Esther 7

So the king and Ha man went to Queen Esther’s banquet, and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.” Esther 7:1-2

Once again, after the meal, the participants relaxed and drank wine as was the custom. At this time the king again asked Esther what her request was. Once more, he promised to give her that request whatever it was up to half the kingdom. We have to stop and admire Esther’s demeanor. Anders says: “Her comprehension and exploitation of court protocol and rhetoric have gained her favor and audience with the king.” [1]

To this point, there are a lot of things that the king and Haman do not know, and this certainly builds the suspense. The king does not know that his lovely queen is Jewish. Neither does he know of her close relationship with Mordecai. Haman knows that Mordecai is Jewish but he has no idea about his relationship with Queen Esther. He certainly has never guessed that the queen herself is also Jewish. [2] What an explosion of emotions when all these things are suddenly revealed to the king and to Haman.

“Then Queen Esther answered, ‘If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life – this is my petition. And spare my people – this is my request” (7:3). With Esther’s request, Haman may have begun to feel a little faint and his palms were likely getting sweaty. He was probably thinking, “Could it be? Surely, it could not be – or could it?” Queen Esther’s words were almost verbatim from the decree of chapter 3:13. Clarke says: “This was very artfully, as well as very honestly, managed; and was highly calculated to work on the feelings of the king. ‘What! is the life of the queen, whom I most tenderly love, in any kind of danger?’” [3] We have to think of Proverbs 16:4 which says, “ The LORD works out everything to its proper end – even the wicked for a day of disaster.”

Queen Esther continues: “For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king” (7:4). Now Haman was probably about to pass out. Esther was surely talking about him and his plan of annihilating the Jews. The king was probably thinking “What monster would want to kill my queen? And how has my queen been sold? Surely not – Oh no! What have I done?”

“King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, ‘Who is he? Where is he – the man who has dared to do such a thing?’” (7:5). Wiersbe comments: “In an absolute monarchy, the king is looked upon as a god and can do no wrong. This is why ancient monarchs always had a stable of scapegoats available – people who could take the blame for the ignorance or inefficiency of the throne.” [4] Haman was not just a scapegoat, he fully earned all the wrath that was about to fall upon him. “Esther exposed the truth about Haman – that he was not a faithful servant of the king, he was instead an adversary and enemy, more interested in his own fame and status than the benefit of the king…” [5]

Haman Exposed

Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. Esther 7:6

There is probably no modern terror quite like that of standing guilty before an angry eastern king, with absolute power to kill and destroy. I heard of one servant in later times who fell dead of a heart attack when the king merely shouted at him. We can imagine that Haman wished he was dead instead of about to receive the king’s full wrath.

“The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life” (7:7). We know from history that Xerxes had a short temper (cf. 1:12). He probably headed for the garden to cool off and let his head settle. He had just learned some shocking information about himself. Wiersbe says: “Without openly accusing him, Esther has implicated the king in a horrible crime, and he was bound to feel guilty…he didn’t realize that the decree was part of a conspiracy. He had signed the death warrant for his own wife! The king had to find a way to save his wife and save face at the same time.” [6]

“A king’s wrath is a messenger of death…” (Prov. 16:14). Also, “A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion…” (Prov. 19:12). By now the king has probably realized that he had been duped by Haman in whom he placed so much trust. Instead of cooling off, the king was now boiling with rage. At this point, the king may have pronounced a sentence on Haman, although it is not mentioned in this passage. Jamieson says that even the sudden rising of the king’s great anger was the same as pronouncing a sentence. [7]

“Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, ‘Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?’ As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face” (7:8). When Haman saw the rage of the king, he realized that his only hope was to get the favor of the queen. McGee says, “He is mad with fear, and so he gets down on his knees to plead for his life in a craven way.” [8] He was falling on the queen’s couch or possibly holding onto her feet as he begged for his life. Imagine, Haman was now groveling and begging a Jew for his life! Unfortunately, that only made Haman’s position a lot worse. Any approach to the king’s wife was absolutely taboo in Persia. Utley says, “It must be remembered that the wife of the king took on something of his royal person. Therefore, to touch her was a grave offense.” [9]

In his rage the king condemned Haman to death. The eunuchs quickly responded to the decree and covered Haman’s face. Perhaps such a covering prevented the condemned from looking on the king’s face any longer, or it may have been a protection from the evil eye, the ancient curse brought about by an evil stare. [10] In the Middle East today there is still concern about the evil eye and women often wear charms to supposedly ward it off.

“Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, ‘A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.’ The king said, ‘Impale him on it!’” (7:9). We have met Harbona before in 1:10. He was apparently familiar with Haman’s house and had seen the death contraption that he had set up for Mordecai. This whole situation reminds us of many scriptures: “ The righteous person is rescued from trouble, and it falls on the wicked instead” (Prov. 11:8); “Whoever sows injustice reaps calamity, and the rod they wield in fury will be broken” (Prov. 22:8); “ As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it” (Job 4:8). We can think of many examples where these principles worked in the past. Pharaoh wanted to drown all the Jewish baby boys and later God drowned his whole army in the Red Sea (Exo. 14-15). [11] Then there was Satan who thought he had triumphed as he put Jesus on the cross. Later he found out that the cross was the instrument of his own defeat. [12]

“So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided” (7:10). The Bible mercifully skips the horrible details of Haman’s death by impalement. With Haman’s death, the king’s great fury finally subsides. How true the words of Proverbs 29:16: “ When the wicked thrive, so does sin, but the righteous will see their downfall.” There is also that word in Proverbs 25:5: “remove wicked officials from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established through righteousness.”

Although the king has calmed down and is satisfied, there is still a problem. Coffman summarizes: “But the danger was far from being averted. That evil decree sent forth in the authority of the ‘Law of the Medes and Persians that alters not,’ was still out there, in every province of the Empire (Daniel 6:9). The great danger of a wholesale slaughter of the Jews still persisted.” [13]

Footnotes

1. Anders, g. ed. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Holman Old Testament Commentary, p. 347.

2. McConville, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, p. 182.

3. Clarke, The Adam Clarke Commentary, Commentary on Esther, v. 7:3.

4. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, p. 815.

5. Guzik, Enduring Word Bible Commentary, Esther, v. 7:6.

6. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, p. 815.

7. McGee, History of Israel, Ezra Nehemiah, Esther, p. 232.

8. Utley, Free Bible Commentary, Esther, v. 7:8.

9. Ibid.

10. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, p. 816.

11. Guzik, Enduring Word Bible Commentary, Esther, vs. 7:9-10.

12. Coffman, Coffman’s Commentaries on the Bible, Commentary on Esther, v. 7:8.