Character
studies: King Xerxes
I refer to
him as Xerxes, only because the Greek name is easiest to pronounce. The Bible
records his name as Ahasuerus, which is the Anglicized Hebrew name. In Persian,
his name is Khshayarshan and in Hebrew it is Achashverosh, which are even more
unpronounceable.
His wife
Vashti is also known by her Greek name, Amestris. Her name means, “strong
woman.” She was the mother of his children and retained power of some sort as
the queen mother even into the reign of Artaxerxes. The Greek historian,
Herodotus records some particularly gruesome deeds attributed to her; such as
impaling one of her son’s political enemies and burying alive fourteen
noblemen’s children as a sacrifice to her god. The main religion was
Zoroastrianism.
We read of
her only in chapter one of Esther, when she is deposed after embarrassing the
king by refusing to parade in front of his drunken friends during a 180 day
feast. No reason is given for her refusal, but some suggest that the order for
her to appear wearing her royal crown may suggest that was all she was expected
to wear. Others say she thought it inappropriate to degrade herself before drunken
commoners. The timing of it also suggests she had recently given birth. Whatever
her reason, it infuriated the king and since he surrounded himself with yes-men
who stroked his ego, they came up with an edict to depose her and replace her
with someone more worthy. They feared that when the report of her shocking
behaviour was heard by all, then all women would use her example and despise
their husbands. So they go further and encourage him to write a ridiculous,
unchangeable law that “every man should
be master in his own house.” Est. 1:15-22 This is an example of the
difference between what the Bible records as a true event and what the Bible is
actually teaching as a model of behaviour. Remember, this is a pagan king.
There are
several years between chapter one and two, during which he and the Persian
Empire fought a failed military campaign against the Greeks. This added to his
depression. Even though the king now regretted his actions in deposing Vashti,
his own unchangeable law now tied his hands, so his yes-men suggested they find
him a new wife as Plan B.
He is a
proud man and Haman seems to know how to use this to his advantage. Haman’s
vague comments about an enemy the king didn’t even know about, caused him to
agree to hand over authority to Haman to “destroy” the Jews. He doesn’t ask
Haman to be more specific. He then feigns innocence and lack of culpability
when Esther reminds him of the law he agreed to and even celebrated. (Est. 3:11,15,
7:5)
He is not a
good judge of character as evidenced by his promotion of Haman and his
relinquishing of authority to him. He has a mercurial temper, and is easily
influenced because of his pride. He makes his decisions under the influence of
alcohol. He could control 127 provinces, but not his own nature when intoxicated.
He could command millions of people, but could not command one hour of sleep to
come to him. The providence of God rules over the smallest concerns. Not a
sparrow falls to the ground without His notice. The king couldn’t sleep when
God had a plan to serve. God gives the gift of sleep. The king wasn’t ill, but
God withheld sleep from him.
By allowing
the second edict, he was virtually encouraging civil war. See how one poor
decision leads to great consequences. Yet if their enemies had not attempted to
destroy the Jews on that day, they themselves would not have suffered. The Jews
acted together to fight against their enemies. We also need to be united with
other believers against the enemy of our souls.
If Xerxes has
any redeeming qualities, he did seem to really love Esther, and was very
generous to her and protective of her. He also promoted Mordecai for her sake,
and did his best to see justice done in the end.
King Xerxes
was assassinated six years after the events of this book, killed in his bed by
the head of his royal bodyguard. After that, Vashti’s other sons vied for
power. Her son, Artaxerxes became the next king. We read about him in the books
of Ezra and Nehemiah. We don’t know what happened to Esther after that.
