Esther 7
Expanded Bible
Haman Is Hanged
7 So the king and Haman went in to ·eat [L drink; C a reference to elaborate feasting] with Queen Esther. 2 As they were drinking wine on ·the second day [or this second occasion; 5:4–6], the king asked Esther again, “What ·are you asking for [is your petition]? I will ·give it to you [grant it]. What is ·it you want [your request]? ·I will give you [Ask for] as much as half of my kingdom and it shall be done.”
3 Then Queen Esther answered, “My king, if ·you are pleased with me [L I have found favor in the king’s sight] and if it ·pleases [seems good to] you, let me live. This is ·what I ask [my petition]. And let my people live, too. This is ·what I want [my request]. 4 My people and I have been sold to be destroyed, ·killed [slaughtered] and ·completely wiped out [annihilated]. If we had ·merely [only; simply] been sold as male and female slaves, I would have ·kept quiet [remained silent], because that would not ·be enough of a problem to bother [have justified/been sufficent for troubling] the king.”
5 Then King ·Xerxes [L Ahasuerus] asked Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he? Who has ·done [dared; presumed to do] such a thing?”
6 Esther said, “Our ·enemy [oppressor; adversary] and foe is this ·wicked [evil] Haman!”
Then Haman was filled with terror before the king and queen. 7 The king was ·very angry [filled with rage], got up, left his wine, and went out into the ·palace [L house] garden. But Haman stayed inside to beg Queen Esther ·to save [for] his life. He could see that the king had already decided ·to kill [L on calamity/disaster for] him.
8 When the king returned from the ·palace [L house] garden to the banquet hall, he saw Haman falling on the couch where Esther was ·lying [reclining]. The king said, “Will he even ·attack [assault; molest] the queen while I am in the house?”
As soon as the king said that, servants came in and covered Haman’s face [C signaling his doom]. 9 Harbona, one of the eunuchs there serving the king, said, “Look, a ·seventy-five-foot [L fifty cubits high] ·platform [gallows; pole] stands near Haman’s house. This is the one Haman had prepared for Mordecai, who ·gave the warning that saved [spoke out on behalf of] the king.”
The king said, “·Hang [Impale] Haman on it!” 10 So they ·hanged [impaled] Haman on the ·platform [gallows; pole] he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s anger subsided.
Esther 7
New English Translation
The King Has Haman Executed
7 So the king and Haman came to dine[a] with Queen Esther. 2 On the second day of the banquet of wine the king asked Esther, “What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you. And what is your petition? Ask for up to half the kingdom, and it shall be done.”
3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have met with your approval,[b] O king, and if the king is so inclined, grant me my life as my request, and my people as my petition. 4 For we have been sold[c]—both I and my people—to destruction and to slaughter and to annihilation. If we had simply been sold as male and female slaves, I would have remained silent, for such distress would not have been sufficient for troubling the king.”
5 Then King Ahasuerus responded[d] to Queen Esther, “Who is this individual? Where is this person to be found who is presumptuous enough[e] to act in this way?”
6 Esther replied, “The oppressor and enemy is this evil Haman!”
Then Haman became terrified in the presence of the king and queen. 7 In rage the king arose from the banquet of wine and withdrew to the palace garden. Meanwhile, Haman stood to beg Queen Esther for his life,[f] for he realized that the king had now determined a catastrophic end for him.[g]
8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet of wine, Haman was throwing himself down[h] on the couch where Esther was lying.[i] The king exclaimed, “Will he also attempt to rape the queen while I am still in the building?”
As these words left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Harbona,[j] one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Indeed, there is the gallows that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke out on the king’s behalf. It stands near Haman’s home and is 75 feet[k] high.”
The king said, “Hang him on it!” 10 So they hanged Haman on the very gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. The king’s rage then abated.
Footnotes
- Esther 7:1 tn Heb “to drink”; NASB “to drink wine.” The expression is a metaphor for lavish feasting, cf. NRSV “to feast”; KJV “to banquet.”
- Esther 7:3 tn Heb “If I have found grace in your eyes” (so also in 8:5); TEV “If it please Your Majesty.”
- Esther 7:4 sn The passive verb (“have been sold”) is noncommittal and nonaccusatory with regard to the king’s role in the decision to annihilate the Jews.
- Esther 7:5 tc The second occurrence of the Hebrew verb וַיּאמֶר (vayyoʾmer, “and he said”) in the MT should probably be disregarded. The repetition is unnecessary in the context and may be the result of dittography in the MT.
- Esther 7:5 tn Heb “has so filled his heart”; NAB “who has dared to do this.”
- Esther 7:7 sn There is great irony here in that the man who set out to destroy all the Jews now finds himself begging for his own life from a Jew.
- Esther 7:7 tn Heb “for he saw that calamity was determined for him from the king”; NAB “the king had decided on his doom”; NRSV “the king had determined to destroy him.”
- Esther 7:8 tn Heb “falling”; NAB, NRSV “had (+ just TEV) thrown himself (+ down TEV).”
- Esther 7:8 tn Heb “where Esther was” (so KJV, NASB). The term “lying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “was reclining.”
- Esther 7:9 sn Cf. 1:10, where Harbona is one of the seven eunuchs sent by the king to summon Queen Vashti to his banquet.
- Esther 7:9 tn Heb “50 cubits.” See the note on this expression in Esth 5:14.
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