Esther 5

Esther risks her life by going uninvited to the king, and he receives her with favor. Instead of making her request at once, she invites the king and Haman to two banquets. Meanwhile Haman’s pride and hatred of Mordecai drive him to build a towering gallows.

Esther 5:1

After three days of fasting, Esther puts on her royal robes and stands where the king can see her. Going in unsummoned could cost her life. She has prepared by prayer and fasting, and now she acts. The king sits facing the entrance, so he sees her at once.

BSA: stood (“to stand in a strong sense, like in a position of readiness”): Esther does not slip in timidly; she takes her place ready and resolute.

See also: Esther 4:16.

Esther 5:2

The king sees her and she finds favor. He holds out the gold scepter, the sign that she may live and approach. Esther draws near and touches its tip. What she feared would mean death becomes a welcome, a reminder that hearts of kings are in God’s hand.

BSA: favor (“graciousness, kindness”): The king’s welcome is a gift of grace she could not demand or earn.

See also: Proverbs 21:1.

Esther 5:3

The king asks what she wants and offers up to half the kingdom. This was a figure of speech for great generosity, not a literal division of the empire. He senses that something serious brought her, and he is ready to hear it.

BSA: request (“petition, desire”): He invites her to name what is in her heart.

Esther 5:4

Esther does not state her plea. She asks only that the king and Haman come to a banquet she has prepared. She is wise and patient, choosing her moment carefully and drawing the king into a setting where she can speak freely.

BSA: prepared (“made, arranged”): The banquet is a deliberate plan, not a hasty impulse.

Esther 5:5

The king answers eagerly and tells his servants to hurry and fetch Haman. He plainly wants to grant Esther’s wish. So the king and Haman go to her banquet. Haman, who has no idea of the danger, is flattered by the invitation.

BSA: Hurry (“to hasten, make haste”): The king acts with urgency, which shows how seriously he takes Esther’s request.

Esther 5:6

At the wine the king asks again and repeats his generous offer. He knows she has more on her mind than a meal. Esther still holds back. Each repeated offer shows how open the king is to her, and how patient she must be.

BSA: petition (“request, a loan, or something asked for”): The word describes something asked of another, so Esther comes as one who asks, not demands.

Esther 5:7-8

Esther again delays. She calls it her petition and request, then asks for one more banquet tomorrow with both men. Then she will answer. Her waiting builds the king’s trust, and it gives God time to move events in ways she cannot see.

BSA: answer (“respond, reply to”): She promises to give her full reply at the next banquet.

Esther 5:9

Haman leaves cheerful and proud. Then he passes Mordecai at the king’s gate, and Mordecai neither stands nor shows fear. His good mood turns to fury at once. One man’s refusal to bow spoils all his pleasure, which shows how pride ruins joy.

BSA: rage (“intense anger, fury, wrath”): Haman is not mildly annoyed; he is completely consumed by anger.

See also: Esther 3:5.

Esther 5:10

Haman holds back his anger in public and goes home. He does not show it to Mordecai, but he does not let it go either. He gathers his friends and his wife Zeresh to listen. Hatred nursed in silence grows into something worse.

BSA: restrained (“exercised self-control, refrained”): His self-control is only for show; the anger stays alive inside him.

Esther 5:11

Haman boasts of his riches, his many sons, and every honor the king has given him. Ancient Persians counted many sons as a great blessing. He lists everything he has, yet he still feels it is not enough. His whole identity rests on rank and praise.

BSA: recounted (“told in detail, boasted about”): He is not simply informing them; he is bragging at length.

See also: Proverbs 16:18.

Esther 5:12

Haman adds that the queen invited only him to dine with the king, and he is invited again tomorrow. He treats this as one more honor. The reader knows it is the first step in a trap. His pride is blind to what is coming.

BSA: invited (“called, summoned”): The word suggests he was summoned, though he reads it as an honor.

Esther 5:13

Despite all he has, Haman says it means nothing while Mordecai the Jew sits at the gate. One man who will not honor him outweighs every blessing. Envy and wounded pride make a person unable to enjoy what he has been given.

BSA: satisfies (“is not profitable to me, availeth me nothing”): Haman admits that all his gains are worth nothing to him because of Mordecai.

Esther 5:14

Zeresh and his friends advise a gallows seventy-five feet high, since a cubit is roughly a foot and a half. Haman should ask for Mordecai’s death in the morning and then feast happily. Haman likes the plan and builds it. He is building his own downfall.

BSA: gallows (“a tree or wooden plank, a high pole”): It was a tall wooden stake, built to be seen from far away. hanged (“impaled, executed”): The method was probably impalement on a stake, a public and brutal execution.

Hebrew: עֵץ (ʿets, H6086) — “tree, wood.” The Hebrew word for the gallows is simply ‘wood’ or ’tree’. It was a huge wooden stake, and God would turn it against the man who built it.

See also: Proverbs 26:27; Psalm 7:15-16.