Esther 7
7
The King Has Haman Executed
1 So the king and Haman came to dine#tn Heb âto drinkâ; NASB âto drink wine.â The expression is a metaphor for lavish feasting, cf. NRSV âto feastâ; KJV âto banquet.â with Queen Esther. 2 On the second day of the banquet of wine the king asked Esther, âWhat 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!â
3 Queen Esther replied, âIf I have met with your approval,#tn Heb âIf I have found grace in your eyesâ (so also in 8:5); TEV âIf it please Your Majesty.â 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 (âhave been soldâ) is noncommittal and nonaccusatory with regard to the kingâs role in the decision to annihilate the Jews. â both I and my people â 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.â
5 Then King Ahasuerus responded#tc The second occurrence of the Hebrew verb ×Öˇ×Öź××֜ר (vayyoâmer, âand he saidâ) 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, âWho is this individual? Where is this person to be found who is presumptuous enough#tn Heb âhas so filled his heartâ; NAB âwho has dared to do this.â to act in this way?â
6 Esther replied, âThe oppressor and enemy is this evil Haman!â
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 âfor he saw that calamity was determined for him from the kingâ; NAB âthe king had decided on his doomâ; NRSV âthe king had determined to destroy him.â
8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet of wine, Haman was throwing himself down#tn Heb âfallingâ; NAB, NRSV âhad (+ just TEV) thrown himself (+ down TEV).â on the couch where Esther was lying.#tn Heb âwhere Esther wasâ (so KJV, NASB). The term âlyingâ has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT âwas reclining.â The king exclaimed, âWill he also attempt to rape the queen while I am still in the building!â
As these words left the kingâs mouth, they covered Hamanâs 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 kingâs eunuchs, said, âIndeed, there is the gallows that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke out in the kingâs behalf. It stands near Hamanâs home and is seventy-five feet#tn Heb âfifty cubits.â See the note on this expression in Esth 5:14. high.â
The king said, âHang him on it!â 10 So they hanged Haman on the very gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. The kingâs rage then abated.
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Esther 7: NET
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