Esther 7:7

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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(7) Evil.—Heb., the evil, the doom.

Benson Commentary

Esther 7:7. And the king arising from the banquet in his wrath — As disdaining the company and sight of so ungrateful and audacious a person; went into the palace-garden — To cool and allay his troubled and inflamed spirits, being in a great commotion by a variety of passions boiling and struggling within him; and to consider with himself the heinousness of Haman’s crime, the mischief which himself had like to have done by his own rashness, and what punishment was fit to be inflicted on so vile a miscreant. Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther — He first stood up, and then fell down at her feet, to beg she would save his life, and take all he had. They that are most haughty, insolent, and imperious, when they are in power and prosperity, are commonly the most abject and poor-spirited, on a reverse of condition and circumstances. Esther’s sworn enemy now owns that he lies at her mercy, and begs his life at her hand. Thus did God regard the low estate of his handmaiden. For he saw that there was evil determined against him — This he discerned by the violent commotion of the king’s mind, apparent in his countenance, and by his going out of the room in a great rage.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

7:7-10 The king was angry: those that do things with self-will, reflect upon them afterward with self-reproach. When angry, we should pause before we come to any resolution, and thus rule our own spirits, and show that we are governed by reason. Those that are most haughty and insolent when in power and prosperity, commonly, like Haman, are the most abject and poor-spirited when brought down. The day is coming when those that hate and persecute God's chosen ones, would gladly be beholden to them. The king returns yet more angry against Haman. Those about him were ready to put his wrath into execution. How little can proud men be sure of the interest they think they have! The enemies of God's church have often been thus taken in their own craftiness. The Lord is known by such judgments. Then was the king's wrath pacified, and not till then. And who pities Haman hanged on his own gallows? who does not rather rejoice in the Divine righteousness displayed in the destruction his own art brought upon him? Let the workers of iniquity tremble, turn to the Lord, and seek pardon through the blood of Jesus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The king now learned, perhaps for the first time, that his favorite was a Jewess.

Although the enemy ... - i. e. "although the enemy (Haman) would not (even in that case) compensate (by his payment to the treasury) for the king's loss of so many subjects."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Es 7:7-10. The King Causes Haman to Be Hanged on His Own Gallows.

7. he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king—When the king of Persia orders an offender to be executed, and then rises and goes into the women's apartment, it is a sign that no mercy is to be hoped for. Even the sudden rising of the king in anger was the same as if he had pronounced sentence.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Went into the palace garden; partly, as disdaining the company and sight of so ungrateful and audacious a person; partly, to cool and allay his troubled and inflamed spirits; and partly, to consider within himself the heinousness of Haman’s crime, and the mischief which himself had done by his own rashness, and what punishment was fit to be inflicted upon so great a delinquent.

He saw, by the violent commotion of the king’s mind and passions.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the king, arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath, went into the palace garden,.... Not being able to bear the sight of Haman, who had done such an injury both to himself and to the queen; as also that his wrath might subside, and he become more composed and sedate, and be able coolly to deliberate what was fitting to be done in the present case:

and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; hoping that her tender heart might be wrought upon to show mercy to him, and be prevailed on to entreat the king to spare his life; and this request he made in the most submissive manner:

for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king; he perceived it both by the king's countenance, by the rage he went out in, and by the threatening words which he very probably uttered as he went out.

Geneva Study Bible

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 {c} evil determined against him by the king.

(c) His conscience accused him that as he had conspired the death of innocents, so the vengeance of God would fall on him for the same.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

7. arose in his wrath] with the restlessness which accompanies strong passion, and brings him back again apparently at once to confront the object of his indignation.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 7, 8. - Ahasuerus rose up from the banquet "in his wrath" - he could no longer remain quiet - and entered the palace garden, on which Esther's apartment probably looked; partly, perhaps, as Bertheau says, to cool the first heat of his fury in the open air; partly to give himself time for reflection, and consider what he would do. Haman also rose from table, and standing near her, began pleading with Esther for his life, which he felt that she, and she alone, could save. Evil, he saw, was determined against him by the king; but a woman's heart might be more tender, and he might perhaps move the queen to allay the storm that she had raised, and induce the king to spare him. He therefore pleaded with all the earnestness in his power, and at last threw himself forward on the couch whore Esther reclined, seeking perhaps to grasp her feet or her garments, as is usual with suppliants in the East. At this crisis the king returned, and misconstruing Haman's action, or pretending to do so, exclaimed aloud, "Will he even force the queen with me in the house?" The terrible charge brought matters to a conclusion - it was taken as a call on the attendants to seize the culprit and execute him. They covered his face, apparently, as that of a condemned man not worthy any more to see the light, according to a practice common among, the Romans (Liv., 1:26; Cic. 'pro Rabir., 4:13) and the Macedonians (Q. Curt., 'Vit. Alex.,' vi. 8), but not elsewhere mentioned as Persian. Esther 7:7

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The king in his wrath arose from the banquet of wine, and went into the garden of the house (קם is here a pregnant expression, and is also combined with אל־גּנּת); but Haman remained standing to beg for his life to Queen Esther (על בּקּשׁ as in Esther 4:8), "for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king" (כּלה, completed, i.e., determined; comp. 1 Samuel 20:7, 1 Samuel 20:9; 1 Samuel 25:17, and elsewhere); and hence that he had no mercy to expect from him, unless the queen should intercede for him.