The Book of Esther
Esther 6
Chapter VI · Vol. II, p. 932
1 Ahasuerus, hearing read in the chronicles the good service done by Mordecai, taketh care for his reward. 4 Haman, coming to sue that Mordecai might be hanged, unawares giveth counsel that he might do him honour. 12 Complaining of his misfortune, his friends foretell him of his fall.
1 On that night could not the king sleep;1 and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles;2 and they were read before the king.3
1 Heb. the king's sleep fled away.
2 These chronicles were written in verse, and would therefore form an embellished narrative, well suited to amuse the sleepless king. The famous Persian poem of Ferdoosy is nothing but such a chronicle of events from the creation till the tenth century. Similar poetic records may be found in all countries emerging from barbarism; and, in Persia, they continue down till the present day.—C.
3 We have here a key to Esther's postponement of her request. She was guided from first to last by divine wisdom. She may not herself have been fully conscious of it; yet still she was an instrument in God's hands. Matters were not yet ripe for action. The gallows had not been erected. Mordecai's loyalty and devotion had not been fully developed.—P.
2 And it was found written, That Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
3 And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.
4 And the king said, Who is in the court? (Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.)4
4 What a blessing is a government where liberty, and life, and death stand not in the will of any man, but solely in the law, openly administered, and deciding upon public evidence, not upon private insinuation! Haman, without any proof of crime, had obtained sentence of death against a nation, and now by a single writ expects the immediate execution of Mordecai! Yet, in lands of law and liberty, let it never be forgotten, that every nation was at one period of its history despotically governed, and that to the light of Christianity is due all the real liberties that any nation has established and enjoyed.—C.
5 And the king's servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.
6 So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? (Now Haman athought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?)
a Ps.10.13. Is.10.7-14. Ob.3. Pr.18.12; 16.18.
8 Let the royal apparel be brought6 which the king useth7 to wear,8 and the chorse that the king rideth upon, and the crown-royal which is set upon his head;9
6 Heb. Let them bring the royal apparel.
7 Heb. wherewith the king clotheth himself.
8 Xenophon relates that the robe of Cyrus was half purple, half white, and that for any one to wear such a robe was a capital offence. This proposal of Haman was therefore high presumption, and indicates a mind abandoned to vanity, and ruined by success.—C.
c 1 Ki.1.33.
9 This 'crown-royal' was most probably some regal ornament for the head of the horse, not of the man. To put the crown upon his own head, even Haman, in all his pride, would scarcely have dared to propose. This custom of crowning a horse led in state still prevails in Ethiopia.—C.
9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback1 through the street of the city, and dproclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
1 Heb. cause him to ride.
d Ge.41.43.
10 Then the king said to Haman, eMake haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail2 of all that thou hast spoken.
e Job 5.11-13. Mi.7.8. Lu.14.11.
2 Heb. suffer not a whit to fail.
11 Then ftook Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour.3
12 And Mordecai gcame again to the king's gate: but Haman hasted to his house mourning, and hhaving his head covered.
g Ps.131.1,2.
h 2 Sa.15.30. Je.14.4. Job 20.5. Pr.11.8; 1.31; 21.18. Ps.9.15,16.
13 And Haman told Zeresh his iwife and all his friends every thing that had befallen him. Then said his kwise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, lIf Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.4
i ch.5.10-14.
k ch.1.13. Ge.41.8. Da.2.12. Mat.2.1.
l Da.6.4-24. 1 Sa.5.3. Am.8.14. Zec.12.2-9.
4 Fully aware of Haman's evil purposes against the Jewish nation, they conclude that Mordecai will show little mercy to the fallen Agagite. In this they judged Mordecai by themselves, or inwardly dreaded that righteous retribution which their own consciences told them they deserved.—C.
14 And while they were yet talking with him, came the king's chamberlains, and mhasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.
m Je.22.7. De.32.35,36.
Notes
Reflections.—How unsearchable are God's judgments, and his ways past finding out! By the most insignificant trifles can he promote his most important purposes. Happy are those who have the sleep of his beloved granted to them: or if their eyes be debarred from rest, can employ their minds in sweet surveys of the annals of redeeming love! The natural law of gratitude, even towards the meanest inferior, is binding upon the conscience. But how little notice earthly princes take of their mean servants and friends, when they often know not whether their important services have been rewarded or not! Nay, often the greatest merits and best services are least rewarded at courts. That modesty and self-denial which are of so great price before God, hinder men's preferment in this world; whilst forward flatterers thrust themselves into honours. The longer we have neglected to recompense favours done us we should the more abundantly reward them at last. But pride and ambition are never satisfied with the most accumulated honours. And it is dangerous for courtiers to have too high an opinion of their own merits, and of their interest with princes, or to presume on more than they really have. Kings ought always to delight in honouring the deserving, and encouraging those that do well. But how confounding is it to proud spirits to be obliged to confer that honour on the distinguished objects of their hatred and contempt, which they had carved out for themselves! Miserable comforters in a day of distress are those who flatter us in the time of our prosperity; and it is in vain to fight against those whom God protects. But none hurry faster downwards than falling favourites at courts. And sad presages of approaching ruin often seize upon sinners before destruction comes upon them to the uttermost.