10 On the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who attended him, 11to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing the royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the officials her beauty; for she was fair to behold. 12But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command conveyed by the eunuchs. At this the king was enraged, and his anger burned within him.
13 Then the king consulted the sages who knew the laws . . . 15‘According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus conveyed by the eunuchs?’ 16Then Memucan said in the presence of the king and the officials, ‘Not only has Queen Vashti done wrong to the king, but also to all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. 17For this deed of the queen will be made known to all women, causing them to look with contempt on their husbands, since they will say, “King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come.” 18This very day the noble ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s behaviour will rebel against the king’s officials, and there will be no end of contempt and wrath! 19If it pleases the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so that it may not be altered, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.
She refused.
That is about as strong of a statement as there is in all the Bible. One woman, albeit the queen, refused and all the rulers and husbands in all the land took offense. For they feared now that their wives and concubines might also refuse.
Which we know now, they did.
In the very throne room of the kingdom, Vashti refused and thus was planted in the minds of all the women in all the world this idea that a woman had the right to say, “No.”
It’s amazing to me that this story stayed in the Bible. The broader book of Esther probably could have hung together without the opening. The scribes could have just written Esther out of the story and started with the next queen Esther, herself. But the scribe didn’t do that. Why? Because the scribe knew that Vashti had something to say, something that needed to be heard, and something which was actually fundamental to understanding the whole story of a woman’s choice to come or stay, to remain silent or to speak up, to be controlled by another or to be in control of herself.
Queen Vashti was hastened off the stage of the story. She lost her crown. She lost her crown, but she did not lose her voice. Her, “No,” echoed throughout all the kingdom then and still echoes throughout all the world today.
Vashti is still speaking. She’s still refusing. And she’s still striking discomfort and fear in all the men who just wish she would do what the man says.
She lost the crown of royalty. But she held onto something far more important and ultimately even more powerful — agency. Vashti was not just the king’s plaything. She was a human being in her own right.
And she still is.
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