boose_magoose/mh_parser
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull Requests Packages Projects Releases Wiki Activity
2906ea7e23
mh_parser/matthew_henry/MHC17008.HTM

569 lines
27 KiB
Plaintext
Raw Normal View History

init
2023-11-30 02:23:35 +00:00
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Esther, Chapter VIII].</TITLE>
<meta name="aesop" content="information">
<meta name="description" content=
"This site is for those friends and family members who may or may not know Our Lord Jesus Christ, and if not, they may come to know Our Lord through His Prophets."> <meta name="author" content="Brian Duncalfe">
<meta name="keywords" content=
"Prophecy, Rapture,hope,bible map,bible maps, God, tribulation,Second Coming,Christ,large print bible,commentary,complete">
</HEAD>
<body background="../sueback.jpg" bgproperties="fixed" >
<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
on the Whole Bible</h1>
<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
</h3>
</center>
<HR>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
<TR>
<TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP">
[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
[<A HREF="MHC17007.HTM">Previous</A>]
[<A HREF="MHC17009.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
</TD></TR></TABLE>
<HR>
<!-- (Begin Body) -->
<CENTER>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E S T H E R</B></FONT>
<BR>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VIII.</FONT>
<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
</CENTER>
<FONT SIZE=-1>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
We left the plotter hanging, and are now to see what becomes of his
plot.
I. His plot was to raise an estate for himself; and all his estate,
being confiscated for treason, is given to Esther and Mordecai,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
II. His plot was to ruin the Jews; and as to that,
1. Esther earnestly intercedes for the reversing of the edict against
them,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:3-6">ver. 3-6</A>.
2. It is in effect done by another edict, here published, empowering
the Jews to stand up in their own defence against their enemies,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:7-14">ver. 7-14</A>.
III. This occasions great joy to the Jews and all their friends,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:15-17">ver. 15-17</A>.</P>
</FONT>
<A NAME="Es8_1"> </A>
<A NAME="Es8_2"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Esther and Mordecai Enriched.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 510.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>1 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman
the Jews' enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before
the king; for Esther had told what he <I>was</I> unto her.
&nbsp; 2 And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from
Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over
the house of Haman.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
It was but lately that we had Esther and Mordecai in tears and in
fears, but fasting and praying; now let us see how to them there arose
light in darkness. Here is,
1. Esther enriched. Haman was hanged as a traitor, therefore his estate
was forfeited to the crown, and the king gave it all to Esther, in
recompence for the fright that wicked man had put her into and the
vexation he had created her,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
His houses and lands, good sand chattels, and all the money he had
heaped up which he was prime-minister of state (which, we may suppose,
was no little), are given to Esther; they are all her own, added to the
allowance she already had. Thus is <I>the wealth of the sinner laid up
for the just,</I> and the <I>innocent divides the silver,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+13:22,Job+27:17,18">Prov. xiii. 22; Job xxvii. 17, 18</A>.
What Haman would have done mischief with Esther will do good with; and
estates are to be valued as they are used.
2. Mordecai advanced. His pompous procession, this morning, through
the streets of the city, was but a sudden flash or blaze of honour; but
here we have the more durable and gainful preferments to which he was
raised, which yet the other happily made way for.
(1.) He is now owned as the queen's cousin, which till now, though
Esther had been four years queen, for aught that appears, the king did
not know. So humble, so modest, a man was Mordecai, and so far from
being ambitious of a place at court, that he concealed his relation to
the queen and her obligations to him as her guardian, and never made us
of her interest for any advantage of his own. Who but Mordecai could
have taken so little notice of so great an honour? But now he was
brought <I>before the king,</I> introduced, as we say, to kiss his
hand; for now, at length, <I>Esther had told what he was to her,</I>
not only near a-kin to her, but the best friend she had in the world,
who took care of her when she was an orphan, and one whom she still
respected as a father. Now the king finds himself, for his wife's sake,
more obliged than he thought he had been to delight in doing honour to
Mordecai. How great were the merits of that man to whom both king and
queen did in effect owe their lives! Being brought before the king, to
him no doubt he bowed, and did reverence, though he would not to Haman
an Amalekite.
