Esther 5:7
New International Version
Esther replied, “My petition and my request is this:

New Living Translation
Esther replied, “This is my request and deepest wish.

English Standard Version
Then Esther answered, “My wish and my request is:

Berean Standard Bible
Esther replied, “This is my petition and my request:

King James Bible
Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is;

New King James Version
Then Esther answered and said, “My petition and request is this:

New American Standard Bible
So Esther replied, “My request and my wish is:

NASB 1995
So Esther replied, “My petition and my request is:

NASB 1977
So Esther answered and said, “My petition and my request is:

Legacy Standard Bible
So Esther answered and said, “My petition and my request is:

Amplified Bible
Then Esther replied, “My petition and my request is this:

Christian Standard Bible
Esther answered, “This is my petition and my request:

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Esther answered, “This is my petition and my request:

American Standard Version
Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is:

English Revised Version
Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Esther answered, "My request? What would I like?

Good News Translation
Esther replied,

International Standard Version
Esther answered, "This is my petition and my request:

Majority Standard Bible
Esther replied, “This is my petition and my request:

NET Bible
Esther responded, "My request and my petition is this:

New Heart English Bible
Then Esther answered and said, "My petition and my request is this.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is:

World English Bible
Then Esther answered and said, “My petition and my request is this.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And Esther answers and says, “My petition and my request [is]:

Young's Literal Translation
And Esther answereth and saith, 'My petition and my request is:

Smith's Literal Translation
And Esther will answer and say, My asking and my seeking:
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Esther answered: My petition and request is this:

Catholic Public Domain Version
Esther answered him, “My petition and prayer is this:

New American Bible
Esther replied: “This is my petition and request:

New Revised Standard Version
Then Esther said, “This is my petition and request:
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Then Esther answered and said, My petition and my request is this:

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And Esthir answered and she said: “My request and my petition,
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Then answered Esther, and said: 'My petition and my request is--

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And she said, My request and my petition are:

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Esther Goes Before the King
6And as they drank their wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It will be given to you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be fulfilled.” 7Esther replied, “This is my petition and my request: 8If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, may the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king’s question.”…

Cross References
Esther 7:2-3
and as they drank their wine on that second day, the king asked once more, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given to you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be fulfilled.” / Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, grant me my life as my petition, and the lives of my people as my request.

Esther 6:1-3
That night sleep escaped the king; so he ordered the Book of Records, the Chronicles, to be brought in and read to him. / And there it was found recorded that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the king’s entrance, when they had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. / The king inquired, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this act?” “Nothing has been done for him,” replied the king’s attendants.

Esther 4:15-16
Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: / “Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!”

Esther 8:3-6
And once again, Esther addressed the king. She fell at his feet weeping and begged him to revoke the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews. / The king extended the gold scepter toward Esther, and she arose and stood before the king. / “If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if I have found favor in his sight, and the matter seems proper to the king, and I am pleasing in his sight, may an order be written to revoke the letters that the scheming Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. ...

Esther 2:17-18
And the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she found grace and favor in his sight more than all of the other virgins. So he placed the royal crown upon her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. / Then the king held a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his officials and servants. He proclaimed a tax holiday in the provinces and gave gifts worthy of the king’s bounty.

Esther 3:8-9
Then Haman informed King Xerxes, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples of every province of your kingdom. Their laws are different from everyone else’s, and they do not obey the king’s laws. So it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. / If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will deposit ten thousand talents of silver into the royal treasury to pay those who carry it out.”

Esther 9:12-13
who said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Haman’s ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given to you. And what further do you request? It will be fulfilled.” / Esther replied, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out today’s edict, and may the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”

Nehemiah 2:4-5
“What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven / and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city where my fathers are buried, so that I may rebuild it.”

Daniel 2:16-18
So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him some time, so that he could give him the interpretation. / Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, / urging them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be killed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Genesis 18:27-33
Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes— / suppose the fifty righteous ones lack five. Will You destroy the whole city for the lack of five?” He replied, “If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy it.” / Once again Abraham spoke to the LORD, “Suppose forty are found there?” He answered, “On account of the forty, I will not do it.” ...

1 Samuel 25:24-31
She fell at his feet and said, “My lord, may the blame be on me alone, but please let your servant speak to you; hear the words of your servant. / My lord should pay no attention to this scoundrel Nabal, for he lives up to his name: His name means Fool, and folly accompanies him. I, your servant, did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent. / Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, since the LORD has held you back from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, may your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be like Nabal. ...

2 Samuel 14:12-17
Then the woman said, “Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king?” “Speak,” he replied. / The woman asked, “Why have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, since he has not brought back his own banished son? / For we will surely die and be like water poured out on the ground, which cannot be recovered. Yet God does not take away a life, but He devises ways that the banished one may not be cast out from Him. ...

Proverbs 16:1
The plans of the heart belong to man, but the reply of the tongue is from the LORD.

Proverbs 21:1
The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.

