Bible Strands
Esther 1:17
For the conduct of the queen will become known to all women, causing them to despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes ordered Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she did not come.’
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Memucan addresses King Xerxes and his assembled princes, warning that Vashti’s refusal to appear will spread throughout the empire.
The words — יֵצֵא (ye.Tze') means “it will go forth,” describing how the queen’s conduct will become widely known. לְהַבְזוֹת (le.hav.Zot) is a causative verb meaning “to make despicable,” indicating the attitude this knowledge will provoke toward husbands.
The thread — The warning about wives dishonoring their husbands parallels the New Testament instruction for wives to respect their husbands (Ephesians 5:33) and recalls the public contempt displayed by Saul’s daughter Michal toward David (2 Samuel 6:16).
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that a single act of public defiance triggers cascading social disorder, requiring immediate royal decree to restore marital authority and imperial stability.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.
Cross-references
- Ephesians 5:33 Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
- 2 Samuel 6:16 As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.