Esther 7
7
The King Has Haman Executed
1 So the king and Haman came to dine#tn Heb “to drink”; NASB “to drink wine.” The expression is a metaphor for lavish feasting, cf. NRSV “to feast”; KJV “to banquet.” with Queen Esther. 2 On the second day of the banquet of wine the king asked Esther, “What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you. And what is your petition? Ask up to half the kingdom, and it shall be done!”
3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have met with your approval,#tn Heb “If I have found grace in your eyes” (so also in 8:5); TEV “If it please Your Majesty.” O king, and if the king is so inclined, grant me my life as my request, and my people as my petition. 4 For we have been sold#sn The passive verb (“have been sold”) is noncommittal and nonaccusatory with regard to the king’s role in the decision to annihilate the Jews. – both I and my people – to destruction and to slaughter and to annihilation! If we had simply been sold as male and female slaves, I would have remained silent, for such distress would not have been sufficient for troubling the king.”
5 Then King Ahasuerus responded#tc The second occurrence of the Hebrew verb וַיּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”) in the MT should probably be disregarded. The repetition is unnecessary in the context and may be the result of dittography in the MT. to Queen Esther, “Who is this individual? Where is this person to be found who is presumptuous enough#tn Heb “has so filled his heart”; NAB “who has dared to do this.” to act in this way?”
6 Esther replied, “The oppressor and enemy is this evil Haman!”
Then Haman became terrified in the presence of the king and queen. 7 In rage the king arose from the banquet of wine and withdrew to the palace garden. Meanwhile, Haman stood to beg Queen Esther for his life,#sn There is great irony here in that the man who set out to destroy all the Jews now finds himself begging for his own life from a Jew. for he realized that the king had now determined a catastrophic end for him.#tn Heb “for he saw that calamity was determined for him from the king”; NAB “the king had decided on his doom”; NRSV “the king had determined to destroy him.”
8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet of wine, Haman was throwing himself down#tn Heb “falling”; NAB, NRSV “had (+ just TEV) thrown himself (+ down TEV).” on the couch where Esther was lying.#tn Heb “where Esther was” (so KJV, NASB). The term “lying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “was reclining.” The king exclaimed, “Will he also attempt to rape the queen while I am still in the building!”
As these words left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Harbona,#sn Cf. 1:10, where Harbona is one of the seven eunuchs sent by the king to summon Queen Vashti to his banquet. one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Indeed, there is the gallows that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke out in the king’s behalf. It stands near Haman’s home and is seventy-five feet#tn Heb “fifty cubits.” See the note on this expression in Esth 5:14. high.”
The king said, “Hang him on it!” 10 So they hanged Haman on the very gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. The king’s rage then abated.
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Esther 7
7
Esther’s Banquet
1So the king and Haman went to dine#Literally “to drink” with Queen Esther. 2And the king again said to Esther, on the second day while they were drinking,#Literally “at the meal of wine” “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It will be given to you. What is your request? It will be given to you—even half the kingdom.” 3Then Queen Esther answered, and she said, “If I have found favor in your eyes,#Or “If I have won your favor” O king, and if it is good to the king, let my life be given to me at my petition and my people at my request; 4I and my people have been sold to be destroyed and killed, to be annihilated. If we had been sold as male and female slaves I would have kept quiet, because this#Hebrew “there” is not a need sufficient to trouble the king.”#See HALOT 1437, s.v. NRSV translates, “but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king” 5And King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who gave himself the right to do this?”#Literally “has filled his heart to do so” 6And Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this evil Haman!” And Haman was terrified before the king and queen.
Haman is Hanged
7The king rose in his anger from the banquet#Literally “from the banquet of wine” and went to the palace garden, and Haman stood to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he realized that the king was determined to make an end to his life.#Literally “that evil had been determined for him from the king” 8And the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall,#Literally “house of the meal of wine” where Haman was lying prostrate on the couch that Esther was on, and the king said, “Will he also molest the queen with me in the house?” As the words#Hebrew “word” went from the king’s mouth they covered Haman’s face. 9And Habrona, one of the eunuchs in the presence of the king, said, “Look, the same gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai who spoke good for the sake of the king stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on it.” 10And they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai, and the anger of the king was abated.
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