(2.) The king makes his lord privy-seal in the room of Haman. All the
trust he had reposed in Haman, and all the power he had given him, are
here transferred to Mordecai; for the ring which he had taken from
Haman he gave to Mordecai, and made this trusty humble man as much his
favourite, his confidant, and his agent, as ever that proud perfidious
wretch was; a happy change he made of his bosom-friends, and so, no
doubt, he and his people soon found it.
(3.) The queen makes him here steward, for the management of Haman's
estate, and for getting and keeping possession of it: <I>She set
Mordecai over the house of Haman.</I> See the vanity of laying up
treasure upon earth; he that <I>heapeth up riches knoweth not who shall
gather them</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:6">Ps. xxxix. 6</A>),
not only <I>whether he shall be a wise man or a fool</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:19">Eccl. ii. 19</A>),
but whether he shall be a friend or an enemy. With what little
pleasure, nay, with what constant vexation, would Haman have looked
upon his estate if he could have foreseen that Mordecai, the man he
hated above all men in the world, should have <I>rule over all that
wherein he had laboured,</I> and thought that he showed himself wise!
It is our interest, therefore, to make sure those riches which will not
be left behind, but will go with us to another world.</P>
<A NAME="Es8_3"> </A>
<A NAME="Es8_4"> </A>
<A NAME="Es8_5"> </A>
<A NAME="Es8_6"> </A>
<A NAME="Es8_7"> </A>
<A NAME="Es8_8"> </A>
<A NAME="Es8_9"> </A>
<A NAME="Es8_10"> </A>
<A NAME="Es8_11"> </A>
<A NAME="Es8_12"> </A>
<A NAME="Es8_13"> </A>
<A NAME="Es8_14"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Jews Encouraged to Self-Defence.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 510.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>3 And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at
his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of
Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the
Jews.
&nbsp; 4 Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So
Esther arose, and stood before the king,
&nbsp; 5 And said, If it please the king, and if I have found favour
in his sight, and the thing <I>seem</I> right before the king, and I
<I>be</I> pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the
letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which
he wrote to destroy the Jews which <I>are</I> in all the king's
provinces:
&nbsp; 6 For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my
people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?
&nbsp; 7 Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to
Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman,
and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his
hand upon the Jews.
&nbsp; 8 Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's
name, and seal <I>it</I> with the king's ring: for the writing which
is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring,
may no man reverse.
&nbsp; 9 Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the third
month, that <I>is,</I> the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth
<I>day</I> thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai
commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies
and rulers of the provinces which <I>are</I> from India unto Ethiopia,
a hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province
according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after
their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and
according to their language.
&nbsp; 10 And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed <I>it</I>
with the king's ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback,
<I>and</I> riders on mules, camels, <I>and</I> young dromedaries:
&nbsp; 11 Wherein the king granted the Jews which <I>were</I> in every city
to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to
destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the
people and province that would assault them, <I>both</I> little ones
and women, and <I>to take</I> the spoil of them for a prey,
&nbsp; 12 Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus,
<I>namely,</I> upon the thirteenth <I>day</I> of the twelfth month, which
<I>is</I> the month Adar.
&nbsp; 13 The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in
every province <I>was</I> published unto all people, and that the Jews
should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their
enemies.
