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Esther Chapter
Six
New King James Version
(NKJV)
Esther 6:1. That night the
king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of
the chronicles; and they were read before the king.
YLT 1On that night hath the
sleep of the king fled away
and he saith to bring in the book of memorials of
the Chronicles
and they are read before the king
On that night
could not the king sleep
....
The night after he had
been at Esther's banquet
which it might be thought would rather have caused
sleep; and therefore Jarchi calls it a miracle; and no doubt it was owing to
the overruling providence of God
and not to anxious thoughts about his neglect
of Esther so long
nor what should be her request to him
nor jealousy of any
amorous intrigue with Haman
nor of any conspiracy of theirs against his life:
and he
commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles;
the diaries or journal
in
which memorable facts were recorded; this he did to divert himself
and pass
away time; though here also the providence of God was specially concerned; for
otherwise he might have sent for any of his wives and concubines
or singing
men and women
to have diverted him:
and they were
read before the king;
until the morning
until
it was time to rise
as appears by what follows.
Esther 6:2. 2 And
it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh
two of the
king’s eunuchs
the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.
YLT 2and it is found written
that Mordecai had declared concerning Bigthana and Teresh
two of the eunuchs
of the king
of the keepers of the threshold
who sought to put forth a hand on
king Ahasuerus.
And it was
found written
....
Upon reading
and in which
there was also a peculiar hand of Providence
directing to the reading of that
part of them in which the affair of Mordecai was registered: and if what the
latter Targum says is true
it was the more remarkable
that when Shimshai the
scribe
who was ordered to bring the book and read
and who
according to the
former Targum
was Haman's son
seeing what was recorded of Mordecai
turned
over the leaves of the book
being unwilling to read it; but the leaves rolled
back again
and he was obliged to read it:
that Mordecai
had told of Bigthana and Teresh
two of the king's chamberlains
the keepers of
the door
who sought to lay hand on the King Ahasuerus;
see Esther 2:21
and it
was usual in such diaries to record the names of persons
who
by any actions
had deserved well of the king
that they might be rewarded as there was an
opportunity for it; and such
in the Persian language
were called Orosangae
as Herodotus relatesF15Urania
sive
l. 8. c. 85. .
Esther 6:3. 3 Then
the king said
“What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?”
And the king’s
servants who attended him said
“Nothing has been done for him.”
YLT 3And the king saith
`What
honour and greatness hath been done to Mordecai for this?' And the servants of
the king
his ministers
say
`Nothing hath been done with him.'
And the king
said
what honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this?....
He judged it an action
worthy of regard
and what ought to be rewarded
as it was the saving of his
life; but had forgot whether any royal favour had been shown to the person for
it:
then said the
king's servants that ministered unto him;
the lords of his
bedchamber then in waiting:
there is
nothing done for him;
not on that account
nothing more than what he had; he had an office at court before
but was not
advanced to anything higher on this account.
Esther 6:4.
4 So the king said
“Who is
in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s
palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had
prepared for him.
YLT 4And the king saith
`Who
[is] in the court?' -- and Haman hath come in to the outer court of the house
of the king
to say to the king to hang Mordecai on the tree that he had
prepared for him –
And the king
said
who is in the court?....
Being in haste to confer
some honour on Mordecai for what he had done:
now Haman was
come into the outward court of the king's house;
though it was early in the
morning
being eager to get to the speech of the king before he was engaged in
any business
to obtain a grant from him:
to hang
Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him;
of which he made no doubt
of having
and therefore had prepared for it.
Esther 6:5.
5 The king’s servants said
to him
“Haman is there
standing in the court.” And the king said
“Let him
come in.”
YLT 5and the servants of the
king say unto him
`Lo
Haman is standing in the court;' and the king saith
`Let him come in.'
And the king's
servants said unto him
behold
Haman standeth in the court
....
