Esther5
World English Bible · Public Domain
1Now on the third day, Esther put on her royal clothing and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, next to the king’s house. The king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, next to the entrance of the house.
2When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight; and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther came near and touched the top of the scepter.
3Then the king asked her, “What would you like, queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you even to the half of the kingdom.”
4Esther said, “If it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”
5Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that it may be done as Esther has said.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
6The king said to Esther at the banquet of wine, “What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.”
7Then Esther answered and said, “My petition and my request is this.
8If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the king has said.”
9Then Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart, but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he didn’t stand up nor move for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.
10Nevertheless Haman restrained himself, and went home. There, he sent and called for his friends and Zeresh his wife.
11Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the multitude of his children, all the things in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.
12Haman also said, “Yes, Esther the queen let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow I am also invited by her together with the king.
13Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”
14Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on it. Then go in merrily with the king to the banquet.” This pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.
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