Expert: Scott Talbot - 2/28/2007

Question

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The text above is a follow-up to ...

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Is Queen Vashti mentioned in any of the other books of the bible besides Ester. Was she able to come back into power of Queen Mother of her son Artaxerxes?
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Dale,

When you say your question has your class in an uproar, what do you mean? Just curious.

Scott

My study Bible, in one of the information blocks says that Vashti is mentioned in older Greek documents as the Queen Mother and hints she has some of her infulence back. I cannot find this anywhere else. I mentioned the fact that Vashti is mentioned and that she might have returned to power as the Queen Mother. Some of my class became upset because their Bibles did not mention this anywhere. I would really like to know if Vashti lived, returned to some form of power or just what happened to her.  

Answer
Dale,

It sounds as though there are two issues here:

1. What else is there to learn about Queen Vashti?
2. Can any additional information be found about her in the Bible?

It appears as though God chose not to tell us any more about her in the Bible. Though there may have been some older Greek documents containing additional material, there is a very good chance that this was an editorial comment made by a scribe along the way.

The science of determining what is or is not pure, authentic, God-breathed Scripture (i.e., what belongs in the text and what does not) is a very thorough and reliable discipline. It is not 100% perfect, but it is carried out with much research and study and tends to be trustworthy. Therefore, if it is not commonly accepted and included in the canon of Scripture, this is because it probably should not be included.

This does not mean that the information is not true. Whatever comments were made could have very well been true. I'm simply saying that they are not part of the Bible, God's divinely-breathed message to us.

Now, there very well may be other ways to find out more about Queen Vashti. We can only surmise based on what we know from Scripture. But there may be other texts that still exist that provide additional insight.

I take it that you simply want to learn more about this historical figure. Your classmates may be upset because they see this is a debate about what is or is not said about her IN THE BIBLE. That's the sense I get, anyway.

Well, as I said, I was curious. Thank you for sharing that with me. I enjoy communicating with people like you and fielding questions, but it often helps to know the details behind the question.

Let me know if I can provide any further help.

Scott