1 So the king H4428 and Haman H2001 came H935 to banquet H8354 with Esther H635 the queen. H4436
2 And the king H4428 said H559 again unto Esther H635 on the second H8145 day H3117 at the banquet H4960 of wine, H3196 What is thy petition, H7596 queen H4436 Esther? H635 and it shall be granted H5414 thee: and what is thy request? H1246 and it shall be performed, H6213 even to the half H2677 of the kingdom. H4438
3 Then Esther H635 the queen H4436 answered H6030 and said, H559 If I have found H4672 favour H2580 in thy sight, H5869 O king, H4428 and if it please H2895 the king, H4428 let my life H5315 be given H5414 me at my petition, H7596 and my people H5971 at my request: H1246
4 For we are sold, H4376 I and my people, H5971 to be destroyed, H8045 to be slain, H2026 and to perish. H6 But if H432 we had been sold H4376 for bondmen H5650 and bondwomen, H8198 I had held my tongue, H2790 although the enemy H6862 could not countervail H7737 the king's H4428 damage. H5143
5 Then the king H4428 Ahasuerus H325 answered H559 and said H559 unto Esther H635 the queen, H4436 Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume H4390 in his heart H3820 to do H6213 so?
6 And Esther H635 said, H559 The adversary H376 H6862 and enemy H341 is this wicked H7451 Haman. H2001 Then Haman H2001 was afraid H1204 before H6440 the king H4428 and the queen. H4436
7 And the king H4428 arising H6965 from the banquet H4960 of wine H3196 in his wrath H2534 went into the palace H1055 garden: H1594 and Haman H2001 stood up H5975 to make request H1245 for his life H5315 to Esther H635 the queen; H4436 for he saw H7200 that there was evil H7451 determined H3615 against him by the king. H4428
8 Then the king H4428 returned H7725 out of the palace H1055 garden H1594 into the place H1004 of the banquet H4960 of wine; H3196 and Haman H2001 was fallen H5307 upon the bed H4296 whereon Esther H635 was. Then said H559 the king, H4428 Will he force H3533 the queen H4436 also before me in the house? H1004 As the word H1697 went out H3318 of the king's H4428 mouth, H6310 they covered H2645 Haman's H2001 face. H6440
9 And Harbonah, H2726 one H259 of the chamberlains, H5631 said H559 before H6440 the king, H4428 Behold also, the gallows H6086 fifty H2572 cubits H520 high, H1364 which Haman H2001 had made H6213 for Mordecai, H4782 who had spoken H1696 good H2896 for the king, H4428 standeth H5975 in the house H1004 of Haman. H2001 Then the king H4428 said, H559 Hang H8518 him thereon.
10 So they hanged H8518 Haman H2001 on the gallows H6086 that he had prepared H3559 for Mordecai. H4782 Then was the king's H4428 wrath H2534 pacified. H7918
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Esther 7
Commentary on Esther 7 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 7
Es 7:1-6. Esther Pleads for Her Own Life and the Life of Her People.
4. we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed—that is, by the cruel and perfidious scheme of that man, who offered an immense sum of money to purchase our extermination. Esther dwelt on his contemplated atrocity, in a variety of expressions, which both evinced the depth of her own emotions, and were intended to awaken similar feelings in the king's breast.
But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue—Though a great calamity to the Jews, the enslavement of that people might have enriched the national treasury; and, at all events, the policy, if found from experience to be bad, could be altered. But the destruction of such a body of people would be an irreparable evil, and all the talents Haman might pour into the treasury could not compensate for the loss of their services.
Es 7:7-10. The King Causes Haman to Be Hanged on His Own Gallows.
7. 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.
8. Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was—We do not know the precise form of the couches on which the Persians reclined at table. But it is probable that they were not very different from those used by the Greeks and Romans. Haman, perhaps, at first stood up to beg pardon of Esther; but driven in his extremity to resort to an attitude of the most earnest supplication, he fell prostrate on the couch where the queen was recumbent. The king returning that instant was fired at what seemed an outrage on female modesty.
they covered Haman's face—The import of this striking action is, that a criminal is unworthy any longer to look on the face of the king, and hence, when malefactors are consigned to their doom in Persia, the first thing is to cover the face with a veil or napkin.
9. Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows—This eunuch had probably been the messenger sent with the invitation to Haman, and on that occasion had seen the gallows. The information he now volunteered, as well it may be from abhorrence of Haman's cold-blooded conspiracy as from sympathy with his amiable mistress, involved with her people in imminent peril.
10. So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai—He has not been the only plotter of mischief whose feet have been taken in the net which they hid (Ps 9:15). But never was condemnation more just, and retribution more merited, than the execution of that gigantic criminal.