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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E S T H E R</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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We are now to attend the second banquet to which the king and Haman
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were invited: and there,
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I. Esther presents her petition to the king for her life and the life
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of her people,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+7:1-4">ver. 1-4</A>.
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II. She plainly tells the king that Haman is the man who designed her
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ruin and the ruin of all her friends,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+7:5,6">ver. 5, 6</A>.
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III. The king thereupon gave orders for the hanging of Haman upon the
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gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai, which was done accordingly,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+7:7-10">ver. 7-10</A>.
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And thus, by the destruction of the plotter, a good step was taken
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towards the defeating of the plot.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Es7_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es7_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es7_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es7_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es7_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es7_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Haman Accused by Esther.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 510.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
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2 And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the
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banquet of wine, What <I>is</I> thy petition, queen Esther? and it
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shall be granted thee: and what <I>is</I> thy request? and it shall be
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performed, <I>even</I> to the half of the kingdom.
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3 Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found
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favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my
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life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:
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4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be
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slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and
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bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not
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countervail the king's damage.
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5 Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the
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queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his
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heart to do so?
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6 And Esther said, The adversary and enemy <I>is</I> this wicked
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Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The king in humour, and Haman out of humour, meet at Esther's table.
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Now,</P>
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<P>
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I. The king urged Esther, a third time, to tell him what her request
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was, for he longed to know, and repeated his promise that it should be
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granted,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+7:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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If the king had now forgotten that Esther had an errand to him, and had
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not again asked what it was, she could scarcely have known how to renew
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it herself; but he was mindful of it, and now was bound with the
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threefold cord of a promise thrice made to favour her.</P>
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<P>
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II. Esther, at length, surprises the king with a petition, not for
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wealth or honour, or the preferment of some of her friends to some high
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post, which the king expected, but for the preservation of herself and
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her countrymen from death and destruction,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+7:3,4"><I>v.</I> 3, 4</A>.</P>
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<P>
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1. Even a stranger, a criminal, shall be permitted to petition for his
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life; but that a friend, a wife, should have occasion to present such a
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petition was very affecting: <I>Let my life be given me at my petition,
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and my people at my request.</I> Two things bespeak lives to be very
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precious, and fit to be saved, if innocent, at any expense:--
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(1.) Majesty. If it be a crowned head that is struck at, it is time to
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stir. Esther's was such: "<I>Let my life be given me.</I> If thou hast
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any affection for the wife of thy bosom, now is the time to show it;
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for that is the life that lies at stake."
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(2.) Multitude. If they be many lives, very many, and those no way
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forfeited, that are aimed at, no time should be lost nor pains spared
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to prevent the mischief. "It is not a friend or two, but <I>my
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people,</I> a whole nation, and a nation dear to me, for the saving of
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which I now intercede."</P>
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<P>
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2. To move the king the more she suggests,
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(1.) That she and her people were bought and sold. They had not sold
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themselves by any offence against the government, but were sold to
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gratify the pride and revenge of one man.
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(2.) That it was not their liberty only, but their lives that were
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sold. "Had we been sold" (she says) "into slavery, I would not have
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complained; for in time we might have recovered our liberty, thought eh
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king would have made but a bad bargain of it, and not have increased
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his wealth by our price. Whatever had been paid for us, the loss of so
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many industrious hands out of his kingdom would have been more damage
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to the treasury than the price would countervail." To persecute good
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people is as impolitic as it is impious, and a manifest wrong to the
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interests of princes and states; they are weakened and impoverished by
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it. But this was not the case. <I>We are sold</I> (says she) <I>to be
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destroyed, to be slain, and to perish;</I> and then it is time to
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speak. She refers to the words of the decree
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+3:13"><I>ch.</I> iii. 13</A>),
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which aimed at nothing short of their destruction; this would touch in
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a tender part if there were any such in the king's heart, and would
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bring him to relent.</P>
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<P>
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III. The king stands amazed at the remonstrance, and asks
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+7:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>)
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"<I>Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do
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so?</I> What! contrive the murder of the queen and all her friends? Is
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there such a man, such a monster rather, in nature? <I>Who is he, and
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where is he, whose heart has filled him to do so?</I>" Or, Who hath
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<I>filled his heart.</I> He wonders,
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1. That any one should be so bad as to think such a thing; Satan
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certainly filled his heart.
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2. That any one should be so bold as to do such a thing, should have
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his heart so fully set in him to do wickedly, should be so very daring.
