The Meaning of Esther 1:6 Explained

Esther 1:6

KJV: Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble.

YLT: white linen, white cotton, and blue, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple on rings of silver, and pillars of marble, couches of gold, and of silver, on a pavement of smaragdus, and white marble, and mother-of-pearl, and black marble --

Darby: White, green, and blue hangings were fastened with cords of byssus and purple to silver rings and pillars of white marble; couches of gold and silver lay upon a pavement of red and white marble, and alabaster, and black marble.

ASV: There were hangings of white cloth , of green, and of blue, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the couches were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and white, and yellow, and black marble.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

[Where were] white,  green,  and blue,  [hangings], fastened  with cords  of fine linen  and purple  to silver  rings  and pillars  of marble:  the beds  [were of] gold  and silver,  upon a pavement  of red,  and blue,  and white,  and black,  marble. 

What does Esther 1:6 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 1:6 mean?

[There were] white linen and blue linen [curtains] fastened with cords of fine linen and purple on rods silver and pillars marble [and the] couches [were] of gold and silver on a [mosaic] pavement of alabaster and turquoise and white and black marble
ח֣וּר ׀ כַּרְפַּ֣ס וּתְכֵ֗לֶת אָחוּז֙ בְּחַבְלֵי־ ב֣וּץ וְאַרְגָּמָ֔ן עַל־ גְּלִ֥ילֵי כֶ֖סֶף וְעַמּ֣וּדֵי שֵׁ֑שׁ מִטּ֣וֹת ׀ זָהָ֣ב וָכֶ֗סֶף עַ֛ל רִֽצְפַ֥ת בַּהַט־ וָשֵׁ֖שׁ וְדַ֥ר וְסֹחָֽרֶת

ח֣וּר ׀  [There  were]  white 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: חוּר  
Sense: white cloth, white stuff.
כַּרְפַּ֣ס  linen 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: כַּרְפַּס  
Sense: cotton or fine linen.
וּתְכֵ֗לֶת  and  blue  linen  [curtains] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular
Root: תְּכֵלֶת  
Sense: violet, violet stuff.
אָחוּז֙  fastened 
Parse: Verb, Qal, QalPassParticiple, masculine singular
Root: אָחוּז 
Sense: grasp, take hold, seize, take possession.
בְּחַבְלֵי־  with  cords 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: חֶבֶל 
Sense: a cord, rope, territory, band, company.
ב֣וּץ  of  fine  linen 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בּוּץ  
Sense: byssus, a costly, fine white linen cloth made in Egypt.
וְאַרְגָּמָ֔ן  and  purple 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אַרְגָּמָן  
Sense: purple, red-purple.
גְּלִ֥ילֵי  rods 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: גָּלִיל  
Sense: turning, folding (of doors).
כֶ֖סֶף  silver 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: כֶּסֶף  
Sense: silver, money.
וְעַמּ֣וּדֵי  and  pillars 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: עַמּוּד  
Sense: pillar, column.
שֵׁ֑שׁ  marble 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֵׁשׁ 
Sense: something bleached white, byssus, linen, fine linen.
מִטּ֣וֹת ׀  [and  the]  couches 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: מִטָּה  
Sense: couch, bed, bier.
זָהָ֣ב  [were]  of  gold 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: זָהָב  
Sense: gold.
וָכֶ֗סֶף  and  silver 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: כֶּסֶף  
Sense: silver, money.
רִֽצְפַ֥ת  a  [mosaic]  pavement 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: רִצְפָּה 
Sense: pavement.
בַּהַט־  of  alabaster 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בַּהַט  
Sense: a costly stone (perhaps porphyry), red marble.
וָשֵׁ֖שׁ  and  turquoise 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֵׁשׁ 
Sense: something bleached white, byssus, linen, fine linen.
וְדַ֥ר  and  white 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: דַּר  
Sense: pearl, mother of pearl.
וְסֹחָֽרֶת  and  black  marble 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular
Root: סׄחֶרֶת  
Sense: a stone used in paving (with marble).