should be read, not 'bronze' or 'golden') COLOR AND OF FINE LINEN AND VIOLET. By 'hangings,' understand tapestries and curtains hung on poles and trees in the garden, both for decoration and to protect the guests from sun, rain, and wind. These were 'of sky-blue color,' that is, white, as the Hebrew, Pagninus, and Vatablus have it. For the clear air, bright with light, appears white.
AND OF FINE LINEN, in Hebrew Corpas, meaning green. Hence many think it should be read here as carpasini (with the letter b changed to the related p, as often happens) as the Septuagint has, that is, green. For this color wonderfully refreshes the eyes. So the Hebrews, Serarius, Sanchez, Pagninus, Vatablus, Marinus and others.
Some suspect from the similarity of the word that carbasinum is scarlet, which is commonly called carmosin. For the Hebrew carpas, that is, carbasinum or carpasinum, is found only in this passage: hence its genuine meaning is unknown. But the former interpretation, namely that the color carpasinus is green, is favored by the fact that the Arabs also now call garden celery (parsley), which is supremely green, Carfs, which by contraction is the same as the Hebrew Carpas, as Matthiolus writes from Aben-Ezra in his commentary on Dioscorides, book III, chapter 69. Hence also Petroselinum is so called, as if 'rock selinon,' that is, celery: for it grows better among rocks, according to Pliny, book XX, chapter 12. Therefore the color carpasinus, namely green, is one thing; and carbasinus properly so called is another; for this is white, so named from carbasus, which is linen of wonderful fineness, and therefore white, according to Pliny, book XIX, chapter 1. There is also the herb carphos, which by another name is called buceras, from its resemblance to ox horns, about which Pliny speaks in book XXIV, chapter 19, which is likewise green.
IVORY. In Hebrew, 'silver.' So also the Septuagint and the Chaldee.
COUCHES OF GOLD AND SILVER. Note that the ancients first used chairs and sat at the table (as we do now), as is evident from Genesis 43:33, and from Philo in his book On the Life of Joseph, and from Athenaeus, book one. Hence in Homer's Odyssey, guests are everywhere said to sit at the table. Afterwards, however, the Jews, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and nearly all nations used the practice of reclining at dinner and lunch, so that they dined not so much sitting as lying on couches more softly, and after eating they would rest or even doze on the same couches: for a body fatigued from labor is better refreshed and rested by lying down than by sitting.
The manner of reclining was as follows. The guests reclined with the upper part of the body leaning on the left elbow, while the lower part was stretched out at length and lying on the couch, with the head slightly raised and the back moderately supported by cushions. On each couch three or four persons reclined in such a way that the feet of the one reclining in the highest place were extended alongside the one reclining in the second place, and the feet of the second alongside the one reclining in the third place, and so on. Again, the back of the head of the one reclining in the second place was turned toward the navel or breast of the one reclining first; and in the same manner the rest reclined in succession. Hence we understand how St. John at the Last Supper of Christ reclined on His breast, as in His bosom; and how St. Mary Magdalene was able to wash the feet of Christ as He reclined at table, standing behind Him. Hence finally it is clear what 'triclinium' means, namely a dining room, in which there were commonly three couches around the table. Hence likewise these dining couches were called thori, stibadia, thoralia, accubitalia, which are commonly found in Cicero, Pliny, Athenaeus, Seneca, Virgil, and others. See Ciacconius, Fulgentius, Ursinus, and others on the triclinium.
UPON THE PAVEMENT: upon the pavement, therefore, on the ground the Persians dined and supped, in the manner of Easterners, just as Judith did, chapter 12, verse 19, as is evident from the Greek. For no mention is made here of any other table.
PARIAN, that is, white marble from the island of Paros, which is superior and more precious than others.
PAINTING, arising from the variety of stones, interwoven and composed in mosaic-like work. These stones are called in Hebrew dar and socharet; what exactly they were is unknown.
Verse 7: They Drank from Golden Cups
7. AND THE INVITED GUESTS DRANK FROM GOLDEN CUPS; AND FOOD WAS BROUGHT IN ONE VESSEL AFTER ANOTHER. The ancient Persians under Cyrus and before Cyrus were exceedingly frugal in food and drink; and, as Xenophon says in book I of the Cyropaedia, they had "bread for food, watercress for a relish, and river water for drink." Hence Cicero, Tusculan Disputations I: "The diet of the Persians," he says, "is described by Xenophon, who says they add nothing to bread except watercress." Thus they became hardy and strong for labors and wars, by which they obtained their kingdom and empire, which they lost when gluttony and luxury grew powerful. For the temperance of the ancient Persians and the luxury of their descendants, see Xenophon, book VIII; Stobaeus, sermons 42 and 44; Herodotus, book IX; Athenaeus, book IV.
