1.
So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
2.
And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
petition . . . request. See note on Esther 5:6 .
kingdom. See note on Esther 5:3 .
3.
Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:
my life = my soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 . Life put before petition, and her People put before her request.
4.
For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage.
are = have been.
sold. Implying that a bargain had been made.
destroyed . . . slain . . . perish. Note the Figure of speech Synonymia ( App-6 ), to emphasize the urgency of her petition. Compare Esther 3:13 .
perish. See note on Esther 3:13 .
countervail = make good, or compensate.
5.
Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?
answered and said. Note the idiom = threatened and said. See note on Deuteronomy 1:41 .
WHO IS HE, AND WHERE IS HE . . . ? This is the fifth Acrostic, which gives (not Jehovah but) the Divine Name "I AM" of Exodus 3:14 . See App-60 .
HE. Note the emphatic repetition of this pronoun.
6.
And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
7.
And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.
life = soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .
THAT THERE WAS EVIL DETERMINED AGAINST HIM. This is the fourth, and last, of the four acrostics exhibiting the name Jehovah in this book. See App-60 .
the king. Note the Figure of speech Epanadiplosis , the verse beginning and ending with the same word, marking and emphasizing its importance.
8.
Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.
bed = couch.
Will he force . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis.
9.
And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.
gallows. See note on Esther 5:14 .
10.
So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.
they hanged Hainan. See note on "Benjamite" (Esther 2:5 ).