In the outward court; for
into the inward court none might enter without being called
for which he was
waiting:
and the king
said
let him come in;
into his bedchamber; and
it was of God
no doubt
that Haman should be on the spot at this very time
when the king was in the humour to do honour to Mordecai
and by him.
Esther 6:6.
6 So Haman came in
and the
king asked him
“What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to
honor?” Now Haman thought in his heart
“Whom would the king delight to honor
more than me?”
YLT 6And Haman cometh in
and
the king saith to him
`What -- to do with the man in whose honour the king
hath delighted?' And Haman saith in his heart
`To whom doth the king delight
to do honour more than myself?'
So Haman came
in
....
But was prevented speaking
to the king about the business he came upon by the following speech of the
king:
what shall be
done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour?
he mentions not the name
of any man
that he might the more freely
and unbiasedly
and disinterestedly
give his advice; nor might the king know of any resentment of Haman to
Mordecai:
(now Haman
thought in his heart
to whom would the king delight to do honour more than to
myself?)
who had been advanced
above all the princes and nobles of the realm
and was now in such high honour
both with the king and queen
with whom he was to be at a banquet that day; and
he might conclude
that by putting this question to him
he could have in view
none but himself: Aben Ezra observes
that some from hence gather
that this
book was written by the spirit of prophecy
because none could know the
thoughts of the heart but God; but though he believes it to be written by the
Holy Ghost
yet
as he observes
Haman might disclose this thought of his heart
to his friends afterwards.
Esther 6:7.
7 And Haman answered the
king
“For the man whom the king delights to honor
YLT 7And Haman saith unto the
king
`The man in whose honour the king hath delighted
And Haman
answered the king
....
At once
being very prompt
to suggest the honours he hoped to have done to himself:
for the man
whom the king delighteth to honour;
let the following things
be done.
Esther 6:8.
8 let a royal robe be
brought which the king has worn
and a horse on which the king has ridden
which has a royal crest placed on its head.
YLT 8let them bring in royal
clothing that the king hath put on himself
and a horse on which the king hath
ridden
and that the royal crown be put on his head
Let the royal
apparel be brought which the king useth to wear
....
Not a whole suit of
clothes
but a single garment; the purple robe
as both the Targums
such as
kings wore; that which Cyrus appeared in public in was half purple
and half
white
and no other person besides might wear such an oneF16Xenophon
Cyropaedia
l. 8. c. 23. ; it was a capital crime with the Persians to wear any
of the king's apparel; Trebazus
an intimate of Artaxerxes
having begged an
old gown of him
it was granted
on condition that he would not wear it
it
being contrary to the laws of Persia; but he
regardless of the order
appeared
in it at court; which affront to the king was so resented by the Persians
that
they were for punishing him rigorously
according to the law
had not
Artaxerxes declared
that he had ordered him to appear in that dress as his foolF17Plutarch.
in Artaxerxe. ; hence Artabanus
though uncle to Xerxes
was very unwilling to
obey his orders
to put on his royal robes
sit on his throne
and sleep on his
bedF18Herodot. Polymnia
sive
l. 7. c. 15
16. ; so that this was a
daring proposal in Haman
which he would never have ventured to have made
had
it not been for the great confidence he had in the king's favour:
and the horse
that the king rideth upon:
the kings of Persia
as
HerodotusF19Clio
sive
l. 1. c. 192. relates
had horses peculiar
to them
and those were Nisaean horses
which were brought from Armenia
as
Strabo saysF20Geograph. l. 11. p. 365.
and were remarkable for
their beautyF21Julian. Opera
par. 1. Orat. 2. p. 94. ; and if the
same law obtained in Persia as did in Judea
no man might ride on the king's
horse any more than sit on his throne
or hold his sceptreF23Misn.
