are = have been. sold. Implying that a bargain had been made. destroyed . . . slain . . . perish. Note the Figure of speech Synonymia ( App-6 ), to emphasize the urgency of her petition. Compare Esther 3:13 . perish. See note on Esther 3:13 . countervail = make good, or compensate. read more
Esther 7:4. But if we had been sold for bond-men, &c.— Would to God we had been sold for bond-men and bond-women! then I would have held my peace: although our enemy is not of so much worth that damage should be brought on the king. Houbigant. Esther means, that Haman was not a man of such consequence as to countervail the infamy which would fall on the king, and the loss which his kingdom would sustain, by the sacrifice of a whole nation to his resentment. read more
4. we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed—that is, by the cruel and perfidious scheme of that man, who offered an immense sum of money to purchase our extermination. Esther dwelt on his contemplated atrocity, in a variety of expressions, which both evinced the depth of her own emotions, and were intended to awaken similar feelings in the king's breast. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue—Though a great calamity to the Jews, the enslavement of that... read more
Esther’s plea 7:1-6This banquet probably took place in the afternoon, since Haman had already led Mordecai around Susa on a horse that day, and since Haman died later that day.Esther was in a very dangerous position. Not only did she now identify herself with a minority group that Haman had represented to the king as subversive, but she also accused one of his closest confidential advisers of committing an error in judgment. Nevertheless she appealed to the king to do what was in his best... read more
3. Haman’s fall ch. 7The plot of the story reaches a climax in this chapter "in which Haman comes to the end of his rope." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 737.] . The fate of Haman reversed when Esther identified him as the person responsible for the plan to destroy her and her people. read more
The Execution of Haman4. We are sold] an allusion to Haman’s tender of 10,000 talents (Esther 3:9). Although the enemy, etc.] The rendering is uncertain; RV ’although the adversary could not have compensated for the king’s damage’ (which would have resulted from the loss of so many of his subjects); RM ’for our affliction is not to be compared with the king’s damage’ (or ’annoyance’ occasioned by Esther’s complaint). Perhaps, ’although no enemy is comparable (to Haman) in doing damage to the... read more
(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, as indeed she can no longer help doing, the fate of herself and her race on the momentary impulse of her... read more
QUEEN ESTHEREsther 4:1-5; Esther 7:1-4; Esther 9:12-13THE young Jewess who wins the admiration of the Persian king above all the chosen maidens of his realm, and who then delivers her people in the crisis of supreme danger at the risk of her own life, is the central figure in the story of the origin of Purim. It was a just perception of the situation that led to the choice of her name as the title of the book that records her famous achievements, Esther first appears as an obscure orphan who... read more
THE SECOND BANQUET AND HAMAN’S MISERABLE END CHAPTER 7 1. The second banquet and Esther’s petition (Esther 7:1-4 ) 2. Haman’s exposure (Esther 7:5-6 ) 3. Haman’s miserable end (Esther 7:7-10 ) Esther 7:1-4 . Esther at this second feast knew that the God of her fathers was at work and that all the hatred against her race came not from the heart of the king, but centered in Haman. In the events of the sleepless night and what followed she must have seen the display of the hand of God. And... read more
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Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Esther 7:1-10
Haman’s humiliation and defeat (5:1-7:10)After three days Esther approached the king and invited him and Haman to dinner (5:1-4). She was so pleased with their friendly response that she decided to invite them again the next day, in the hope that they would be even more favourable to her (5-8). Haman thought that the honour given him by the queen showed that she, as well as the king, was pleased with him and agreed with his anti-Jewish policy. He decided to take the opportunity of this royal... read more