WORD STUDY – THE BANQUET
Esther 5:4, “And Esther answered, If it seems good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.”
I have spent many years studying the history and culture of the Persian Empire and I find no suggestion of any protocol for a queen inviting the king to dinner. This was unheard of. The Queen and King always ate and slept separately and the queen inviting the king to a banquet was not something that would fit the context of the Ancient Persian culture.
We are all familiar with the frame story for the 1001 Nights where the Persian King Shahryar discovers that his queen has been unfaithful and as a result banishes her from the kingdom. He then searches for a new queen and sends out word to have the most beautiful virgins in the land appear before him. He then sleeps with a different one every night. Unlike the Esther story he then smothers the woman in the morning either because she does not satisfy him or he fears she too will be unfaithful. Finally, Scheherazade spends her night with the king but knowing her fate in the morning she tells him a story with a cliff hanger. The king is so curious as to how the story turns out he lets her live until the next night where she finishes the story and starts another cliff hanger. This goes on for 1001 nights until the king truly falls in love with Scheherazade and makes her his queen.
Of course this is all legend and some even say this is the basis of the story of Esther which I do not believe. I believe it to be the other way around. I believe the story of Esther happened as it is related in the Bible. Still, the story of the 1001 Nights does reveal to us much of the brutality and culture of the Ancient Persian Empire. Many of the original stories were X rated and later cleaned up to a G rating for the sake of the kids. These stories showed that the Ancient Persians had a pre-occupation with sex, and eroticism. Judging from the news lately I would think this was nothing new.
This does offer some historical insight into the story of Esther, however. When she says that she had not been called before the king for 30 days (Esther 4:11), culturally she is saying the king has not summoned her to sleep with him. He has been fulfilling that need with members of his harem. Yet, when she walked into his court the Bible tells us that the King saw her. This word saw is really a curious word; it is kire’oth which modern translators say comes from the root word ra’ah which means to see. But what is curious about this word is that it starts with a Kap which translators say is a preposition. So it would be rendered as like he saw her or as he saw her. Actually, I believe this is a clever play on the Semitic root word kara’ which means to be filled with desire. In other words the story teller is saying that when the king saw Esther he thought “vavavoom!” And then it says that she obtained favor in the eyes of the king. Baloney!! The words in Hebrew is nase’ah ken be’inayn, which when traced to its Semitic roots means he was carried away with her beauty or to put it into modern terms, he was smitten. This playboy of a king was so filled with carnal lust that he offered her half his kingdom before the eyes and ears of the entire court. The court would think nothing of it since eroticism and sexuality was a pre-occupation with the Persian royalty at that time. I mean this old boy had a pick up line that would have made him the envy of every male in the Downtown Chicago’s Viagra Triangle.
Esther could have dropped her bomb right then and there and requested the king save her people and he probably would have done it but he would have responded with, “Anything you want baby, just do me a little favor, you know..”, wink, wink.
Esther knew that God did not call her to be a prostitute and she knew, like Scheherazade that she had to win the kings heart and cause him to deliver her people not as a payment for sexual favors, but because he loved her and as a result he would love her family and her people. She was not looking for a one night stand, but was looking to bring this boy home to meet Uncle Mordecai and the rest of the Hebrew family.
So she did something very unusual, she invited her husband to dinner or a banquet or a hamisheteh. The word hamisheteh comes from the root word shatah which means to have a drink, but in its Semitic root it is used for a spider spinning a web. In other words, “How about a romantic dinner together, if you get my drift?” Hey, don’t hit the delete button yet, I mean they were married for crying out loud. What’s wrong with a wife trying to seduce her pre-occupied husband.
Ok, I will grant I am stretching it a little. In the Semitic mindset, shatah is really an informal time and setting where you drink wine together and discuss, spin or weave intimate business and build a relationship. The king was no dummy, He knew his queen has some ulterior motive but he sure didn’t mind her approach. The fact that she invited Hamon would tell the king that she had a matter of royal business to discuss and then after that meeting, well let’s just ditch this loser Hamon, hey?
Today the news announced two more high profile individuals who were fired from their cushy jobs because of sexual harassment . They are lucky they did not live during the Persian empire. Old Hamon’s appearance of sexual harassment not only cost him his job but a trip to the gallows. I mean they did not just hang you in those days, they dropped you on a sharp spike that impaled you all the way up…too much information.
Ok, I am wasting too much time here on frivolous detail. Let’s take a look at a Persian shatah or discussing this over a drink type meeting. Just like today they would meet in a bar, so to speak, only this would be the king’s private bar. There would be music in the background, they would dress formally and of course Esther would wear her red carpet best gown and be bath in oils and well perfumed. Incense would be burned and drinks would be served. At the conclusion of the meeting there would be a handshake, in some cultures a hug or even a kiss but some expression that would involve a physical touch to seal the deal. Business meetings like this are conducted the world over. Psychologist tell us that these meetings are designed to appeal to the five senses. That is why a company will pay to fly an agent to a meeting, give him an expense account, put him up in an expensive hotel rather than have a cheaper video conference over the internet. You can only appeal to two senses, sight and hearing over the internet. In person you can appeal to all five senses, sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. To influence someone or reach their heart you need to appeal to all five senses. This is what Esther’s plan was, to appeal to the king’s five senses. Like Scheherazarde in the old Persian legend, Esther would appeal to the king’s five senses until she reached his heart and he wanted to save her people because he loved her and as a result he would love her people.
Does not God woo us the same way today? Does he not appeal to our five senses? We go to a special place to worship, sometimes it is a church or sanctuary or a garden which is very beautiful and appeals to our sense of sight. In ancient Israel fragrances were burned during worship. That would be God appealing to the sense of smell. Some churches burn incense or we smell the scent of flowers in a garden. We listen to music or the song of birds and the wind blowing through trees where God appeals to our sense of hearing. During worship some close their eyes and picture Jesus; some actually have a vision where God appeals to the sense of sight. Sometimes it is just looking at the beauty of His creation that appeal to our sense of sight. There is the beauty of a church sanctuary and all its symbols of holiness that appeals to our sight. We partake of the elements of communion, the bread and wine which appeals to our sense of taste or we eat of the fruits of the garden to appeal to our taste. Then we lift our hands to Him and we feel his touch or presence. It is then that He, like Esther, has appealed to our five senses and thus reaches into our hearts. Next time you enter into a worship service, perhaps you might allow God to follow Esther’s’ shatan (banquet) and let Him appeal to your five senses where He can open the doorway to your heart.
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