Esther 1:11

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
to bring Queen Vashti before him with her royal crown. He wanted to show off her beauty to the people and the officials, because she was very beautiful.

Hebrew Names Version
to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty; for she was beautiful to look on.

King James Version
To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on.

English Standard Version
to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at.

New Century Version
He commanded them to bring him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown. She was to come to show her beauty to the people and important men, because she was very beautiful.

New English Translation
to bring Queen Vashti into the king's presence wearing her royal high turban. He wanted to show the people and the officials her beauty, for she was very attractive.

Amplified Bible
to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown (high turban), to display her beauty before the people and the officials, for she was lovely to see.

New American Standard Bible
to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal turban in order to display her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful.

World English Bible
to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty; for she was beautiful to look on.

Geneva Bible (1587)
To bring Queene Vashti before the King with the crowne royall, that he might shewe the people and the princes her beautie: for shee was fayre to looke vpon.

Legacy Standard Bible
to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown in order to display her beauty to the people and the princes, for she was beautiful in appearance.

Berean Standard Bible
to bring Queen Vashti before him, wearing her royal crown, to display her beauty to the people and officials. For she was beautiful to behold.

Contemporary English Version
to bring Queen Vashti to him. The king wanted her to wear her crown and let his people and his officials see how beautiful she was.

Complete Jewish Bible
to bring Queen Vashti before the king with the royal crown, in order to show the people and the officials her beauty, for she was indeed a good-looking woman.

Darby Translation
to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown to shew the peoples and the princes her beauty; for she was of beautiful countenance.

George Lamsa Translation
To bring Vashti the queen be fore the king with the royal crown, to show the people and the princes her beauty; for she was fair to look upon.

Good News Translation
He ordered them to bring in Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown. The queen was a beautiful woman, and the king wanted to show off her beauty to the officials and all his guests.

Lexham English Bible
to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown to show the people and the officials her beauty, for she was very attractive.

Literal Translation
to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown, in order to make known to the people and the princes her beauty. For she was beautiful to look upon.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
to fetch the quene Vasthi with the crowne regall, that he might shewe ye people and prynces hir fairnesse: for she was bewtifull.

American Standard Version
to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty; for she was fair to look on.

Bible in Basic English
That Vashti the queen was to come before him, crowned with her crown, and let the people and the captains see her: for she was very beautiful.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
To fetch the queene Uasthi with the crowne regall into the kinges presence, that he might shewe the people & princes her fairenesse: for she was beautifull.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty; for she was fair to look on.

King James Version (1611)
To bring Uasthi the Queene before the king, with the Crowne royall, to shew the people, and the Princes her beautie: for she was faire to looke on.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
to bring in the queen to him, to enthrone her, and crown her with the diadem, and to shew her to the princes, and her beauty to the nations: for she was beautiful.

English Revised Version
to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the peoples and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
that thei schulden brynge in bifor the kyng the queen Vasti, with a diademe set on hir heed, to schewe hir fairnesse to alle the puplis and prynces; for sche was ful fair.

Update Bible Version
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.

Webster's Bible Translation
To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the people and the princes her beauty: for she [was] fair to look on.

New King James Version
to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown, in order to show her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful to behold.

New Living Translation
to bring Queen Vashti to him with the royal crown on her head. He wanted the nobles and all the other men to gaze on her beauty, for she was a very beautiful woman.

New Life Bible
to bring Queen Vashti to the king with her crown. He wanted to show her beauty to the people and the princes, for she was beautiful.

New Revised Standard
to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing the royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the officials her beauty; for she was fair to behold.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
to bring in Vashti the queen, with the royal crown, - to show the peoples and the rulers her beauty, for, of pleasing appearance, was she.

Douay-Rheims Bible
To bring in queen Vasthi before the king, with the crown set upon her head, to shew her beauty to all the people and the princes: for she was exceeding beautiful.

Revised Standard Version
to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty; for she was fair to behold.

Young's Literal Translation
to bring in Vashti the queen before the king, with a royal crown, to shew the peoples and the heads her beauty, for she [is] of good appearance,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown in order to display her beauty to the people and the princes, for she was beautiful.

