Three objections emerge from this verse. It is argued that according to the Greek historian Herodotus, the queen of Xerxes was named Amestris, not Esther or Vashti. There is no need to worry about the lack of an Esther or a Vashti in Herodotus, though: Persian kings could take multiple wives (as did Darius, Xerxes' predecessor, who had three; note also that Esther is indicated to be one of many women), and "Vashti" may be derived from the Avestan Vashishta ("the best" or perhaps "sweetheart") -- which would make it a royal title or epithet rather than a proper name. Furthermore, studies show that with phonetic modifications, Vashti can indeed be identified with Amestris, and there is a synchronism that Xerxes' four years in Greece coincide with the four years between the deposition of Vashti and the installation of Esther.

As for the practice to marry strictly between the seven Persian royal founding families, Amestris herself came from outside these families, as did wives of Darius.

A third objection is that Vashti's refusal to obey Xerxes is psychologically impossible. This objection assumes an overly rigid view of human behavior; history amply shows that men and women are capable of standing before tyrants.