Matthew 7:7-8
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. / For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.


Treasury of Scripture

Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is;

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Esther 5
1. Esther, adventuring on the king's favor, obtains the grace of the golden sceptre,
4. and invites the king and Haman to a banquet.
6. She, being encouraged by the king in her suit, invites them to another banquet.
9. Haman, proud of his advancement, repines at the contempt of Mordecai.
14. By the counsel of Zeresh he prepares for him a gallows.














Esther replied
The phrase "Esther replied" indicates a moment of response and action from Queen Esther. In the Hebrew text, the word for "replied" is "וַתַּעַן" (vata'an), which conveys a sense of answering or responding. This moment is significant as it shows Esther's courage and wisdom in addressing King Xerxes. Historically, Esther's position as queen was precarious, and her ability to speak directly to the king was a testament to her bravery and the favor she had found in his eyes. Her reply is a pivotal moment in the narrative, demonstrating her strategic approach to saving her people.

My petition and my request
The words "my petition and my request" highlight the dual nature of Esther's appeal. The Hebrew words "שְׁאֵלָתִי" (she'elati) for "petition" and "בַּקָּשָׁתִי" (bakashati) for "request" suggest a formal and earnest plea. In the context of Persian court customs, such language would have been understood as a serious and respectful approach to the king. Esther's use of both terms underscores the gravity and urgency of her appeal. It reflects her careful planning and the importance of her mission to save the Jewish people from Haman's plot.

is this
The phrase "is this" serves as a prelude to Esther's forthcoming revelation. It indicates that what follows is of utmost importance. In the narrative, this moment builds suspense and anticipation, as the king and Haman are eager to hear Esther's true request. The phrase also reflects Esther's strategic patience, as she has not yet revealed her full intentions. This moment is a testament to her wisdom and the divine timing at play in the unfolding events. Esther's ability to hold the attention of the king and Haman demonstrates her influence and the providential guidance she receives.

Verse 7. - My petition and my request is. Esther still hesitates to prefer her real request. We are not likely to be able in the nineteenth century to understand all the motives that actuated her, or all the workings of her mind. Perhaps nothing kept her back but the natural fear of a repulse, and a desire to defer the evil day; perhaps she saw some real advantage in putting off the determination of the matter. At any rate, she again declined to declare herself, and merely gave her two guests a second invitation for the ensuing evening. She concludes, however, with a promise that she will ask no further respite. I will do to-morrow as the king hath said. i.e. I will prefer my real request; I will ask the favour which was in my thoughts when I adventured myself in the inner court without having received an invitation.

CHAPTER 5:9-14 HAMAN, EXULTING AT THESE SIGNS OF ROYAL FAVOUR, IS THE MORE EXASPERATED AT MORDECAI'S CONTEMPT OF HIM. AT THE BIDDING OF HIS WIFE HE RESOLVES TO IMPALE MORDECAI, AND CAUSES A LOFTY CROSS TO BE ERECTED FOR THE PURPOSE (Esther 5:9-14). The favour shown him by the king and queen in admitting him to the very close intimacy implied in their making him the sole companion of their private hours, produced in Haman a dangerous exaltation of spirit. He seemed to himself to have attained the pinnacle of a subject's greatness. Returning home in this frame of mind, and having to pass through the gate where Mordecai was on duty, he was more vexed than usual with that official's disrespect, which was more pointed and open than it had ever been before (ver. 9). However, he took no immediate notice of the porter's conduct (ver. 10), but proceeded to his own house, where he assembled his friends, and communicated to them, and at the same time to Zeresh his wife, the circumstances which had so greatly raised his spirits. The climax was that "Esther the queen had let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but himself; nay, more, he was again invited on the morrow to banquet with her and the king" (ver. 12). He added, however, Mordecai's insult remaining fresh in his recollection, that all his glory, all his honours, availed him nothing - were as nothing in his eyes - so long as he was condemned to see Mordecai the Jew every time that he passed though the palace gate, and to be treated by him with contempt and contumely (ver. 13). Upon this Zeresh made, and Haman's friends approved, a proposal that a lofty cross should be at once erected in the court of Haman's house, on which Mordecai should be impaled, with the king's consent, as soon as it was finished. Haman agreed to this, recovered his spirits, and gave orders for the cross to be made (ver. 14).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Esther
אֶסְתֵּ֖ר (’es·têr)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 635: Esther -- 'star', Ahasuerus' queen who delivered Israel

replied,
וַתַּ֥עַן (wat·ta·‘an)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 6030: To answer, respond

“This is my petition
שְׁאֵלָתִ֖י (šə·’ê·lā·ṯî)
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 7596: Request, thing asked for

and my request:
וּבַקָּשָׁתִֽי׃ (ū·ḇaq·qā·šā·ṯî)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 1246: Request, entreaty


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OT History: Esther 5:7 Then Esther answered and said My petition (Est Esth. Es)
Esther 5:6
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