Esther 5:14 - Exposition

Let a gallows be made . Rather, "a pale" or "cross." The Persians did not hang men, as we do, but ordinarily executed them by impalement (see the comment on Esther 2:23 ). Fifty cubits high . This is a very improbable height, and we may suspect a corruption of the number. It occurs, however, again in Esther 7:9 . Speak thou unto the king . Haman's wife and friends assume that so trifling a matter as the immediate execution of one Jew will be of course allowed at the request of the chief minister, who has already obtained an edict for the early destruction of the entire people. It certainly would seem to be highly probable that Xerxes would have granted Haman's petition but for the accident of his sleeplessness, as narrated in the next chapter.