not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that are in all the provinces of the king Aha

suerus.

17 For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.

18 Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath.

19 "If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered,

13.

That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate "unto another that is better than she.

20 And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.

21 And the saying "pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan:

22 For he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house, and that it should be published according to the language of every people.

11 Heb. If it be good with the king. 18 Heb. from before him. 13 Heb. that it pass not away. 14 Heb. unto her companion. 15 Heb. was good in the eyes of the king. 16 Heb. that one should publish it according to the language of his people."

ESTHER.-This book takes its name from that of the person who is the leading character in the history it relates. The Jews call it Megillah Esther, or 'The Volume of Esther,' and sometimes The Volume' simply, by way of eminence; for by them this book is held in peculiar veneration. They place it on the same level with the law of Moses, affirming that when all other Scripture shall cease, the book of Esther shall be as stable as the Pentateuch, which shall never cease, or be destroyed, or lost. There is a statement which has become popular, in consequence of its being found in so common a book as Baxter's 'Saints' Everlasting Rest'-that the Jews treat this book with peculiar disrespect, and cast it to the ground before they read it, because the name of God does not once occur in it. But this statement is by no means correct. In consequence of this remarkable omission of the Divine name, however, some of the fathers doubted its authenticity: but there really seems scarcely any historical book the authenticity of which is less open to question. Independently of the peculiar honour in which the Jews have always held it, the institution and continued observance of the feast of Purim affords the strongest possible evidence for the reality of the history here recorded. The author and precise date of the book are unknown. Some attribute it to Ezra, others to Nehemiah, others to Mordecai, and some to Mordecai and Esther jointly. There are some who conceive it composed by the men of the great synagogue which is said to have been established by Ezra. We concur with Horne, that the most probable opinion is, that the whole, with some explanations and adaptations, was extracted from the Persian annals, probably by Ezra, Nehemiah, or Mordecai. This would account for many peculiarities of the book, such as the omission of the Divine name, when such opportunity was offered for the recognition of God's providence-for the Jews being spoken of in the third person-for Esther being so continually distinguished as "the queen," and Mordecai as "the Jew;" and for the numerous parenthetical explanations which appear to have been considered necessary for a Jewish reader. This also explains how so many particulars are introduced concerning the court and empire of the Persian king, and how it happens that there is nothing strictly peculiar to the Jews, except the genealogy of Mordecai, which may have been added. There seems, moreover, to be, in chap. x. 2, a distinct reference to the source of information, "the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia." The history, strictly speaking, extends from the third to the twelfth year of Artaxerxes (chap. i. 3, and iii. 7), but the institution of the feast of Purim, as mentioned in chap. ix., with the particulars in chap. x., were of course posterior to the historical statement. Therefore the estimate of the time which the book embraces varies in different authors from ten or eleven to eighteen or twenty years.

Verse 5." The court of the garden of the king's palace."-The details concerning the palace, here and elsewhere, would, if adequately explained, tend greatly to illustrate the several texts which refer to them. On considering the best mode of obtaining such explanation, the preferable course seems to be, to refer to the remains of the only existing Persian palace that belongs to this remotely ancient period. We accordingly give a ground-plan of the remains of the royal palace at Persepolis, now called the Tackt-e-Jemsheed, or "throne of Jemsheed." As the site is not Scriptural, we shall not enter into any discussions concerning these wonderful ruins, or give any other description than is necessary for the immediate purpose we have in view.

These ruins appear upon an extensive artificial terrace or platform at the base of a mountain, and having before it, westward, a great plain. This platform is faced with enormous blocks of smoothed stone, and appears to have been, in different parts, from thirty to fifty feet above the level of the plain. The western face of this platform is more than a quarter of a mile (1425 feet) in length, and its depth eastward is more than 900 feet. The ascent is only from the west, by a magnificent staircase formed by two double flights of steps. On ascending these, the most extensive level of the plain is gained; for there are three levels or terraces, one higher and another lower than this. So much of this average level as our cut comprehends is marked by the letter a; the lowest terrace is », the highest c. As the properly palatial remains are upon this last high terrace, we shall confine our brief notice to it, merely suggesting the obvious probability, that the terrace A was the palace garden, with various buildings dispersed in it. The ascent to the platform c from that of A is by four flights of steps (a)-two corresponding ones near the opposite extremities, and two others towards the middle. The front is covered with interesting and multifarious sculptures, which have furnished many valuable illustrations to the present work. Ascending the steps, the spectator arrives at the most striking part of the ruins (6), consisting of a number of lofty and beautiful pillars of a peculiar order. Of the whole number, fifteen only remain entire, 449

