Scene 7
The Truth Comes Out
The king and Haman came to the banquet of Esther the queen.
Xerxes to the Queen: What is your petition, Queen Esther, that it may be granted you? And what is your request? And it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
Esther: If we had been sold as slaves, I would have kept quiet. But we are sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to perish.
Xerxes: Who is he, and where is the one who dares presume in his heart to do so?
Esther: The man who is our adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman.
Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. The king ... in his wrath went into the palace garden. Haman knew the king well enough to see that evil was determined against him by the king. Haman stood up to beg for his life from Esther the queen. The king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet.
Haman had fallen on the bed on which Esther was. They were in the banquet hall, not in the queen's bedroom. Ancient custom was that people would lounge while they were eating and in the Hebrew text the word is not, "bed" but "couch".
Xerxes, on returning to the hall: Will he also force the queen before me in the house?
Haman was much too concerned about what the king would do to him to try and rape the queen at that time. He was pleading for mercy from the queen and he would not have done anything to upset her at such a time.
Haman had fallen on the bed on which Esther was. They were in the banquet hall, not in the queen's bedroom. Ancient custom was that people would lounge while they were eating and in the Hebrew text the word is not, "bed" but "couch".
Xerxes, on returning to the hall: Will he also force the queen before me in the house?
It is true that the king accuses Haman of attempted rape, but Bible commentators agree that this was simply an exaggeration, spoken in anger.
As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. The Hebrew text says, the face of Haman they hooded; probably much as modern-day convicts are "hooded" just before they face the firing squad. The guards which were present knew immediately the intent of the king's statement. Haman was deemed to no longer be worthy to behold the king's face.
Harbonah, to the king: Also look! the wooden gallows fifty cubits high which Haman made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, stands in the house of Haman.
Probably not in the house but rather in the courtyard.
Xerxes: Hang him on it!
Scene 8
The Death of Haman
They hanged Haman on the wooden gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. And the king's wrath lay down (was appeased). 7:1-10.
Instead of the word, tree, in 2:23, the Hebrew text has the word, wood. It is commonly agreed that the word, gallows, with the meaning we attach to it, should not be used here because the Persians did not hang criminals by the neck; rather they crucified them, as Christ was also crucified. That is why it is important to use the word, wood, as the Hebrew Bible has it, rather than gallows. The CEV uses the word, tower.
Scene 9
A major Change of Plans
On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews' enemy, to Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal clothing of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple. And the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.
Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal clothing of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple. And the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.
Esther, with tears, to Xerxes: Please put a stop to the evil plot of Haman, which he had plotted against the Jews. ... For how can I bear to see the evil that shall come on my people? Or how can I endure to see the slaughter of my kindred?
Xerxes: You write for the Jews as you wish, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring. The Persian rule is that even I cannot undo a law that has been sealed with my ring. However, you may write a rule that counters the first rule so that the Jews may protect themselves on that day.
The scribes wrote in all the varied languages of the Persian kingdom and the letters were sealed, and again sent by "pony express".
The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. And in every province, and in every city where the king's command and his order came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. They now had permission to protect themselves on what would otherwise have been a fatal day for the Jewish race. This was such a notorious event that the Jews still celebrate that holiday annually.
And many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell on them. Est 8:1-17. They pretended to be Jews so that the Jews would not kill them on that appointed day.
The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. And in every province, and in every city where the king's command and his order came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. They now had permission to protect themselves on what would otherwise have been a fatal day for the Jewish race. This was such a notorious event that the Jews still celebrate that holiday annually.
And many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell on them. Est 8:1-17. They pretended to be Jews so that the Jews would not kill them on that appointed day.
No comments:
Post a Comment