So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. The king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, “What is your petition, queen Esther? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.”
Then Esther the queen answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for male and female slaves, I would have held my peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the king’s loss.”
Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, “Who is he, and where is he who dared presume in his heart to do so?”
Esther said, “An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman!” Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
The king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden. Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king. Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman had fallen on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in front of me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.
Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king said, “Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman’s house.” The king said, “Hang him on it!”
So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was pacified.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 Read Esther 5:6.
Read Esther 5:6.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–10 Est 7:1 So the king and Haman came to…
Est 7:1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
Ver. 1. So the king and Haman came to the banquet] Heb. To drink, for multorum vivere est bibere; of many, to live is to drink, and profane persons have a proverb, Bibere et sudare est vita Cardiaci. To drink and to sweat is the life of Cardiacus. Such are your chamber champions, whose teeth in a temperate air do beat in their heads at a cup of cold sack and sugar. Belshazzar’s feast days were called σακεαι ημεραι, because he was quaffing in the bowls of the sanctuary, to the honour of Shac or Bacchus (Greg. Posthum.). Little did either he or Haman think, that in the fulness of their sufficiency they should be in such straits, aud that every hand of the troublesome should come upon him; that when they were about to fill their bellies God should cast the fury of his wrath upon them, and rain it upon them while they were drinking, Job 20:22-23. But this is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God, Job 20:29. Why, then, should any saint be sick of the fret, at the prosperity of the ungodly? Surely as fishes are taken in an evil net, and as birds are caught in a snare, so are such snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them, Ecc 9:12. Of Esther’s invitation Haman might have said, as he did of the gifts one sent him,
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Munera magna quidem mittit, sed mittit in hamo. (Martial.)
But he knew not yet what evil was toward him; though I doubt not but his conscience (if not altogether dead and dedolent) began by this time to stare him in the face; his friends having already read his destiny.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv2–10 The banquet of wine; so it is called, to…
The banquet of wine; so it is called, to note that it was not designed for a feast to fill their bellies, but rather for a banquet to delight and please their palates with wine and other delicacies: See Poole "Est 5:8".
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 7 The king in humour, and Haman out of humour,…
The king in humour, and Haman out of humour, meet at Esther's table. Now,
I. The king urged Esther, a third time, to tell him what her request was, for he longed to know, and repeated his promise that it should be granted, Est 7:2. If the king had now forgotten that Esther had an errand to him, and had not again asked what it was, she could scarcely have known how to renew it herself; but he was mindful of it, and now was bound with the threefold cord of a promise thrice made to favour her.
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II. Esther, at length, surprises the king with a petition, not for wealth or honour, or the preferment of some of her friends to some high post, which the king expected, but for the preservation of herself and her countrymen from death and destruction, Est 7:3, Est 7:4.
1. Even a stranger, a criminal, shall be permitted to petition for his life; but that a friend, a wife, should have occasion to present such a petition was very affecting: Let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. Two things bespeak lives to be very precious, and fit to be saved, if innocent, at any expense: - (1.) Majesty. If it be a crowned head that is struck at, it is time to stir. Esther's was such: "Let my life be given me. If thou hast any affection for the wife of thy bosom, now is the time to show it; for that is the life that lies at stake." (2.) Multitude. If they be many lives, very many, and those no way forfeited, that are aimed at, no time should be lost nor pains spared to prevent the mischief. "It is not a friend or two, but my people, a whole nation, and a nation dear to me, for the saving of which I now intercede."
2. To move the king the more she suggests, (1.) That she and her people were bought and sold. They had not sold themselves by any offence against the government, but were sold to gratify the pride and revenge of one man. (2.) That it was not their liberty only, but their lives that were sold. "Had we been sold" (she says) "into slavery, I would not have complained; for in time we might have recovered our liberty, thought eh king would have made but a bad bargain of it, and not have increased his wealth by our price. Whatever had been paid for us, the loss of so many industrious hands out of his kingdom would have been more damage to the treasury than the price would countervail." To persecute good people is as impolitic as it is impious, and a manifest wrong to the interests of princes and states; they are weakened and impoverished by it. But this was not the case. We are sold (says she) to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish; and then it is time to speak. She refers to the words of the decree (Est 3:13), which aimed at nothing short of their destruction; this would touch in a tender part if there were any such in the king's heart, and would bring him to relent.
III. The king stands amazed at the remonstrance, and asks (Est 7:5) "Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so? What! contrive the murder of the queen and all her friends? Is there such a man, such a monster rather, in nature? Who is he, and where is he, whose heart has filled him to do so?" Or, Who hath filled his heart. He wonders, 1. That any one should be so bad as to think such a thing; Satan certainly filled his heart. 2. That any one should be so bold as to do such a thing, should have his heart so fully set in him to do wickedly, should be so very daring. Note, (1.) It is hard to imagine that there should be such horrid wickedness committed in the world as really there is. Who, where is he, that dares, presumes, to question the being of God and his providence, to banter his oracles, profane his name, persecute his people, and yet bid defiance to his wrath? Such there are, to think of whom is enough to make horror take hold of us, Psa 119:53. (2.) We sometimes startle at the mention of that evil which yet we ourselves are chargeable with. Ahasuerus is amazed at that wickedness which he himself is guilty of; for he consented to that bloody edict against the Jews. Thou art the man, might Esther too truly have said.
IV. Esther plainly charged Haman with it before his face: "Here he is, let him speak for himself, for therefore he is invited: The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman (Est 7:6); it is he that has designed our murder, and, which is worse, has basely drawn the king in to be particeps criminisa partaker of his crime, ignorantly agreeing to it."
V. Haman is soon apprehensive of his danger: He was afraid before the king and queen; and it was time for him to fear when the queen was his prosecutor, the king his judge, and his own conscience a witness against him; and the surprising operations of Providence against him that same morning could not but increase his fear. Now he has little joy of his being invited to the banquet of wine, but finds himself in straits when he thought himself in the fulness of his sufficiency. He is cast into a net by his own feet.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–10 So the king and Haman came to banquet with…
So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. Or, "to drink with her" (e), that is, wine; for in the next verse it is called a banquet of wine; so they did according to the invitation the queen had given them, Est 5:8.
(e) "ut biberent", V. L. Tigurine version; "ad bibendum", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, Vatablus.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Esther petitions for her life, and the lives of…
Esther petitions for her life, and the lives of her people, ver. 1- 4. She tells the king that Haman is the man who designed her ruin, ver. 5, 6. By the king's order, he is hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai, ver. 7-10.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 The king at the banquet urges Esther to prefer…
CHAPTER VII
The king at the banquet urges Esther to prefer her petition,
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with the positive assurance that it shall be granted, 1, 2.
She petitions for her own life, and the life of her people,
who were sold to be destroyed, 3, 4.
The king inquires the author of this project, and Haman is
accused by the queen, 5, 6.
The king is enraged: Haman supplicates for his life; but the
king orders him to be hanged on the gallows he had prepared
for Mordecai, 7-10.
NOTES ON CHAP. VII
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2–10 Est 7:2. The king said again to Esther, What…
Est 7:2. The king said again to Esther, What is thy petition, Queen Esther? &c. — If the king had now forgot that Esther had an errand to him, and had not again asked what it was, she could scarce have known how to renew it herself; but he was mindful of it, and now was bound with the three-fold cord of a promise, thrice made, to favour her.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv4, 8 The king now learned, perhaps for the first time,…
The king now learned, perhaps for the first time, that his favorite was a Jewess.
Although the enemy ... - i. e. “although the enemy (Haman) would not (even in that case) compensate (by his payment to the treasury) for the king’s loss of so many subjects.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 Drink. Wine was only used at great feasts, Ecclesiasticus…
Drink. Wine was only used at great feasts, Ecclesiasticus xxxi. 17. Water was served up first, from the river Choaspes only. The king and his eldest son were allowed to drink of "the golden waters," of which they alone had 70 fountains. (Atheneus xii. 2.) --- Their wine was brought from Chelbon, near Damascus. (Ibid.[Atheneus?] i. 22.) (Ezechiel xxvii. 18.) (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 I. Esther pleads for her People, and accuses Haman.…
B.—ON THE VERY GALLOWS CAUSED TO BE ERECTED FOR MORDECAI, HAMAN, ACCUSED BY ESTHER, IS HIMSELF HUNG
Est_7:1-10
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I. Esther pleads for her People, and accuses Haman. Est_7:1-6
1So [And] the king and Haman came to banquet [drink] with Esther the queen.2And the king said again [also] unto Esther, on the second day, at the banquet [feast] of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? [ask,] and it shall be granted [given to] thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the 3half of the kingdom [ask to the half of the kingdom, and it shall be done]. Then [And] Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favor in thy sight [eyes], O king, and if it please [be good upon] the king, let my life [soul] be given me at my petition, and my people at my request: 4For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed [for one to destroy], to be slain [to smite], and to perish [cause to perish]: but if [and provided] we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue [hushed], although [for] the enemy [adversary] could not 5countervail [is not equalling] the king’s damage. Then [And] the king Ahasuerus answered [said],1 and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he [is he this], and where is he [is this he]2, that durst presume in his heart [whose heart has filled him] to do ?Song of Solomon 6 And Esther said, The [a man]3adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman.4 Then [And] Haman was afraid [terrified] before the king and the queen.