Indeed, in the Saturnalia, Macrobius says that the table of the ancients was sacred, and that the ancients first remembered the divine, then prayed well for the guests, and after the prayer used the feast with moderation. Serinus in Stobaeus says the kings of Persia discussed modesty before food, and temperance before drink. Moreover, that Augustus provided banquets with only three courses is attested by Suetonius in his Life, chapter 14: "He never," he says, "began banquets late nor left them early, as the guests would begin to dine before he reclined, and would remain after he departed. Dinner consisted of three courses; or, when most lavish, six, served with the greatest courtesy, if not at excessive expense. For he would draw into general conversation those who were silent or whispering among themselves, and would introduce entertainments, actors, or even ordinary circus performers, and most frequently aretalogi, that is, those who speak pleasantly." Servius, on book I of the Aeneid, says the ancients used only two courses.
Add that the ancients mingled wise and serious conversation at table, as is evident from Athenaeus concerning the banquets of wise men; they were therefore sober, and took care not to say anything foolish while intoxicated. Hence M. Varro defined the number of guests by this rule: "Let it be neither fewer than the Graces nor more numerous than the Muses," says Macrobius, Saturnalia, book I, chapter 4. Now the Graces are three, and the Muses are nine. The same Macrobius, book VII: "At table," he says, "one should philosophize in such a way that to the bowl of liquid born for gladness (wine) there should be added a mixture not only of the Nymphs, but also of the Muses, with experience, etc., since words cheer a banquet no less than the sweetness of wine."
Verse 8: None Compelled the Unwilling to Drink
8. NOR WAS THERE ANYONE TO COMPEL THE UNWILLING TO DRINK. For it is not the act of a friend, but of an enemy and foe, to force someone to drink, even beyond and against nature, which no beasts do. Xenophon, book VIII of the Cyropaedia, says that among the ancient Persians it was provided by law that amphoras should not be brought to banquets, because they judged that bodies and minds would be less impaired if one did not drink too much. Now, he says, these are no longer brought in -- that much remains true -- but they drink so much that they are not carried in, but are themselves carried out, buried in wine, because they cannot stand upright or walk out. So also today among some peoples, the ancient temperance has degenerated into worse than swinish gluttony. See Feuardent here.
The Salic law, according to B. Rhenanus, book II of Res Germanicae, was: "Let no one invite his fellow soldier, or anyone else, to drink." For he who compels is a tyrant. For tyrannical is that saying which Cicero cites from the Greek carousings, Tusculan Disputations V: "Either drink or leave." Alexander the Great was a tyrant, who "boldly pledging unmixed wine, also compelled others," says Athenaeus, book II. The Emperor Heliogabalus was a tyrant, who, as Lampridius says: "Often summoned the urban prefect to drink after dinner, together with the praetorian prefects, so that if they refused, the masters of ceremonies compelled them." Indeed, Empedocles, having been appointed master of a banquet, when he compelled the guests to drink, was the next day brought to trial. For to compel is to take away the guest's freedom, to apply force, to corrupt nature, and to harm health, so that they seem to sacrifice and slaughter their stomachs and minds not to God, but to Bacchus.
Wisely Anacharsis, as cited by Laertius, assigning four cups or draughts, distinguishes them thus: The first, he says, that is drunk pertains to quenching thirst, the second to cheerfulness, the third to pleasure, the fourth to madness.
Moreover, St. Augustine and St. Ambrose severely censure those who compel guests to drink to the health of a prince or friend. As St. Augustine says in sermon 231 On Time: "Through hostile friendship, men are not ashamed to help others to take more drink than they should. For he who compels another to intoxicate himself by drinking more than is necessary would have done him less harm if he had wounded his flesh with a sword than if he killed his soul through drunkenness. They contend by a fixed rule of drinking; he who can prevail earns praise from crime." And in sermon 232: "A false excuse is offered: a powerful person compelled me to drink more." And he urges them not to comply, but rather to become martyrs, and warns against drinking in the names of men, angels, or other saints.