&nbsp; 14 <I>So</I> the posts that rode upon mules <I>and</I> camels went out,
being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the
decree was given at Shushan the palace.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Haman, the chief enemy of the Jews, was hanged, Mordecai and Esther,
their chief friends, were sufficiently protected; but many others there
were in the king's dominions that hated the Jews and desired their
ruin, and to their rage and malice all the rest of that people lay
exposed; for the edict against them was still in force, and, in
pursuance of it, their enemies would on the day appointed fall upon
them, and they would be deemed as rebels against the king and his
government if they should offer to resist and take up arms in their own
defence. For the preventing of this,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. The queen here makes intercession with much affection and
importunity. She came, a second time, uncalled into the king's presence
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
and was as before encouraged to present her petition, by the king's
holding out the golden sceptre to her,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
Her petition is that the king, having put away Haman, would put away
the mischief of Haman and his device against the Jews, that that might
not take place now that he was taken off. Many a man's mischief
survives him, and the wickedness he devised operates when he is gone.
What men project and write may, after their death, be either very
profitable or very pernicious. It was therefore requisite in this case
that, for the defeating of Haman's plot, they should apply to the king
for a further act of grace, that by another edict he would reverse the
letters devised by Haman, and which he wrote (she does not say which
the king <I>consented to and confirmed with his own seal;</I> she
leaves it to his own conscience to say that), by which he took an
effectual course to <I>destroy the Jews in all the king's
provinces,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
If the king were indeed, as he seemed to be, troubled that such a
decree was made, he could not do less than revoke it; for what is
repentance, but undoing, to the utmost of our power, what we have done
amiss?
1. This petition Esther presents with much affection: She <I>fell down
at the king's feet and besought him with tears</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
every tear as precious as any of the pearls with which she was adorned.
It was time to be earnest when the church of God lay at stake. Let none
be so great as to be unwilling to stoop, none so merry as to be
unwilling to weep, when thereby they may do any service to God's church
and people. Esther, though safe herself, fell down, and begged with
tears for the deliverance of her people.
2. She expresses it with great submission, and a profound deference to
the king and his wisdom and will
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
<I>If it please the king and if I have found favour in his sight</I>and
again, "If the thing itself seem right and reasonable before the king,
and if I that ask it <I>be pleasing in his eyes,</I> let the decree be
reversed." Even when we have the utmost reason and justice on our side,
and have the clearest cause to plead, yet it becomes us to speak to our
superiors with humility and modesty, and all possible expressions of
respect, and not to talk like demandants when we are supplicants. There
is nothing lost be decency and good breeding. As <I>soft answers turn
away wrath,</I> so soft askings obtain favour.
3. She enforces her petition with a pathetic plea: "<I>For how can I
endure to see the evil that shall come upon my people?</I> Little
comfort can I have of my own life if I cannot prevail for theirs: as
good share in the evil myself as see it come upon them; for <I>how can
I endure to see the destruction of my kindred,</I> that are dear to
me?" Esther, a queen, owns her poor kindred, and speaks of them with a
very tender concern. Now it was that she mingled her tears with her
words, that <I>she wept and made supplication;</I> we read of no tears
when she begged for her own life, but, now that she was sure of that,
she wept for her people. Tears of pity and tenderness are the most
Christ-like. Those that are truly concerned for the public would rather
die in the last ditch than live to see the desolations of the church of
God and the ruin of their country. Tender spirits cannot bear to think
of the destruction of their people and kindred, and therefore dare not
omit any opportunity of giving them relief.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. The king here takes a course for the preventing of the mischief
that Haman had designed.
1. The king knew, and informed the queen, that, according to the
constitution of the Persian government, the former edict could not be
revoked
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
What is <I>written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's
ring,</I> may not, under any pretence whatsoever, be reversed. This was
a fundamental article of their <I>magna charta,</I> that no law or
decree, when once it had passed the royal assent, could be repealed or
recalled, no judgment vacated, no attainder reversed,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+6:15">Dan. vi. 15</A>.