II. Ahasuerus, extremely enraged, causes the Death of Haman. Est_7:7-10
7And the king, arising [arose] from the banquet of wine in his wrath, went into the palace-garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life [soul] to [from] Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined [finished] against him by [from with] the king. 8Then [And] the king returned out of the palace-garden into the place of the banquet [feast] of wine; and Haman was fallen [falling] upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he [Is it to] force the queen also before [with] me in the house? As the word went out of the king’s mouth, [and] they covered Haman’s face. 9And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains [eunuchs], said before the king, Behold also, the gallows [tree] fifty cubits high,5 which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken [spoke] good for [upon] the king standeth in the house of Haman. Then [And] the king 10said, Hang him thereon. So [And] they hanged Haman on the gallows [tree] that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then [And] was the king’s wrath pacified [subsided].
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
1 [Est_7:5. The Chaldaizing influence upon the language is evident in this vague repetition of the verb אמר, which eventually led to its use in the sense of commanding.—Tr.]
2 [Est_7:5. The pron. הוּא here very nearly approaches a copula.—Tr.]
3 [Est_7:6. אישׁ here is more than the ordinary apposition of class; it is almost a demonstrative like iste. —Tr.]
4 [Est_7:6. The original is very intense: Haman, this bad man. Doubtless her finger pointed to him.—Tr.]
5 [Est_7:9. The position of this clause in the original is more striking, being at the end of the sentence. —Tr.]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Est_7:1-6. What here follows seems a thing to be expected as a matter of course, yet the manner of its occurrence, particularly the rapidity with which events succeed each other, as well as their magnitude and importance, imparts a certain charm to the narrative. Esther now steps unreservedly forward at the banquet that she has prepared and to which she has invited Haman (in Est_6:14), and boldly presents her accusation and request. The king is quite prepared to give a correct decision in the case.
Est_7:1. So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.—לִשְׁתּוֹת stands for: in order to participate in theמִשְׁתֶּה. The drinking after the feast, מִשְׁתֵּה הַיַּיִן (comp. Est_5:6) was probably regarded as the chief matter at the time. But Esther petitioned (Est_7:3): let my life be given at my petition, and my people at my request.—The בְּ is the so-called בְּpretii, “about,” “for.” Her petition is seemingly the ransom which she proffers: “my people” means in short: for the life of my people. She bases her petition in Est_7:4 on the words: For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed,etc.—She has all the more occasion for the expression נִמְכַּרְנוּ, since she and her people were left to the mercy of Haman for the sum of money he had promised the king if the Jews should be destroyed (Est_3:9; Est_4:7). לְהַשְׁמִיד and the following active infinitives are clearly substitutes for the passive form, precisely as in the royal order (Est_3:13).6 She also adds, however: But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage, and she thereby indicates that it concerns not only her own, but also the king’s interest. אִלּוּ, contracted from אִסלוּ, as in Ecc_6:6, also common in the Aramaic language, introduces an event in a hypothetical manner as being more desirable, and is followed by the perfect, if instead another event than the one anticipated has occurred. In the next sentence usually the perfect follows with וconsec. Here, however, the וis absent because Esther does not desire to say what she would do, but what she would have done: “I had held my tongue, although,” etc. The sentence: כִּי אֵין הַצָּר שֹׁוֶה, means according to R. Sal. ben-Melech and Rambach: The enemy can by no means equal, compensate or make good by his money the loss which the king suffers by our destruction Similar also are the views of Clericus and others, who suggest an intermediate thought enlarging the meaning, such as: “But I dare not be silent.” Though even such an addition were in itself not doubtful, still שָׁוָה in the Kal, with בְּ, does not mean compensate (to compensate), but to be equal to, or to be worth as much as some other thing (comp. Pro_3:15; Pro_8:11). The assumption of Gesenius, that the expression: “The enemy is not equal to the damage to the king,” is only another form of sentence for: “The enemy cannot make good the damage to the king,” is very improbable. Hence Bertheau and Keil interpret it: “The enemy is not worthy of the king’s damage,” i.e. is not of sufficient account that I should grieve or distract the king. They insist that נֵזֶק does not only mean pecuniary loss, as is commonly assumed from Ezr_4:13; Ezr_4:22, but according to the Targums means also bodily harm (comp. Targ. Psa_91:7; Gen_26:11; 1Ch_26:22). Still the thought thus gained is not quite satisfactory. It would have mattered little, not whether Haman, but whether the Jews were worthy of the king’s displeasure. Certain it is that Esther expressed herself in very brief words, and such as implied more. Perhaps we may enlarge their sense thus: I would have held my tongue; for the punishment of the enemy is not worthy of, is less important than the averting of the damage which the king will suffer, now that the Jews are ordered to be destroyed; but this he would not have suffered if they had been sold as slaves, and hence had realized a large sum. In this way the chief thought is made to be the loss which the king would sustain if a whole people were destroyed; and Esther’s keeping out of sight her special concern about the destruction of the Jews, which would have been very shrewd in her under any circumstances, becomes particularly so in the present instance and before Ahasuerus. The ancient translators, it seems, were at a loss here, and hence offer us but little help.
Est_7:5 with its twice-repeated וַיֹּאמֶר: Then the king Ahasuerus answered, and said unto Esther the queen, by its solemn title: “The king to the queen,” indicates the great importance of these words and of the moment. The king of the great empire here addressed her, who was a daughter of her people, but also the queen in this great realm. At the same time the twice-repeated: “he said,” reveals the agitation of the king, to which also corresponds the double question: Who and where is he?אֲשֶׁר מְלָאוֹ לִבּוֹ: that durst presume in his heart to do so.—We might expect it to read:” Who had filled his heart, “viz. with the thought to do so. But it is the heart from which proceed the thoughts, and which determines the rest of the man to conclusive purposes (Isa_44:20; Ecc_8:11; Mat_15:19).7
Est_7:6. Esther still hesitates to name Haman, but at last brings the predicate into prominence: The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman.—She does not say: “The evil-disposed person,” viz. of whom she is speaking, but without the article, אִישׁ צַר, in order to make as strikingly prominent as possible the conception of the man so inimical. Haman trembled; for נִבְעַת means more than that he was simply alarmed (comp. 1Ch_21:30; Dan_8:17, and בִּעוּתִּים, Psa_88:17; Job_6:4).
Est_7:7-10. Thereupon the king became at once terribly angry. Because of his agitation he went aside for a moment, but soon returned, and at once gave order for the execution of Haman. —Into the palace-garden (comp. Est_1:5), which was the place to which he retired. This is strikingly expressed by קָם. He did this in order to recover from the first burst of anger, and to consider what was to be done with Haman. Haman remained standing to make request of his life to Esther.—עַל־נַפְשׁוֹ, properly, “because of his life” (בִּקֵּשׁ with עַל, as in Est_4:8), since he saw that on the part of the king there was no more hope for him if Esther would not intercede for him; strictly: that evil was determined against him by the king,fully determined (כָּלָה as in 1Sa_25:17; Ezr_5:13).
Est_7:8. Was fallen,i.e. had kneeled down (נָפַל as in Jos_7:10 and elsewhere) upon the bed whereon Esther was (sat), hence as a petitioner he fell at her feet.8 The king, however, soon returned and said—since he could not control his anger, but now manifested it more terribly: Will he force the queen also before me in the house?—The infin. לִכְבּוֹשׁ is here placed, as if he were understood as asking a question. But it may also be made stronger (comp. 1Ch_15:2, etc.), viz. to trample under foot, to subjugate. If the question had only been whether the queen could be forced sexually, then Ahasuerus could not have asked such a question so lightly. It would only have been an expression of his highest displeasure and wrath. If Esther were honest and just, she must of necessity have exonerated Haman from such an evil design. The whole situation of things makes such a foul purpose highly improbable, indeed impossible. Or perhaps Ahasuerus was only asking whether, if one would attain anything from the queen, it was necessary to make request with such force.9 We can readily think that Esther sought to withdraw from Haman, but that he, as it were, forcibly detained her. The word of which it is now said: As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face, cannot mean the question that just preceded. Then it would be “this word;” but this is another word. We may consider that this word, possibly with a little addition, quite intelligible to the officers, was to them a command to take Haman out of his sight. The subject of חָפוּ is those whose duty it was to execute such commands, the servants of the king. The covering of the face was probably the beginning of the execution of the death-sentence (comp. Curtius Est_6:8, Esther 22: “They brought Philetas with covered head into the palace”). Even old interpreters, such as Brentius, Rickel, Feuardent, remind us of the sentence in Cicero pro C. Rabirio IV. Esther 13: “Lictor, bind his hands, veil his head, hang him on the hapless tree.”10
Est_7:9. In order that it might appear very strikingly what our history here would teach— that he who dug a pit for others, especially for pious Jews, shall fall into it himself; or yet more definitely that inimical heathendom shall perish by its own devices, it must be so ordered that one of the officers shall bring it about to have Haman hung upon the same gallows which he had caused to be erected for Mordecai. And in order to show how much hated this enemy of the Jews was, one of the king’s officers must point out this very tree of death. This person was Harbonah, doubtless the one mentioned in Est_1:10, one of the eunuchs of the king, i.e. of the higher officers who waited on the king. The word גַּם with which he begins: Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai,etc., may not imply that the other servants or even Harbonah himself had already brought accusations against Haman, and in addition would also reproach him with the erection of this gallows (Bertheau, Keil); but from Harbonah’s view, it points out the most appropriate means at hand offered by the prepared gallows for the fate of Haman. This is more significant against Haman. In giving prominence to the fact that Mordecai was the one who spoke well of the king by revealing the plot against the king’s life (comp. Est_2:22; Est_6:2), he intimates that it was more fit for Haman to grace the gallows than the one for whom it was originally erected.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
Vers. l sqq. 1. How very carefully Esther brings her petition before the king, even though the king for the second time has accepted her invitation! She waits until the king himself inquires into it anew, and until he has even obligated himself to her to the half of his kingdom; she so frames her speech that her more personal interest, which in the present instance would have been of paramount importance in the eyes of the king, is presented equally with, indeed in advance of, all others. She avoids at once opposing herself against Haman; and finally she seeks to take the king on his weak side by giving prominence to the fact that in the destruction of the Jews the king would sustain a great loss. It was to her still a question whether Ahasuerus would permit her to interfere in the business of government—indeed whether he would grant her a hearing while opposed to so powerful a rival. But she acted at last with fear and trembling—although she was assured of the best ally as being with her—not only Ahasuerus, but also God’s love. Her petition, moreover, had the very best effect. Thus the Lord, who leads the hearts of men and of kings like streams of water, has His help prepared for us, when we in our little faith stand trembling; and often where we hardly dared hope or advance, He gives us the greatest success. All depends upon this, that our hesitation be not of unbelief, but that we have fears only from our own power, capability, or worthiness; and that we seek not so much to promote our own cause as rather God’s, and ours through Him.
