Esther 1:16–20

Queen Vashti deposed

Then Memucan replied in the presence of the king and the nobles, “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. 17 For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’ 18 This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen’s conduct will respond to all the king’s nobles in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect and discord.

19 “Therefore, if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she. 20 Then when the king’s edict is proclaimed throughout all his vast realm, all the women will respect their husbands, from the least to the greatest!”

Critics have sometimes claimed that the ridiculous behavior of Xerxes in sending a decree all over the empire just because of one action of his wife is evidence of the fictional nature of the book of Esther. But men have certainly done more ridiculous things than this in the aftermath of a drinking party. The picture of Xerxes in this chapter—drunk, defied, and short-tempered—is hardly a flattering one. Yet this portrait of a man rich in power and wealth but poor in judgment and common sense corresponds very well with the picture given by Herodotus. Whether Xerxes was drunk or sober, it is not too hard to imagine that a man who would order the sea whipped because it had offended him would send a letter all over the empire because his wife insulted him in public.