Esther 1:8

1:8 There were no restrictions on the drinking, 1  for the king had instructed all of his supervisors 2  that they should do as everyone so desired. 3 

Esther 1:12

1:12 But Queen Vashti refused 4  to come at the king’s bidding 5  conveyed through the eunuchs. Then the king became extremely angry, and his rage consumed 6  him.

1 tn Heb “the drinking was according to law; there was no one compelling.”

2 tn Heb “every chief of his house”; KJV “all the officers of his house”; NLT “his staff.”

3 tn Heb “according to the desire of man and man.”

4 sn Refusal to obey the king was risky even for a queen in the ancient world. It is not clear why Vashti behaved so rashly and put herself in such danger. Apparently she anticipated humiliation of some kind and was unwilling to subject herself to it, in spite of the obvious dangers. There is no justification in the biblical text for an ancient Jewish targumic tradition that the king told her to appear before his guests dressed in nothing but her royal high turban, that is, essentially naked.

5 tn Heb “at the word of the king”; NASB “at the king’s command.”

6 tn Heb “burned in him” (so KJV).