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Note,
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(1.) It is hard to imagine that there should be such horrid wickedness
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committed in the world as really there is. Who, where is he, that
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dares, presumes, to question the being of God and his providence, to
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banter his oracles, profane his name, persecute his people, and yet bid
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defiance to his wrath? Such there are, to think of whom is enough to
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make <I>horror take hold of us,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:53">Ps. cxix. 53</A>.
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(2.) We sometimes startle at the mention of that evil which yet we
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ourselves are chargeable with. Ahasuerus is amazed at that wickedness
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which he himself is guilty of; for he consented to that bloody edict
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against the Jews. <I>Thou art the man,</I> might Esther too truly have
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said.</P>
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<P>
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IV. Esther plainly charged Haman with it before his face: "Here he is,
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let him speak for himself, for therefore he is invited: <I>The
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adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+7:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>);
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it is he that has designed our murder, and, which is worse, has basely
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drawn the king in to be <I>particeps criminis--a partaker of his
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crime,</I> ignorantly agreeing to it."</P>
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<P>
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V. Haman is soon apprehensive of his danger: <I>He was afraid before
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the king and queen;</I> and it was time for him to fear when the queen
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was his prosecutor, the king his judge, and his own conscience a
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witness against him; and the surprising operations of Providence
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against him that same morning could not but increase his fear. Now he
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has little joy of his being invited to the banquet of wine, but finds
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himself in straits when he thought himself <I>in the fulness of his
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sufficiency. He is cast into a net by his own feet.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Es7_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es7_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es7_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es7_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The King Incensed Against Haman; Haman Hanged upon His Own Gallows.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 510.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>7 And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath
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<I>went</I> into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request
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for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil
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determined against him by the king.
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8 Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the
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place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed
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whereon Esther <I>was.</I> Then said the king, Will he force the queen
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also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's
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mouth, they covered Haman's face.
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9 And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king,
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Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made
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for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the
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house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.
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10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for
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Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here,
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I. The king retires in anger. He rose from table in a great passion,
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and <I>went into the palace garden</I> to cool himself and to consider
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what was to be done,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+7:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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He sent not for his <I>seven wise counsellors who knew the times,</I>
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being ashamed to consult them about the undoing of that which he had
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rashly done without their knowledge or advice; but he went to walk in
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the garden awhile, to compare in his thoughts what Esther had now
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informed him of with what had formerly passed between him and Haman.
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And we may suppose him,
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1. Vexed at himself, that he should be such a fool as to doom a
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guiltless nation to destruction, and his own queen among the rest, upon
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the base suggestions of a self-seeking man, without examining the truth
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of his allegations. Those that do things with self-will reflect upon
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them afterwards with self-reproach.
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2. Vexed at Haman whom he had laid in his bosom, that he should be such
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a villain as to abuse his interest in him to draw him to consent to so
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wicked a measure. When he saw himself betrayed by one he had caressed
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he was full of indignation at him; yet he would say nothing till he had
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taken time for second thoughts, to see whether they would make the
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matter better or worse than it first appeared, that he might proceed
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accordingly. When we are angry we should pause awhile before we come to
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any resolution, as those that have <I>a rule over our own spirits</I>
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and are governed by reason.</P>
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<P>
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II. Haman becomes a humble petitioner to the queen for his life. He
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might easily perceived by the king's hastily flying out of the room
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that <I>there was evil determined against him.</I> For <I>the wrath of
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a king,</I> such a king, <I>is as the roaring of a lion</I> and as
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<I>messengers of death;</I> and now see,
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1. How mean Haman looks, when he stands up first and then falls down at
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Esther's feet, to beg she would save his life and take all he had.
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Those that are most haughty, insolent, and imperious, when they are in
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power and prosperity, are commonly the most abject and poor-spirited
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when the wheel turns upon them. Cowards, they say, are most cruel, and
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then consciousness of their cruelty makes them the more cowardly.
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2. How great Esther looks, who of late had been neglected and doomed
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to the slaughter <I>tanquam ovis--as a sheep;</I> now her sworn enemy
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owns that he lies at her mercy, a d begs his life at her hand. Thus did
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God <I>regard the low estate of his handmaiden</I> and <I>scatter the
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proud in the imagination of their hearts,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:48,51">Luke i. 48, 51</A>.
