Esther 1:11-12 To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the people and the princes her beauty… "Therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him." Literally, he frothed at the mouth and became as a wild boar. The strength of manhood is in self-control. The Oriental king could not brook that his will should be resisted. It is the very highest attainment of Christian education that a man shall accept the resistance of his will as an element in his culture. No man will seek to force his will; he will reason about it, he will be mighty in argument, tender and gentle in persuasion, and if he cannot win the first day or the second day, he may be successful on the third day. But mere force never won a true victory. Conquer by love and you will reign by consent. Let men feel that your wisdom is greater than theirs, and they will say, "God save the king!" The time is coming when every man will have to prove his kingliness not because of the insignia he keeps in the tower, but because of a wise head, a noble heart, and a hand that never refused its offices to an honest cause. (J. Parker, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on. |
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