And the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.
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George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Crown. Literally, "diadem "(Haydock) which was a bandage "of purple, striped with white "by which the queen was distinguished from the other wives. (Calmet)
The king wore "a four-square cidaris "with a similar ornament. (Alex. Genial. i. 27.)
Only one queen was chosen from all the wives, and she was "adored "by the rest. (Dion. Athen. iii. l.)
Though God had forbidden marriages with infidels, (Calmet) at least with those of Chanaan, (Haydock) a dispensation might be granted, (Exodus xxxiv.; Tirinus; 2 Kings iii.; Worthington) for a greater good. Esther was not puffed up with her exaltation, and refrained from all forbidden meats, chap. xiv. 15. (Calmet)
If she be the Artystona of Herotous, (vii. 69.; Haydock) as it is most probable, (Tirinus) her two sons, Arsames and Gobryas, had a command in the famous expedition of Xerxes. (Usher, the year of the world 3524.) (Calmet)
