Esther Chapter 7
1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
2 The king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, "What is your petition, queen Esther? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed."
3 Then Esther the queen answered, "If I have found favour in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request.
4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for male and female slaves, I would have held my peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the king's loss."
5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, "Who is he, and where is he who dared presume in his heart to do so?"
6 Esther said, "An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman!" Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
7 The king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden. 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 had fallen on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, "Will he even assault the queen in front of me in the house?" As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.
9 Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king said, "Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman's house." The king said, "Hang him on it!"
10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath was pacified.
Footnotes
- Verse 9 (Cubit)
- A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man's arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimetres.
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Esther Chapter 7 Guide
Events now moved rapidly forward. By the way of the banquet Haman passed to the gallows. It was a fierce and terrible judgment, and yet characterized by poetic justice. The man who for no reason other than his pride had prepared the gallows for Mordecai found himself suddenly stripped of all authority and ending his career by the very instrument his brutality had prepared for another.
The very core of Haman's hatred for Mordecai was his own self-centred and self-consuming pride and ambition. This was of so masterful a nature that one man's refusal to render homage to him inspired in him such hatred that he was determined to encompass, not the death of that man only, but also of all those who bore blood relation to him. The nets of evil plotting and malicious enterprise swing far out in the tides of human life, but never far enough to enmesh God. He remains beyond them all, and gathering them in the hands of His power He makes them include the men who weave them to destroy others.
From "An Exposition of the Whole Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan.
Esther Chapter 7 Commentary
Chapter Outline
- Esther accuses Haman. -- (1-6)
- Haman hanged on his own gallows. -- (7-10)
Verses 1-6
If the love of life causes earnest pleadings with those that can only kill the body, how fervent should our prayers be to Him, who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell! How should we pray for the salvation of our relatives, friends, and all around us! When we petition great men, we must be cautious not to give them offence; even just complaints must often be kept back. But when we approach the King of kings with reverence, we cannot ask or expect too much. Though nothing but wrath be our due, God is able and willing to do exceeding abundantly, even beyond all we can ask or think.
Verses 7-10
The king was angry: those that do things with self-will, reflect upon them afterward with self-reproach. When angry, we should pause before we come to any resolution, and thus rule our own spirits, and show that we are governed by reason. Those that are most haughty and insolent when in power and prosperity, commonly, like Haman, are the most abject and poor-spirited when brought down. The day is coming when those that hate and persecute God's chosen ones, would gladly be beholden to them. The king returns yet more angry against Haman. Those about him were ready to put his wrath into execution. How little can proud men be sure of the interest they think they have! The enemies of God's church have often been thus taken in their own craftiness. The Lord is known by such judgments. Then was the king's wrath pacified, and not till then. And who pities Haman hanged on his own gallows? who does not rather rejoice in the Divine righteousness displayed in the destruction his own art brought upon him? Let the workers of iniquity tremble, turn to the Lord, and seek pardon through the blood of Jesus.
From the "Concise Commentary on the Bible" by Matthew Henry.