Contextual Overview

¹⁰On the seventh day of the party, the king, high on the wine, ordered the seven eunuchs who were his personal servants (Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas) to bring him Queen Vashti resplendent in her royal crown. He wanted to show off her beauty to the guests and officials. She was extremely good-looking. ¹²But Queen Vashti refused to come, refused the summons delivered by the eunuchs. The king lost his temper. Seething with anger over her insolence, the king called in his counselors, all experts in legal matters. It was the king's practice to consult his expert advisors. Those closest to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven highest-ranking princes of Persia and Media, the inner circle with access to the king's ear. He asked them what legal recourse they had against Queen Vashti for not obeying King Xerxes' summons delivered by the eunuchs. ¹⁶Memucan spoke up in the council of the king and princes: "It's not only the king Queen Vashti has insulted, it's all of us, leaders and people alike in every last one of King Xerxes' provinces. The word's going to get out: ‘Did you hear the latest about Queen Vashti? King Xerxes ordered her to be brought before him and she wouldn't do it!' When the women hear it, they'll start treating their husbands with contempt. The day the wives of the Persian and Mede officials get wind of the queen's insolence, they'll be out of control. Is that what we want, a country of angry women who don't know their place? ¹⁹"So, if the king agrees, let him pronounce a royal ruling and have it recorded in the laws of the Persians and Medes so that it cannot be revoked, that Vashti is permanently banned from King Xerxes' presence. And then let the king give her royal position to a woman who knows her place. When the king's ruling becomes public knowledge throughout the kingdom, extensive as it is, every woman, regardless of her social position, will show proper respect to her husband." ²¹The king and the princes liked this. The king did what Memucan proposed. He sent bulletins to every part of the kingdom, to each province in its own script, to each people in their own language: "Every man is master of his own house; whatever he says, goes."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Vashti: Proverbs 16:9, Proverbs 23:29-33, Mark 6:21, Mark 6:22

fair to look on: Heb. good of countenance, 1 Samuel 25:3, 2 Samuel 14:25, Proverbs 31:30

Reciprocal: Ezra 2:1 - the children Esther 2:7 - fair and beautiful Esther 5:1 - royal Luke 7:25 - are in

Cross-References

Genesis 1:9
God spoke: "Separate! Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place; Land, appear!" And there it was. God named the land Earth. He named the pooled water Ocean. God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:14
God spoke: "Lights! Come out! Shine in Heaven's sky! Separate Day from Night. Mark seasons and days and years, Lights in Heaven's sky to give light to Earth." And there it was.

Genesis 1:16
God made two big lights, the larger to take charge of Day, The smaller to be in charge of Night; and he made the stars. God placed them in the heavenly sky to light up Earth And oversee Day and Night, to separate light and dark. God saw that it was good. It was evening, it was morning— Day Four.

Genesis 1:20
God spoke: "Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life! Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!" God created the huge whales, all the swarm of life in the waters, And every kind and species of flying birds. God saw that it was good. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean! Birds, reproduce on Earth!" It was evening, it was morning— Day Five.

Genesis 1:29
Then God said, "I've given you every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth And every kind of fruit-bearing tree, given them to you for food. To all animals and all birds, everything that moves and breathes, I give whatever grows out of the ground for food." And there it was.

Genesis 2:5
At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground— God hadn't yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)— God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!

Genesis 2:16
God commanded the Man, "You can eat from any tree in the garden, except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don't eat from it. The moment you eat from that tree, you're dead."

Matthew 6:30
"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

James 3:12
When You Open Your Mouth Don't be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life. A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can't go on. A spring doesn't gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don't bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don't bear apples, do they? You're not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

To bring Vashti the queen before the king,.... Not against her will, or by force; but they were sent to let her know it was the king's pleasure that she should come to him immediately:

with the crown royal; that is, upon her head, to make her look the more grand and majestic:

to show the people and the princes her beauty; for she was fair to look upon; which was not wisely done, neither was it comely nor safe.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

To bring Vashti the queen - This command, though contrary to Persian customs, is not out of harmony with the character of Xerxes; and is evidently related as something strange and unusual. Otherwise, the queen would not have refused to come.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 11. To bring Vashti the queen — The Targum adds naked.

For she was fair to look on. — Hence she had her name [Persian] Vashti, which signifies beautiful. See Esther 1:9.