Sanhedrin
c. 2. sect. 5. and perhaps this horse here was not proposed for the
person to ride on
but to be led in state before him; and though it is afterwards
said that Mordecai rode on horseback
yet it might not be on the king's horse
which might be only led; and what follows seems to confirm it:
and the crown
royal which is set upon his head;
or
"let it be
set"
&c. not the head of the man
but on the head of the horse; and
so Aben Ezra; and which sense is countenanced by the Targum
and by the Syriac
version
and is approved of by Vatablus and De Dieu; and which the order of the
words requires
the horse being the immediate antecedent; and no mention is
made of the crown afterwards
as set on the head of Mordecai; nor would Haman
have dared to advise to that
nor could it be granted; but this was what was
wont to be done
to put the royal crown on the head of a horse led in state;
and this we are assured was a custom in PersiaF24Brisson. apud
Castell. Lexic. Colossians 4008.
as it is with
the Ethiopians to this dayF25Alvarez Hist. Ethiop. c. 105. apud ib. Colossians 3869. ; and so
with the Romans
horses
drawing triumphal chariots were crownedF26Paschal. de Coronis
l. 8.
c. 5. p. 536. which Tertullian callsF1De Corona Militis
c. 13.
public horses with their crowns.
Esther 6:9.
9 Then let this robe and
horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes
that he
may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then parade him on horseback
through the city square
and proclaim before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the
man whom the king delights to honor!’”
YLT 9and to give the clothing
and the horse into the hand of a man of the heads of the king
the chiefs
and
they have clothed the man in whose honour the king hath delighted
and caused
him to ride on the horse in a broad place of the city
and called before him:
Thus it is done to the man in whose honour the king hath delighted.'
And let this
apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble
princes
....
The one:
that they may
array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour;
and the other to be led in
state before him:
and bring him
on horseback through the street of the city;
on another horse
that all
might see what honour was done him:
and proclaim
before him;
as before Joseph
when
advanced next to Pharaoh
Genesis 41:43 this
was not to be done by an herald
but by a nobleman
to whom the apparel and
horse were to be delivered
and was done by Haman
Esther 6:11
thus shall it
be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour;
these were the words said
in the proclamation
signifying this was the man the king delighted to honour
and this the manner in which he would have it done.
Esther 6:10.
10 Then the king said to
Haman
“Hurry
take the robe and the horse
as you have suggested
and do so
for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king’s gate! Leave nothing undone of
all that you have spoken.”
YLT 10And the king saith to
Haman
`Haste
take the clothing and the horse
as thou hast spoken
and do so
to Mordecai the Jew
who is sitting in the gate of the king; there doth not
fall a thing of all that thou hast spoken.'
Then the king
said to Haman
make haste
....
And without delay go into
the royal treasury
or wardrobe
as the Targum adds: "and take the
apparel"; the royal robe
the purple one
or one of the precious purple
robes; and then
as the same Targum
go to the king's stable
and take thence
the king's "horse"
that stands in the chief place in the stable
whose name is "Shiphregaz"; but how the Targumist came by the name of
it
I know not; however it was not unusual for kings to give a name to their
favourite horse
as Alexander the great did to his called Bucephalus and even
for all kings of Persia
as Darius HystaspisF2Herodot. Thalia
sive
l. 3. c. 88. :
as thou hast
said
and do even so to Mordecai the Jew
that sitteth at the king's gate;
the person he meant this
honour for he describes by name
by nation
and by office
that there might be
no mistake:
let nothing
fail of all that thou hast spoken;
the king objected not to
anything that had been proposed
and insisted on it that every thing be done
punctually by Haman as he had advised
and from which he could not with honour
recede; though nothing could be more mortifying to him to do
to a man he came
to court to get a grant to hang on a gallows he had prepared.
Esther 6:11. 11 So
Haman took the robe and the horse
arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback
through the city square
and proclaimed before him
“Thus shall it be done to
the man whom the king delights to honor!”
YLT 11And Haman taketh the
clothing
and the horse
and clothed Mordecai
and causeth him to ride in a
broad place of the city
and calleth before him
`Thus it is done to the man in
whose honour the king hath delighted.'
Then took Haman
the apparel
and the horse
....
