name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring. (13) And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey. (14) The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day. (15) The posts went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed. CHAPTER IV. (1) When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; (2) and came even before the king's gate: for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. (3) And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, 1 Heb., sackcloth and ashes were laid under many. 2 Heb., eunuchs. The News brought to Esther. and weeping, and wailing; and 1many lay in sackcloth and ashes. 3 (4) So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him but he received it not. (5) Then called Esther for Hatach, one of the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it was, and why it was. (6) So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which was before the king's gate. (7) And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them. (8) Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people. 3 Heb., whom he (9) And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. B.C. cir. 510. had set before her. years later, when the Jews themselves, aided by heathen hands and the powers of darkness, sought to vanquish the Saviour; and as the trembling Jews of Persia were delivered by God's goodness, so too by His goodness Satan himself was overthrown and the Lamb that was slain did triumph. Lieutenants.-Literally, satraps. The Hebrew word here (akhashdarpan) is simply an attempt to transliterate the Persian khshatrapa, whence the Greek satrapes, and so the English word. The word occurs several times in this book and in Ezra and Daniel. (13) Posts.-Literally, the runners. (See Note on chap. i. 22.) (1) Copy.-Heb., pathshegen. A Persian word, only occurring here and in chaps. iv. 8, viii. 13. (15) Perplexed. The inhabitants of the capital were puzzled and alarmed, as well they might be, at so marvellously reckless an order. Their sympathies, too, were clearly with the Jews and against Haman. (See chap. viii. 15.) IV. (1) Mordecai rent his clothes.-This was a common sign of sorrow among Eastern nations generally. It will be noticed that the sorrow both of Mordecai and of the Jews generally (verse 3) is described by external manifestations solely. There is rending of garments, putting on of sackcloth and ashes, (10) Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai; (11) All the king's servants, and fasting and weeping and wailing: there is nothing said of prayer and entreaty to the God of Israel, and strong crying to Him who is able to save. Daniel and Ezra and Nehemiah are all Jews, who, like Mordecai and Esther, have to submit to the rule of the alien, though, unlike them, they, when the danger threatened, besought, and not in vain, the help of their God. (See Dan. vi. 10; Ezra viii. 23; Neh. i. 4, &c.) (2) None might enter . . .-That nothing sad or ill-omened might meet the monarch's gaze, as though by shutting his eyes, as it were, to the presence of sorrow, or sickness, or death, he might suppose that he was successfully evading them. (4) So Esther's maids . . .-It is perhaps fair to infer from this, that Esther's connection with Mordecai was known to those about her, though as yet not to the king. (6) Street. The square or wide open place. (Heb., r'hob.) (10) Again.-There is nothing for this in the original. and it would be better to put and, as the statement of verse 10 is clearly continuous with verse 9. (11) There is one law of his . . .-Literally, one is his law, that is, there is one unvarying rule for such. No one who had not been summoned might enter the king's presence under pain of death. The golden sceptre.-We are told that in the representations of Persian kings at Persepolis, in every Mordecai's Message to Esther. the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days. (12) And they told to Mordecai Esther's words. ESTHER, V. (13) Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. (14) For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there 1enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this ? (15) Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, (16) Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the : 2 Heb., found. Esther Petitions the King. law: and if I perish, I perish. (17) So. Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him. CHAPTER V.-(1) Now it came to. pass on the third day, that Esther put Heb., respiration. On her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, over against the king's house: and the kingsat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house. (2) And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre. (3) Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom. (4) And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him. (5) Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste, that he may do as Esther hath said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared. 3 Heb., passed. case the monarch holds a long staff or sceptre in his right hand. How forcibly, after reading this verse, the contrast strikes us between the self-styled king of kings, to enter into whose presence even as a suppliant for help and protection was to risk death, and the King of Kings, who has Himself instructed man to say, "Let us go into His tabernacle and fall low on our knees before His footstool." (14) Enlargement.