Bible Strands
Esther 1:2
In those days King Xerxes sat on his royal throne in the citadel of Susa.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator places King Xerxes on his royal throne in the citadel of Susa during the early phase of his rule over 127 provinces. This moment immediately precedes the third-year feast that mobilizes the Persian and Median officials.
The words — כִּסֵּא מַלְכוּתוֹ (ki.Se' mal.khu.T/o) literally means “throne of his royalty,” denoting the institutional seat of Persian sovereignty. The phrase בַּיָּמִים הֵם (ba/i.ya.Mim ha./Hem) functions as a simple temporal anchor, meaning “in those days,” linking the scene to the reign introduced in Esther 1:1.
The thread — The citadel of Susa appears again in Daniel 8:2 as the site of a prophetic vision and in Nehemiah 1:1 as the administrative hub where the Persian monarch dwells. These passages consistently treat Susa as the geographic and political center of the empire that later frames Israel’s story.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to register the established authority and geographic scope of the Persian court before any narrative action begins. It asks for precise attention to location and timing without supplying theological commentary or moral evaluation.
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
That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 1:1 These are the words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,
- 2 Samuel 7:1 After the king had settled into his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him,
- Daniel 8:2 And in the vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa, in the province of Elam. I saw in the vision that I was beside the Ulai Canal.
- 1 Kings 1:46 Moreover, Solomon has taken his seat on the royal throne.
- Esther 2:3 and let the king appoint commissioners in each province of his kingdom to assemble all the beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch in charge of the women, and let them be given beauty treatments.
- Esther 3:15 The couriers left, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion.
- Esther 4:16 “Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!”
- Esther 9:12 who said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Haman’s ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given to you. And what further do you request? It will be fulfilled.”
- Daniel 4:4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and flourishing in my palace.