Starke: “Trembling soul, if this heathen king is so trustworthy in his promises, then your heavenly King is far more faithful. The former promises only to give the half of his kingdom— but He to give you the whole kingdom (Luk_12:32; Luk_22:29). Truth may be crushed to the earth, but it dies not; it can be avoided or offended, yet it will finally come to light and triumph.”
2. Haman, from the very outset, had moved toward the fulfilment of his wishes with the greatest assurance. Even after being inquired of by the king as to what should be done to the man whom the king would especially honor, he had answered with the greatest confidence. Doubtless he thought that, because of the friendship, or because of the weakness of the king, all things were for him permissible, and he hoped every thing for himself. Yet if he had but reflected, he must have acknowledged that this foundation was unsafe, and that it was easy for another to gain the favor of the king against himself. But this is the common curse of human self-confidence that it places us in a state of insecurity. He who has succeeded in gaining the favor of the great is very liable to think that now he will also easily govern the servants of his Lord.
3. Truly it is a distressing condition in which Haman finds himself at the table of Esther. Outwardly he receives the highest distinction and is made happy, but inwardly there already comes a painful presentiment of his downfall. He is indeed already bound by the cord that shall plunge him into destruction.
Feuardent: “But in all this the first notable thing is how far apart stand the judgments of the Almighty and those of this world, since those whom the world esteems most happy and fortunate are truly most unhappy and unfortunate before God..… Men, indeed, seeing only what appears, and judging according to the outward semblance, would have boldly pronounced no man more fortunate than Haman. But in fact and in God’s view, who sees the heart, he was of all men the most miserable. For he was inflated with ambition, he was hot with envy, he was bursting with hate, and went to the banquet in the most disturbed state of mind. There rankled in the bottom of his heart the thought of that fresh honor which he had lately been forced to confer upon his enemy; and he was moreover goaded to desperation by what his friends had told him to his face—that he himself, having once begun to fall before the Jew, would forever be his inferior, and that Mordecai would increase in glory and honor.”
Haman, at the table of Esther, is but a picture of all wicked ones at the table of fortune. The change of circumstances now manifest, it is true, was unique, and seemed as if purposely selected for him.—Feuardent: “A little while ago all fell prostrate before Haman, but now he quails before a feeble woman. He who persecuted the Jews worse than a dog or a serpent, now becomes a suppliant to a Jewess. He who had procured a cruel slaughter for all the Hebrews is now anxious to save his own life. He who could not endure Mordecai now intercedes with his domestic.” The old reverse substantially recurs: “At the feast he who was unwilling to afford a crumb of bread to Lazarus, asked to be cooled by the finger of Lazarus dipped in water.” This change will be most striking when Christ shall lay all His enemies at His feet.
On Est_7:8. 1. The only means left to Haman to be tried for his salvation evidently was that he should fall at the feet of Esther and implore her pardon. But it was just this which Ahasuerus, now returning from the garden, interpreted as a great crime, and so it filled the measure of his sin. When once the season of divine grace and forbearance allotted to sinners is closed, when punitive justice arises against them, then it seems as if they can undertake nothing but what will aggravate their case and hasten their own destruction. As Ahasuerus did in this case, so did all those who stood by the side of Haman and had given him their confidence. Now that he is so near his downfall, these are inclined to use every thing against the offender by which he might obtain deliverance. They know him too well to be ignorant of the tricks and deceptions of which he is capable. Petitions for pardon— and even repentance—is in such cases often thought to be only the repentance of Cain, affording no guarantee of genuine reform. Possibly these judges go too far in their sentence, but God’s justice employs them as channels against the offenders.
Feuardent: “The king indeed is unjust in fixing this calumny upon Haman—but God is just who permits the righteous penalty to fall upon him for his lies and calumnies, inasmuch as he would have brought violence upon other virgins or matrons, and would have plunged the whole people of God into ruin. Accordingly it is written: “By what one sinneth, by that also shall he be punished;” and again: “With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you again.”
2. The question raised by ancient interpreters whether it was not the duty of Esther to exonerate Haman from the accusation by the king, and to second his request for pardon, can only be satisfactorily answered by making the proper distinction between the views of such points in the Old and in the New Testaments. Upon New Testament grounds, the answer would undoubtedly be in the affirmative. It is no greater offence than one which the Christian, though he have suffered the most grievous insults and offensive acts, should be prepared to pardon, in a spirit free from hatred or revenge. Now whether the king, here acting in his judicial capacity, could entertain her request, would have been a different matter. Taking, however, the Old Testament view, the answer would most certainly be, No; and this the more, inasmuch as there was not yet a more satisfactory means of averting evil than the destructive judgments of God upon Haman, who, as an Agagite and an Amalekite, was regarded as representing the cause of evil in opposition to the cause of God and of His people (comp. Doct. hist. thoughts on 3:36 sqq.). Further, in Esther’s conduct is plainly shown the important fact that, when the season of grace is expired, Justice desires no interruption through petitions for mercy. This truth must be taken to heart, and we must not bewail its force. When Christians see the wicked perish, let them weep over their fate. But we must rejoice over the divine judgments upon iniquity. This serves to strengthen our faith in a holy, ever active God. Our own opposition to iniquity must be as unrelenting as was that of Esther against Haman.
Starke: “It is barely credible that the king should have thought further upon this matter— have perceived the wonderful dealings of God. Neither can we believe that he was thereby led to know the true God. Esther, however, and Mordecai, together with many of the Jews, must have been gloriously strengthened in their faith. Jehovah’s judgments are just (Rev_19:2). Let the Christian here notice the goodness and truthfulness of God (Rom_11:22), and let both be to him a warning voice !”
On Est_7:9-10. Bitter and sarcastic must it have struck upon the ears of Haman when Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, who up to this time had humbly shown him all desired honor, remarked, now that the doomed man was led away: “Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman.” Must it then be that this despicable creature should raise his foot against the dead lion? See how in this moment he turns toward the newly rising sun with praises in his mouth! Must this miserable slave also add to the already great misfortune of Haman—that he should be hung on just this gallows which he had intended for the Jews! Poor Haman! Didst thou not know that in such ways as were thine thou hadst no really true friend? Didst thou not perceive that a selfish spirit and hypocrisy formed thy body guard? Not know that those who externally bowed the knee to thee, inwardly gnashed their teeth against thee? True friendship and fellowship can only exist between those who are together united to God. Even then we may often discover the overweening egotism which again loosens such bonds. Where this common bond is wanting, there separation must ensue; there, in fact, each goes his own way. If in such a case all the secret endeavors and aims could be exposed, we would discover a “war of all against all.” It is frequently seen that apparent friends afterward become executioners, who, by their mockery, add to the misery of the culprit. In the future also it will be found that the enemies of the people of God will themselves destroy each other in order that judgment on them may be perfect. There is a universal just government of the world on the part of God. He who is capable of so shameful an act as not only to wish to destroy his enemy, but also to cover him with the greatest possible ignominy, must not be surprised if in his own well deserved misfortune great shame shall also accompany his own end. Whoever digs a pit for others, will himself fall into it. This proverb verifies itself in its fullest sense. It has the ring of Satanic mockery when Harbonah says: “And the gallows also stand ready, and that, too, before Haman’s own house.” There are many people who hesitate not to utter it mockingly, and how good were it for all those who are in danger of entering the way of destruction, should they hear it said loud enough for them to hear, and should they repeat it to themselves: “Also the gallows stand ready without.”
Starke: “It must also so happen in the just judgment of God that since the highest minister of State had caused the highest gallows to be erected in accordance with his greatness of feeling and State position and honors, before which all bowed in adoration to the earth, he should himself be elevated above all other people that were hung.”
Footnotes:
[1][Est_7:5. The Chaldaizing influence upon the language is evident in this vague repetition of the verb אמר, which eventually led to its use in the sense of commanding.—Tr.]
[2][Est_7:5. The pron. הוּא here very nearly approaches a copula.—Tr.]