-Literally, a breathing-space. From another place. Although he does not explain his meaning, and, indeed, seems to be speaking with studied reserve, still we may suppose that Mordecai here refers to Divine help, which he asserts will be vouchsafed in this extremity. It does not necessarily follow that we are to see in this declaration a proof of the earnestness of Mordecai's faith; probably had his faith been like that of many of his countrymen he would not have been in Persia at all, but with the struggling band in Judæa. Thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed. That is, by the hand of God, who having raised thee to this pitch of glory and power will require it from thee, if thou fail in that which it plainly devolves upon thee to do. It is clear there is a good deal of force in these last words of Mordecai. Esther's rise had been so marvellous that one might well see in it the hand of God, and if so there was clearly a very special object in view, which it must be her anxious care to work for. In the whole tone of the conversation, however, there seems a lack of higher and more noble feelings, an absence of any suggestion of turning for aid to God; and thus in return, when God carries out His purpose, and grants deliverance, it seems done indirectly, without the conferring of any special blessing on the human instruments. V. (1) The third day. That is, of the fast. (See above, chap. iv. 16.) Royal apparel.-Literally, royalty. (3) To the half of the kingdom. This tremendous offer occurs in further promises of Ahasuerus (chaps. v. 6, vii. 2). The same reckless promise is made by Herod Antipas to the daughter of Herodias (St. Mark vi. 23). (4) Let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet.-It was natural enough that, with so much depending on her request, the queen should show some hesitation: if anything took an untoward turn (for, in spite of the king's promise, she evidently felt uneasy) it might mean total ruin. She therefore temporises; she at any rate gains time, she secures a specially favourable opportunity for bringing forward the request, and the king clearly sees that she has kept her real petition in reserve, by himself again raising the question. It will be noticed that so long as Esther is working her way up to the due vantage-ground, the king is addressed in the third person, "let the king come," but when she makes the decisive appeal, in the second, “in thy sight, O king." (6) And the king said unto Esther at 1 Heb., to do. the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be per come. formed. (7) Then answered Esther, and 2 Heb., caused to to the banquet that I shall prepare for 3 Heb., tree. 4 Heb., the king's (9) Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai. (10) Nevertheless Haman refrained himself: and when he came home, he sent and called for his (11) And friends, and Zeresh his wife. Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of 6 Heb., threshold. Or, Bigthan, ch. (6) The banquet of wine.-The continuation of the banquet of verse 5: the dessert, so to speak. (9) He stood not up.-In chap. iii. 2 we saw that Mordecai refused to bow or prostrate himself to Haman, here he refuses even the slightest sign of respect. The honourable independence of the former case here becomes indefensible rudeness. (10) Zeresh.-A name probably derived from an old Persian word for "gold." According to the Targum she was the daughter of Tatnai," the governour on this side the river," i.e., of that part of the Persian Empire which lay beyond the Euphrates (Ezra v. 3). (11) Told them. . -As all this was of necessity sufficiently well known to his hearers, this was simply a piece of vain-glorious boasting, the pride that "goeth before destruction." The multitude of his children.-He had ten sons (chap. ix. 10). (13) Availeth me nothing.-Better, suiteth, contenteth me not. (14) Gallows.-Literally, tree; the Hebrew word, as well as the corresponding Greek word used by the LXX., standing both for the living tree and the artificial structure. Doubtless the punishment intended for Mordecai was crucifixion, for hanging, in the common sense of the term, does not seem to have been in use among the Persians. The same Hebrew word occurring above (chap. ii. 23) is rendered tree. The Greek word employed is the same as that used in the New Testament for our Saviour's cross (Acts v. 30, x. 39, &c.). The Latin Vulgate here actually renders the word on its last occurrence by crucem. Fifty cubits high. That is, about seventy-five feet; the great height being to call as much attention invited by Esther to a Banquet. the king. (12) Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to morrow am I invited unto her also with the king. (13) Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate. (14) Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made. 3 CHAPTER VI.-(1) On that night *could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. (2) And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of 5 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 as possible to the execution, that thereby Haman's glory might be proportionately increased. VI. (1) Could not the king sleep.