CHAPTER III _Ahasuerus exalts Haman the Agagite, and commands all his_ _officers to do him reverence, which Mordecai refuses_, 1-3. _Haman, informed of Mordecai's refusal, plots his destruction,_ _and that of the Jews_, 4-6. _Lots are cast to find out the proper time_, 7. _Haman accuses the Je... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 3:2. _THE KING'S SERVANTS, THAT WERE IN THE KING'S GATE_] By _servants_ here, certainly a higher class of _officers_ are intended than _porters_; and Mordecai was one of those officers, and came to the gate with the others who were usually there in attendance to receive the commands of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 3:7. _THE FIRST MONTH_] That is, of the _civil_ year of the Jews. _THE MONTH NISAN_] Answering to a part of our _March_ and _April_. _THE TWELFTH YEAR OF KING AHASUERUS_] According to the chronology in our Bibles, about _five hundred and ten years_ before Christ. _THEY CAST PUR, THA... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 3:8. _THEIR LAWS_ ARE _DIVERSE FROM ALL PEOPLE_] Such they certainly were; for they worshipped the _true_ God according to _his_ _own laws_; and this was not done by any other people then on the face of the earth.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 3:9. _LET IT BE WRITTEN THAT THEY MAY BE DESTROYED_] Let it be _enacted_ that they may all be put to death. By this he would throw all the odium off himself, and put it on the king and his counsellors; for he wished the thing to pass into a law, in which _he_ could have but a small shar... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 3:10. _THE KING TOOK HIS RING_] In this ring was no doubt included his _privy seal_, and he gave this to Haman, that when he had formed such a _decree_ as he thought fit, he might seal it with this _ring_, which would give it its due force and influence among the rulers of the province... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 12. _UNTO THE KING'S LIEUTENANTS_] אחשדרפני _achashdarpeney_. This is in all probability another _Persian_ word, for there is nothing like it in the _Hebrew_ language, nor can it be fairly deduced from any _roots_ in that tongue. The _Vulgate_ translates _ad_ _omnes satrapas regis_, to all the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 3:13. _TO DESTROY, SO KILL, AND TO CAUSE TO PERISH_] To put the whole of them to death in _any manner_, or by _every way_ and _means_. TAKE _THE SPOIL OF THEM FOR A PREY._] Thus, whoever killed a Jew had his property for his trouble! And thus the hand of every man was armed against th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 3:15. _THE POSTS_] Literally, the _couriers_, the _hircarrahs_, those who carried the public despatches; a species of public functionaries, who have been in use in all nations of the world from the remotest antiquity. _THE DECREE WAS GIVEN AT SHUSHAN_] It was _dated_ from the royal Sus... [ Continue Reading ]