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And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan:
Esther 1:21 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB This advice pleased the king and the princes, and the king did according to the word of Memucan:
  • BSB The king and his princes were pleased with this counsel; so the king did as Memucan had advised.
  • NKJV And the reply pleased the king and the princes, and the king did according to the word of Memucan.
  • NASB Now this word pleased the king and the officials, and the king did as Memucan proposed.
  • NLT The king and his nobles thought this made good sense, so he followed Memucan’s counsel.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The king and princes approve Memucan's advice, and the king acts on it. A drunken slight becomes binding imperial policy.

Overview

The ease with which the council adopts this counsel shows a court ruled by pride rather than wisdom. A private offense now becomes empire-wide law. Yet in approving Vashti's removal, the king unwittingly takes the first step in God's plan to set Esther on the throne for such a time as the coming danger requires.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 3

  • Esth 2:4And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.
  • Gen 41:37And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.
  • Esth 1:19If 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, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (8)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Esther videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Esther 1:21YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on EstherMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Though God is never named, his hidden hand preserves the people from whom the Messiah will come — a deliverance 'for such a time as this' that anticipates the open deliverance of Christ.

How Esther 1:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.