以斯帖記2:8-15

  

2:8 王的諭旨傳出，就招聚許多女子到書珊城，交給掌管女子的希該；以斯帖也送入王宮，交付希該。
2:9 希該喜悅以斯帖，就恩待她，急忙給她需用的香品和她所當得的分，又派所當得的七個宮女服事她，使她和她的宮女搬入女院上好的房屋。
2:10 以斯帖未曾將籍貫宗族告訴人，因為末底改囑咐她不可叫人知道。
2:11 末底改天天在女院前邊行走，要知道以斯帖平安不平安，並後事如何。
2:12 眾女子照例先潔淨身體十二個月：六個月用沒藥油，六個月用香料和潔身之物。滿了日期，然後挨次進去見亞哈隨魯王。
2:13 女子進去見王是這樣：從女院到王宮的時候，凡她所要的都必給她。
2:14 晚上進去，次日回到女子第二院，交給掌管妃嬪的太監沙甲；除非王喜愛她，再提名召她，就不再進去見王。
2:15 末底改叔叔亞比孩的女兒，就是末底改收為自己女兒的以斯帖，按次序當進去見王的時候，除了掌管女子的太監希該所派定給她的，她別無所求。凡看見以斯帖的都喜悅她。

 

⁸ When the king’s order and edict had been proclaimed, many young women were brought to the citadel of Susa and put under the care of Hegai. Esther also was taken to the king’s palace and entrusted to Hegai, who had charge of the harem. ⁹ She pleased him and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to her seven female attendants selected from the king’s palace and moved her and her attendants into the best place in the harem.

¹⁰ Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so. ¹¹ Every day he walked back and forth near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her.

¹² Before a young woman’s turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics. ¹³ And this is how she would go to the king: Anything she wanted was given her to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. ¹⁴ In the evening she would go there and in the morning return to another part of the harem to the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he was pleased with her and summoned her by name.

¹⁵ When the turn came for Esther (the young woman Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested. And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her.

 

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    這段經文是敘述以斯帖當皇后的準備。雖然很繁瑣，但我們看見上帝使她蒙選皇后任務的大臣希該的喜愛，使其成為王后之路順暢！

以斯帖記2:5-7

  

2:5 書珊城有一個猶大人，名叫末底改，是便雅憫人基士的曾孫，示每的孫子，睚珥的兒子。
2:6 從前巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒將猶大王耶哥尼雅（又名約雅斤）和百姓從耶路撒冷擄去，末底改也在其內。
2:7 末底改撫養他叔叔的女兒哈大沙（後名以斯帖），因為她沒有父母。這女子又容貌俊美；她父母死了，末底改就收她為自己的女兒。

 

⁵ Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, ⁶ who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin^[a] king of Judah. ⁷ Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This young woman, who was also known as Esther, had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died.

 

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    從這段經文我們可以認識：末底改與以斯帖的身分背景，末底改是以斯帖的堂哥，被擄的猶太人。

    ”末底改”的字意為： "微小的人" 或 "戰神的崇拜者"，這個名字是由巴比倫神「馬爾杜克」衍生來的。

    “ 哈大沙 ”：希伯來文字義是「番石榴樹」。

    “ 以斯帖 “：波斯名字，意義是「星星」，與希伯來文「哈大沙」發音接近。

    

以斯帖記2:1-4

 

2:1 這事以後，亞哈隨魯王的忿怒止息，就想念瓦實提和她所行的，並怎樣降旨辦她。
2:2 於是王的侍臣對王說：「不如為王尋找美貌的處女。
2:3 王可以派官在國中的各省招聚美貌的處女到書珊城（或譯：宮）的女院，交給掌管女子的太監希該，給她們當用的香品。
2:4 王所喜愛的女子可以立為王后，代替瓦實提。」王以這事為美，就如此行。

 

Later when King Xerxes’ fury had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her. ² Then the king’s personal attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. ³ Let the king appoint commissioners in every province of his realm to bring all these beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let beauty treatments be given to them. ⁴ Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it.

