WORD STUDY – The Seven Princes of Persia

Esther 1:14 “And the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king’s face, and which sat the first in the kingdom.”

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I have heard the story of Esther many times, I have seen it in various movies, filmstrips (remember Sunday School filmstrips), heard it dramatized on the radio and read many children books and adult books on the story. Never, however, have I heard anyone talk about the Seven Princes of Persia. I never gave it much thought myself until one day I was practicing my Aramaic and reading some ancient Jewish literature where I discovered a bit of historical fact and an interesting lesson on ancient Evangelism and the effects of living a righteous life.

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Historically, there were seven princes or advisors from seven different nations which had been conquered by the Persian empire. History on the Persian Empire can get a little confusing and I will be oversimplifying this for the sake of writer’s cramp. Briefly, Cyrus the Great united the Medes and the Persians as one empire and conquered the Babylonian Empire. We read about this in the Book of Daniel. When Cyrus died his son Cambyses II took the throne and almost immediately he and his half-brother Smerdis took off to Egypt. Now keep in mind that as you read various histories on the Persian Empires this record has passed through various cultures and languages so the names may take on Greek, Latin, Aramaic, Hebrew and my gosh, so many other forms that you have a real problem trying to determine who is who. So if you read this story on your own you may find Smerdis coming under a different name entirely.

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Back to our story, Smerdis returned from Egypt to Persia (now Iran and Iraq) where he was assassinated by the Magi and replaced with an imposter called Smerdis the Pretender and placed on the throne of Persia. The seven powers or princes exposed this scandal and got rid of the imposter and Cambyses immediately returned to power whereupon he died and was replaced by Darius Hystaspis who also died very shortly after that and was replaced by his son Ahasuerus (Xerxes in the Greek) who became the husband to Esther. All this really happened within a few years after Daniel had found himself in the lion’s den.

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It is believed that these are the seven princes who were the advisors to Ahasuerus. Now remember what I said about names. We really are not sure what the real names of these individuals were and in fact they may have gone by many names during their lifetime. However, understanding Semitic literature we know that when stories are retold, the names take on metaphoric meanings. It is sort of like telling the story of the Lincoln and Douglass debates. Rather than say Lincoln and Douglass you would say: “And the Great one addressed the Small Pompous one.” The story remains true, just embellished with colorful metaphors to aid in understanding.

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Why does Scripture feel it necessary to give the names of each prince when only one prince really gives the best advice? It is most likely because these names are metaphoric to give better understanding of the heart of King Ahasuerus.

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You know the story, Queen Vashti committed an act of disobedience. Actually Vashti may not be her real name as it means “the conclusion of my feast or banquet.” In other words, for dessert King Ahasuerus wanted everyone to gaze upon his wife with rather cardinal desires. I mean you have to admit the old boy was really bombed from all that drinking and probably not in his right mind. There is nothing to indicate that Vashti was asked to pose nude, but you have to admit that to just come and stand before a bunch of drunken slobs to get their personal jollies while gawking at her is not exactly a woman’s idea of a gentleman showing her a good time. I mean when Ahasuerus came into his right mind he must have realized what he had done, not only to dishonor his wife but the throne as well. In a sense Queen Vashti’s act really saved the old boy’s gizzard. Still he was stuck with the problem of her disobedience. What do you do? You can’t overlook this disobedience which under Persian rules is a capital crime and yet she disobeyed for the good of the king.

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So King Ahasuerus called in the old advisors, the seven princes for advice. Now remember each name has a special meaning within the Semitic languages. Jewish literature teaches that the first prince or advisor was said to be from Africa and called Carshena which means to condemn as in to condemn to death. He most likely advised King Ahasuerus to execute his wife Vashti for her disobedience. The second advisor is said to be from India called Shethar, which means to bring forth and split in two. I doubt King Ahasuerus could stomach that one. The next advisor believed to be from Idumer was Admatha which means bloodshed. King Ahasuerus quickly rejected that advice. The fourth advisor was Tarshish who is said to be from Egypt. His name means to destroy and humiliate. King Ahasuerus could not do that either. The next was Meres from Resen whose name means to fracture or break, like break every bone in her body. No way with that one. The sixth was Maresena which means to bind up. In other words tie her up and force her to appear before the drunken slobs. Poor King Ahasuerus did not have the heart to do that.

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The final advisor, the last to speak was Memucan which means one who is upright, true and steadfast. He admitted there was a problem in disobedience but to do physical harm to the poor woman was not right. Yet, the king could not show weakness, so he suggested she just be discharged from her duties and office of the queen. It would punish the queen for her disobedience yet reward her by sparing her life for her act of bravery to protect the throne which was honored in the Persian Empire.

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King Ahasuerus was a good man, a man with a tender, loving heart. Such compassion is not disgraceful for a king or great leader. Where did this good man, subject to human faults like anyone else, get such a good heart? I believe from God Jehovah. I believe his heart was tender to God because of the influence of an old, elderly advisor, his father’s advisor – Memucan. For you see the Jewish Targum teach that Memucan’s real name was Daniel.

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There is an old saying that keeps coming back to me – “Sometimes we are the only Jesus that people will ever see.”

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by chaimbentorah.com