This is so far from bespeaking the wisdom and honour of the Medes and
Persians that really it bespeaks their pride and folly, and
consequently their shame. It is ridiculous in itself for any man, or
company of men, to pretend to such an infallibility of wisdom as to
foresee all the consequences of what they decree; and therefore it is
unjust, and injurious to mankind, to claim such a supremacy of power as
to make their decrees irrevocable, whether the consequences prove good
or bad. This savours of that old presumption which ruined us all: <I>We
will be as gods.</I> Much more prudent is that proviso of our
constitution, that no law can, by any words or sanctions whatsoever, be
made unrepealable, any more than any estate unalienable. <I>Cujus est
instruere, ejus est destruere--the right to enact implies the right to
repeal.</I> It is God's prerogative not to repent, and to say what can
never be altered or unsaid.
2. Yet he found an expedient to undo the devices of Haman, and defeat
his design, by signing and publishing another decree to authorize the
Jews to stand upon their defence, <I>vim vi repellere, et invasorem
occidere--to oppose force to force, and destroy the assailant.</I> This
would be their effectual security. The king shows them that he had
done enough already to convince them that he had a concern for the
Jewish nation, for he had ordered his favourite to be hanged <I>because
he laid his hand upon the Jews</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
and he therefore would d the utmost he could to protect them; and he
leaves it as fully with Esther and Mordecai to use his name and power
for their deliverance as before he had left it with Haman to use his
name and power for their destruction: <I>"Write for the Jews as it
liketh you</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
saving only the honour of our constitution. Let the mischief be put
away as effectually as may be without reversing the letters." The
secretaries of state were ordered to attend to draw up this edict on
the twenty-third day of the third month
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
about two months after the promulgation of the former, but nine months
before the time set for its execution: it was to be drawn up and
published in the respective languages of all the provinces. Shall the
subjects of an earthly prince have his decrees in a language they
understand? and shall God's oracles and laws be locked up from his
servants in an unknown tongue? It was to be directed to the proper
officers of every province, both to the justices of peace and to the
deputy-lieutenants. It was to be carefully dispersed throughout all
the king's dominions, and true copies sent by expresses to all the
provinces. The purport of this decree was to commission the Jews, upon
the day which was appointed for their destruction, to draw together in
a body for their own defence. And,
(1.) To stand for their life, that, whoever assaulted them, it might be
at their peril.
(2.) They might not only act defensively, but might <I>destroy, and
slay, and cause to perish, all the power of the people that would
assault them, men, women, and children</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
and thus <I>to avenge themselves on their enemies</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
and, if they pleased, to enrich themselves by their enemies, for they
were empowered to take the spoil of them for a prey. Now,
[1.] This showed his kindness to the Jews, and sufficiently provided
for their safety; for he latter decree would be looked upon as a tacit
revocation of the former, though not in expression. But,
[2.] It shows the absurdity of that branch of their constitution that
none of the king's edicts might be repealed; for it laid the king here
under a necessity of enacting a civil war in his own dominions, between
the Jews and their enemies, so that both sides took up arms <I>by</I>
his authority, and yet <I>against</I> his authority. No better could
come of men's pretending to be wise above what is given them. Great
expedition was used in dispersing this decree, the king himself being
in pain lest it should come too late and any mischief should be done to
the Jews by virtue of the former decree before the notice of this
arrived. It was therefore <I>by the king's commandment,</I> as well as
Mordecai's, that the messengers were <I>hastened and pressed on</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
and had swift beasts provided them,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
It was not a time to trifle when so many lives were in danger.</P>
<A NAME="Es8_15"> </A>
<A NAME="Es8_16"> </A>
<A NAME="Es8_17"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Joy of the Jews.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 510.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>15 And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal
apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and
with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan
rejoiced and was glad.
&nbsp; 16 The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.
&nbsp; 17 And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the
king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and
gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the
land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
It was but a few days ago that we had Mordecai in sackcloth and all the
Jews in sorrow; but here is a blessed change, Mordecai in purple and
all the Jews in joy. See
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+30:5,11,12">Ps. xxx. 5, 11, 12</A>.