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but these, with the pedestals of many others, sufficiently point out the arrangement which the ground-plan exhibits This is the Chehel Minar, or "Palace of Forty Columns," as it is improperly called. That they formed no part of an inhabited building must be quite certain, but rather a vast and magnificent hall, for the display of "the great king's" state, and "the riches of his glorious kingdom" on occasions of high ceremony or regal festival-such as the present chapter records. In fact we conceive it to answer to "the court (hall or vestibule) of the garden of the king's palace," in which Artaxerxes made his great feast. Some of the best travellers doubt that this hall even could have had a roof. The distance of the pillars from each other, and many other circumstances, sanction this conclusion. Neither does it appear that it had any walls; and, therefore, when in use it was probably covered with an awning, and more or less enclosed with curtains, doubtless of great magnificence. Thus it would form a sort of tent, the grandest that imagination can well conceive. Now, let us see how this idea illustrates the text: "The king made a feast...in the court of the garden of the king's palace; where were white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple, to silver rings and pillars of marble...upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black marble." Here we see that the entertainment was not in the palace itself, nor in any building, but in the court of the palace garden. And yet it was not in a temporary erection for the occasion, for there was a marble pavement, and marble pillars, which pillars were for the support of rich hangings, under which term an awning is probably included. All these circumstances are applicable to the Chehel Minar, and we think that the comparison does, on the one hand, well illustrate the use of this remarkable hall, while, on the other, that the hall furnishes a most authentic and striking illustration of the present text.

It is to be observed that, although we have spoken generally of the platform c as one, yet, in fact, different masses of building thereon, stand on distinct terraces, not of uniform height. Avoiding minute details, we only observe that the lowest is that on which is the hall of columns (6), and the highest the mass of buildings at the opposite extremity, at g. This last building, forming of itself a great mansion, is generally supposed to have been the residence of the mo narch: this conclusion being favoured by the arrangement of its parts and the character of the sculptures, which also would denote that the large central hall was the scene of his private banquets and audiences. This then we may understand to have answered to "the king's house" (chap. v. 1). We see that it is quite a distinct building, with two opposite flights of steps, one (e) leading from the great general platform, and the other (f) from the inner court of the mass of building at d. This last is also a distinct and, though very large, smaller building than the "king's house." Heeren thinks it answers to "the queen's house." or "house of the women." that is, the harem, which is mentioned in this book, and which forms an essential and important part of every Oriental palace. On this point there can be nothing but a bare conjecture, and its probability in this instance arises from its appearing that this building is the only part besides that considered as the king's house, which appears to have been suited to domestic habitation. At c, and occu pying great part of the space between that which we call the king's house and the great hall of columns, is an immense mound which doubtless is composed of the ruins of an important part of this imperial seat. Sir R. K. Porter thinks that it formed a division of the palace answering to that more to the south at g, but probably still more magnificent, as being nearer to the grand hall or colonnade of Chehel Minar. He thinks, indeed, that this was probably the grand banquetinghall, and perhaps the same that was fired by Alexander the Great. This idea does not interfere with our previous

conclusions concerning the Chehel Minar and its possible uses. For while that may have been employed for occasions of the grandest description, as that which the text records, the second would still have been required for the ordinary business of state, and the celebration of the more common festivals, while the mansion at g tormed the peculiar and proper residence of the great king.

The transactions of the present book took place at Susa, not Persepolis; yet we may conceive that, in the great palaces, there was such an analogy in the distribution and adaptation of the parts as to enable us to obtain illustrative ideas from the view of these remarkable ruins, which, from their high antiquity, furnish the most authentic, if not the clearest, information which can now be obtained. We may indeed rely the more safely on this analogy, from considering that the principle of arrangement here exhibited is that which still, more or less, prevails in the moderu palaces of Persia. They consist generally of a number of distinct buildings, at least two, situated in adjoining courts or gardens; and while the king's proper residence is in the innermost building (the harem), he appears at stated times (almost daily) in the great hall of the outer mansion, where he receives the homage of the princes and nobles of his empire, and transacts whatever public business requires his attention. As having a proper connection with this statement, we have here introduced a cut representing the exterior building of one of the modern royal palaces of Persia, at Ispahan.

6. "Hangings."--The great palace halls, mentioned in the preceding note, are usually open towards the garden in front; and when closed in summer, it is not by doors, but by rich curtains or hangings, which are considered preferable to doors, as they admit the air while they exclude the sun. But a different explanation has been given in the preceding note, which would suggest that it was a sort of tent-palace, supported on pillars. Such are still used in Persia, on great festivals, and also in India. Accordingly, the description here given appeared to Mr. Forbes to suggest an analogy to the shahmyanah, or large canopy, spread on lofty pillars in the gardens and courts of the Mogul princes, and attached by cords of various colours. Some of these awnings belonging to the Indian emperors were very costly, and distinguished by various names; the most so was that called the bargab, mentioned in the Ayeen Akbery,' belonging to the emperor Akber; which was of such magnitude as to contain ten thousand persons; and the erecting of it employed one thousand men for a week, with the help of machines. One of these shahmyanahs, without any ornament cost ten thousand rupees. (Oriental Memoirs,' vol. iii. p. 191.)

