answersLogoWhite

0

Many think it was barbaric of Xerxes to objectify females by demanding his Queen Vashti present herself in all her beauty before his noblemen and valued guests. Whereas, in hopes of being made queen, Esther gladly assented to putting her naked body on display before the king and then further prostituting herself with him, in hopes of becoming his favorite of all the young pretty virgins:

Est 2:4, 17 NLT - 4 After that, the young woman who most pleases the king will be made queen instead of Vashti." This advice was very appealing to the king, so he put the plan into effect. ... 17 And the king loved Esther more than any of the other young women….

Notice now, that one seems to complain about her doing this, nor about Mordecai pandering Esther’s body as a tool to gain political power. Therefore, it doesn’t seem that objectifying Vashti’s body is what really upsets feminists, but rather that there doesn’t appear to be any further personal advantage to Vashti to prance about before the king, since she was already in the highest position available to her. On the other hand, Esther's displaying of her body is undoubtedly acceptable in their eyes, since it was simply a means to a higher end.

User Avatar

NateJWilliams

Lvl 4
9mo ago

What else can I help you with?

Continue Learning about Religious Studies

Who did Vashti marry?

In the Bible her husband is named Ahasuerus. This person is thought to be Xerxes I, Emperor of Persia.


Xerxes was king of?

Xerxes was king of Persia and battled against Sparta and Athens. etc


What does the name vashti mean?

my name is vashti and it's in the bible, king James in the book of ester


Were Xerxes and Nebuchadnezzar related?

Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian king from 605 to 562 BCE) and Xerxes (Persian king from 486 to 465 BCE) were not related. Nebuchadnezzar was a Chaldean and therefore ethnically a Semite. Xerxes was a Mede and therefore ethnically Iranian, or Aryan. Xerxes lived almost a century after the time of Nebuchadnezzar.


Who replaced Queen Vashti when she displeased her husband Xerxes?

Esther. Esther was the heroine and central figure in the Biblical book of Esther. She was crowned about 55 years after the destruction of the First Temple, and fifteen years before the Second Temple was built. The Jews were in the Babylonian exile. A few of them, such as Nehemiah, Mordecai and Daniel, rose to positions of prominence under the Babylonian kings.The last of the Prophets of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) were still living.King Cyrus had recently made his famous proclamation (2 Chronicles 36:22-23) allowing the Jews to resettle Judea (Israel), and some had gone up with Zerubavel, but the enemies of the Jews had then slandered them (Ezra ch.4), causing the Babylonian king to put a stop to the rebuilding and resettlement of Judea. This last event was around the same time that Esther became Queen.When she became orphaned, she was adopted by her cousin Mordecai.Later, when Queen Vashti refused to appear before Ahasuerus (in Esther ch.1), Memuchan, a Persian royal adviser, advised King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) to remove Vashti from being Queen of Persia, and King Ahasuerus agreed to his advice.In Esther Chapter 2, royal eunuchs advised Ahasuerus to look for a new queen. Esther was the best-looking woman, and Ahasuerus picked her to replace Vashti as Queen.Esther and her cousin Mordecai (who had once saved the king's life) later persuaded the king to cancel an order for the extermination of the Jews in his vast realm, which had been plotted by the king's chief minister, Haman. Instead, Haman was hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai, and the Jews were given permission to destroy their enemies. The Jewish festival of Purim celebrates this event.According to tradition, the book of Esther was written in the mid-4th century BCE, and was made part of the canon which was sealed a couple of decades after.Esther was queen for about 11 years.The name of Mordecai is the Judaised pronunciation of Marduka, which is attested in the Persepolis Texts as the name of officials in the Persian court during the period of Xerxes I. One of these officials was the biblical Mordecai.The grave of Mordecai and Esther still stands in Hamadan; and the Jews of Iran, to this day, are referred to as "the children of Esther."For the name of Esther, a number of etymologies are possible.1) Esther comes from the Persian "setareh," meaning "star".2) Esther comes from the Aramaic "istahar," meaning "moon." Beautiful as the moon (Talmud, Megillah 13a).3) Esther comes from the Semitic root ath-tar, "morning star." There is support for this too in the Talmud (Yoma 29a).4) Esther comes from the Median "astra," meaning "myrtle." The book of Esther (2:7) states that she had both names, Esther and Myrtle (Hadassah in Hebrew).See also:Why was Esther chosen as Queen?More about the Hebrew BibleJewish history timeline

Related Questions

Who did Esther replace as queen?

