World English Bible · The Persian return
Esther 1
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Now in the days of (this is who reigned from India even to , over one hundred twenty-seven provinces), in those days, when the King sat on of , which was in the palace, in the third year of his reign, he made a feast for all his princes and his servants; the army of and , the nobles and princes of the provinces being before him. He displayed the riches of his kingdom and the of his excellent majesty many days, even one hundred eighty days. When these days were fulfilled, the king made a seven day feast for all the people who were present in the palace, both great and small, in the court of the garden of the king's palace. There were hangings of white and blue material, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and marble pillars. The couches were of gold and silver, on a pavement of red, white, yellow, and black marble. They gave them drinks in golden vessels of various kinds, including royal in abundance, according to the bounty of the king. In accordance with , the drinking was not compulsory; for so the king had instructed all the officials of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure. Also the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to King . On the seventh day, when of the king was merry with , he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcass, the seven who in the of the king, to bring the queen before the king wearing the royal , to show the people and the princes her beauty; for she was beautiful. But the queen refused to come at the king's by the . Therefore the king was very angry, and his burned in him. Then the king said to men, who knew the times (for it was the king's custom to consult those who knew law and ; and next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, , Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of and , who saw the king's , and sat first in ), "What shall we do to Queen according to law, because she has not done the bidding of the King by the ?" Memucan answered before the king and the princes, " the queen has not done wrong to the king, but also to all the princes, and to all the people who are in all the provinces of the King . For this deed of the queen will become known to all women, causing them to show contempt for their husbands when it is reported, 'King commanded the queen to be brought in before him, but she didn't come.' Today, the princesses of and who have heard of the queen's deed will tell all the king's princes. This will cause much contempt and . "If it pleases the king, let a royal go from him, and let it be written among the laws of the and the , so that it cannot be altered, that may never again come before King ; and let the king give her royal estate to another who is better than she. When the king's which he shall make is published throughout all (for it is great), all the wives will give their husbands , both great and small." This pleased the king and the princes, and the king did according to the word of Memucan: for he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language, that every man should rule his own house, speaking in the language of his own people.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · The Persian return, 539 BC to 332 BC ›
Persia takes Babylon and reverses its policy, sending exiled peoples home to rebuild their temples. Judah returns as a small province, rebuilding under imperial permission rather than independence.
- Persia
- The largest empire the world had yet seen, from the Indus to the Aegean, run through provinces, a royal road, and a postal system. Its policy on conquered peoples was to send them home and fund their temples, in exchange for loyalty and prayers for the king. The Cyrus Cylinder states the policy in Cyrus's own words, and Ezra opens with the same policy applied to Judah.
- Judah
- A small, poor province called Yehud, a fraction of the old kingdom, with a rebuilt temple that made the people who remembered the first one weep. No king, and no prospect of one. Leadership passes to priests and scribes, which shapes everything afterward.
- Greece
- Persia and Greece collide at Marathon and Salamis, Persia loses, and Athens spends the following decades on the Parthenon, tragedy, and Socrates. Herodotus writes the first history in order to explain that war. Then Plato and Aristotle, whose vocabulary the church will still be using at Nicaea eight centuries later.
- Further afield
- Rome throws out its kings and becomes a republic. In India and China this is the age of the Buddha's early followers and of Confucian teaching taking hold. More of what the world still thinks with was invented in this era than in almost any other.