Esther 8:1

_ON THAT DAY DID THE KING AHASUERUS GIVE THE HOUSE OF HAMAN THE JEWS' ENEMY UNTO ESTHER THE QUEEN. AND MORDECAI CAME BEFORE THE KING; FOR ESTHER HAD TOLD WHAT HE WAS UNTO HER._ On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman ... unto Esther. His property was confiscated, and everything belonging to him, as some compensation for the peril to which the queen had been exposed. In the East, says Chardin, the disgrace of a governor, or other great man, has always involved the forfeiture of his property to the crown. So we find in the decrees of Cyrus. reported by Josephus ('Antiquities,' b. 12:, ch. 1:), that transgressors were to be crucified, and their goods to be forfeited to the king. MORDECAI CAME BEFORE THE KING - i:e., was introduced at court, and appointed one of the seven counselors, Esther displayed great prudence and address in acknowledging Mordecai's relation to her...

1,2 What Haman would have done mischief with, Esther will do good with. All the trust the king had reposed in Haman, he now placed in Mordecai: a happy change. See the vanity of laying up treasure upon earth; he that heapeth up riches, knoweth not who shall gather them. With what little pleasure, nay, with what constant vexation, would Haman have looked upon his estate, if he could have foreseen that Mordecai, the man he hated above all men in the world, should have rule over all that wherein he had laboured! It is our interest to make sure of those riches which will not be left behind, but which will go with us to another world....

CHAPTER VIII _Ahasuerus invests Mordecai with the offices and dignities_ _possessed by Haman_, 1, 2. _Esther begs that the decree of destruction gone out against the_ _Jews may be reversed_, 3-6. _He informs her that the acts that had once passed the kings seal_ _cannot be reversed; but he instructs her and Mordecai to write_ _other letters in his name, and seal them with his seal, and_ _send them to all the provinces in the empire, giving the Jews_ _full liberty to defend themselves; which is accordingly done;_ and the lette

GIVE THE HOUSE OF HAMAN - Confiscation of goods accompanied public execution in Persia as in other Oriental countries....

EXPOSITION HAMAN'S HOUSE GIVEN TO ESTHER, AND THE KING'S SIGNET MADE OVER.TO MORDECAI (Esther 8:1, Esther 8:2). Two consequences followed immediately on Haman's execution. His property escheating to the crown, Ahasuerus made the whole of it over to Esther, either simply as a sign of favour, or in compensation of the alarm and suffering which Haman had caused her. Further, Haman's office being vacant, and Mordecai's close relationship to Esther having become known to the king, he transferred to Mordecai the confidence which he had been wont to repose in Haman, and gave him the custody of

ON THAT DAY DID THE KING, AHASUERUS, GIVE THE HOUSE OF HAMAN, THE JEWS' ENEMY, UNTO ESTHER THE QUEEN,.... That, and all the goods in it, and estate belonging to it; which being confiscated to the king, he gave to Esther, who would have been the sufferer, had his scheme taken place; so the Targum adds, "and the men of his house, and all his treasures, and all his riches:'' AND MORDECAI CAME BEFORE THE KING; was introduced into his presence, became one of his privy counsellors, one of those that saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom, Esther 1:14 FOR ESTHER HAD TOLD WHAT HE WAS UNTO HER; what relation he stood in to her; her uncle, according to the Vulgate Latin version, and so Aben Ezra and Josephus, but wrongly, for she was his uncle's daughter; so that they were brother's children, or own cousins, see...

MORDECAI'S EXALTATION AND THE SECOND PROCLAMATION CHAPTER 8 _ 1. Mordecai's exaltation (Esther 8:1)_ 2. Esther's second petition (Esther 8:3) 3. The second proclamation (Esther 8:9) 4. The joy of the Jews (Esther 8:15) Esther 8:1. Esther the Queen receives from the king the possessions of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Then she revealed what Mordecai was to her, her uncle and foster-father. The king had taken the signet-ring of authority from the hand of Haman. The same ring Mordecai received. Esther honoured her uncle by plac

ESTHER 8. THE KING DECREES THAT THE JEWS MAY DEFEND THEMSELVES. We come now to one of the most important parts of the tale. Esther has seen Haman pass out to death not, be it noted, at her request. Now, what does she seek further? Many have accused her of cruelty, her and her race. Not so the reality. She implores that the bloody decree be annulled (Esther 8:5), and thus, had she been heard, no blood at all would have been shed. But the Gentile mind is not of this kindly sort. Oh no. The king likes to see blood: he is a sportsman. No, no, Esther, the king answers, blood must flow. Ye Jews, defend yourselves. Fight! So they are forced to take arms, directly against their own mind. LXX gives a supposed form of the new royal order, fanciful, perhaps, but based on fact. Away out the fast posts speed, to order this anti-massaore ...

ON THAT DAY. Contrast "On that night", Esther 6:1. THE JEWS' ENEMY. See note on Esther 3:10....

IX. Proclamation of Xerxes, Esther 8:1-17 A. Mordecai's Reward TEXT: Esther 8:1-2 1 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews-' enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her. 2 And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. Today's English Version, Esther 8:1-2 That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther all the property of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Esther told the king that Mordecai was related to her, and from then on Mordecai was allowed to enter the king's presence. The king took off his ring with