[3][Est_7:6. אישׁ here is more than the ordinary apposition of class; it is almost a demonstrative like iste. —Tr.]
[4][Est_7:6. The original is very intense: Haman, this bad man. Doubtless her finger pointed to him.—Tr.]
[5][Est_7:9. The position of this clause in the original is more striking, being at the end of the sentence. —Tr.]
[6][“Esther here quotes the exact words of the edict issued for the destruction of the Jews. Thus the king would not fail to understand her, and to learn for the first time that his favorite was a Jewess.” Rawlinson. —Tr.]
[7][“Ahasuerus could not really have doubted; but he affects to doubt, that he may express his anger at the act, apart from all personal considerations.” Rawlinson.—Tr.]
[8][“Like the Greeks and Romans, the Persians reclined at their meals on sofas or couches (Herod, ix. 80, 82; Xenoph. Cyrop. VIII. 8, 16, etc”). Rawlinson. —Tr.]
[9][“Of course the king did not believe his own words. But he meant to tax Haman with a further offence in not sufficiently respecting the person of the queen; and he thereby suggested to the attendants his instant execution.” Rawlinson.—Tr.]
[10][“The Macedonians and the Romans are known to have commonly muffled the heads of prisoners before executing them; but it is not mentioned elsewhere than here as a Persian custom.” Rawlinson.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv7–10 THE KING CAUSES HAMAN TO BE HANGED ON HIS…
THE KING CAUSES HAMAN TO BE HANGED ON HIS OWN GALLOWS. (Est 7:7-10)
he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king--When the king of Persia orders an offender to be executed, and then rises and goes into the women's apartment, it is a sign that no mercy is to be hoped for. Even the sudden rising of the king in anger was the same as if he had pronounced sentence.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv2–9 HAMAN CONVICTED AND HANGED, Est_7:1-10.
HAMAN CONVICTED AND HANGED, Est_7:1-10.
2. The king said again — Compare Est_5:6, note.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 7, 8 2. gave it unto Mordecai] See on Est_3:10.
2. gave it unto Mordecai] See on Est_3:10.
set Mordecai over] entrusted him with the administration of Haman’s property. Haman is represented as possessed of great wealth (Est_5:11).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 (2) What is thy petition?—The king takes for granted…
VII.
(2) What is thy petition?—The king takes for granted that Esther’s invitations to her banquets do not constitute her real request, but merely prepare the way for it.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–10 AT THE SECOND BANQUET ESTHER DENOUNCES HAMAN, AND THE…
AT THE SECOND BANQUET ESTHER DENOUNCES HAMAN, AND THE KING CONDEMNS HIM TO BE IMPALED ON THE CROSS PREPARED FOR HAMAN. (Est_7:1-10) Esther had promised to make her true petition at the second banquet, (Est_5:12) and now kept her word. When the king for the third time put the question, "What is thy petition, queen Esther? and what is thy request? It shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom," she opened all her mind. "If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it seem good to the king, let my life be given to me at my petition, and my people at my request" (ver. 3). My supplication is for my own life and for that of my people no less a danger than this has moved me. "We are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, slain, made to perish." Had it been anything less than this, had we been merely sentenced to be sold as slaves, I had kept my peace (ver. 4); but that did not content "the enemy we are, one and all, to suffer death. Esther"s answer must have made all clear to the king that his wife was a Jewess; that her life was forfeit, like those of her countrymen, by the terms of the decree; that Haman was "the enemy" whom she feared. But he will assume nothing, he will have all clearly set before him, and therefore he asks, "Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to act so?" Then comes Esther"s final declaration, clear, direct, unmistakable: "The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman" (ver. 6), this man here before you, this man who eats our salt, and would take one of our lives. Fiercely angry, but confused and hesitating, the king rises from the banquet, and quits the room, stepping probably through an open door into the palace garden, Now is Haman"s last chance. Can he excite the pity of the queen? Can he prevail on her to intercede for him and make his peace with the king? He entreats, he supplicates, he "falls upon the couch" on which Esther reclines, in his eagerness to win her consent (ver. 7.) At this moment the king re-enters the room (ver. 8), and takes advantage.of Haman"s breach of etiquette to accuse him of rudeness to the queen. The attendants see in the accusation a sentence of death, and "cover Haman"s face" (ver. 8). Then one of the eunuchs, who knows all the circumstances of the case, anxious for that kind of retribution which is known to moderns as poetic justice," suggests that the cross prepared for Mordecai will serve well for the execution of Haman. The king readily consents to the suggestion (ver. 9), and Haman is impaled on the cross which he had erected for his enemy in the court of his own house (ver. 10).
The king and Haman came to banquet (marg. drink). In Persian feasts the solid dishes were few, and the time was mainly passed in drinking and eating dessert (Herod., 1:133).
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HOMILIES BY W. DINWIDDLE Vers. 1-6.
Accused and convicted.
I TARNISHED GILT. Haman would hardly go "merrily" to Esther"s second banquet. His heart would be heavy with the day s disappointments, and his ears would be haunted with the gloomy vaticinations of his friends. The glory of the honour which had so inflated him was dimmed. Worldly delights that are ardently anticipated may be robbed of their promise even before they are touched.
II WHETTED CURIOSITY. The king"s desire to hear Esther"s petition grew with delay. For a third time he asked her to speak, and encouraged her by the largest promise. Idle curiosity is a weakness and a snare. There may be a legitimate and even dutiful curiosity, and that too in connection with individual cases. A loving desire to give help will often justify even a seeming intrusion into the privacy of a friend"s sorrow. A sympathetic word may cause a secretly-burdened heart to open and relieve itself, and thus give an opportunity of affording it the benefit of wise counsel and timely succour. Our Saviour has "a fellow-feeling with our infirmities," and desires the full confidence of his people, that he may help them in their "time of need.
III UNBURDENED DESIRE. The queen knew that the time had come for her to speak. She could no longer delay without injuring her cause. If it is well to know when to be silent, it is also well to know when to speak. It is folly to expose a great matter to a heart that may be cold or hostile. Esther"s matter was exceedingly great, and she could not subject it to any needless risk by a premature disclosure. But now the king was so favourable to herself, and so interested in her secret, as to make it plain that she must tell all. So she laid before the king the weighty burden she had been silently carrying. What a relief to open a secret sorrow to those who can feel for us and give us an effective solace! We can at all times speak to God. Whatever barriers of fear and distrust stand between us and him are of our own making. The Redeemer of men is ready to share our every burden and to exceed our largest desires.
IV POWERFUL PLEADING. Much wisdom and much pathos mark the words in which Esther presented her petition. Observe
1. How heroically she united herself with her people. It was for her ownlife and the life of her people that she prayed. That the queen was a Jewess would be startling news to the king and Haman, and would certainly quicken the fears of the latter. Esther calmly elected to be numbered with the Israelites, and to die with them if they were to die. She only cared to live if they were permitted to live. It was a strong way of putting the matter before the king. It is better to suffer with God"s people than to share the splendours of their enemies. The example of Moses is suggested. (Heb_11:24-26) That of Joshua too. (Jos_24:15) Especially that of Christ, who made himself one with us that he might redeem us from evil.
2. How energetically she described the doom contrived for her people. Sheused the very words of the royal proclamation destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish showing the ruthless determination of the enemy. Then there was an indignant allusion to the bribe. "We are sold, I and my people," to be thus destroyed. A further sting to the listening Haman. Hatred of wrong and pity for the oppressed give force to the tongue of the advocate, when it is free to speak. Strong feeling can only express itself in strong words. Direct and plain are the utterances of a heart that is breaking with a desire to save the innocent. Happy are the victims of evil who have an advocate like Esther. She reminds us of the great Advocate, the one Mediator between God and man. Our elder Brother, the vanquisher of the giant oppressors of our race, ever works and pleads for his people (Heb_7:25; 1Jn_2:1)
3. How pathetically she pleaded the submissive spirit of herself and herrace. If it bad been only bondage that was threatened she would have been silent. Her scattered people were used to hardships, and bad been trained to quiet submission. Yet, as she gently insinuated, even if the enemy had been content to reduce the Israelites to serfdom and poverty, he would not have saved the king" from damage. A free, orderly, and industrious people was of more value to the state than a race of slaves. This was a far-sighted truth much in advance of her day. Insubordination of peoples has generally been the result of oppressive rule. Nations have been wonderfully patient under all sorts of unjust exactions and crushing burdens; but there is a point beyond which the most patient submission cannot go. All are free in the kingdom of God. No oppressions there. Citizens are sons. (Rom_8:14, Rom_8:15, Rom_8:21)
V RESPONSIVE EMOTION.. The pleading of Esther. instantly roused within the king"s mind a turbulence of feeling. "Who or where is the man who durst presume in his heart to do so?" Was he ignorant of the decree against the Jews? Had he sealed it in a careless or drunken moment? Or was he thinking of Haman and his presumption when he cried, "Who or where is the man?" We cannot say. All we know is that he yielded himself up to the power of Esther"s words. We learn several things here.
1. That the worst men may retain a certain amount of good which onlyrequires occasion to be inflamed into indignation against heartless sin. There is a point in every heart which the truth may peradventure reach. This should be encouragement to all workers for God.
2. That it is a good thing to be susceptible to the accents of injuredinnocence. We should cherish sympathy with the weak suffering, and be ever ready to set our faces against injustice and violence.
