MEMUCAN

(Me·muʹcan) [perhaps, Magian].

The chief spokesman for the seven Medo-Persian princes on the occasion that Vashti refused to obey King Ahasuerus. (Esther 1:13-15) Memucan’s opinion was that Vashti had wronged not only the king but also the princes and the people of the empire, and, therefore, she should be removed as queen, so that all wives of the empire might learn to be obedient to their husbands. The king and the other princes agreed with Memucan, and a royal decree to this effect was written among the unchangeable laws of the Medes and Persians.—Esther 1:16-22.

These “seven princes of Persia and Media” were “versed in the law and legal cases.” They were the king’s closest advisers, “sitting first in the kingdom.” (Esther 1:13, 14) That the Persian court had such a council of seven is confirmed by Ezra 7:14.