Hear St. Ambrose, book On Elijah and Fasting, chapter 7: "Why should I speak of the entreaties of the powerful? Why recall the oaths that they consider sacrilegious to violate? 'Let us drink,' they say, 'to the health of the Emperors'; and he who does not drink is guilty of disloyalty: for he seems not to love the Emperor who has not drunk to his health. O dutiful act of pious devotion! Let us drink to the health of the armies, to the valor of the counts, to our sons. And they judge that these vows pertain to God, like those who bring cups to the tombs of the martyrs, and drink there until evening, and do not believe they can be heard otherwise. O the folly of men, who think drunkenness is a sacrifice; who suppose that those are appeased by drunkenness, who learned to endure sufferings by fasting!"
Is it not madness to drink to another's health in such a way that you harm and destroy your own? Are they not oarsmen of cups and gluttons, who ballast their bellies with food and wine like pigs, nay more than pigs? For a pig, however greedy, does not eat more than to satisfy hunger, nor drink more than to quench thirst; nor does it allow itself to be driven to do so by any clubs or swords.
APPOINTING ONE OF HIS PRINCES OVER EACH TABLE, SO THAT EACH MIGHT TAKE WHAT HE WISHED. Among these princes was Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, son of Jeconiah king of Judah, who with his Hebrew companions, as bodyguards of the king, was among the most intimate friends of Darius, and after the banquet, disputing with them about what is strongest, won the prize. For when the first said: "Wine is strong," the second: "The king is stronger," the third, Zerubbabel, said: "Women are stronger, but truth conquers over all." Wherefore Darius, assenting to him, said: "Ask what you wish, and I will give it to you," and then Zerubbabel said: "Remember your vow which you vowed to rebuild Jerusalem on the day you received the kingdom, and to send back all the vessels that were taken from Jerusalem. And you vowed to rebuild the temple which the Edomites burned, when Judea was destroyed by the Chaldeans. This is what I ask, that you fulfill the vow which you vowed to the King of heaven from your own mouth." Wherefore, when Darius had kissed him, he fulfilled his vow, and restored the temple, and sent back the vessels with gifts to Jerusalem, as is narrated at length in 3 Ezra, chapters 3 and 4.
Allegorically, this banquet of Ahasuerus was literally a vain pursuit of empty pleasure and glory, but mystically a great image of the Holy Eucharist. First, for Ahasuerus as king and monarch represents Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Hence 'Ahasuerus' in Hebrew and Chaldee means the same as 'great head,' 'great king,' and 'prince.' Lyra adds: "Ahasuerus is interpreted as 'blessed'; but Christ is not only blessed, but is also the blessedness of the saints." The Interlinear Gloss says: "Ahasuerus," it says, "represents Christ the Lord in name and dignity; for it is interpreted as 'gate.' But Christ says: 'I am the gate; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved.'"
Second, Ahasuerus celebrated this banquet in his royal city of Susa, which word in Hebrew signifies 'lily,' a symbol of purity and virginity. So Christ in Susa, that is in the Church, which blooms with the lilies of the chaste and virgins, instituted the Eucharist, which therefore by the chaste and from all stain most purely is it to be received; and thus received, it greatly increases purity and chastity. For it is "the grain of the elect, and the wine producing virgins," Zechariah 9:17. Hence the Church, not drunk but sober with this wine, rejoices and exults, and says: "As the dwelling of all who rejoice is in you," Psalm 87:7. "And I will go over to the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God, with the voice of joy and thanksgiving, the sound of one feasting," Psalm 42:4. "And let the just exult and delight in gladness," Psalm 68:4.
Third, Ahasuerus celebrated this banquet for seven days, that is, for the whole time of this life, which is measured by seven days, says the Interlinear Gloss, according to that saying of Christ, Matthew 28, last verse: "Behold, I am with you all days, even to the end of the world." So Lyra.
Fourth, because of the greatness of the banquet. "He made," it says, "a great banquet." What is greater than the Eucharistic table, the "Great Supper" par excellence? Hence the Ordinary Gloss: "The history of this banquet," it says, "shows the pomp of the stories, and the luxury of the King; but allegorically it signifies the spiritual delights of Christ, which He dispenses to each one."
Fifth, Ahasuerus invited not only princes, but also the entire people from the least to the greatest: so Christ invites all to the Eucharist, the poor as well as the rich; women as well as men; the old as well as the young.