3. That false friends are worse than avowed enemies. Flatterers likeHaman, who use the power they acquire for selfish and pernicious ends, are more to be feared than rebels or conspirators. A smooth tongue may work greater evil than an unsheathed sword.
4. That we should be thankful for awakenings to unconscious peril, eventhough they cover us with shame. It is less disgraceful to confess our weakness and folly than by persistence in them to allow wickedness to run its course. It may be noble to welcome a light that condemns us, but it can only be despicable and ruinous to close our eyes against the truth in order to shield our pride.
VI RESISTLESS ACCUSATION. Esther"s opportunity had come at last. "Who is the man?" cried the excited king. There is the man, answered the queen, pointing her finger to her second guest. "The adversary and the enemy is this wicked Haman." The charge fell like a thunderbolt on the culprit; a deadly fear seized his heart. There he stood convicted, speechless and trembling. We think of David before God and his prophet Nathan: "Thou art the man". (2Sa_12:7) The avenger may wait, but his time will come. God is long-suffering, but even his patience may be exhausted. D.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 1-7.
A crisis, a plea, and a deliverance.
We have here
1. A most serious crisis. "So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen" (ver. 1). The culminating point in this great issue is now reached. The lives of the chosen people of God throughout all Persia, in all her provinces, hang on this interview between an arbitrary sovereign, his wife, and his minister. Except the wife shall prevail over the crafty and all-powerful statesman, the race must die by one cruel blow.
2. A powerful plea. At the king"s invitation (ver. 2) the queen makes her appeal in simple but forcible language. She appealed
(1) to his affection for herself: "Let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request" (ver. 3);
(2) to his pity for a suffering people: "We are sold," and sold not even to bitter bondage, but "to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish" (ver. 4);
(3) to his sense of what was politic: the loss of so many subjects would be greatly to "the king"s damage" (ver. 4).
3. A great deliverance (vers. 5, 6). Having readily consented to the slaughter of thousands of his subjects, the king with equal readiness consents to their lives being spared. He appears to have been shocked at the idea of what was contemplated; but he had not reckoned on the sanguinary decree including his own wife in its evil range. We learn
I THE MYSTERIOUSNESS OF GOD"S GOVERNMENT. Why the Divine Ruler should allow his Church to come into such terrible danger, barely escaping from utter destruction; why he should sometimes permit such fearful atrocities to be inflicted, not interposing, as here, to save them, but allowing the beheadings, burnings, burials alive, imprisonments, etc. on which so many skies have looked down in different centuries; why he should allow a Haman of ancient times, or an Alva or Claverhouse of more recent times, to wreak such cruelties on the people of God, and why he should choose such instruments to avert and overthrow as one woman"s beauty this we cannot tell. God does and suffers many things which we do not understand. He declines to interpose when we should have confidently expected his aid. The truth is that he is too high and too great, and we are too low and too small to understand him. "His way is in the sea, his path in the great waters, and his footsteps are not known." "His ways are past finding out." We are but very little children before him, and must wait awhile; we shall understand hereafter what we know not now. (Joh_13:7)
II THE GOOD WORK THAT ONE WEAK VOICE MAY DO. Little did Esther think, when she was first accepted as queen, that she would do a good work for her race which should never be forgotten. But the hour came for her to make a great attempt; she made it, and succeeded. Her success was due to her courage and her charms and her address. But these were the outcome of a life of virtue and piety. By the exercise of these she had "bought up the opportunity" (redeemed the time), and "when the occasion came she was equal to the occasion." Wisely use the present, and when the hour of opportunity comes you will be ready to speak, to strike, to suffer, or to save.
III THE UNENVIABLENESS OF RANK AND POWER WITHOUT WISDOM. Judging from the notion of mere worldliness, we should say that Abasuerus occupied the most enviable position in Persia. As king of that great empire, he held in his hand all that men usually desire. But judging from a distance, impartially, and in the light of God"s truth, how little should we care to be such as he was. How unlovely the haste and passion of the man. Hungrily seizing the opportunity of reimbursing his treasury, he makes a decree which would have the effect of slaughtering a race, of ultimately weakening his resources, and of taking the life of his own queen. Happily, but accidentally, in the right mood when the chance is given him of retrieving his error, he turns with characteristic passion and precipitancy on his favourite minister, and wreaks vengeance on his head. Moral littleness in high places is very pitiable.
IV THE UNSUSPECTED RANGE OF OUR ACTIONS IN THEIR EFFECTS. How amazed was Ahasuerus to find that in striking at the Jews he was aiming a blow at his own wife, and so at himself. All our actions, good and bad, stretch further and come closer home than we realise at the time when we do them. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 7 What is thy petition, queen Esther?
Est_7:1-6
What is thy petition, queen Esther?
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Esthers petition
1. When called to speak for God and His people, we must summon up our courage, and act with becoming confidence and decision. Had Esther held her peace, under the influence of timidity or false prudence, or spoken with reserve as to the designs against the Jews and their author, she would have been rejected as an instrument of Jacobs deliverance, and her name would not have stood at the head of one of the inspired books.
2. When persons resolve singly and conscientiously to discharge their duty in critical circumstances, they are often wonderfully helped. The manner in which Esther managed her cause was admirable, and showed that her heart and tongue were under a superior influence and management. How becoming her manner and the spirit with which she spoke!
3. It is possible to plead the most interesting of all causes, that of innocence and truth, with moderation and all due respect. The address of Esther was respectful to Ahasuerus as a king and a husband: If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king. Esther was calm as well as courageous, respectful as well as resolute.
4. It argues no want of respect to those in authority to describe evil counsellors in their true colours in bringing an accusation against them, or in petitioning against their unjust and destructive measures. The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman.
5. It is horrible to think and hard to believe that there is such wickedness as is perpetrated in the world. Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so? We might well ask, Who was he that betrayed his master, and where did they live who crucified the Lord of glory? Who or where is he that dares presume to say, even in his heart, There is no God--that denies a providence, profanes the name and day of God, turns the Bible into a jest-book, mocks at prayer and fasting, and scoffs at judgment to come? And yet such persons are to be found in our own time.
6. We sometimes startle at the mention of vices to which we ourselves have been accessory. who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so? He is not unknown to thee, neither is he far from thee, O king. Thou art the man! And how seldom do we reflect on the degree in which we have been accessory to and participant in the sins of Others by our bad example, our criminal silence, and the neglect of those means which were in our power, and which we had a right to employ for checking them.
7. Persecution is not more unjust than it is impolitic. (T. McCrie, D. D.)
The prudent management of things
I. We see the great importance of capable and prudent management of things. Esthers management of these great affairs is evidently consummate. There is an overruling providence, but there is also a teaching wisdom of God, and if we wish to be fully under the protection of the one, we must open all our faculties to receive the other.
II. We have in Esthers behaviour a very notable and noble instance of calm and courageous action in strict conformity with the predetermined plan. How few women are born into the world who could go through these scenes as Esther does I How many would faint through fear I How many would be carried by excitement into a premature disclosure of the secret! How many would be under continual temptation to change the plan! Only a select few can be calm and strong in critical circumstances, patient and yet intense, prudent and yet resolved.
III. Her boldness takes here a form which it has not before assuaged; it is shown in the denunciation of a particular person: The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Strong language; but, at any rate, it is open and honest and above-board--no whispering into the kings private ear; no secret plotting to supplant the Prime Minister. Every word is uttered in the mans hearing, and to his face. Let him deny, if he can; let him explain, if he can. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
Let my life be given me at my petition.
A plea for life
We have the very same cause for urgency of suit as she had. It behoveth us to say in the presence of another King, Oh, let my life be given me at my petition. There is a royal law, and under that law our lives are forfeited. Life, in the narrative before us, was about to be taken away unjustly--by force of a most cruel mandate; but it is a holy law that dooms us to death. (J. Hughes.)
For we are sold.--
A plea for liberty
We also ought to sue both for our fives and our liberties. By nature we are the bondmen and bondwomen of sin and Satan. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?--
The doings of a wicked heart
I. A wicked heart induces foolhardiness. Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so? Hamans daring presumption. A wicked heart is both deceitful and deceiving.
II. A wicked heart sooner or later meets with open condemnation.
III. A wicked heart leads to fearfulness. (W. Burrows, B. A.)
Moral indignation,
being commonly sudden and intense in uttering itself, furnishes strong testimony in favour of the universal principles of Gods moral law; but we have need to be careful how we indulge in expression of virtuous wrath. It is safe and wholesome for us to pause and ask whether there is no risk that in judging others we may be condemning ourselves. Ahasuerus will feel ere long that he has uttered his own condemnation. (A. M. Symington, B. A.)
The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman.--
The index finger
The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. This is the best way of dealing with every enemy. Definite statements are manageable, but vague charges are never to be entertained. No man makes progress who deals in generalities. The sermon is in the application. The prayer is in the amen. Let us apply this teaching.
I. In the matter of our own personal character.
1. Put your finger upon the weak point of your character, and say, Thy name is Self-indulgence. Tell yourself that you are allowing your life to ooze away through self-gratification. You never say no to an appetite, you never smite a desire in the face.
2. Take it another direction. The adversary and enemy is this infernal jealousy. Your disease, say to yourself, is jealousy. Speak in this fashion when you have entered your closet and shut your door; say, I am a jealous man, and therefore I am an unjust man; I cannot bear that that man should be advancing; I hate him; the recollection of his name interferes with my prayers; would God I could lay hold of something I could publish against him, I would run him to death. Yes, this is the reality of the case, God never casts out this devil, this all-devil; only thou canst exorcise this legion.
