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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. VIII.</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 left the plotter hanging, and are now to see what becomes of his
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plot.
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I. His plot was to raise an estate for himself; and all his estate,
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being confiscated for treason, is given to Esther and Mordecai,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. His plot was to ruin the Jews; and as to that,
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1. Esther earnestly intercedes for the reversing of the edict against
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them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:3-6">ver. 3-6</A>.
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2. It is in effect done by another edict, here published, empowering
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the Jews to stand up in their own defence against their enemies,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:7-14">ver. 7-14</A>.
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III. This occasions great joy to the Jews and all their friends,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:15-17">ver. 15-17</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Es8_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es8_2"> </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>Esther and Mordecai Enriched.</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 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman
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the Jews' enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before
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the king; for Esther had told what he <I>was</I> unto her.
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2 And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from
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Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over
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the house of Haman.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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It was but lately that we had Esther and Mordecai in tears and in
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fears, but fasting and praying; now let us see how to them there arose
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light in darkness. Here is,
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1. Esther enriched. Haman was hanged as a traitor, therefore his estate
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was forfeited to the crown, and the king gave it all to Esther, in
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recompence for the fright that wicked man had put her into and the
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vexation he had created her,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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His houses and lands, good sand chattels, and all the money he had
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heaped up which he was prime-minister of state (which, we may suppose,
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was no little), are given to Esther; they are all her own, added to the
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allowance she already had. Thus is <I>the wealth of the sinner laid up
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for the just,</I> and the <I>innocent divides the silver,</I>
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<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>.
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What Haman would have done mischief with Esther will do good with; and
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estates are to be valued as they are used.
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2. Mordecai advanced. His pompous procession, this morning, through
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the streets of the city, was but a sudden flash or blaze of honour; but
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here we have the more durable and gainful preferments to which he was
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raised, which yet the other happily made way for.
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(1.) He is now owned as the queen's cousin, which till now, though
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Esther had been four years queen, for aught that appears, the king did
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not know. So humble, so modest, a man was Mordecai, and so far from
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being ambitious of a place at court, that he concealed his relation to
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the queen and her obligations to him as her guardian, and never made us
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of her interest for any advantage of his own. Who but Mordecai could
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have taken so little notice of so great an honour? But now he was
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brought <I>before the king,</I> introduced, as we say, to kiss his
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hand; for now, at length, <I>Esther had told what he was to her,</I>
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not only near a-kin to her, but the best friend she had in the world,
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who took care of her when she was an orphan, and one whom she still
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respected as a father. Now the king finds himself, for his wife's sake,
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more obliged than he thought he had been to delight in doing honour to
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Mordecai. How great were the merits of that man to whom both king and
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queen did in effect owe their lives! Being brought before the king, to
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him no doubt he bowed, and did reverence, though he would not to Haman
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an Amalekite.
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(2.) The king makes his lord privy-seal in the room of Haman. All the
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trust he had reposed in Haman, and all the power he had given him, are
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here transferred to Mordecai; for the ring which he had taken from
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Haman he gave to Mordecai, and made this trusty humble man as much his
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favourite, his confidant, and his agent, as ever that proud perfidious
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wretch was; a happy change he made of his bosom-friends, and so, no
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doubt, he and his people soon found it.
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(3.) The queen makes him here steward, for the management of Haman's
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estate, and for getting and keeping possession of it: <I>She set
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Mordecai over the house of Haman.</I> See the vanity of laying up
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treasure upon earth; he that <I>heapeth up riches knoweth not who shall
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gather them</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:6">Ps. xxxix. 6</A>),
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not only <I>whether he shall be a wise man or a fool</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:19">Eccl. ii. 19</A>),
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but whether he shall be a friend or an enemy. With what little
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pleasure, nay, with what constant vexation, would Haman have looked
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upon his estate if he could have foreseen that Mordecai, the man he
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hated above all men in the world, should have <I>rule over all that
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wherein he had laboured,</I> and thought that he showed himself wise!
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It is our interest, therefore, to make sure those riches which will not
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be left behind, but will go with us to another world.</P>
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<A NAME="Es8_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es8_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es8_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es8_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es8_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es8_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es8_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es8_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es8_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es8_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es8_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es8_14"> </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 Jews Encouraged to Self-Defence.</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>3 And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at
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his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of
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Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the
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Jews.
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4 Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So
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Esther arose, and stood before the king,
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5 And said, If it please the king, and if I have found favour
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in his sight, and the thing <I>seem</I> right before the king, and I
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<I>be</I> pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the
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letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which
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he wrote to destroy the Jews which <I>are</I> in all the king's
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provinces:
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6 For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my
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people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?
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7 Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to
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Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman,
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and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his
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hand upon the Jews.