The one out of the
wardrobe
the other out of the stable
and the crown also no doubt
though no
mention is made of it
since the king made no objection to it
yea
commanded
that nothing fail of what had been spoken; but this was included in the pomp
and state of the led horse: and brought him on horseback through the street of
the city; the most grand and public part of it
thus arrayed
and in this
state: and proclaimed before him
thus shall it be done to the man whom the
king delighteth to honour; See Gill on Esther 6:9.
Esther 6:12.
12 Afterward Mordecai went
back to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried to his house
mourning and with his
head covered.
YLT 12And Mordecai turneth back
unto the gate of the king
and Haman hath been hastened unto his house
mourning
and with covered head
And Mordecai
came again to the king's gate
....
To attend his post and
office at court; which confirms what has been already hinted
that he was in
some office in the court
which this phrase is expressive of
and not a porter
at the gate; for it is not probable he should return to such a station
after
so much honour had been done him; and much less that he returned to his
sackcloth and fasting
as Jarchi and the former Targum; since he might
reasonably conclude things were taking a turn in his favour
and that of his
people; though as yet he knew not what success Esther had had
to wait for
which he returned to court:
but Haman
hasted to his house;
pushed forward as fast as
he could:
mourning; at his sad
disappointment:
and having his
head covered;
through grief and sorrow
confusion and shame; so Demosthenes
being hissed
went home with his head
coveredF3Plutarch in Demosthene.
as confounded and ashamed to be
seenF4See more instances in Lively's Chronology of the Persian
monarchy
p. 18
19. .
Esther 6:13.
13 When Haman told his wife Zeresh
and all his friends everything that had happened to him
his wise men and his
wife Zeresh said to him
“If Mordecai
before whom you have begun to fall
is
of Jewish descent
you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before
him.”
YLT 13and Haman recounteth to
Zeresh his wife
and to all his friends
all that hath met him
and his wise
men say to him
and Zeresh his wife
`If Mordecai [is] of the seed of the Jews
before whom thou hast begun to fall
thou art not able for him
but dost certainly
fall before him.'
And Haman told
Zeresh his wife
and all his friends
every thing that had befallen him
....
How he was prevented
speaking to the king on this errand he went; instead of which
he had the
mortification of being obliged to do the honour to Mordecai which he thought
would never have been given to any but himself
and so related the whole affair
as above:
then said his
wise men;
before called his friends;
perhaps they were magicians and soothsayers he kept in his house
to advise with
about the proper methods and times of advancing himself
and destroying his
enemies:
and Zeresh his
wife unto him;
who joined with the wise
men in giving her opinion
and who set up for a knowing woman
and of whom
Haman thought highly:
if Mordecai be
of the seed of the Jews;
as it was said he was; and
therefore Haman had vowed and plotted revenge on the people of the Jews for his
sake:
before whom
thou hast begun to fall;
as he did
by being
obliged to execute the king's will in doing him so much honour:
thou shall not
prevail against him;
to get him hanged
or his
people destroyed
though he had prepared a gallows for the one
and had got an
edict for the other:
but shall
surely fall before him:
which might be concluded
from his being set above him
who would not fail of using his power and
interest to crush him
who had showed himself to be such an implacable enemy to
him; or they might have some knowledge of the history of the Jews
and of what
wonderful things God often did for them
in defeating the designs of their
enemies
and in raising them up from a low to an high estate.
Esther 6:14.
14 While they were
still talking with him
the king’s eunuchs came
and hastened to bring Haman to
the banquet which Esther had prepared.
YLT 14They are yet speaking with
him
and eunuchs of the king have come
and haste to bring in Haman unto the
banquet that Esther hath made.
And while they
were yet talking with him
....
About these things
and
giving their opinion of the issue of them
upon the present appearance of them:
came the king's
chamberlains
and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had
prepared;
the time appointed for it
being very near
or quite up
and Haman being backward and dilatory
having no
stomach to go to it
and perhaps fearing worse things were coming upon him he
should hear of there.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》