The Meaning of Esther 1:19 Explained

Esther 1:19

KJV: If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.

YLT: If to the king it be good, there goeth forth a royal word from before him, and it is written with the laws of Persia and Media, and doth not pass away, that Vashti doth not come in before the king Ahasuerus, and her royalty doth the king give to her companion who is better than she;

Darby: If it please the king, let a royal order go forth from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it may not pass, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate to another that is better than she;

ASV: If it please the king, let there go forth a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, that Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

If it please  the king,  let there go  a royal  commandment  from him,  and let it be written  among the laws  of the Persians  and the Medes,  that it be not altered,  That Vashti  come  no more before  king  Ahasuerus;  and let the king  give  her royal estate  unto another  that is better  than she. 

What does Esther 1:19 Mean?

Context Summary

Esther 1:1-22 - Vashti's Noble Refusal
The book opens with a royal festival, which lasted for six months, Esther 1:1-9. Perhaps the princes came up from their governments to partake of it in rotation. It finished with a banquet, open to all the people who dwelt in Shushan, great and small. Whenever men are overcome with wine, there is grave peril for women. Coarseness, indelicacy, and impurity troop in at the door, which has been unlocked by the excess of wine. Who can tell the anguish which has been caused to women, children, and the dumb creation through the intemperance of man! Here is given a glimpse of a noble woman, who respected herself too highly to yield to a demand, wholly foreign to the customs of the time, which forbade women to appear in public. Of course the king was incensed, all the more so because he knew that he was in the wrong. He had command over 127 provinces, but he could not rule his own spirit, and the sense of moral weakness is always irritating. He consulted his counselors, who were only too glad to fall in with and humor the royal whims; they counseled that the divorce of Vashti was a public duty, for the repression of wife-insubordination throughout the empire. Men are not always to be trusted when they legislate about women, or in respect to their own dignity. When wine is in them they may be expected to say and do very stupid things. It has been truly said that every Ahasuerus had his Memucan, a man who was sycophant and parasite, who held his influence by humoring caprice and lust. [source]

Chapter Summary: Esther 1

1  Xerxes makes royal feasts
10  Vashti, sent for, refuses to come
13  Xerxes, by the counsel of Memucan, puts away Vashti, and decrees men's sovereignty

What do the individual words in Esther 1:19 mean?

If on the king it pleases let go out decree a royal from him and let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes so that not it will be altered that no more shall come Vashti before king Ahasuerus and her royal position let give the King to another better than she
אִם־ עַל־ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ ט֗וֹב יֵצֵ֤א דְבַר־ מַלְכוּת֙ מִלְּפָנָ֔יו וְיִכָּתֵ֛ב בְּדָתֵ֥י פָֽרַס־ וּמָדַ֖י וְלֹ֣א יַעֲב֑וֹר אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹֽא־ תָב֜וֹא וַשְׁתִּ֗י לִפְנֵי֙ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵר֔וֹשׁ וּמַלְכוּתָהּ֙ יִתֵּ֣ן הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ לִרְעוּתָ֖הּ הַטּוֹבָ֥ה מִמֶּֽנָּה

הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ  the  king 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מֶלֶךְ 
Sense: king.
ט֗וֹב  it  pleases 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: יָטַב  
Sense: to be good, be pleasing, be joyful, be beneficial, be pleasant, be favourable, be happy, be right.
יֵצֵ֤א  let  go  out 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יׄוצֵאת 
Sense: to go out, come out, exit, go forth.
דְבַר־  decree 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: דָּבָר  
Sense: speech, word, speaking, thing.
מַלְכוּת֙  a  royal 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: מַלְכוּת  
Sense: royalty, royal power, reign, kingdom, sovereign power.
מִלְּפָנָ֔יו  from  him 
Parse: Preposition-m, Preposition-l, Noun, common plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
וְיִכָּתֵ֛ב  and  let  it  be  recorded 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Nifal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: כָּתַב  
Sense: to write, record, enrol.
בְּדָתֵ֥י  in  the  laws 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: דָּת  
Sense: decree, law, edict, regulation, usage.
פָֽרַס־  of  the  Persians 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: פָּרַס  
Sense: the empire Persia; encompassed the territory from India on the east to Egypt and Thrace on the west, and included, besides portions of Europe and Africa, the whole of western Asia between the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian and the Jaxartes on the north, the Arabian desert, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean on the south.
וּמָדַ֖י  and  the  Medes 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: מָדַי  
Sense: a people descended from the son of Japheth and who inhabited the territory of Media.
וְלֹ֣א  so  that  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
יַעֲב֑וֹר  it  will  be  altered 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: עָבַר 
Sense: to pass over or by or through, alienate, bring, carry, do away, take, take away, transgress.
אֲשֶׁ֨ר  that 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
לֹֽא־  no  more 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
תָב֜וֹא  shall  come 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
וַשְׁתִּ֗י  Vashti 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: וַשְׁתִּי  
Sense: the queen, wife of Ahasuerus, whom he divorced for disobeying his orders.
לִפְנֵי֙  before 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, common plural construct
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ  king 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מֶלֶךְ 
Sense: king.
אֲחַשְׁוֵר֔וֹשׁ  Ahasuerus 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֲחַשְׁוֵרֹושׁ 
Sense: title of the king of Persia, probably Xerxes.
וּמַלְכוּתָהּ֙  and  her  royal  position 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: מַלְכוּת  
Sense: royalty, royal power, reign, kingdom, sovereign power.
יִתֵּ֣ן  let  give 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ  the  King 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מֶלֶךְ 
Sense: king.
לִרְעוּתָ֖הּ  to  another 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: רְעוּת  
Sense: female companion, mate, neighbour woman.
הַטּוֹבָ֥ה  better 
Parse: Article, Adjective, feminine singular
Root: טָבַב 
Sense: good, pleasant, agreeable.
מִמֶּֽנָּה  than  she 
Parse: Preposition, third person feminine singular
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.