6

8. "Nune did compel."-This was an excellent law, which reminds one of the proclamation made by the crier at the most magnificent marriage feast given by Tamerlane in the plain of Ganigul:-"This is the time for feasting and rejoicing, let no one encroach on another, or ask, Why have you done this?" (Ranking's Historical Researches,' p. 163.) The Athenians had just the contrary practice, obliging a person either to drink his portion, or leave the company, according to the old law, H ii, n axil-aut bibe, aut abi, "Drink, or away."

9. "The queen made a feast."-This is perfectly in accordance with existing Oriental usages, which oblige women to feast separately from the men, even on the same occasions of rejoicing. Vashti's feast is pointedly said to be in the palace, as if to mark the separation more distinctly; the king's entertainment being in "the court of the garden."

12. "Vashti refused to come."-It is carefully noted that the king was drunk, to account for his making such an order. That Vashti refused to comply with it is natural, for, according to Oriental notions, a woman of reputation would consider it an ignominy worse than death to appear thus before a society of men with her face uncovered. None but courtezans do, or ever did, appear at the entertainments of men in Persia.

14. The seven princes."-When Darius Hystaspes succeeded to the Persian throne, his coadjutors in the destruction of Smerdis, the usurping Magian, according to previous agreement, received the most distinguished honours. They had the right of entering the palace at any time without being announced; of wearing their caps in a peculiar fashion. which distinguished them from all other Persians; and in all public affairs they were first to deliver their opinion. 451

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Hence, under the kings of this race, we find seven princes, who are several times mentioned in Scripture, thus distinguished, and by whose advice the principal affairs of the empire appear to have been transacted. The cut which we give, after a sculpture at Nakshi Roustam, near Persepolis, exhibits a king in apparent conference with seven men, one queenly-looking lady also being present. One might almost suspect that we saw Artaxerxes. Vashti (or else Esther), and the seven counsellors. But the sculpture certainly belongs to a considerably later period; and the cut can only therefore be offered as a pictorial analogy-curious, considering the source from which it is derived.

1 Heb. unto the hand. Or, Hegai, verse 8. 32 Kings 24. 15. 2 Chron. 36. 10.
Heb. fair of form and good of countenance. Heb, her portions.

10 Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it.

11 And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.

12 ¶ Now when every maid's turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women ;)

13 Then thus came every maiden unto the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king's house.

14 In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name.

15 Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her.

16 So Esther was taken unto king Aha8 Heb. to know the peace. Or, kindness. 10 Heb. before him.

suerus into his house royal in the tenth month, wnich is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

17 And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and 'favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

IS Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he made a "release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king.

19 And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the kings gate.

20 Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.

21 In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, "Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.

22 And the thing was known to Mordecat who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai's name.

23 And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.

11 Heb. rest. 12 Or, Bigthana, chap. 6. 2. 13 Heb the threshold.

Verse 3. "Keeper of the women."-This officer answers probably to the daroga, or chief eunuch, of the modern Persian harem. He is generally an aged and disagreeable person, whose office is one of high trust and responsibility, with commensurate authority over the women under his supervision. To them, he is (next to the king) the most important person in the world, as their comfort quite depends upon his favour, to win which is a high object of ambition among them.

17. "Made her queen."-It seems throughout this book that the Persian kings had but one queen, properly so called. But it appears, from profane history and from intimations in this chapter, that there were a considerable number of secondary wives ("concubines" of our version) and other females who had not reached this distinction. The principle on which the female establishments of the Persian kings have been formed and conducted seem to have undergone little change from the most ancient times; and therefore the modern establishment may furnish satisfactory illustrations of the ancient, and consequently may explain some passages of the present book, in which there are continual allusions to the condition of such establishments.

The female establishment of the king occupies an extensive interior building, or collection of buildings, called the harem (or sacred place), which is as secluded as a nunnery from the observation of the world. These interior palaces sometimes display considerable magnificence, but generally want such large and splendid halls as those which the exterior and public buildings exhibit. The finest apartments of the harem are those more especially appropriated to the king's use; for here, properly speaking, is his private residence, where he sleeps and spends much of his time. He is the only male (except children) ever seen there, the other inmates being exclusively women and eunuchs. The harem is divided into several quarters, each having its governor, under the orders of the daroga, already mentioned. In this establishment exist the same officers, guards, and functionaries as in the public court; but they are all occupied and discharged by females. It is an Amazonian city in miniature. In the present chapter we find three classes of women: 1, the queen; 2, the secondary wives ("concubines" in our version), who, after having engaged the notice of the king, occupied a part of the harem different from that in which they had previously lived; 3; the women not thus distinguished, and therefore, for the time, of an inferior class. With some necessary differences, similar distinctions continue to prevail. The principal difference is, that the king has several legal wives, besides those of a secondary class. The accommodation and attendance of the women varies according to their rank-from the distinguished wife, with her separate apartment and many slaves, down, through various degrees, to the slaves who minister to the wants and