Vashti וַשְׁתִּי
Queen of Persia, deposed by King Ahasuerus (Xerxes)
Biography
Vashti was the queen of Persia and the wife of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). She is introduced in the book of Esther during a great feast the king held for his officials and servants. On the seventh day of the feast, when the king was drunk, he commanded Vashti to appear before him and his guests wearing her royal crown, to display her beauty. However, Vashti refused to come at the king's command, which greatly angered him. After consulting with his wise men, the king decided to remove Vashti as queen and give her royal position to another. This decision led to the selection of Esther as the new queen, setting the stage for her role in saving the Jewish people from Haman's plot. Vashti's refusal to appear before the king and her subsequent removal from her position is a key event in the early part of the book of Esther.
Family
In Scripture
1 biblical book ; 1 with study contentEsther 5 verses Study available
- Esther 1:9
"Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to King Ahasuerus."
Study Esther → - Esther 1:11
"to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown, to show the people and the princes her beauty; for she was beautiful."
Study Esther → - Esther 1:12
"But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s commandment by the eunuchs. Therefore the king was very angry, and his anger burned in him."
Study Esther → - Esther 1:15
"“What shall we do to the queen Vashti according to law, because she has not done the bidding of the King Ahasuerus by the eunuchs?”"
Study Esther → - Esther 1:16
"Memucan answered before the king and the princes, “Vashti the queen has not done wrong to just the king, but also to all the princes, and to all the people who are in all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus."
Study Esther →
Names & Aliases
| Form | Language | Script | Strong's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Named | Hebrew | וַשְׁתִּי | H2060 |
Vashti
anded the seven chamberlains who served in his presence to bring the queen into the assembly. We are told (Es 1:11) that his purpose was "to show the peoples and the princes her beauty; for she was fair to look on." The king's command was met by Vashti with a mortifying refusal to obey. The reason which is sometimes assigned for her disobedience--that no man but the king was permitted to look upon the queen--is without foundation. Esther invites Haman on two occasions to accompany the king to a banquet at which she was present. Nor can it be said that there was any lack of recognition of Vashti's high dignity; the seven highest officials of the palace were sent to escort her. The refusal had to be visited with a punishment severe enough to reestablish the supremacy which it threatened to overthrow. She was, accordingly, divorced and dethroned.
There is no known reference to Vashti outside of Esther. The suggestion has been made that Vashti was an inferior wife, or one of the royal concubines. There is nothing, however, to support it; and it is, besides, directly opposed to several statements in the narrative. She is always named "queen" (Es 1:9,11,12,15-18). It is only (Es 1:19) when the decree is proposed to repudiate and degrade her that she is called merely "Vashti." She also (Es 1:9) presides at the banquet for the women. It is evident, therefore, that in the palace of the women there was no higher personage than Vashti.
John Urquhart
See WINEVAT.
volt (natsar, "to guard," "protest"): Isaiah's charge against Israel as "a people that .... lodge in the secret places" (<ref osisRef