Bible Strands
Esther 1:5
At the end of this time, in the garden court of the royal palace, the king held a seven-day feast for all the people in the citadel of Susa, from the least to the greatest.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The king hosts a seven-day banquet in the palace garden court for every resident of Susa's citadel immediately after a 180-day display of royal wealth.
The words — The Hebrew phrase בִּמְל֣וֹאת הַ/יָּמִ֣ים הָ/אֵ֗לֶּה (bi-melot hayyamim ha'eleh) literally renders "when these days were completed," marking the precise temporal boundary between the private exhibition and the public feast.
The thread — The seven-day structure echoes other biblical feasts that gather the full assembly, as seen in 2 Chronicles 30:21 and 2 Chronicles 7:8, while the garden court reappears in Esther 7:7 as the site of sudden royal action.
Why it lands — The verse documents a sovereign's deliberate extension of a lavish display to every social tier, requiring the reader to note how royal power dictates both the scale and the audience of public celebration.
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
And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace;
Cross-references
- Esther 7:7 In his fury, the king arose from drinking his wine and went to the palace garden, while Haman stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life, for he realized that the king was planning a terrible fate for him.
- 2 Chronicles 30:21 The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and priests praised the LORD day after day, accompanied by loud instruments of praise to the LORD.
- 2 Chronicles 7:8 So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a very great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast for seven days.