Sixth, because of the magnificence of the banquet; for Lyra and the Gloss assert that by the garden in which it takes place, the Church is signified, which is an enclosed garden, planted with many trees, both fruit-bearing through holy life and aromatic through good reputation. By the hangings providing shade above, and the columns supporting below, the intercession of the saints and the divine protections by which those who approach this table are defended are indicated. By the manifold colors of the curtains and cords -- white, purple, violet -- are understood virgins, martyrs, and doctors, who are nourished by the dishes of this banquet. By the golden and silver couches on which the guests reclined, the tranquil and peaceful consciences are expressed which those must have who enjoy this divine food. By the gems and paintings that adorned the pavement with wonderful variety, the virtues and other spiritual gifts are suggested with which the minds of those who rightly communicate are adorned.
Seventh, because of the sweetness and delight of the food and drink: "Wine," says Scripture, "as was worthy of royal magnificence, was of the finest quality set before them." But in the Eucharist, Christ is set before us as food, in whom, as in manna, we draw every delight of the angels, and every sweetness of the spirit, according to that saying: "He gave them bread from heaven; and man ate the bread of angels." Psalm 78:24-25.
Verse 9: Vashti Made a Banquet for Women
9. QUEEN VASHTI ALSO MADE A BANQUET FOR WOMEN. Hence aptly in Hebrew, Vashti means the same as 'and drinking,' or 'and a warp'; for threads and warp are the work of women. For Vashti, the Greek is Asti; Josephus has Scesti, and from these are composed the Persian names Astaspes and Hystaspes. Hence some with Serarius suspect that this Vashti was the daughter of Hystaspes, and the sister of her husband Darius. Ctesias supports this, asserting that the brother of Ahasuerus was Oudiaspes, a name that alludes to Vashti: as if this Oudiaspis was his sister. For the Persians married their sisters, as Herodotus teaches in his account of Cambyses, Curtius, book VIII, Pliny, book XXXVI, chapter 7. Others think Vashti was the daughter of Cyrus; for Justin, book I, and Herodotus, book III, teach that Darius married her to secure for himself the kingdom of Persia; Herodotus calls her Artystone, a name that alludes to Vashti.
Verse 10: When the King Was Cheerful with Wine
10. WHEN THE KING WAS MORE CHEERFUL, AND AFTER EXCESSIVE DRINKING HAD GROWN WARM WITH WINE. The laws of the Persians permitted the king of Persia to become intoxicated once a year, namely at the feast of the Sun, whom the Persians worshipped as God; but what the law had permitted once, the king could by his authority exercise more frequently.
MAUMAM. In Greek it is Haman, although the Hebrews think Haman was Memucan, mentioned in verse 14.
Verse 11: To Bring Queen Vashti Before the King
11. TO BRING QUEEN VASHTI, etc. TO SHOW ALL THE PEOPLES AND PRINCES HER BEAUTY. Ahasuerus commanded this partly out of drunkenness, partly out of lust; therefore this command of his was reckless, imprudent, proud, dishonorable, and shameless, and consequently Vashti was not bound to obey it for the sake of modesty and chastity, lest her beauty lure the eyes and minds of the princes, already heated with wine, into desire for her, just as Candaules, king of the Sardians, lured his friend Gyges into love for his wife by showing her naked to him: wherefore Gyges, making himself invisible by means of a magic ring, killed Candaules and took his wife for himself, as Herodotus narrates, book I.
The Rabbis fabricate the tale that Vashti was likewise commanded by Ahasuerus to come out naked to the banquet. They add that she was born from Belshazzar, of whom Daniel chapter 5 speaks, and that with most oppressive tyranny she forced Hebrew slave women to work on the Sabbath day and to walk about naked, and that this was the reason she was cast out naked, and on the Sabbath day, which is also called the seventh, she perished miserably. But away with these obscenities of the obscene Rabbis.
FOR SHE WAS EXCEEDINGLY BEAUTIFUL. Persian women surpassed others in beauty. Hence Alexander the Great refused to see the wife and daughters of Darius, whom he had already defeated, saying "Persian women are pains of the eyes," say Plutarch and Curtius: "In Persia the beauty of women excels," says Ammianus, book 73.
