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Esther 7:1-10 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

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 » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Esther 7

Commentary on Esther 7 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Introduction

Haman's Downfall and Ruin - Esther 7:1-10

At this second banquet the king again inquired of the queen what was her petition, when she entreated that her life and that of her people might be spared, for that she and her people were sold to destruction (Esther 7:1-4). The king, evidently shocked at such a petition, asked who was the originator of so evil a deed, and Esther named the wicked Haman as the enemy (Esther 7:5, Esther 7:6). Full of indignation at such a crime, the king rose from the banquet and went into the garden; Haman then fell down before the queen to entreat for his life. When the king returned to the house, he saw Haman lying on the couch on which Esther was sitting, and thinking that he was offering violence to the queen, he passed sentence of death upon him, and caused him to be hanged on the tree he had erected for Mordochai (Esther 7:7-10).


Verses 1-6

The king and Haman came to drink ( לשׁתּות ), i.e., to partake of the משׁתּה , in the queen's apartment.

Esther 7:2-4

At this banquet of wine the king asked again on the second day, as he had done on the first (Esther 5:6): What is thy petition, Queen Esther, etc.? Esther then took courage to express her petition. After the usual introductory phrases (Esther 7:3 like Esther 5:8), she replied: “Let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request.” For, she adds as a justification and reason for such a petition, “we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. And if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had been silent, for the enemy is not worth the king's damage.” In this request עמּי is a short expression for: the life of my people, and the preposition ב , the so-called בּ pretii . The request is conceived of as the price which she offers or presents for her life and that of her people. The expression נמכּרנוּ , we are sold, is used by Esther with reference to the offer of Haman to pay a large sum into the royal treasury for the extermination of the Jews, Esther 3:9; Esther 4:7. אלּוּ , contracted after Aramaean usage from לוּ אם , and occurring also Ecclesiastes 6:6, supposes a case, the realization of which is desired, but not to be expected, the matter being represented as already decided by the use of the perfect. The last clause, וגו הצּר אין כּי , is by most expositors understood as a reference, on the part of Esther, to the financial loss which the king would incur by the extermination of the Jews. Thus Rambach, e.g., following R. Sal. ben Melech, understands the meaning expressed to be : hostis nullo modo aequare, compensare, resarcire potest pecunia sua damnum, quod rex ex nostro excidio patitur . So also Cler. and others. The confirmatory clause would in this case refer not to החרשׁתּי , but to a negative notion needing completion: but I dare not be silent; and such completion is itself open to objection. To this must be added, that שׁוה in Kal constructed with בּ does not signify compensare , to equalize, to make equal, but to be equal; consequently the Piel should be found here to justify the explanation proposed. שׁוה in Kal constructed with בּ signifies to be of equal worth with something, to equal another thing in value. Hence Gesenius translates: the enemy does not equal the damage of the king, i.e., is not in a condition to compensate the damage. But neither when thus viewed does the sentence give any reason for Esther's statement, that she would have been silent, if the Jews had been sold for salves. Hence we are constrained, with Bertheau, to take a different view of the words, and to give up the reference to financial loss. נזק , in the Targums, means not merely financial, but also bodily, personal damage; e.g., Psalms 91:7; Genesis 26:11, to do harm, 1 Chronicles 16:22. Hence the phrase may be understood thus: For the enemy is not equal to, is not worth, the damage of the king, i.e., not worthy that I should annoy the king with my petition. Thus Esther says, Esther 7:4 : The enemy has determined upon the total destruction of my people. If he only intended to bring upon them grievous oppression, even that 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.

Esther 7:5

The king, whose indignation was excited by what he had just heard, asks with an agitation, shown by the repetition of the ויּאמר : “Who is he, and where is he, whose heart hath filled him (whom his heart hath filled) to do so?” Evil thoughts proceed from the heart, and fill the man, and impel him to evil deeds: Isaiah 44:20; Ecclesiastes 8:11; Matthew 15:19.

Esther 7:6

Esther replies: “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman.” Then was Haman afraid before the king and the queen. נבעת as in 1 Chronicles 21:30; Daniel 8:17.


Verses 7-10

The king in his wrath arose from the banquet of wine, and went into the garden of the house ( קם is here a pregnant expression, and is also combined with אל־גּנּת ); but Haman remained standing to beg for his life to Queen Esther ( על בּקּשׁ as in Esther 4:8), “for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king” ( כּלה , completed, i.e., determined; comp. 1 Samuel 20:7, 1 Samuel 20:9; 1 Samuel 25:17, and elsewhere); and hence that he had no mercy to expect from him, unless the queen should intercede for him.

Esther 7:8

The king returned to the house, and found Haman falling ( נפל as in Joshua 8:10; Deuteronomy 21:1, and elsewhere) at or on the couch on which Esther was (sitting), i.e., falling as a suppliant at her feet; and crediting Haman in the heat of his anger with the worst designs, he cried out: “Shall also violence be done to the queen before me in the house?” The infin . לכבּושׁ after the interrogatory particle signifies: Is violence to be done, i.e., shall violence be done? as in 1 Chronicles 15:2 and elsewhere; comp. Ewald, §237, c . כּבשׁ , to tread under foot, to subdue, used here in the more general sense, to offer violence. Without waiting for an explanation, the king, still more infuriated, passes sentence of death upon Haman. This is not given in so many words by the historian, but we are told immediately that: “as the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.” הדּבר is not the speech of the king just reported, but the judicial sentence, the death warrant, i.e., the word to punish Haman with death. This is unmistakeably shown by the further statement: they covered Haman's face. The subject is indefinite: the attendants present. To cover the face was indeed to begin to carry the sentence of death into execution. With respect to this custom, expositors appeal to Curtius, vi. 8. 22: Philetam - capite velato in regiam adducunt ; and Cicero, pro C. Rabirio iv. 13: I lictor, colliga manus, caput obnubito, arbori infelici suspendito .