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8 Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's
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name, and seal <I>it</I> with the king's ring: for the writing which
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is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring,
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may no man reverse.
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9 Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the third
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month, that <I>is,</I> the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth
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<I>day</I> thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai
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commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies
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and rulers of the provinces which <I>are</I> from India unto Ethiopia,
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a hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province
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according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after
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their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and
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according to their language.
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10 And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed <I>it</I>
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with the king's ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback,
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<I>and</I> riders on mules, camels, <I>and</I> young dromedaries:
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11 Wherein the king granted the Jews which <I>were</I> in every city
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to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to
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destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the
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people and province that would assault them, <I>both</I> little ones
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and women, and <I>to take</I> the spoil of them for a prey,
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12 Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus,
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<I>namely,</I> upon the thirteenth <I>day</I> of the twelfth month, which
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<I>is</I> the month Adar.
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13 The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in
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every province <I>was</I> published unto all people, and that the Jews
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should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their
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enemies.
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14 <I>So</I> the posts that rode upon mules <I>and</I> camels went out,
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being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the
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decree was given at Shushan the palace.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Haman, the chief enemy of the Jews, was hanged, Mordecai and Esther,
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their chief friends, were sufficiently protected; but many others there
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were in the king's dominions that hated the Jews and desired their
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ruin, and to their rage and malice all the rest of that people lay
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exposed; for the edict against them was still in force, and, in
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pursuance of it, their enemies would on the day appointed fall upon
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them, and they would be deemed as rebels against the king and his
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government if they should offer to resist and take up arms in their own
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defence. For the preventing of this,</P>
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<P>
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I. The queen here makes intercession with much affection and
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importunity. She came, a second time, uncalled into the king's presence
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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and was as before encouraged to present her petition, by the king's
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holding out the golden sceptre to her,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Her petition is that the king, having put away Haman, would put away
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the mischief of Haman and his device against the Jews, that that might
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not take place now that he was taken off. Many a man's mischief
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survives him, and the wickedness he devised operates when he is gone.
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What men project and write may, after their death, be either very
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profitable or very pernicious. It was therefore requisite in this case
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that, for the defeating of Haman's plot, they should apply to the king
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for a further act of grace, that by another edict he would reverse the
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letters devised by Haman, and which he wrote (she does not say which
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the king <I>consented to and confirmed with his own seal;</I> she
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leaves it to his own conscience to say that), by which he took an
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effectual course to <I>destroy the Jews in all the king's
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provinces,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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If the king were indeed, as he seemed to be, troubled that such a
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decree was made, he could not do less than revoke it; for what is
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repentance, but undoing, to the utmost of our power, what we have done
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amiss?
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1. This petition Esther presents with much affection: She <I>fell down
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at the king's feet and besought him with tears</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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every tear as precious as any of the pearls with which she was adorned.
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It was time to be earnest when the church of God lay at stake. Let none
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be so great as to be unwilling to stoop, none so merry as to be
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unwilling to weep, when thereby they may do any service to God's church
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and people. Esther, though safe herself, fell down, and begged with
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tears for the deliverance of her people.
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2. She expresses it with great submission, and a profound deference to
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the king and his wisdom and will
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>If it please the king and if I have found favour in his sight</I>and
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again, "If the thing itself seem right and reasonable before the king,
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and if I that ask it <I>be pleasing in his eyes,</I> let the decree be
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reversed." Even when we have the utmost reason and justice on our side,
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and have the clearest cause to plead, yet it becomes us to speak to our
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superiors with humility and modesty, and all possible expressions of
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respect, and not to talk like demandants when we are supplicants. There
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is nothing lost be decency and good breeding. As <I>soft answers turn
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away wrath,</I> so soft askings obtain favour.
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3. She enforces her petition with a pathetic plea: "<I>For how can I
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endure to see the evil that shall come upon my people?</I> Little
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comfort can I have of my own life if I cannot prevail for theirs: as
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good share in the evil myself as see it come upon them; for <I>how can
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I endure to see the destruction of my kindred,</I> that are dear to
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me?" Esther, a queen, owns her poor kindred, and speaks of them with a
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very tender concern. Now it was that she mingled her tears with her
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words, that <I>she wept and made supplication;</I> we read of no tears
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when she begged for her own life, but, now that she was sure of that,
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she wept for her people. Tears of pity and tenderness are the most
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Christ-like. Those that are truly concerned for the public would rather
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die in the last ditch than live to see the desolations of the church of
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God and the ruin of their country. Tender spirits cannot bear to think
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of the destruction of their people and kindred, and therefore dare not
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omit any opportunity of giving them relief.</P>
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<P>
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II. The king here takes a course for the preventing of the mischief
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that Haman had designed.