Verse 12: She Refused to Come at the King's Command
12. SHE REFUSED, AND SCORNED TO COME AT THE KING'S COMMAND, etc. She seems therefore to have sinned by pride, disobedience, and contempt of her husband, which if you remove, she honestly and chastely refused the dishonorable and immodest display of herself before the princes demanded by her drunken husband; especially because, as Josephus says, book XI, chapter 6, "She wished to observe the laws of the Persians, which forbade wives to be seen by strangers." Hence Macrobius, book VII, chapter 1, says that among the Parthians, not wives but only concubines were customarily brought to banquets. St. Ambrose, in his book On Elijah, chapter 15, reports the same. And the Partho-Persians "forbid women not only from banquets, but even from the sight of men." Hence Severus Sulpitius says of Vashti: "Wiser than her foolish king, she modestly refused the command to offer the spectacle of her body to the eyes of men"; all the more praiseworthy, the more she persevered in constancy of law and modesty; for, as St. Jerome wisely warns, in his letter to Furia: "The fires of Etna, the land of Vulcan, Vesuvius and Olympus do not blaze with such ardors as youthful marrow, full of wine and inflamed by feasting." And Tertullian, On Fasting Against the Psychics, chapter 1: "It would indeed be considered monstrous, lust without gluttony; since these two are so united and fused that, if they could be separated at all, the private parts would not have been attached to the belly in the first place."
Finally, Plutarch in his Life of Artaxerxes asserts that among the Persians it was a capital offense to approach too closely the litter of the queen or of any royal concubine, or to see her. Rightly therefore, by natural law as well as by the positive law of the Persians, Vashti refused to display her beauty to drunken banqueters.
Would that Christian women would imitate Vashti, who publicly display their beauty, nay, paint themselves to lure young men into love for them! And so they prostitute their bodies and souls, together with the eternal ruin of both themselves and those men: "For the eyes are the guides in love." And there is nothing more alluring than a beautiful and enticing woman.
WHEREFORE THE KING, ANGERED AND INFLAMED WITH EXCESSIVE FURY, pronounced against Vashti the angry and unjust sentence of divorce that follows. For "every drunkard is beneath anger and empty of mind," says Sophocles in Stobaeus, sermon 18.
Verse 14: Seven Princes of the Persians and Medes
14. SEVEN PRINCES OF THE PERSIANS AND MEDES, WHO SAW THE FACE OF THE KING, that is, they were his most intimate counselors and closest to the king. For, as Justin says, book I at the end: "Among the Persians, the person of the king is concealed under an appearance of majesty"; hence in chapter 7, verse 8, they covered the face of Haman, who had incurred the king's displeasure, as though unworthy to see the king whom he had so offended. Some kings adopted similar pomp, and the kings of China use it today. The Persians received this practice from the Medes together with the kingdom. For concerning Deioces, king of the Medes, Herodotus says, book I, page 21: "He took care that it should not be permitted for anyone to see the king." For as Valerius Maximus says, book II, chapter 7: "Whatever is placed on a high eminence should be free from common and familiar contact, that it may be more venerable."
Verse 19: Vashti Shall No Longer Come Before the King
19. THAT VASHTI SHALL NO LONGER COME BEFORE THE KING, etc., HER ROYAL DIGNITY (the title, dignity, and magnificence of the queen) SHALL BE GIVEN TO ANOTHER WHO IS BETTER THAN SHE. Plutarch, speaking of the Persians in his Life of Artaxerxes: "The barbarians are," he says, "exceedingly jealous, and fierce toward their wives." Commenting on this passage, Luther threw off all the laws and limits of modesty, teaching that if a wife should be reluctant in the conjugal act, a maidservant should be summoned, and the husband should say to her: "If you will not, another will; if the wife will not, let the maidservant come." A fitting lid for such a dish; a fitting oracle of Priapus for such a prophet.
More sanely, St. Jerome, in his letter to Rusticus: "The philosophers of this world," he says, "are accustomed to drive out an old love with a new one, as one drives a nail with another nail. Which is what the seven princes of the Persians did for King Ahasuerus, to suppress his longing for Queen Vashti by love for other maidens. They combat vice with vice, sin with sin; let us overcome vices by love of virtues. 'Turn away,' he says, 'from evil, and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. Unless we hate evil, we cannot love good.'"
Tropologically: See here how the banquet of Ahasuerus ends in sorrow, and grief seizes the extremities of joy, and the king divorces and repudiates Vashti, his most beautiful queen and wife. "Thus rivers," she says, "are sweet in their channel; but when they run to the sea, they become bitter." See Chrysostom, homily 6 on the Epistle to the Hebrews, in the Moral section. Thus the day after former banquets and delights is a day of sorrow and repentance.
Verse 22: Men Should Be Rulers in Their Houses
22. THAT MEN SHOULD BE RULERS, that is, men or husbands in their own houses should be rulers, and exercise authority over their wives, children, and servants.