1. Mordecai in purple,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
Having obtained an order for the relief of all the Jews, he was easy,
he parted with his mourning weeds, and put on the <I>royal apparel,</I>
which either belonged to his place or which the king appointed him as a
favourite. His robes were rich, <I>blue and white, of fine linen and
purple;</I> so was his coronet: it was <I>of gold.</I> These are things
not worth taking notice of, but as they were marks of the king's
favour, and <I>that</I> the fruit of God's favour to his church. It is
well with a land when the ensigns of dignity are made the ornaments of
serious piety. The <I>city Shushan</I> was sensible of its advantage in
the preferment of Mordecai, and therefore <I>rejoiced and was glad,</I>
not only pleased in general with the advancement of virtue, but
promising itself, in particular, better times, now that so good a man
was entrusted with power. Haman was hanged; <I>and, when the wicked
perish, there is shouting,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+11:10">Prov. xi. 10</A>.
Mordecai was preferred; and, <I>when the righteous are in authority,
the people rejoice.</I>
2. The Jews in joy,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>.
The Jews, who awhile ago were under a dark cloud, dejected and
disgraced, now had <I>light and gladness, joy and honour, a feast and a
good lay.</I> If they had not been threatened and in distress they
would not have had occasion for this extraordinary joy. Thus are God's
people sometimes made <I>to sow in tears</I> that they may <I>reap
in</I> so much the more <I>joy.</I> The suddenness and strangeness of
the turn of affairs in their favour added much to their joy. They were
<I>like those that dream; then was their mouth filled with
laughter,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+126:1,2">Ps. cxxvi. 1, 2</A>.
One good effect of this deliverance was that <I>many of the people of
the land,</I> that were considerate, sober, and well inclined, became
Jews, were proselyted to the Jewish religion, renounced idolatry, and
worshipped the true God only. Haman thought to extirpate the Jews, but
it proves, in the issue, that their numbers are greatly increased and
many added to the church. Observe, When <I>the Jews had joy and
gladness</I> then <I>many of the people of the land became Jews.</I>
The holy cheerfulness of those that profess religion is a great
ornament to their profession, and will invite and encourage others to
be religious. The reason here given why so many became Jews at this
time is because <I>the fear of the Jews fell upon them.</I> When they
observed how wonderfully divine Providence had owned them and wrought
for them in this critical juncture,
(1.) They thought them great, and considered those happy that were
among them; and therefore they came over to them, as was foretold,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+8:23">Zech. viii. 23</A>.
<I>We will go with you, for we have heard,</I> we have seen, <I>that
God is with you, the shield of your help, and the sword of your
excellency,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+33:29">Deut. xxxiii. 29</A>.
When the church prospers, and is smiled upon, many will come into it
that will be shy of it when it is in trouble.
(2.) They thought them formidable, and considered those miserable that
were against them. They plainly saw in Haman's fate that, if any
offered injury to the Jews, it was at their peril; and therefore, for
their own security, they joined themselves to them. It is folly to
think of contending with the God of Israel, and therefore it is wisdom
to think of submitting to him.</P>
<!-- (End Body) -->
<HR>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
<TR>
<TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP">
[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
[<A HREF="MHC17007.HTM">Previous</A>]
[<A HREF="MHC17009.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
</TABLE>
<HR>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
<TR>
<TD ALIGN="CENTER" VALIGN="BOTTOM">
<!--Matthew_Henry's_Commentary_on_the_Whole_Bible:_Esther_VIII.--><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank"><b>Back to Bibles Net . Com - Online Christian Library </b></a><br>
<a href="http://biblesnet.com/download.html" target="_blank"><br>
<b>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Free Download</b></a><br>
<br>
<A HREF="http://biblesnet.com/contactus.html" target="_blank"><strong>Contact Us </strong></A><br>
</TD></TR></TABLE>
<HR>
</BODY>
</HTML>
Reference in New Issue Copy Permalink