The Book of Esther
Esther 7
Chapter VII · Vol. II, p. 933
1 Esther, entertaining the king and Haman, maketh suit for her own life and her people's. 5 She accuseth Haman. 7 The king in his anger, being told of the gallows which Haman had made for Mordecai, causeth him to be hanged thereon.
2 And the king said again unto Esther on the second day, at the banquet of wine, aWhat 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.
a ch.5.6; 1.12.
3 Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, blet my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request.
b Job 2.4. 2 Sa.20.19.
4 For we are csold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish:2 but if we had been sold for dbond-men and bond-women, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's edamage.3
c ch.3.9-13; 4.7,8.
2 Heb. that they should destroy, and kill, and cause to perish.
e ch.3.9. Ezr.6.16. Tit.3.8,14. Is.6.13. Pr.12.26.
3 The damage arising from the loss of subjects, and of the revenue arising from their manufactures and commerce. The revocation of the edict of Nantes, by which so many thousands of French Protestants were destroyed or banished, affords a striking example of the commercial damage a nation may sustain by the loss of so many peaceable and industrious inhabitants.—C.
5 Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart4 to do so?
4 Heb. whose heart hath filled him.
6 And Esther fsaid, The adversary5 and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was gafraid before the king and the queen.
7 And the king, arising from the banquet of wine in his hwrath, went into the palace-garden: and Haman istood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; kfor he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.6
6 He had so thoroughly studied his sovereign's temper and manner that he read in his countenance the fixed purpose of his heart. He had wickedly fostered the violence of his passions, and now, as he deserved, becomes their victim. It is said to be still the custom in Persia, that if the king rises abruptly and retires from a trial, it is immediately taken as a signal of death to the accused.—C.
8 Then the king returned out of the palace-garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was lfallen upon the bed whereon Esther was.7 Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they coveredm Haman's face.8
l ch.1.6; 8.3. Is.40.14; 49.23.
7 Some think he had fallen down on the couch where Esther sat, to beg for his life: it seems much more probable he had fallen in a fainting fit, through fear; for the cruel, who sport with the lives of others, are often the greatest cowards when their own are endangered.—C.
8 Quintus Curtius relates of Alexander, that when he pronounced sentence on Philotas, his face was immediately covered with a veil. And in several eastern countries criminals are still carried to judgment or execution with their faces covered. C.——A criminal was thought unworthy to behold the face of the king. This action was equivalent to placing him before the king as a malefactor to receive his doom. Many illustrative cases might be quoted from ancient historians; and the custom still prevails.—I.
9 And nHarbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows9 fifty cubits[≈ 23 m · 75 ft] high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who ohad spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.
n ch.1.10; 6.14.
9 Heb. tree.
o ch.2.21-23; 6.2.
Notes
Reflections.—God often strangely animates his enemies in power to encourage his people's requests for favour. And a tender regard for natural life at stake makes us very earnest in supplicating deliverance: and surely then we ought to be much more earnest for the life of our own and others' souls. The most ruinous and wicked projects are often laid to gratify men's sinful lusts. And though persecution of the people of God is not only impious, but even exceedingly detrimental to the state, where nothing can repair the loss of pious and industrious subjects, how often is it practised! Men are ready often to startle at the mention of that very wickedness to which they had given their consent! And sin generally becomes vexatious and burdensome at the last. That is often done thoughtlessly with which, on a moment's cool reflection, we cannot but be shocked. Many seem amazed at the wickedness of others, who overlook the same, or a greater, in themselves. And accomplices in guilt quickly become the bitterest enemies one to another. How dejected in adversity are those who were most proud in prosperity! The most insolent enemies of God's people may quickly be glad to bow at their feet. And every motion creates suspicion against a man whose character is once proved infamous and abandoned. All hands will eagerly help down with falling courtiers; and the ruin of the wicked comes upon them in an instant! Yea, the enemies of God's church are astonishingly taken in their own craftiness, and have their pride brought down, their persecution punished, and their mischief returned on their head.
Measures in square brackets are modern equivalents added for this edition. They are not in the King James text or in Brown’s notes. They use common scholarly estimates: a cubit is about 45.7 cm (18 in), a shekel about 11.4 g (0.4 oz), an ephah about 22 litres. Money values give the worth of the silver or gold at spot prices on 28 October 2026, not what the sum would buy in the ancient world.