Beverages were served in an array of goblets of gold, each with a different design, and the royal wine flowed freely, according to the king’s bounty.
Parallel translations
- WEB They gave them drinks in golden vessels of various kinds, including royal wine in abundance, according to the bounty of the king.
- KJV And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king.
- NKJV And they served drinks in golden vessels, each vessel being different from the other, with royal wine in abundance, according to the generosity of the king.
- NASB Drinks were served in golden vessels of various kinds, and the royal wine was plentiful in proportion to the king’s bounty.
- NLT Drinks were served in gold goblets of many designs, and there was an abundance of royal wine, reflecting the king’s generosity.
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
Wine flows freely in golden vessels, lavished according to the king's bounty. The scene drips with excess and indulgence.
Overview
The abundance of royal wine continues the theme of unrestrained luxury. Wine soon plays a part in the king's rash decisions, hinting at the danger of indulgence. The narrative quietly contrasts human kings ruled by appetite with the God who rules with wisdom and uses even foolish revelry to advance His saving purposes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Dan 5:2–4Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.
- 2 Chr 9:20All King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, because it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.
- Esth 2:18Then the king held a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his officials and servants. He proclaimed a tax holiday in the provinces and gave gifts worthy of the king’s bounty.
- 1 Kgs 10:21All King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, because it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.
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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 1:7 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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