3. Or take it in some other aspect and say, The adversary and enemy is this eternal worldliness, that will not let me get near my God.
II. With regard to public accusations.
1. Take it in the matter of public decay.
(1) Who in looking abroad upon the country will say, The adversary and enemy is this wicked liquor traffic?
(2) Or, The adversary and enemy is this wicked official self-seeking?
2. Apply the same law to the decline of spiritual power. It is an easy thing to read a paper on this subject, but who names the Haman? What keeps us back?
(1) Fear of offending the world. The world ought to be offended. No worldling should ever have one moments comfort in the house of God. He should feel that unless he is prepared to change his disposition, he is altogether in the wrong place.
(2) Sometimes the enemy is doubt in the heart of the preacher himself. The man is divided. His axe is split across the very edge. There is no power in his right arm. When he speaks he keeps back the emphasis.
III. We might apply the same doctrine to hindrances in the church. The adversary and enemy is this wicked, cold-hearted man. Whenever he comes into the church the preacher cannot preach; he cannot do many mighty works because that man is there, cold, icy, critical. We are afraid to name the adversary in church; we confine ourselves to proper words, to decent expressions, to euphemisms that have neither beginning nor ending as to practical vitality and force. We are the victims of circumlocution, we go round and round the object of our attack, and never strike it in the face. What we want is a definite, tremendous, final stroke. Esther succeeded. Her spirit can never fail. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.--
Guilt cowardly
Haman was now left alone with his righteous accuser. Innocence is courageous, but guilt is cowardly. Men, with the consciousness of having truth and justice on their side, have risen superior to the fear of death, and stood undaunted before wrathful kings. But this man, haughty and hardened in view of the sufferings of others, no sooner sees that evil is determined against himself than he becomes a poor, unnerved trembling suppliant at the feet of her whom he had most grievously wronged. (T. McEwan.)
Cruel people often cowardly
Very cruel people are sometimes very cowardly. Judge Jeffreys could go through his black assize in the West of England, the terror of the land, manifesting the fury of a wild beast; but when the tide turned, and he saw nothing before him but ignominy and disgrace, he sank into a state of abject fear which was pitiable to see. Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. As he well may be. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv1, 5, 7 Est_7:2. The king said again] Compare Est_5:6.
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Est_7:2. The king said again] Compare Est_5:6.
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Est_7:3. My life, … my people] Esther has had time to carefully prepare her words, and her earnest language rises to the emotionality of poetic parallelisms. We may throw her address into the following form:—
If I have found favour in thine eyes, O king,
And if to the king it seem good,
Let my life be given me at my petition,
And my people at my request.
For we are sold, I and my people,
To be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish.
If, now, for slaves and for bondwomen we were sold, I had been silent,
For the enemy is not to be compared with the injury to the king.
Est_7:4. We are sold] Allusion to Haman’s offer to pay into the king’s treasury ten thousand talents. Destroyed, … slain, … perish] She quotes the very words of the fearful edict, and thus gives a most telling point and emphasis to her plea. Although the enemy] This sentence is obscure, and perhaps Esther meant that it should be ambiguous. The common version conveys the meaning that if the Jews were all sold into slavery, their enemy, who brought this woe upon them, could not, by any payment into the king’s treasury, recompense him for the loss he would sustain. But the Hebrew seems to make this last sentence give a reason for Esther’s keeping silence; namely, because she does not consider the enemy worthy of the trouble and injury it must cost the king to punish him, and counteract the decree of death that has gone forth against the Jews. The enemy] to whom she contemptuously refers is, of course, Haman. Countervail] The Kal participal—meaning, to be equal with; to be compared with. Damage] may be here taken in the sense of injurious trouble, annoyance, vexation.—Whedon’s Com. Thus Esther says (Est_7:4), The enemy has determined upon the total destruction of my people. If he only intended to bring upon them grievous oppression, even the most grievous oppression of slavery, I would have been silent, for the enemy is not worthy that I should vex or annoy the king by my accusation.—Keil.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH. Est_7:1-4
A STRANGE BANQUET
I. The banquet was strange if we consider the incongruous nature of the company. Things are not what they seem, and the three now meeting together at the banquet are not what they might seem to casual observers. They were not happy, could not be happy under the circumstances. Very different feelings now took possession of their natures. Ahasuerus was now stirred up to a sense of his responsibility. Haman must have felt the approach of his doom. The declaration of the wise men and of his wife must have been ringing in his ears. And Esther was roused up to the fact that an important crisis in her own and in her nation’s history was now at hand. A deep sense of uneasiness must have pervaded the company which the wine could not allay. Thus, if we could only pierce the outward we should find that the gatherings of this world are not at all in harmony. Sometimes such gatherings end without any startling revelation; but it was not so in this case. It came to a fatal end for Haman at least. The harmonizing spirit of the gospel of love is the true power by which gatherings may be rendered pleasant and profitable. At the gospel banquet all spirits should harmonize. At the banquet of heaven we may expect complete harmony.
II. The banquet was strange if we consider the unaccustomed constancy of the king. Ahasuerus was evidently a vacillating monarch, to one thing constant never. But now he shows a strange exception. For the third time he asks Queen Esther, “What is thy petition?” The king appears more willing to give than Esther is to ask; and in this he is a type of God. He is indeed more willing to give than the sons of men are to ask. Yea, he gives before we ask; gives in spite of our unwillingness to receive, and of our ingratitude. He is giving every day. Let us be more constant and extensive in our askings. Ahasuerus proves his willingness to give by a repetition of his question. In this he is a small type of the great Giver. He repeats and repeats his assurances of his willingness to give. His invitations and his promises to the children of men are plentifully scattered throughout the sacred records. Ahasuerus showed his willingness to give by a large promise. God shows his willingness to give not only by large promises, but by large bestowals. How many are the bestowals of God! How vast his bounties! What a proof of willinghood in the gift of his well-beloved Son!
III. The banquet was strange if we consider the peculiar character of Esther’s petition. Notice—(a) The graceful modesty of the preface. “If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king.” Could anything be more graceful, more modest, and more artistic? Such words from such sweet lips must have confirmed Ahasuerus in his determination to help the speaker in her present difficulty. It is evident that Esther was a woman of skill as well as of beauty. Modesty becomes the petitioner. Beauty is often arrogant. But beauty’s charms are increased by the presence of modesty. Morally we have no beauty to plead as we come to God in prayer. Modesty is becoming. Yet boldness is permitted because we come to God in the name of Jesus Christ, who always is well beloved. Let us go to God not pleading our deserts, but the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. (b) The natural and the benevolent request. She pleads for her own life, and that was natural. “Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.” Wonderful this intense love of life. Wise arrangement of Divine providence. Through trial, and poverty, and pain, and sickness the human being clings to life. Esther might well ask for life with her propitious surroundings. But Esther pleads for the life of her people, and that was benevolent. Most probably Esther might have secured the boon of her own life without securing the salvation of her people. This, however, would not have satisfied her benevolent nature. Haman was very fearful when his own life was threatened. He was very reckless about the lives of others. Esther was calm when her own life was in danger, and was anxious for the salvation of the lives of her people. A sweet type was she of the Son of man, who came to save the lost. He did not even go so far as to plead for his own life. Yea, he gave his life a ransom for many. He pleads for the life of his people. As Esther’s, so the Saviour’s intercession was successful, and shall be to the end of time. How noble the office to plead for life! Esther pleaded for physical life; Jesus pleads for intellectual and moral life. Not because God has issued a foolish and wicked decree, not because God is a stern tyrant, a luxurious despot, but because the claims of justice must be met, and the interests of God’s moral government must be maintained. Esther asked little for herself. She asked for her life, but that was a prelude to the further request of the life of her people. The granting of one part of the petition was a pledge for granting the rest. Jesus only asks to see the fruits of the travail of his soul. He desires the salvation of men. Ahasuerus would be astonished at the nature of Esther’s request. God is not astonished at the nature of the Saviour’s request. Not like Ahasuerus, God saw the danger, and provided a remedy. Let us believe that God Almighty willeth not the death of a sinner. (c) The timely confession. She acknowledges her people. She confesses that she belongs to the persecuted race. The time has come for confession, and she is ready to face the worst. The queen talks of the outcast, despised, and death-decreed race as her people. A period will come when a more wondrous confession than this will be made. Jesus Christ will bring forth his people in the day of final reckoning. Very many poor and despised ones of earth will then be spoken of by Jesus as “My people.” Are we now the people of God? Let us not despise any in whom the smallest spark of Divine grace is found. (d) The startling avowal. “For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish.” There is more harm done through want of thought than through want of heart. The thoughtlessness of Ahasuerus caused this declaration to come upon him in a startling manner. Very many people are still sold to destruction through this very thoughtlessness. And too often Esthers are not found to interpose between the thoughtlessness and its bitter consequences. Let us think about our conduct, and especially as to its bearing upon other people. (e) The gracious considerateness. “But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage.” How little consideration for others some people possess! A little personal inconvenience soon sets their tongues working, and they do not shrink from giving much trouble to those about them. Esther would have held her tongue had it been a small thing she was called upon to endure. She shrank from giving the king needless trouble. Let us learn to keep the door of our lips, not for reasons of worldly policy, but because we do not desire to give trouble that can lead to no beneficial results. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O God, my strength and my Redeemer.” Thus shall our words be timely. Thus shall our words be profitable to others. Thus our tongues will be silent even in suffering.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Est_7:1-4
Ahasuerus is not more liberal in his offer than firm in his resolutions, as if his first word had been, like his law, unalterable. I am ashamed to miss that steadiness in Christians which I find in a pagan. It was a great word that he had said; yet he eats it not, as over lavishly spoken, but doubles and triples it, with hearty assurances of a real prosecution; while those tongues which profess the name of a true God say and unsay at pleasure, recanting their good purposes, contradicting their own just engagements, upon no cause but their own changeableness.—Bishop Hall.