Esther replaced Queen Vashti as queen after Queen Vashti refused to come to the King's banquet.


When did king xerxes remember vashti?

King Xerxes remembered Vashti after he had dismissed her and sought new candidates for a queen. This reflection occurred during a feast, when he was feeling the absence of his former queen and the consequences of his decision. The moment is significant in the Book of Esther, highlighting the contrast between Vashti's refusal to obey the king and Esther's eventual rise to favor.


Who did Vashti marry?

In the Bible her husband is named Ahasuerus. This person is thought to be Xerxes I, Emperor of Persia.


What did Esther do after king Xerxes was assassinated?

No such event is recorded in the Scroll of Esther. It was Queen Vashti, not the king, who was killed by royal decree.


How old was king ahasuerus when he married vashti?

The exact age of King Ahasuerus (commonly identified as Xerxes I) when he married Vashti is not specified in historical texts or the biblical account in the Book of Esther. Historical records suggest that Xerxes I became king around 486 BC and was likely in his mid-30s at that time. However, the details of his marriage to Vashti, including her age and the circumstances, remain largely speculative.


Where is vashti found in The Bible?

The name Vashti appears as the name of the first queen of the Persian king Achashverosh, in the apocryphal book of Esther. The name Vashti came from an Elamite goddess. The king has been identified by some as Xerxes. Some important contemporary women with that name include Vashti McKenzie, the first female Bishop of the AME church, Vashti McCollum, who won a landmark US Supreme Court case in 1948, and folk singer Vashti Bunyan.


What happened in the first chapter of the Book of Esther?

Chapter 1 of the Book of Esther begins by telling us that in the third year of the reign of King Ahasuerus of Persia, he held a feast in his palace. His wife, Queen Vashti made a feast for the women in the royal house. On the seventh day of the feast, the king commanded that Vashti be brought before him to show to the people, but she refused to come. Troubled, Ahasuerus asked his wise men what he should do. They said that unless he divorced Vashti, all the women in the empire would begin to disobey their husbands. The name Ahasuerus is universally believed to be the Hebrew name for King Xerxes, who ruled Persia from 486 to 465 BCE. However, Xerxes' wife at the time was not Vashti, but Amestris. Amestris remained queen well beyond the third year of Xerxes' reign, so there can have been no Queen Vashti nor, it seems, a Queen Esther.


Who was the king who organised a beauty contest to pick a bride?

This story is in the Book of Esther, which says that King Xerxes chose Esther from all the most beautiful virgins in the empire, after he divorced his first wife, Vashti. However, there is no historical record of either Vashti or Esther, and Queen Amestris is accepted by historians as Xerxes' only wife for the first several years of his reign. From a historical perspective, this beauty contest did not really happen.


Who in the Bible defiles and disrespects her royal husband and is replaced by a foreign woman?

In the Book of Esther, Vashti, wife of King Xerxes, showed disrespect to him and was replaced by the beautiful Jew, Esther. Historians say that the wife of Xerxes I was really Amestris and that she was not replaced, so this is not a historical account.


What was Xerxes king of?

Xerxes was the king of ancient Persia.


What happened to Esther after Vashti was reinstated?

After Vashti was reinstated, Esther remained in the royal palace, but her future took a significant turn when King Xerxes chose her as his new queen, replacing Vashti. This decision came after a search for a new queen, during which Esther, who had been raised by her cousin Mordecai, won the king's favor. As queen, Esther later played a crucial role in saving her people, the Jews, from a plot against them orchestrated by Haman.


Was queen vashti killed?

Yes, Vashti was executed for disobeying King Achashverosh.