And the drinking was according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure.

And the drinking was according to the law; none could compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure.

Neither was there any one to compel them to drink that were not willing, but as the king had appointed, who set over every table one of his nobles, that every man might take what he would.

And the drinking was, according to commandment, without constraint; for so the king had appointed to all the magnates of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure.

And the drinking was according to the law; none constrained: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure.

And the drinking is according to law, none is pressing, for so hath the king appointed for every chief one of his house, to do according to the pleasure of man and man.

And the drinking was in keeping with the law; no one was forced: for the king had given orders to all the chief servants of his house to do as was pleasing to every man.

According to the law - An exception to the ordinary practice of compulsory drinking had been made on this occasion by the king's order.

None did compel: for so the king had appointed - Every person drank what he pleased; he was not obliged to take more than he had reason to think would do him good.
Among the Greeks, each guest was obliged to keep the round, or leave the company: hence the proverb Η πιθι, η απιθι; Drink or begone. To this Horace refers, but gives more license: -
Pasco libatis dapibus; prout cuique libido est.
Siccat inaequales calices conviva, solutus
Legibus insanis: seu quis capit acria fortis
Pocula; seu modicis humescit aetius.
Horat. Sat. lib. ii., s. vi., ver. 67.
There, every guest may drink and fill
As much or little as he will;
Exempted from the Bedlam rules
Of roaring prodigals and fools.
Whether, in merry mood or whim,
He fills his goblet to the brim;
Or, better pleased to let it pass,
Is cheerful with a moderate glass.
Francis.
At the Roman feasts there was a person chosen by the cast of dice, who was the Arbiter bibendi, and prescribed rules to the company, which all were obliged to observe. References to this custom may be seen in the same poet. Odar. lib. i., Od. iv., ver. 18: -
Non regna vini sortiere talis.
And in lib. ii., Od. vii., ver. 25: -
- Quem Venus arbitrum Dicet bibendi?
Mr. Herbert, in his excellent poem, The Church Porch, has five verses on this vile custom and its rule: -
Drink not the third glass, which thou canst not tame
When once it is within thee, but before
Mayst rule it as thou list; and pour the shame,
Which it would pour on thee, upon the floor.
It is most just to throw that on the ground,
Which would throw me there if I keep the round.
He that is drunken may his mother kill,
Big with his sister; he hath lost the reins;
Is outlawed by himself. All kinds of ill
Did with his liquor slide into his veins.
The drunkard forfeits man; and doth divest
All worldly right, save what he hath by beast.
Nothing too severe can be said on this destructive practice.

And the drinking [was] according to the law; none did (f) compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure.
(f) No one was forced to drink more than it pleased him.

And the drinking was according to the law, none did compel,.... According to the law Ahasuerus gave to his officers next mentioned, which was not to oblige any man to drink more than he chose; the Targum is,`according to the custom of his body;'that is, as a man is able to bear it, so they drank: some (f) read it, "the drinking according to the law, let none exact"; or require it to be, according to the custom then in use in Persia; for they were degenerated from their former manners, and indulged to intemperance, as Xenophon (g) suggests: the law formerly was, not to carry large vessels into feasts; but now, says he, they drink so much, that they themselves must be carried out, because they cannot go upright: and so it became a law with the Greeks, at their festivals, that either a man must drink or go out (h); so the master of a feast, at which Empedocles was, ordered either that he should drink, or the wine be poured on his head (i); but such force or compulsion Ahasuerus forbad: and thus with the Chinese now, they force none to drink, but modestly invite them (k):
for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure; to let them have what wine they would, but not force them to drink more than was agreeable to them.
(f) Vid. Drusium in loc. (g) Cyropaedia, l. 8. c. 51. (h) Cicero. Tusculan. Quaest. l. 5. (i) Laert. in Vit. ejus, l. 8. p. 608. (k) Semedo's History of China, par. 1. c. 13.

The law - According to this law which the king had now made, that none should compel another to drink more than he pleased. How does this Heathen prince shame many, that are called Christians, who think they do not make their friends welcome, unless they make them drunk, and under pretence of sending the health round, send the sin round, and death with it!