King James Version
Esther 7
10 verses with commentary
Haman Hanged
So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. to banquet: Heb. to drink
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.</strong> The Hebrew <em>lishto't</em> (לִשְׁתּוֹת, "to drink") emphasizes this is the banquet of wine Esther had prepared (5:6). This is the second of three banquets in the narrative arc: Vashti's refusal at the first (1:12), Esther's selection following (2:18), her first banquet where she delays her petition (5:4-8), and now thi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ne 4:7-23. He Sets a Watch.
**7-21. But ... when Sanballat ... heard that the walls ... were made up, and ... the breaches ... stopped--**The rapid progress of the fortifications, despite all their predictions to the contrary, goaded the Samaritans to frenzy. So they, dreading danger from the growing greatness of the Jews, formed a conspiracy to surprise them, demolish their works, and disperse o...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 7
Chapter Outline
The city committed to Hananiah.(1-4)
Register of those that first returned.(5-73)
**Verses 1-4**
Nehemiah, having finished the wall, returned to the Persian court, and came to Jerusalem again with a new commission. The public safety depends on every one's care to guard himself and his family against sin.
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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine,</strong> The phrase "said again" (<em>va'yomer</em>, וַיֹּאמֶר) references the king's identical question at the first banquet (5:6). The repetition demonstrates royal persistence and curiosity—Esther's delay has intensified the king's interest. The specification "second day" and "banquet of wine" grounds this cli...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
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.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ne 4:7-23. He Sets a Watch.
**7-21. But ... when Sanballat ... heard that the walls ... were made up, and ... the breaches ... stopped--**The rapid progress of the fortifications, despite all their predictions to the contrary, goaded the Samaritans to frenzy. So they, dreading danger from the growing greatness of the Jews, formed a conspiracy to surprise them, demolish their works, and disperse o...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 7
Chapter Outline
The city committed to Hananiah.(1-4)
Register of those that first returned.(5-73)
**Verses 1-4**
Nehemiah, having finished the wall, returned to the Persian court, and came to Jerusalem again with a new commission. The public safety depends on every one's care to guard himself and his family against sin.
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:
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KJV Study Commentary
Esther's petition: <strong>'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'</strong>. Esther reveals she's among those targeted by the genocidal decree, personally appealing for her life and her people's. Her phrasing ('let my life be given me') demonstrates rhetori...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ne 4:7-23. He Sets a Watch.
**7-21. But ... when Sanballat ... heard that the walls ... were made up, and ... the breaches ... stopped--**The rapid progress of the fortifications, despite all their predictions to the contrary, goaded the Samaritans to frenzy. So they, dreading danger from the growing greatness of the Jews, formed a conspiracy to surprise them, demolish their works, and disperse o...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 7
Chapter Outline
The city committed to Hananiah.(1-4)
Register of those that first returned.(5-73)
**Verses 1-4**
Nehemiah, having finished the wall, returned to the Persian court, and came to Jerusalem again with a new commission. The public safety depends on every one's care to guard himself and his family against sin.
For we are sold, I and my people, to 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 countervail the king's damage. to be destroyed: Heb. that they should destroy, and kill, and cause to perish
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For we are sold, I and my people, to 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 countervail the king's damage.</strong> Esther reveals the decree's content: "we are sold...to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish." The threefold description echoes Haman's decree language (3:13), emphasiz...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **We are sold.**—See above, Esther 3:9.
**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 gratitude to one of the race, aided by his present cordiality to herself, she risks, ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ne 4:7-23. He Sets a Watch.
**7-21. But ... when Sanballat ... heard that the walls ... were made up, and ... the breaches ... stopped--**The rapid progress of the fortifications, despite all their predictions to the contrary, goaded the Samaritans to frenzy. So they, dreading danger from the growing greatness of the Jews, formed a conspiracy to surprise them, demolish their works, and disperse o...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 7
Chapter Outline
The city committed to Hananiah.(1-4)
Register of those that first returned.(5-73)
**Verses 1-4**
Nehemiah, having finished the wall, returned to the Persian court, and came to Jerusalem again with a new commission. The public safety depends on every one's care to guard himself and his family against sin.
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? that: Heb. whose heart hath filled him
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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?</strong> The king's question reveals shock and rage—"Who is he, and where is he" that dared (<em>male libo</em>, "presume in his heart") to threaten the queen? The phrase "presume in his heart" suggests audacious evil requiring extraordinary boldness. Ahasu...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ne 4:7-23. He Sets a Watch.
**7-21. But ... when Sanballat ... heard that the walls ... were made up, and ... the breaches ... stopped--**The rapid progress of the fortifications, despite all their predictions to the contrary, goaded the Samaritans to frenzy. So they, dreading danger from the growing greatness of the Jews, formed a conspiracy to surprise them, demolish their works, and disperse o...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-73**
Nehemiah knew that the safety of a city, under God, depends more upon the inhabitants than upon its walls. Every good gift and every good work are from above. God gives knowledge, he gives grace; all is of him, and therefore all must be to him. What is done by human prudence, must be ascribed to the direction of Divine Providence. But woe to those who turn back from the Lord, l...
