Esther5
New Living Translation
1On the third day of the fast, Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court of the palace, just across from the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne, facing the entrance.
2When he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he welcomed her and held out the gold scepter to her. So Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter.
3Then the king asked her, “What do you want, Queen Esther? What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”
4And Esther replied, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a banquet I have prepared for the king.”
5The king turned to his attendants and said, “Tell Haman to come quickly to a banquet, as Esther has requested.” So the king and Haman went to Esther’s banquet.
6And while they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “Now tell me what you really want. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”
7Esther replied, “This is my request and deepest wish.
8If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request and do what I ask, please come with Haman tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for you. Then I will explain what this is all about.”
9Haman was a happy man as he left the banquet! But when he saw Mordecai sitting at the palace gate, not standing up or trembling nervously before him, Haman became furious.
10However, he restrained himself and went on home. Then Haman gathered together his friends and Zeresh, his wife,
11and boasted to them about his great wealth and his many children. He bragged about the honors the king had given him and how he had been promoted over all the other nobles and officials.
12Then Haman added, “And that’s not all! Queen Esther invited only me and the king himself to the banquet she prepared for us. And she has invited me to dine with her and the king again tomorrow!”
13Then he added, “But this is all worth nothing as long as I see Mordecai the Jew just sitting there at the palace gate.”
14So Haman’s wife, Zeresh, and all his friends suggested, “Set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall, and in the morning ask the king to impale Mordecai on it. When this is done, you can go on your merry way to the banquet with the king.” This pleased Haman, and he ordered the pole set up.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Esther 5.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Esther's application received. (1–8). Haman prepares to hang Mordecai. (9–14).
vv1-8
Esther having had power with God, and prevailing, like Jacob, had power with men too. He that will lose his life for God, shall save it, or find it in a better life. The king encouraged her. Let us from this be encouraged to pray always to our God, and not to faint. Esther came to a proud, imperious man; but we come to the God of love and grace. She was not called, but we are; the Spirit says, Come, and the Bride says, Come. She had a law against her, we have a promise, many a promise, in favour of us; Ask, and it shall be given you. She had no friend to go with her, or to plead for her; on the contrary, he that was then the king's favourite, was her enemy; but we have an Advocate with the Father, in whom he is well pleased. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace. God put it into Esther's heart to delay her petition a day longer; she knew not, but God did, what was to happen in that very night.
vv9-14
This account of Haman is a comment upon Pr 21:24. Self-admirers and self-flatterers are really self-deceivers. Haman, the higher he is lifted up, the more impatient he is of contempt, and the more enraged at it. The affront from Mordecai spoiled all. A slight affront, which a humble man would scarcely notice, will torment a proud man, even to madness, and will mar all his comforts. Those disposed to be uneasy, will never want something to be uneasy at. Such are proud men; though they have much to their mind, if they have not all to their mind, it is as nothing to them. Many call the proud happy, who display pomp and make a show; but this is a mistaken thought. Many poor cottagers feel far less uneasiness than the rich, with all their fancied advantages around them. The man who knows not Christ, is poor though he be rich, because he is utterly destitute of that which alone is true riches.
Key Words
שְׁלִישִׁי: third; feminine athird (part); by extension, a third (day, year or time); specifically, a third-story cell)
יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)
אֶסְתֵּר: Ester, the Jewish heroine
לָבַשׁ: properly, wrap around, i.e. (by implication) to put on agarment or clothe (oneself, or another), literally or figuratively
מַלְכוּת: a rule; concretely, a dominion
עָמַד: to stand, in various relations (literal and figurative, intransitive and transitive)
פְּנִימִי: interior
חָצֵר: a yard (as inclosed by a fence); also a hamlet (as similarly surrounded with walls)
מֶלֶךְ: a king
בַּיִת: a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.)
Cross References
Esther 5Esther enters the court on the 'third day' of the fast she previously initiated.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Esther risks the death penalty mentioned earlier by entering the inner court uncalled.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
God disposes the king's heart to favor Esther, illustrating divine sovereignty over rulers.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
The very gallows Haman builds here becomes the instrument of his own execution.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The golden sceptre is extended again later to grant Esther safety and favor.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Herod's similar oath of 'half of the kingdom' echoes the proverbial Persian royal largesse.
Supported by JFB
The king's chamberlains hasten Haman to the second banquet Esther prepared.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Mordecai's refusal to bow or move repeats the stance that originally enraged Haman.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Haman consults the same advisors and wife who later predict his downfall.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The king repeats his offer of half the kingdom at the second wine banquet.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Esther's one-day delay allows the critical sleepless night of the king to occur.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Ahab's childish misery over Naboth's vineyard parallels Haman's joyless discontent.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Haman boasts of his many sons, who are all eventually slain.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Haman boasts of tomorrow's banquet, ignorant of his impending ruin.
Supported by Matthew Henry