Trembling soul, if this heathen king is so trustworthy in his promises, then your heavenly King is far more faithful. The former promises only to give the half of his kingdom, but he to give you the whole kingdom. Truth may be crushed to the earth, but it dies not; it can be avoided or offended, yet it will finally come to light and triumph.—Starke.
But in all this the first notable thing is how far apart stand the judgments of the Almighty and those of this world, since those whom the world esteems most happy and fortunate are truly most unhappy and unfortunate before God. Men, indeed, seeing only what appears, and judging according to the outward semblance, would have boldly pronounced no man more fortunate than Haman. But in fact, and in God’s view, who sees the heart, he was of all men the most miserable. For he was inflated with ambition, he was hot with envy, he was bursting with hate, and went to the banquet in the most disturbed state of mind. There rankled in the bottom of his heart the thought of the fresh honour which he had lately been forced to confer upon his enemy; and he was, moreover, goaded to desperation by what his friends had told him to his face—that he himself, having once begun to fall before the Jew, would for ever be his inferior, and that Mordecai would increase in glory and honour.—Feuardent.
“Let me make haste away to my country; there are my excellent ancestors, there dwell my noble relations, there is the constant residence of my dearest friends” (Plotinus). “Oh, happy will that day be when I shall come into that glorious assembly, when I shall have better company than Homer, Orpheus, Socrates, Cato; when I shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the palace of their Friend and mine! Oh, happy day, when I shall come to my Father’s house, to that general assembly, the Church of the first-born, to an innumerable company of angels, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the spirits of just men made perfect!” (Tull). A man’s knowledge of other things may add to his fears, and make his miseries greater; but the more knowledge we have of God, the less our fears and sorrows must be; and when our knowledge of God is perfect, all our fears and sorrows shall be for ever blown over. I cannot omit a brave speech of that noble Stoic which comes to my mind: “If the acquaintance and favour of Cæsar can keep you (as you are made to believe) from some fears, how much rather to have God for your Father and Friend? How little cause have such to be afraid at any time of anything! Death itself is not an evil to a friend of God; he may say, Come, let us go quickly to our Father’s house; our Father calls us” (Epict.).—Janeway’s Quotations.
The concluding words were calculated to draw his attention to the subject as affecting the interests of his kingdom. The Jews were an industrious race. Dispersed throughout the kingdom of Persia, they had devoted themselves to the pursuits of agriculture and commerce. They were captives, but not properly slaves, having their settlements here and there, for the cultivation of the soil or for merchandise, as their inclination led; and, although foreigners, yet mixed up with the general population of the country, and in the character of quiet, peaceful subjects, contributing toward the general wealth and prosperity. That they were not burdensome for their support, but, as to temporal matters, in a flourishing condition, is very manifest from Haman’s offer to pay out of their spoil so large a sum into the royal treasury. To have swept away, then, by a wholesale slaughter, a race so active and industrious as the Jews were, would have been to inflict a heavy blow upon the prosperity of the kingdom. Their spoils might be a present benefit to the royal exchequer, but the loss entailed upon the national wealth would be permanent and irreparable. And the difference would not be great as to the national loss, if they were not to be destroyed, but merely reduced to the state of slavery. If sold as slaves, and carried away into other countries by the slave-merchants of Tyre and Sidon, the price paid for them would be a poor return for the fruit of their continued industry as the subjects of the Persian king. And if they were made slaves in his own dominions, there would be the loss to his revenue of so much active enterprise on the part of a people who paid all the public taxes, and increased the national resources by the cultivation of the soil and foreign trading. Esther seems to have known better than the king did, and better than some modern politicians have done, or yet do, the secret of the wealth of nations. To annihilate an industrious and peaceful people she represents as an act equally cruel and impolitic. To substitute slave-labour for the labour and vigorous and persevering industry of freemen she speaks of as also most opposed to the real interests of the state. This is the meaning of her words: “If we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage.” The sentiment here expressed is far in advance of the age in which Esther lived, and the truth and significance of it have often been illustrated since her time, although only illustrated so as to indicate that its importance was not yet estimated, nor the wisdom of it practically felt. Thus, for example, when persecution against the friends of Protestantism raged fiercely in France and Belgium, and those who preferred the religion of the Bible to Popery had to choose between remaining at home to be massacred, or seeking a refuge abroad, a vast number of the most intelligent and industrious of the population took refuge in England and Scotland, bringing their skill and industry with them to benefit the land of their adoption. History settles it as a fact beyond all question, that these refugees for conscience’ sake contributed more largely to the industrial and commercial advancement of this country than it would be easy to calculate. For in those days we were far behind our continental neighbours in the practice of the mechanical and useful arts; and thus the bigotry and cruelty which drove multitudes to seek an asylum in this island, dried up the sources of the wealth of the countries from which they came, while Britain, on the other hand, was rewarded for opening her arms to shelter the oppressed by obtaining all the benefit of their intelligence and labour, as not only skilful artisans, but peaceful and religious citizens.
And then again, with respect to the difference between the exertions and enterprise of freemen for the real advantage of a country, as contrasted with slaves, Esther’s judgment was far more correct, for instance, than that of the Americans, who boast so much of their liberty and their political wisdom; and her judgment is corroborated by the sentiments of all intelligent travellers, who have recorded their experience in passing through those States of America where slavery is legalized.* The labour which is exacted by the lash is neither so well performed nor so great in amount as that which is paid for. There is no inducement to the slave to cultivate his intellect. When he sees that he cannot better his condition, he naturally sinks into a state of apathy, or endeavours by craft and cunning to over-reach his taskmasters. And thus, altogether, the just law of Providence comes in to punish the avarice and cruelty of those who trample upon the rights of their fellowmen. For while the strength of a country consists, humanly speaking, in the amount of its industrious population, with a full supply of the means of subsistence—every man being free to employ his mind and his labour in the field which he thinks will be most profitable—the increase of a slave population is a source of positive weakness, as well as a growing cause of insecurity. Apart altogether from the evils and sinfulness of the system of slavery, as opposed to the great law of love which Christ came to enforce and establish, and apart from the danger which results from the preponderance of a class between whom and those above them there cannot be any real good-will and sympathy, slavery is a positive loss to a community in all respects, whether moral or social; and Esther spoke the truth when she denounced it as calculated to work damage to the king.—Davidson.
Est_7:1-2. So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. And the king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
Haman, honoured with the king’s society at the banquet of wine, might expect to be consoled for his late disappointment by new expressions of the royal favour. But soon did his hope of any remedy prove like the giving up of the ghost. He was brought to the banquet, not that he might enjoy the queen’s smiles, but that he might hear an accusation against himself, which touched his life, and to which he could not answer.
The king persisted in his kind sentiments towards Esther. For the third time, he promises, whatever her petition was, to grant it, even to the half of the kingdom. Who would not have been emboldened by a promise so often given? To have deferred the petition any longer would have but argued an ungrateful distrust of the king’s sincerity. Let us remember how much greater encouragement we have to present our requests to God, and what distrust we discover of his faithfulness if we do not come before his throne of grace with boldness. No less than six times, in the compass of one sentence,* does our Lord Jesus assure us that our prayers shall be heard.
Est_7:3. Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given at my petition, and my people at my request.
Esther at last ventured to bring forth her request. The nature of the case pressed her. The king’s solicitations urged her. His kindness and his promises encouraged her. Unnecessary delays are dangerous, especially in matters of great importance.
The request was for her life, and the life of her people. The king was no less surprised at this petition than Festus was at hearing the accusation of the Jews against Paul. It was certainly not for any such thing as the king supposed. It never came into his mind that his beloved queen could have any occasion to present a petition to him for her life. Although by his own authority (but without his knowledge) a sentence of death had been pronounced against her, it must have astonished him to hear that she and her people were doomed to destruction; and it must astonish the reader of this history that the king, five years after his marriage with the queen, should have passed a sentence of death upon her whole nation without knowing it. Into such absurdities are princes led who are too indolent to look into their own affairs, and leave them to be managed without control by favourites, who have their own interests to serve, and their own passions to gratify.—Lawson.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 7
Est_7:3-4. Philosopher and enraged emperor. Joseph charged his brethren that they should come no more in his sight, unless they brought Benjamin with them. We come at our peril into God’s presence if we leave his beloved Benjamin, our dear Jesus, behind us. When the philosopher heard of the enraged emperor’s menace, that the next time he saw him he would kill him, he took up the emperor’s little son in his arms, and saluted him with a Potesne, Thou canst not now strike me. God is angry with every man for his sins. Happy is he that can catch up his Son Jesus; for in whose arms soever the Lord sees his Son, he will spare him. The men of Tyre were fain to intercede to Herod by Blastus. Our intercession to God is made by a higher and surer way; not by his servant, but by his Son.—Adams.