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1. The king knew, and informed the queen, that, according to the
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constitution of the Persian government, the former edict could not be
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revoked
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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What is <I>written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's
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ring,</I> may not, under any pretence whatsoever, be reversed. This was
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a fundamental article of their <I>magna charta,</I> that no law or
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decree, when once it had passed the royal assent, could be repealed or
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recalled, no judgment vacated, no attainder reversed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+6:15">Dan. vi. 15</A>.
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This is so far from bespeaking the wisdom and honour of the Medes and
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Persians that really it bespeaks their pride and folly, and
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consequently their shame. It is ridiculous in itself for any man, or
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company of men, to pretend to such an infallibility of wisdom as to
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foresee all the consequences of what they decree; and therefore it is
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unjust, and injurious to mankind, to claim such a supremacy of power as
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to make their decrees irrevocable, whether the consequences prove good
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or bad. This savours of that old presumption which ruined us all: <I>We
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will be as gods.</I> Much more prudent is that proviso of our
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constitution, that no law can, by any words or sanctions whatsoever, be
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made unrepealable, any more than any estate unalienable. <I>Cujus est
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instruere, ejus est destruere--the right to enact implies the right to
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repeal.</I> It is God's prerogative not to repent, and to say what can
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never be altered or unsaid.
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2. Yet he found an expedient to undo the devices of Haman, and defeat
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his design, by signing and publishing another decree to authorize the
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Jews to stand upon their defence, <I>vim vi repellere, et invasorem
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occidere--to oppose force to force, and destroy the assailant.</I> This
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would be their effectual security. The king shows them that he had
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done enough already to convince them that he had a concern for the
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Jewish nation, for he had ordered his favourite to be hanged <I>because
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he laid his hand upon the Jews</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
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and he therefore would d the utmost he could to protect them; and he
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leaves it as fully with Esther and Mordecai to use his name and power
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for their deliverance as before he had left it with Haman to use his
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name and power for their destruction: <I>"Write for the Jews as it
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liketh you</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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saving only the honour of our constitution. Let the mischief be put
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away as effectually as may be without reversing the letters." The
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secretaries of state were ordered to attend to draw up this edict on
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the twenty-third day of the third month
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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about two months after the promulgation of the former, but nine months
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before the time set for its execution: it was to be drawn up and
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published in the respective languages of all the provinces. Shall the
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subjects of an earthly prince have his decrees in a language they
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understand? and shall God's oracles and laws be locked up from his
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servants in an unknown tongue? It was to be directed to the proper
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officers of every province, both to the justices of peace and to the
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deputy-lieutenants. It was to be carefully dispersed throughout all
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the king's dominions, and true copies sent by expresses to all the
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provinces. The purport of this decree was to commission the Jews, upon
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the day which was appointed for their destruction, to draw together in
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a body for their own defence. And,
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(1.) To stand for their life, that, whoever assaulted them, it might be
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at their peril.
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(2.) They might not only act defensively, but might <I>destroy, and
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slay, and cause to perish, all the power of the people that would
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assault them, men, women, and children</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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and thus <I>to avenge themselves on their enemies</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
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and, if they pleased, to enrich themselves by their enemies, for they
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were empowered to take the spoil of them for a prey. Now,
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[1.] This showed his kindness to the Jews, and sufficiently provided
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for their safety; for he latter decree would be looked upon as a tacit
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revocation of the former, though not in expression. But,
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[2.] It shows the absurdity of that branch of their constitution that
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none of the king's edicts might be repealed; for it laid the king here
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under a necessity of enacting a civil war in his own dominions, between
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|
the Jews and their enemies, so that both sides took up arms <I>by</I>
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|
his authority, and yet <I>against</I> his authority. No better could
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|
come of men's pretending to be wise above what is given them. Great
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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
|
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the Jews by virtue of the former decree before the notice of this
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arrived. It was therefore <I>by the king's commandment,</I> as well as
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Mordecai's, that the messengers were <I>hastened and pressed on</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
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and had swift beasts provided them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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It was not a time to trifle when so many lives were in danger.</P>
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<A NAME="Es8_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es8_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es8_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Joy of the Jews.</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>15 And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal
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apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and
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with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan
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rejoiced and was glad.
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16 The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.
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17 And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the
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king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and
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|
gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the
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|
land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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It was but a few days ago that we had Mordecai in sackcloth and all the
|
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Jews in sorrow; but here is a blessed change, Mordecai in purple and
|
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all the Jews in joy. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+30:5,11,12">Ps. xxx. 5, 11, 12</A>.
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1. Mordecai in purple,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
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|
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>
|
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|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+11:10">Prov. xi. 10</A>.
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Mordecai was preferred; and, <I>when the righteous are in authority,
|
|
the people rejoice.</I>
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|
2. The Jews in joy,
|
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|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+8:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>.
|
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|
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>
|
|
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