-Literally, the king's sleep fled away. Here, in the most striking way in the whole book, the workings of God's providence on behalf of His people are shown. God Himself is here, though His name be absent." The king's sleepless night falls after the day when Haman has resolved to ask on the morrow for Mordecai's execution, a foretaste of the richer vengeance he hopes to wreak on the whole nation of the Jews. It is by a mere chance, one would say, looking at the matter simply in its human aspect, that the king should call for the book of the royal chronicles, and not for music. It was by a mere chance too, it might seem, that the reader should happen to light upon the record of Mordecai's services; and yet when all these apparent accidents are wrought up into the coincidence they make, how completely is the providence visible, the power that will use men as the instruments of its work, whether they know it, or know it not, whether they be willing or unwilling, whether the glory of God is to be manifested in and by and through them, or manifested on them only. They were read before the king.-Canon Rawlinson remarks that there is reason to think that the Persian kings were in most cases unable to read. (2) It was found written.-See chap. ii. 21-23. (3) What honour and dignity hath been done. The names of those who were thought worthy of being accounted "royal benefactors were enrolled on a special list, and they were supposed to be suitably rewarded, though not necessarily at the time. The reward Haman compelled to Give Orders ESTHER, VI for the Honouring of Mordecai. and dignity hath been done to Mordecai | Heb., in whose horse be delivered to the hand of one honour the king honour the king of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and 5 bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour. (10) Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the And the king bring the royal horse, as thou hast said, and do even so 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. (5) And the king's servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. 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 thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself? (7) And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour, (8) let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head: (9) and let this apparel and 3 Heh., let them to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken. (1) Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed the king clotheth 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 de 4 Heb., wherewith 5 Heb, cause him lighteth to honour. to ride. 6 Heb., suffer not a however was, in theory at any rate, a thing to which the "benefactor" had a distinct claim, and an almost legal right. (4) Haman was come.-It being at length morning, Haman had come to the palace in due course, and was waiting in the outer court till the king should call for him. The king in the inner court ponders what recompense to bestow upon Mordecai, Haman in the outer court stands ready primed with a request that he may be hanged. (6) Whom the king delighteth . . .-Literally, in whose honour the king delighteth. (8) Let the royal apparel be brought These exceedingly great distinctions Haman suggests, thinking with unaccountable vanity (for nothing is said or implied as to any service rendered by him to the king) that the king must necessarily have been referring to him, and in a moment he is irretrievably committed. Whether Haman's character had at its best estate much discretion, or whether he rose to his high position, not by the qualities that should commend a statesman to a king, but, like many another Eastern Vizier, had by flattery and base arts gained the royal favour, we cannot say; here he shows the lack of the most ordinary discretion, his vanity is so inordinate that he cannot see the possibility of any one's merits save his own. The request which Haman made may be illustrated by the permission granted by Xerxes to his uncle Artabanus to put on the royal robes and sleep in the royal bed at Susa (Herod. vii. 15-17). The horse that the king rideth upon. Thus Pharaoh, desiring to honour Joseph, made him ride in his own chariot (Gen. xli. 43): David, wishing to show that Solomon had really become king in his father's lifetime, commands that he should ride on the king's mule (1 Kings i. 33, 44). And the crown royal which is set upon his head.-If we take the Hebrew here quite literally, the (12) And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered. (13) And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thing meaning must be and on whose (i.e., the horse's) head a royal crown is set. The only objection to this view is, that there appears to be no evidence of such a custom among the Persians. Some render, and that a (or the the Hebrew is necessarily ambiguous in such a case) royal crown be set, but this we consider does violence to the Hebrew. It must be noted that both the king in his reply, and the writer in describing what actually took place, make no mention of a crown as worn by Mordecai, nor does Haman in the following verse. (9) Noble.-See above, chap. i. 3, Note. Street. See above, chap. iv. 6, Note. (10) The Jew.-Mordecai's nationality would doubtless be given in the book of records. Thus Esther, in urging her petition by-and-by, has already on her side the king's good-will to one prominent member of the proscribed race. .