 

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    廢掉王后之後，日子也一天天過去，亞哈隨魯王的忿怒止息，心裡開始後悔自己竟然聽大臣的話，開始想念起王后瓦實提和她所行的，但一切為時已晚了，是無法回頭了！

    不過國王的侍臣也十分靈巧，知道國王的狀態，就建議：「不如為王尋找美貌的處女。王可以派官在國中的各省招聚美貌的處女到書珊城（或譯：宮）的女院，交給掌管女子的太監希該，給她們當用的香品。王所喜愛的女子可以立為王后，代替瓦實提。」

    這樣的說法就切中國王的心意，正如經文所說：「王以這事為美，就如此行。」

    也因為這樣微不足道的小事，就開始展現上帝掌管萬事的起頭，成就後來的美事！所以，我們不要輕忽任何的小事，凡事都可以求問上帝，好知道上帝所給我們的使命是甚麼？好發揮我們生命的價值！

 

以斯帖記1:13-22

  

1:13 那時，在王左右常見王面、國中坐高位的，有波斯和米底亞的七個大臣，就是甲示拿、示達、押瑪他、他施斯、米力、瑪西拿、米母干，都是達時務的明哲人。按王的常規，辦事必先詢問知例明法的人。王問他們說：

1:14 【併於上節】

1:15 「王后瓦實提不遵太監所傳的王命，照例應當怎樣辦理呢？」

1:16 米母干在王和眾首領面前回答說：「王后瓦實提這事，不但得罪王，並且有害於王各省的臣民；

1:17 因為王后這事必傳到眾婦人的耳中，說：『亞哈隨魯王吩咐王后瓦實提到王面前，她卻不來』，她們就藐視自己的丈夫。

1:18 今日波斯和米底亞的眾夫人聽見王后這事，必向王的大臣照樣行；從此必大開藐視和忿怒之端。

1:19 王若以為美，就降旨寫在波斯和米底亞人的例中，永不更改，不准瓦實提再到王面前，將她王后的位分賜給比她還好的人。

1:20 所降的旨意傳遍通國（國度本來廣大），所有的婦人，無論丈夫貴賤都必尊敬他。」

1:21 王和眾首領都以米母干的話為美，王就照這話去行，

1:22 發詔書，用各省的文字、各族的方言通知各省，使為丈夫的在家中作主，各說本地的方言。

 

¹³ Since it was customary for the king to consult experts in matters of law and justice, he spoke with the wise men who understood the times ¹⁴ and were closest to the king—Karshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memukan, the seven nobles of Persia and Media who had special access to the king and were highest in the kingdom.

¹⁵ “According to law, what must be done to Queen Vashti?” he asked. “She has not obeyed the command of King Xerxes that the eunuchs have taken to her.”

¹⁶ Then Memukan replied in the presence of the king and the nobles, “Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes. ¹⁷ For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’ ¹⁸ This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen’s conduct will respond to all the king’s nobles in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect and discord.

¹⁹ “Therefore, if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she. ²⁰ Then when the king’s edict is proclaimed throughout all his vast realm, all the women will respect their husbands, from the least to the greatest.”

²¹ The king and his nobles were pleased with this advice, so the king did as Memukan proposed. ²² He sent dispatches to all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, proclaiming that every man should be ruler over his own household, using his native tongue.

 

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    看到這段記載，讓人覺得十分荒謬與可笑，丈夫在家中的地位不是自己來維持，而是一群酒醉的君臣來制定法律保護！真是讓人覺得這是男人的恥辱，讓男性讀者流著冷汗不止！心想哪時候男人變得如此軟弱了？

    雖然是荒謬，卻是要成就上帝大事的開始！要不是國王將王后廢了，怎麼可能輪到以斯帖當皇后呢？

    其實翻開歷史，有很多重大事件的發生，常常是人料想不到，甚至是很「奇葩」的事件！正如第一次世界大戰的起源，只是從奧匈帝國五十歲皇儲斐迪南大公（ArchdukeFranz Ferdinand）和他的四十歲有孕在身的妻子蘇菲（Suphie，已生三個孩子），在波斯尼亞首都塞拉耶佛（Sarajevo）遭一個十九歲的波斯尼亞塞爾維亞族激進學生普林西普（Gavrilo Princip）開槍打死。奧匈帝國於一九一四年七月二十八日向塞爾維亞宣戰，點燃了一戰戰火。

    剛開始並沒有德、英、法、俄四個強國之間的戰爭，這兩個國家打起來，整個歐洲就陷入混戰之狀況。就像酒吧有兩個人打架，演變成全部在場的人打群架一樣荒謬！

    人生的事件有時也是如此，怪不得有人說：「人在江湖，身不由己！」

    但不管如何，現實的狀況如此混亂，基督徒需要求上帝讓我們有清醒的心，清楚上帝要我們完成的使命是什麼？正如在亂世中的末底改和以斯帖，在上帝的引導下，成就拯救猶大全族不致被惡人滅除。

