Vashti
The queen who refused to come when the king sent for her, and lost her crown.
Old Testament · 486–465 BC · Esther · Also known as Queen Vashti
About Vashti
Vashti was queen of Persia, wife of King Ahasuerus. During a great royal feast, "Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house." On the seventh day, "when the heart of the king was merry with wine," he sent for her "to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on." But "the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s commandment." The king’s advisers feared every wife in the empire would follow her example, so Vashti was removed, and the search began that would make Esther queen.
Vashti has no recorded words, so this guide speaks about her. The book of Esther never gives her reasons for refusing. Readers have seen her in different ways: some admire her dignity in refusing to be put on display before drunken guests; others read her refusal as defiance. The text itself does not judge her.
The story
Two feasts
King Ahasuerus held a great feast for all the people in Shushan the palace. "Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus."
Esther 1:5-9
The king’s summons
"On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine," he sent his chamberlains "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."
Esther 1:10-11
She refused
"But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him." The book does not say why she refused.
Esther 1:12
Queen no more
The king’s wise man Memucan warned, "this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes." So it was decreed "that Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she." Later, "when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her."
Esther 1:16–2:1
Key moments
- Her feast: "A feast for the women in the royal house." (Esther 1:9)
- Sent for: "To shew the people and the princes her beauty." (Esther 1:11)
- Refused: "The queen Vashti refused to come." (Esther 1:12)
- Removed: "That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus." (Esther 1:19)
- Esther crowned instead: "Made her queen instead of Vashti." (Esther 2:17)
Questions about Vashti
Why did Vashti refuse to come?
The book of Esther doesn’t say. It records only that the king, "merry with wine," sent for her "to shew the people and the princes her beauty," and that "the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s commandment." Many readers think she refused to be put on show before drunken guests, but that is interpretation; her reasons are not given.
What happened to Vashti?
It was decreed "that Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus," and her "royal estate" was to go to "another that is better than she." Later the king "remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her," and Esther was made "queen instead of Vashti." What happened to her after that isn’t recorded.
Connected people
Read it yourself
Start with Esther 1:9-22.