Esther 10:1
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Now King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the land, even to its farthest shores.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
We are here told, I. How great and powerful king Ahasuerus was. He had a vast dominion, both in the continent and among the islands, from which he raised a vast revenue. Besides the usual customs which the kings of Persia exacted (Ezr 4:13), he laid an additional tribute upon his subjects, to serve for some great occasion he had for money (Est 10:1): The king laid a tribute. Happy is our island, that pays no tribute but what is laid upon it by its representatives, and those of its own choosing, and is not squeezed or oppressed by an arbitrary power, as some of the neighbouring nations are. Besides this instance of the grandeur of Ahasuerus, many more might be given, that were acts of his power and of his might. These however are not thought fit to be recorded here in the sacred story, which is confined to the Jews, and relates the affairs of other nations only as they fell in with their affairs; but they are written in the Persian chronicles (Est 10:2), which are long since lost and buried in oblivion, while the sacred writings live, live in honour, and will live till time shall be no more. When the kingdoms of men, monarchs and monarchies, are destroyed, and their memorial has perished with them (Psa 9:6), the kingdom of God among men, and the records of that kingdom, shall remain and be as the days of heaven, Dan 2:44. II. How great and good Mordecai was. 1. He was great; and it does one good to see virtue and piety thus in honour. (1.) He was great with the king, next to him, as one he most delighted and confided in. Long had Mordecai sat contentedly in the king's gate, and now at length he is advanced to the head of his council-board. Men of merit may for a time seem buried alive; but often, by some means or other, they are discovered and preferred at last. The decl…
Open source ↗10:1-2 King Xerxes imposed a tribute: Persian taxes on the provinces were heavy. This burden supported the Persian government’s free spending.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
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Therefore glorify the LORD in the east. Extol the name of the LORD, the God of Israel in the islands of the sea.
May the kings of Tarshish and distant shores bring tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
From these, the maritime peoples separated into their territories, according to their languages, by clans within their nations.
This is what happened in the days of Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Cush.
At once the royal scribes were summoned, and on the twenty-third day of the third month (the month of Sivan), they recorded all of Mordecai’s orders to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and princes of the 127 provinces from India to Cush—writing to each province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.
On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
Then he will turn his face to the coastlands and capture many of them. But a commander will put an end to his reproach and will turn it back upon him.
Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole empire.