 

 

以斯帖記1:10-12

  

1:10 第七日，亞哈隨魯王飲酒，心中快樂，就吩咐在他面前侍立的七個太監米戶幔、比斯他、哈波拿、比革他、亞拔他、西達、甲迦，

1:11 請王后瓦實提頭戴王后的冠冕到王面前，使各等臣民看她的美貌，因為她容貌甚美。

1:12 王后瓦實提卻不肯遵太監所傳的王命而來，所以王甚發怒，心如火燒。

 

¹⁰ On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Karkas— ¹¹ to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. ¹² But when the attendants delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.

 

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    這位偉大的王雖然征服了大半個世界，卻無法征服自己的妻子，展現每一個男人的尷尬！這件事是怎樣的事情呢？

    國王不只要展現自己的豐功偉績，更要像展現他擁有最美麗漂亮的女人，於是如經文所說：「請王后瓦實提頭戴王后的冠冕到王面前，使各等臣民看她的美貌，因為她容貌甚美。」

    然而當國王請太監去召皇后來的時候，既然遭皇后的拒絕，真是澆了一大盆冷水，讓他大失所望！也因為如此，「所以王甚發怒，心如火燒。」

    這也感受到王雖然是征服世界者，卻無法勝過自己的情緒，展現他仍然有人的軟弱與無能！

 

以斯帖記1:1-9

 1:1 亞哈隨魯作王，從印度直到古實，統管一百二十七省。

1:2 亞哈隨魯王在書珊城的宮登基；

1:3 在位第三年，為他一切首領臣僕設擺筵席，有波斯和米底亞的權貴，就是各省的貴冑與首領，在他面前。

1:4 他把他榮耀之國的豐富和他美好威嚴的尊貴給他們看了許多日，就是一百八十日。

1:5 這日子滿了，又為所有住書珊城的大小人民在御園的院子裡設擺筵席七日。

1:6 有白色、綠色、藍色的帳子，用細麻繩、紫色繩從銀環內繫在白玉石柱上；有金銀的床榻擺在紅、白、黃、黑玉石的鋪石地上。

1:7 用金器皿賜酒，器皿各有不同。御酒甚多，足顯王的厚意。

1:8 喝酒有例，不准勉強人，因王吩咐宮裡的一切臣宰，讓人各隨己意。

1:9 王后瓦實提在亞哈隨魯王的宮內也為婦女設擺筵席。

 

This is what happened during the time of Xerxes,^[a] the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush^[b]: ² At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, ³ and in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia and Media, the princes, and the nobles of the provinces were present.

⁴ For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. ⁵ When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king’s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were in the citadel of Susa. ⁶ The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones. ⁷ Wine was served in goblets of gold, each one different from the other, and the royal wine was abundant, in keeping with the king’s liberality. ⁸ By the king’s command each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, for the king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each man what he wished.

⁹ Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.

 

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    亞哈隨魯—意即大王，乃波斯王亞達薛西，他的作為是：「從印度直到古實，統管一百二十七省。」

    他為了自己的豐功偉業王，在書珊城的宮登基後三年，為他一切首領臣僕設擺筵席，有波斯和米底亞的權貴，就是各省的貴冑與首領，在他面前。他把他榮耀之國的豐富和他美好威嚴的尊貴給他們看了許多日，就是一百八十日。這日子滿了，又為所有住書珊城的大小人民在御園的院子裡設擺筵席七日。

    不僅這樣，還展示自己的財富：「有白色、綠色、藍色的帳子，用細麻繩、紫色繩從銀環內繫在白玉石柱上；有金銀的床榻擺在紅、白、黃、黑玉石的鋪石地上。用金器皿賜酒，器皿各有不同。御酒甚多，足顯王的厚意。喝酒有例，不准勉強人，因王吩咐宮裡的一切臣宰，讓人各隨己意。」

   所以這個宴會是在展現自己的大能大力，是極其驕傲的表顯！他如此做，皇后也不示弱，正如經文所說：「王后瓦實提在亞哈隨魯王的宮內也為婦女設擺筵席。」