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Compare with this that promise made to the Philadelphian church
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+3:9">Rev. iii. 9</A>),
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<I>I will make those of the synagogue of Satan to come and to worship
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before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee.</I> The day is
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coming when those that hate and persecute God's chosen ones would
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gladly be beholden to them. <I>Give us of your oil. Father Abraham,
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send Lazarus. The upright shall have dominion in the morning.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. The king returns yet more exasperated against Haman. The more he
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thinks of him the worse he thinks of him and of what he had done. It
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was but lately that every thing Haman said and did, even that which was
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most criminal, was taken well and construed to his advantage; now, on
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the contrary, what Haman did that was not only innocent, but a sign of
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repentance, is ill taken, and, without colour of reason, construed to
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his disadvantage. He lay in terror at Esther's feet, to beg for his
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life. What! (says the king) <I>will he force the queen also before me
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in the house?</I> Not that he thought he had any such intention, but
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having been musing on Haman's design to slay the queen, and finding him
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in this posture, he takes occasion from it thus to vent his passion
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against Haman, as a man that would not scruple at the greatest and most
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impudent piece of wickedness. "He designed to slay the queen, and to
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slay her <I>wish me in the house;</I> will he in like manner force her?
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What! ravish her first and then murder her? He that had a design upon
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her life may well be suspected to have a design upon her chastity."</P>
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<P>
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IV. Those about him were ready to be the instruments of his wrath. The
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courtiers that adored Haman when he was the rising sun set themselves
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as much against him now that he is a falling star, and are even glad of
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an occasion to run him down: so little sure can proud men be of the
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interest they think they have.
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1. As soon as the king spoke an angry word <I>they covered Haman's
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face,</I> as a condemned man, not worthy any more either to see the
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king or to be seen by him; they marked him for execution. Those that
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are hanged commonly have their faces covered. See how ready the
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servants were to take the first hint of the king's mind in this matter.
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<I>Turba Romae sequitur fortunam, et semper et odit damnatos--The Roman
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populace change as the aspects of fortune do, and always oppress the
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fallen.</I> If Haman be going down, they all cry, "Down with him."
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2. One of those that had been lately sent to Haman's house, to fetch
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him to the banquet, informed the king of the gallows which Haman had
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prepared for Mordecai,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+7:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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Now that Mordecai is the favourite the chamberlain applauds him--he
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<I>spoke good for the king;</I> and, Haman being in disgrace, every
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thing is taken notice of that might make against him, incense the king
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against him, and fill up the measure of his iniquity.</P>
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<P>
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V. The king gave orders that he should be hanged upon his own gallows,
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which was done accordingly, nor was he so much as asked what he had to
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say why this judgment should not be passed upon him and execution
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awarded. The sentence is short--<I>Hang him thereon;</I> and the
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execution speedy--<I>So they hanged Haman on the gallows,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+7:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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See here,
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1. Pride brought down. He that expected every one to do him homage is
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now made an ignominious spectacle to the world, and he himself
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sacrificed to his revenge. God resists the proud; and those whom he
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resists will find him irresistible.
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2. Persecution punished. Haman was upon many accounts a wicked man,
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but his enmity to God's church was his most provoking crime, and for
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<I>that</I> the God to whom vengeance belongs here reckons with him,
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and, though his plot was defeated, gives him <I>according to the
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wickedness of his endeavours,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+28:4">Ps. xxviii. 4</A>.
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3. Mischief returned upon the person himself that contrived it, the
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<I>wicked snared in the work of his own hands,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+7:15,16,9:15,16">Ps. vii. 15, 16; ix. 15, 16</A>.
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Haman was justly hanged on the very gallows he had unjustly prepared
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for Mordecai. If he had not set up that gallows, perhaps the king would
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not have thought of ordering him to be hanged; but, if he rear a
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gallows for <I>the man whom the king delights to honour,</I> the
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thought is very natural that he should be ordered to try it himself,
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and see how it fits him, see how he likes it. The enemies of God's
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church have often been thus taken in their own craftiness. In the
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morning Haman was designing himself for the robes and Mordecai for the
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gallows; but the tables are turned: Mordecai has the crown, Haman the
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cross. <I>The Lord is known by such judgments.</I> See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+11:8,21:18">Prov. xi. 8; xxi. 18</A>.</P>
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<P>
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<I>Lastly,</I> The satisfaction which the king had in this execution.
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<I>Then was the king's wrath pacified,</I> and not till then. He was as
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well pleased in ordering Haman to be hanged as in ordering Mordecai to
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be honoured. Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to
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take vengeance on. God saith of wicked men
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:13">Ezek. v. 13</A>),
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<I>I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be
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comforted.</I></P>
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