Esther 7:7-8 - Exposition

Ahasuerus rose up from the banquet "in his wrath"—he could no longer remain quiet—and entered the palace garden, on which Esther's apartment probably looked; partly, perhaps, as Bertheau says, to cool the first heat of his fury in the open air; partly to give himself time for reflection, and consider what he would do. Haman also rose from table, and standing near her, began pleading with Esther for his life, which he felt that she, and she alone, could save. Evil , he saw, was determined against him by the king; but a woman's heart might be more tender, and he might perhaps move the queen to allay the storm that she had raised, and induce the king to spare him. He therefore pleaded with all the earnestness in his power, and at last threw himself forward on the couch whore Esther reclined, seeking perhaps to grasp her feet or her garments, as is usual with suppliants in the East. At this crisis the king returned, and misconstruing Haman's action, or pretending to do so, exclaimed aloud, "Will he even force the queen with me in the house?" The terrible charge brought matters to a conclusion—it was taken as a call on the attendants to seize the culprit and execute him. They covered his face , apparently, as that of a condemned man not worthy any more to see the light, according to a practice common among, the Romans (Liv; 1.26; Cic. 'pro Rabir; 4.13) and the Macedonians (Q. Curt; 'Vit. Alex.,' vi. 8), but not elsewhere mentioned as Persian.