_on the third day_ reckoning as the first day that on which (Esther 4:16) she gave her promise to Mordecai. _her royal apparel_ in contrast with the mourning garb which she had worn while fasting. _in the inner court_ Here the risk commenced: see Esther 4:11. _in the royal house, over against the... [ Continue Reading ]
Esther 5:1-8. Esther's interview with the king Esther is received graciously. The king, however, obviously guesses that she has an important object to gain in thus presenting herself, and so enquires the nature of her request. She is careful not to add to the difficulties of her position by anythin... [ Continue Reading ]
_held out to Esther the golden sceptre_ See Esther 4:11. _touched_ So among the Greeks the suppliant laid hold of the person or the garments of the person to whom the appeal was directed. The Vulgate makes Esther kiss the sceptre (-osculata est summitatem virgae eius"). For the Greek apocryphal Add... [ Continue Reading ]
_it shall be given thee even to the half of the kingdom_ The order of the words in the Heb. indicates the eagerness belonging to a rapid and authoritative declaration: _to the half of the kingdom, yea, it shall be given thee_. Cp. Herod's promise to the daughter of Herodias (Mark 6:23). In Herod. ix... [ Continue Reading ]
That a subject like Haman should be admitted to make a third at the banquet to which the king was invited by his consort, seemed a specially marked instance of favour, arising from the position which the minister held in the estimation of his royal master. The higher the honour paid, the more startl... [ Continue Reading ]
_What is thy petition?_ Esther having hazarded her life, the king recognises that she has some weighty reason for such an act, and in the cheerfulness induced by the banquet a frame of mind upon which Esther had doubtless calculated he repeats his question towards the end of the feast (see Herod. i.... [ Continue Reading ]
Esther's form of reply suggests that for the moment she meant to declare her grief, but suddenly breaks off for some reason which remains hidden from the reader. She virtually acknowledges, however, that she has a weighty petition to present, and promises that, if her two guests will repeat their vi... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the king's gate_ Mordecai's resumption of his old position indicates that he had put off his mourning apparel (see Esther 4:2) now that hope had dawned through Esther's undertaking to plead with the king. _moved for him_ better, as marg., _trembled before him_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Haman's proposed vengeance upon Mordecai The greater Haman's excitement and exultation at having reached the highest pinnacle of dignity attainable by a subject, the more did Mordecai's conduct rankle within him and move his rage; so pointed was the contrast with the extreme adulation naturally exh... [ Continue Reading ]
Haman also on his side uses circumspection in carrying out his vengeful design. Instead of ordering immediate punishment to be inflicted upon his enemy, an act which we may safely assume would in virtue of his position be easy of accomplishment, he consults his wife and his friends. _Zeresh_ The na... [ Continue Reading ]
_recounted unto them_ A.V. less accurately, _told them of_. _and the multitude of his children_ lit. _and the multitude of his sons_. Of these there were ten (Esther 9:7 ff.). Clearly his wife and intimates would be familiar with the size of his family. The point of his remark, however, lies in the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let a gallows be made_ Heb. _tree_. See Esther 2:23. -Fifty cubits" is a hyperbolical expression meaning exceedingly high. The cubit at this time was probably equal to six handbreadths, and thus approximately 1½ feet in English measure. Zeresh and the rest considered it a safe assumption that one w... [ Continue Reading ]