in those days, when the King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,
Parallel translations
- KJV That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,
- BSB In those days King Xerxes sat on his royal throne in the citadel of Susa.
- NKJV in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the citadel,
- NASB in those days as King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne which was at the citadel in Susa,
- NLT At that time Xerxes ruled his empire from his royal throne at the fortress of Susa.
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
Ahasuerus reigns from his throne in the fortress-capital of Susa (Shushan). The setting establishes the seat of imperial power where the drama unfolds.
Overview
Susa was one of the principal royal cities of the Persian empire, a center of wealth and authority. By placing the action at the throne itself, the narrator signals that great matters of state will turn on events here. Behind the visible splendor of human kingship, the book quietly prepares to display the unseen rule of God, who directs the affairs of kings to protect His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Neh 1:1The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
- 2 Sam 7:1When the king lived in his house, and Yahweh had given him rest from all his enemies all around,
- Dan 8:2I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai.
- 1 Kgs 1:46Also, Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom.
- Esth 3:15The couriers went out in haste by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given out in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Shushan was perplexed.
- Esth 4:16“Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I and my maidens will also fast the same way. Then I will go in to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.”
- Dan 4:4I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace.
- Esth 9:12–15The king said to Esther the queen, “The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in the citadel of Susa, including the ten sons of Haman; what then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your further request? It shall be done.”
- Esth 2:3Let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the beautiful young virgins to the citadel of Susa, to the women’s house, to the custody of Hegai the king’s eunuch, keeper of the women. Let cosmetics be given them;
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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 1:2 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
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