Read full commentary →And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. The adversary: Heb. The man adversary before: or, at the presence of
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.</strong> When the king demanded to know who dared decree the queen's destruction (v. 5), Esther identified Haman: "The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman." The threefold description—"adversary" (<em>tsar</em>, צָר), "enemy" (<em>oyev</em>, אֹיֵב), and "wicked" (<em>ra</...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Was afraid. . . .**—Shrank back in terror before . . . See the use of the word in 1Chronicles 21:30; Daniel 8:17.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ne 4:7-23. He Sets a Watch.
**7-21. But ... when Sanballat ... heard that the walls ... were made up, and ... the breaches ... stopped--**The rapid progress of the fortifications, despite all their predictions to the contrary, goaded the Samaritans to frenzy. So they, dreading danger from the growing greatness of the Jews, formed a conspiracy to surprise them, demolish their works, and disperse o...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-73**
Nehemiah knew that the safety of a city, under God, depends more upon the inhabitants than upon its walls. Every good gift and every good work are from above. God gives knowledge, he gives grace; all is of him, and therefore all must be to him. What is done by human prudence, must be ascribed to the direction of Divine Providence. But woe to those who turn back from the Lord, l...
Read full commentary →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.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> The king left in rage while Haman, recognizing his doom, begged Esther for his life. The king's departure to the palace garden suggests he needed to process hi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Evil.**—Heb., *the evil, the doom.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ne 4:7-23. He Sets a Watch.
**7-21. But ... when Sanballat ... heard that the walls ... were made up, and ... the breaches ... stopped--**The rapid progress of the fortifications, despite all their predictions to the contrary, goaded the Samaritans to frenzy. So they, dreading danger from the growing greatness of the Jews, formed a conspiracy to surprise them, demolish their works, and disperse o...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-73**
Nehemiah knew that the safety of a city, under God, depends more upon the inhabitants than upon its walls. Every good gift and every good work are from above. God gives knowledge, he gives grace; all is of him, and therefore all must be to him. What is done by human prudence, must be ascribed to the direction of Divine Providence. But woe to those who turn back from the Lord, l...
Read full commentary →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 covered Haman's face. before me: Heb. with me
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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 covered Haman's face.</strong> When the king returned, he found Haman fallen on Esther's couch—either prostrate in supplication or ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **The bed**—*i.e.,* the couch on which she had been reclining at the banquet. This was the customary posture at meals, not only of the Persians, but also of the Greeks and Romans, and of the later Jews. The Last Supper was thus eaten. Haman had obviously thrown himself at the queen’s feet to ask for mercy. The king on his return was evidently full of wrath against Haman, and though he was for ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ne 4:7-23. He Sets a Watch.
**7-21. But ... when Sanballat ... heard that the walls ... were made up, and ... the breaches ... stopped--**The rapid progress of the fortifications, despite all their predictions to the contrary, goaded the Samaritans to frenzy. So they, dreading danger from the growing greatness of the Jews, formed a conspiracy to surprise them, demolish their works, and disperse o...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-73**
Nehemiah knew that the safety of a city, under God, depends more upon the inhabitants than upon its walls. Every good gift and every good work are from above. God gives knowledge, he gives grace; all is of him, and therefore all must be to him. What is done by human prudence, must be ascribed to the direction of Divine Providence. But woe to those who turn back from the Lord, l...
Read full commentary →And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon. gallows: Heb. tree
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.</strong> Harbonah informed the king about Haman's 75-foot gallows prepared for Mordecai. The revelation that Mordecai—who saved the king's life (2:2...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Harbonah.**—See Esther 1:10.
**One of the** **chamberlains. . . .**—Translate, *one of the chamberlains [who stood,* or *served] before the king, said.*
**Hang him.**—In the LXX., *let him be crucified.* The climax of the story is now reached in the pithy words, “They hanged Haman upon the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai.” In his own house (Esther 7:9), that is, probably, in some c...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-73**
Nehemiah knew that the safety of a city, under God, depends more upon the inhabitants than upon its walls. Every good gift and every good work are from above. God gives knowledge, he gives grace; all is of him, and therefore all must be to him. What is done by human prudence, must be ascribed to the direction of Divine Providence. But woe to those who turn back from the Lord, l...
Read full commentary →So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.
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KJV Study Commentary
Haman executed: <strong>'So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified'</strong>. Haman's execution on the very gallows (75 feet high, Esther 5:14) he built for Mordecai demonstrates perfect poetic justice and divine retribution. Psalm 7:15-16 teaches that the wicked fall into pits they dig for others—Haman embodies this principle. The ki...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-73**
Nehemiah knew that the safety of a city, under God, depends more upon the inhabitants than upon its walls. Every good gift and every good work are from above. God gives knowledge, he gives grace; all is of him, and therefore all must be to him. What is done by human prudence, must be ascribed to the direction of Divine Providence. But woe to those who turn back from the Lord, l...
Read full commentary →