1 Esdras 3

In the days when Darius was king, he gave a great feast for all his subjects, for everyone born in his house, and for all the princes of Media and Persia.

1Now when Darius reigned, he made a great feast unto all his subjects, and unto all his household, and unto all the princes of Media and Persia,

NoteDarius is Darius I, king of Persia from 522 to 486 BC. The story of the three young bodyguards and their contest, which fills this chapter and the next, is found only in 1 Esdras; the parallel accounts in Ezra and Nehemiah have nothing like it.

2He also invited all the governors, commanders, and deputies who served under him, from India to Ethiopia, over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces.

2And to all the governors and captains and lieutenants that were under him, from India unto Ethiopia, of an hundred twenty and seven provinces.

Note"Ethiopia" in the King James Bible means the land south of Egypt, along the upper Nile, and not the modern country of that name. India to Ethiopia was a stock phrase for the whole reach of the Persian empire, east to west, and the figure of a hundred and twenty-seven provinces is the same one used in Esther 1:1. The King James "lieutenants" means deputy officials, civil administrators standing in for a higher officer, not a military rank.

3When they had eaten and drunk and had enough, they went home. Then King Darius went into his bedroom and slept, and soon after he woke up.

3And when they had eaten and drunken, and being satisfied were gone home, then Darius the king went into his bedchamber, and slept, and soon after awaked.

4Then three young men who belonged to the guard that protected the king's body spoke to one another.

4Then three young men, that were of the guard that kept the king’s body, spake one to another;

NoteThe royal bodyguard of Persia was not hired muscle. Its members were young men of rank who ate and slept near the king and had direct access to him, which is why three of them can plausibly put a wager in front of the throne.

5They said, "Let each of us give a statement. Whoever wins, whose statement seems wiser than the others, King Darius will give him great gifts and great honors as a sign of his victory."

5Let every one of us speak a sentence: he that shall overcome, and whose sentence shall seem wiser than the others, unto him shall the king Darius give great gifts, and great things in token of victory:

Note"Sentence" in 1611 English means a considered opinion or a saying worth weighing, closer to a verdict or a maxim than to a unit of grammar. The contest is to name the one thing that is strongest and defend the claim.

6"He will be dressed in purple, drink from gold cups, sleep on gold, and have a chariot with gold bridles, a turban of fine linen, and a chain around his neck."

6As, to be clothed in purple, to drink in gold, and to sleep upon gold, and a chariot with bridles of gold, and an headtire of fine linen, and a chain about his neck:

NotePurple cloth was dyed with a secretion from murex shellfish, so costly that the color itself marked out royalty and those the king chose to favor. Gold drinking cups, a gold bed, gold-fitted harness, a linen turban and a gold collar around the neck were the standard package of Persian royal honors; compare Daniel 5:29, where Belshazzar rewards Daniel with purple and a gold chain.

7"He will sit next to Darius because of his wisdom, and he will be called the cousin of Darius."

7And he shall sit next to Darius because of his wisdom, and shall be called Darius his cousin.

Note"Darius his cousin" is old English for "Darius's cousin." The title itself, Kinsman of the King, was a formal rank at the Persian court, granted as an honor to a small circle of high nobles; it did not require actual blood relation.

8Then each one wrote his statement, sealed it shut, and laid it under King Darius' pillow.

8And then every one wrote his sentence, sealed it, and laid it under king Darius his pillow;

NoteEach man pressed his personal signet into wax or clay over the folded writing. A broken seal would show tampering, and an unbroken one kept the authorship hidden until the writings were opened in public.

9They said that when the king got up, someone would give him the writings, and that whoever's statement the king and the three princes of Persia judged to be the wisest, to him the victory would be given, just as they had agreed.

9And said that, when the king is risen, some will give him the writings; and of whose side the king and the three princes of Persia shall judge that his sentence is the wisest, to him shall the victory be given, as was appointed.

NoteThe three princes of Persia are the king's highest counselors, who would sit with him as judges. "As was appointed" means according to the terms the young men had already fixed between themselves.

10The first wrote, "Wine is the strongest."

10The first wrote, Wine is the strongest.

11The second wrote, "The king is strongest."

11The second wrote, The king is strongest.

12The third wrote, "Women are strongest, but above all things Truth carries off the victory."

12The third wrote, Women are strongest: but above all things Truth beareth away the victory.

Note"Beareth away the victory" is the language of the games: to carry off the winner's prize. Note that the third man has written two answers where the others wrote one, and the second of them is what the rest of the story turns on.

13Now when the king had gotten up, they took their writings and handed them to him, and he read them.

13Now when the king was risen up, they took their writings, and delivered them unto him, and so he read them:

14He sent word and called together all the princes of Persia and Media, the governors, the commanders, the deputies, and the chief officers.

14And sending forth he called all the princes of Persia and Media, and the governors, and the captains, and the lieutenants, and the chief officers;

15He sat down in the royal seat of judgment, and the writings were read out in front of them.

15And sat him down in the royal seat of judgment; and the writings were read before them.

NoteThe royal seat of judgment is the throne used for hearing cases. Sitting in it turned a private curiosity into a formal session of the court, with the empire's officials assembled as witnesses.

16He said, "Call the young men, and let them explain their own statements." So they were called, and they came in.

16And he said, Call the young men, and they shall declare their own sentences. So they were called, and came in.

17He said to them, "Tell us what you mean by what you wrote." Then the first one began, the one who had written about the strength of wine.

17And he said unto them, Declare unto us your mind concerning the writings. Then began the first, who had spoken of the strength of wine;

18He spoke like this: "Men, how very strong wine is! It makes everyone who drinks it go wrong."

18And he said thus, O ye men, how exceeding strong is wine! it causeth all men to err that drink it:

Note"O ye men" translates a Greek form of address to a public assembly, roughly "gentlemen" or "my lords." The Greek behind "causeth all men to err" means to lead astray, to send off the road, rather than to make a mistake in reasoning.

19"It makes the mind of the king and the mind of the fatherless child the same, and so with the slave and the free man, the poor man and the rich."

19It maketh the mind of the king and of the fatherless child to be all one; of the bondman and of the freeman, of the poor man and of the rich:

NoteThe pairs run from the top of society to the bottom: the king against the orphan, who had no father to defend his interests in court and was proverbially the most defenseless person in the community, then slave against free, poor against rich. Naming both ends is a way of saying everyone in between.

20"It also turns every thought into cheer and laughter, so that a man remembers neither sorrow nor debt."

20It turneth also every thought into jollity and mirth, so that a man remembereth neither sorrow nor debt:

21"It makes every heart rich, so that a man remembers neither king nor governor, and it makes people talk about everything in talents."

21And it maketh every heart rich, so that a man remembereth neither king nor governor; and it maketh to speak all things by talents:

NoteA talent was the largest unit of weight used for money, roughly seventy-five pounds of silver, a fortune far beyond ordinary reckoning. To "speak all things by talents" is to talk in figures that huge, the boasting of a drunk man for whom every sum has swollen out of proportion.

22"And when they are deep in their drinking, they forget their love for friends and for family, and a little later they draw their swords."

22And when they are in their cups, they forget their love both to friends and brethren, and a little after draw out swords:

23"But when they have come out from under the wine, they do not remember what they have done."

23But when they are from the wine, they remember not what they have done.

24"Men, is not wine the strongest, since it forces people to act like this?" And when he had said this, he stopped speaking.

24O ye men, is not wine the strongest, that enforceth to do thus? And when he had so spoken, he held his peace.