-It would be a grim (11) Then took Haman and curious study to analyse Haman's feelings at this juncture. Various thoughts were mingled there. Self-reproach, perhaps, that he had so thoughtlessly been the cause of the present display, bitter hatred of his rival now multiplied a thousandfold, and the evident knowledge that the game was played out, and that he was ruined. The more subtle the brain, the more truly must he have known this. (12) Mordecai came again to the king's gate. -He had received his reward, and to the Eastern, who sees continually the Vizier and the poor man exchange places, there would be nothing startling in this resumption of the former humble post. His head covered.-În token of mourning. (13) Told. The same word as on a former occasion, chap. v. 11. Then the tale was one of boastful pride in what he had, and no less boastful pride in what he hoped to be; now it is of bitter disappointment and bitter anticipation, not brightened by any of the thoughts which blunt the keenness of many a sorrow, that had befallen him. Then said his 1 Heb., to drink. The King's Wrath. be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not counter thou shalt not prevail against him, but 2 Heb, that they vail the king's damage. shalt surely fall before him. (14) And while they were yet talking with him, came the king's chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared. CHAPTER VII.) So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. (2) And the king said again unto 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. (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 me at my petition, and my people at my request: should destroy, hath filled him. (5) Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so? (6) And Esther said, "The adversary and enemy is this 3 Heb., whose heart Wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid 5 before the king and the queen. 4 Heb., The man 5 Or, at the pre- () for we are sold, I and my people, to 6 Heb., with me. as when men have nobly done their duty, though it is not God's will that their efforts should succeed for the time, and when the hope could be cherished that a brighter time must dawn before long. Nothing of this comfort could be Haman's. He had not failed in an honest discharge of his duty, but in a cruel and unjust scheme (not that the king can be called a whit better in this matter); he knew the usages of his country far too well to suppose for a moment that, after having made such an attempt, and having failed, he would be allowed to try a second time. If Mordecai . . . before whom thou hast begun...-Poor comfort does the unfortunate schemer get from his household; he knew too well already that he had begun to fall, his heart must have told him all too truly that it was but the beginning: what then could he expect from this communication to his family? Had he been the representative of a fallen cause, fallen but not discredited, despairing even of his cause, yet not ashamed of the course that had resulted thus, he might have been helped with counsel and cheering and sympathy. Contrast Zeresh's perhaps last words to her husband with those, for example, of the wife of good John Rogers, or of Rowland Taylor, on their way to the stake, in the days of the Marian persecution. 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. (4) We are sold.-See above, chap. iii. 9. To be destroyed. -Literally, to destroy and to kill, and to cause to perish. The identical words used in the king's proclamation for the destruction of the Jews. Herein Esther at once makes confession of her nationality, and relying on the king's still recent (7) And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and 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. (8) Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. 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 gratitude to one of the race, aided by his present cordiality to herself, she risks, as indeed she can no longer help doing, the fate of herself and her race on the momentary impulse of her fickle lord. Happily for her, God has willed that these, perhaps at any other time untrustworthy grounds of reliance, shall suffice. The "hearts of kings are in His rule and governance," and now the heart of one is "disposed and turned, as it seemeth best to His godly wisdom." ... Although the enemy -The meaning of this clause is not quite clear. The literal translation is, although (or because) the enemy is not equal to (i.e., does not make up for) the king's hurt. This may mean (a) that Haman, though willing to pay a large sum into the royal treasury, cannot thereby make up for the loss which the king must incur by wholesale massacre being carried on in his realm; or (b) were we merely to be sold into slavery, instead of being killed outright, I should have said nothing, because the enemy was not one worth the king's while to trouble himself about." We prefer the former view. The word "enemy" is that translated adversary, in verse 6, and properly means one who oppresses, afflicts, distresses. The word which is, literally, equal to, comparable with, has already occurred in chaps. iii. 8, v. 13. (6) Was afraid. -Shrank back in terror before. . . See the use of the word in 1 Chron. xxi. 30; Dan. viii. 17. (7) Evil.-Heb., the evil, the doom. |