There is a notable story which is commonly by divines applied to our present purpose; it is concerning a law among the Molossians, where whosoever came to the king with his son in his arms should be accepted with favour, let his fault be what it might. So let a man be what he will before, yet if he come to God in Christ he cannot be thrust away.—Janeway.
The full chest hidden. In the very last year of the Arctic expeditions, last year or the year before, they found an ammunition chest that Commander Parry had left there fifty years ago, safe under a pile of stones, the provisions inside being perfectly sweet and good, and eatable. There it had lain all those years, and men had died of starvation within arm’s length of it. It was there all the same. And so, if I may venture to vulgarize the great theme that I am trying to speak about, God has given us his Son, and in him all that pertains to life and all that pertains to godliness. My brothers, take the things that are freely given to men of God.—McLaren.
The gipsy horse-stealer. There was a time in our country’s history when, according to our Draconic code, death was the penalty of horse-stealing. This awful sentence was passed on a poor gipsy who had been guilty of this crime, and no hope of mercy was held out. The young man, for he was but a youth, immediately fell on his knees, and with uplifted hands and eyes addressed the judge as follows: “Oh, my lord, save my life!” The judge replied, “No, you can have no mercy in this world; I and my brother judges have come to the determination to execute horse-stealers, especially gipsies, because of the increase of the crime.” The suppliant on his knees still entreated, “Oh, my lord judge, save my life. Do, for God’s sake, for my wife’s sake, for my child’s sake!” “No,” replied the judge; “you should have thought of your wife and child before;” and the poor fellow was literally dragged away from his earthly judge. Haman pleaded for his life, but he was taken to the gallows. Vast is the mercy of Heaven. At the eleventh hour the sinner repenting and confessing and believing may find mercy.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Execution of Haman
The Execution of Haman
4. We are sold] an allusion to Haman's tender of 10,000 talents (Est_3:9). Although the enemy, etc.] The rendering is uncertain; RV 'although the adversary could not have compensated for the king's damage' (which would have resulted from the loss of so many of his subjects); RM 'for our affliction is not to be compared with the king's damage' (or 'annoyance' occasioned by Esther's complaint). Perhaps, 'although no enemy is comparable (to Haman) in doing damage to the king.'
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8. The bed] RV 'the couch,' on which Esther was reclining at the table. They covered Haman's face] preparatory to his execution.
9. One of the chamberlains.. the king] better, 'one of the chamberlains that were before the king said.' Harbonah is mentioned in Est_1:10. Who had spoken good] i.e. by the disclosure of the conspiracy described in Est_2:21, Est_2:22. Hang him thereon] Haman suffered the retribution declared by the Psalmist to await the wicked: see Psa_7:15, Psa_7:16.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 1. The second banquet and Esther’s petition (Est 7:1-4)
THE SECOND BANQUET AND HAMAN’S MISERABLE END
CHAPTER 7
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1. The second banquet and Esther’s petition (Est 7:1-4)
2. Haman’s exposure (Est 7:5-6)
3. Haman’s miserable end (Est 7:7-10)
Est 7:1-4. Esther at this second feast knew that the God of her fathers was at work and that all the hatred against her race came not from the heart of the king, but centered in Haman. In the events of the sleepless night and what followed she must have seen the display of the hand of God. And now she utters her delayed petition. Her petition is that her life may be spared as well as her people. How astonished the king must have looked as he gazed upon his beautiful wife and learned from her lips that her life was in danger. And still greater must have been his surprise when he hears, “For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish.” What a scene! The handsome queen, her marvelous earnestness and eloquence in pleading for her life and for her people; the darkening, astonished countenance of the king, the blanching face of Haman and the others in the banquet hall in great excitement.
And her heart-rendering plea, perhaps mingled with tears which coursed down her cheek, did not fail to produce the desired effect.
Est 7:5-6. The king must have been more than astonished” he must have been angry. Who dared to plot against the life of the beautiful queen and deprive him of her? Who dared to sell her and her people for slaughter? Even then before he hears from Esther the name of the man, he must have realized, that the crouching Haman is the man. “Who is he, and where is he that durst presume in his heart to do so?” Her answer is brief but eloquent. With flashing eyes and pointing her finger to the guest at her side she said, “An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman!” The scene is beyond comparison. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. He anticipated the fearful storm which would break over his head.
Est 7:7-10. The king arose in his wrath. Close to the banquet hall was the garden. There the king went in the heat of his wrath and the great excitement which had seized upon him and made him speechless. When an oriental king or sultan arises angry from his own table, then there is no mercy for him that causeth it. (See Rosenmueller Oriental Studies on Esther.) In the meantime Haman begs cowardly for his life. He must have fallen at her feet with weeping and wailing. And Esther did not open her lips. Then Haman in his agonizing plea falls upon the couch where Esther was. At that moment the king re-entered the banquet hall. He has regained his speech and when he beholds Haman on the couch he utters a word of bitter sarcasm, as if he had designs upon the honour of the queen. No sooner had the king spoken the word, the attending servants covered Haman’s face. This was a Persian custom. The face of a criminal was covered to indicate that he was no longer worthy to behold the light and that darkness of death would be his lot.
The gallows which Haman had prepared for Mordecai is used for his own execution. Critics point out the statement that the gallows 50 cubits high (80 feet) stood in Haman’s house and they raise the question “How could an 80 foot long pole be gotten into any one’s house?” But the word gallows means in the Hebrew “tree.” Probably a tree standing in the garden of Haman was made ready with a rope to hang the hated Jew. It is characteristic of the critics to take such minor things to discredit the accuracy of Scripture.
Typical Application
Haman illustrates the work and the ignominious end of the final Anti-christ who troubles Israel. Haman had almost succeeded. But when the proper moment came God acted in behalf of His people and Haman falls forever. So that coming man of sin will almost succeed, but in the end of the great tribulation, the final 1260 days or three years and a half, with which this age closes, the power of God will be displayed in the complete victory over this enemy of God and man. Haman’s end came by the decree of the king and the Anti-christ will be destroyed by the coming of the King of kings and Lord of Lords.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 7 Esther Pleads for her People
Esther Pleads for her People
v. 1. So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther, the queen, the drinking after the feast being regarded as the most important part of the entertainment.
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v. 2. And the king, being more anxious even than on the day before to find out Esther’s request, said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, repeating his promise in practically the same words, What is thy petition, Queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee; and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom. She had but to name her desire, and the king would place all his resources at her command.
v. 3. Then Esther, the queen, all her pent-up emotions breaking forth with a sudden rush of words, answered and said, If I have found favor in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition and my people at my request; she pleaded with the king that her own life and that of her race might be spared, saved from the impending calamity;
v. 4. for we are sold, I and my people, a very fitting expression, since Haman had paid a large sum of money into the royal treasury to bring about the extermination of the Jews, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish, the heaping of the words showing the depth of her own emotions, and being intended to awaken similar feelings in the heart of the king. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, if the scheme had implied only slavery for herself and her people, I had held my tongue, unwilling to bother the king on that score alone, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage, that is, in the circumstances the punishment of the enemy must be considered less important than the averting of the damage which the king would suffer. Esther thus stated that all other considerations were secondary with her to the one great need of preserving the interests of the king, since all the gold which the enemy might pay would not compensate for the loss of the services which her people rendered to the empire.
v. 5. Then the King Ahasuerus, filled with the greatest agitation on account of the condition revealed by Esther’s words, answered and said unto Esther, the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so? literally, "Who has filled his heart to do so?" For it must have been a heart of extraordinary wickedness which could have thought out such a devilish scheme.
v. 6. And Esther, now fully sure of her ground, said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. It was a moment of most dramatic intensity when Esther thus denounced the man who was filled with such enmity toward the Jews. Then Haman was afraid, he trembled for fear, before the king and the queen, for he had some premonition of what his fate would be. Thus Esther placed her position and her very life in jeopardy for the sake of her people. In the same way all believers who occupy positions of honor and, power have the duty to use their influence in the interest of their fellow-believers.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 6, 8, 9 See how you translated this man's name in Esther…
Haman
See how you translated this man's name in Esther 3:1. (See: How to Translate Names)
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On this second day
"on this second day of feasting"
while they were serving wine
"while the servants were pouring the wine and giving it to them"
What is your petition
The abstract noun "petition" can be expressed with the verb "ask for" or "want." AT: "What do you ask for" or "What do you want" (See: Abstract Nouns)
It will be granted to you
This can be stated in active form. AT: "I will give you what you ask for" or "I will do for you what you ask" (See: Active or Passive)
Up to half of the kingdom, and it will be granted
This can be stated in active form. AT: "If you ask for up to half of my kingdom, I will give it to you" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
king
feast
Esther
kingdom
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 5, 6, 8, 9 7:3-4 my life and the lives of my people:…
7:3-4 my life and the lives of my people: The statement that someone wanted to kill the queen and her family must have surprised and shocked the king. • my people and I have been sold: Esther carefully referred to the huge price Haman had paid the king to approve the decree (3:8-11). She also used the exact terminology of Haman’s decree when she said that its purpose was to kill, slaughter, and annihilate (cp. 3:13). • If we had merely been sold as slaves, I could remain quiet: Esther humbly justifies her request as due to the severity of the attack on her and her people.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.