Commentari biblici

Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on [her] royal [apparel], and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house.

Now it came to pass on the third day — That is, on the fifteenth day of the month Nisan, as the Hebrew annals say. Cum adhuc ferverent popularium suorum preces, whiles the prayers of her countrymen (like those of Cornelius, Acts 10:4 ), were come up for a memorial before God, she takes her opportunity and speeds accordingly. She knew that sweet passage, Psalms 145:18 , "The Lord is nigh to all that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them," … This she could afterwards seal to and say, This poor soul cried, and the Lord heard her, and saved her out of all her troubles, Psalms 34:6 . Luther’s widow confessed that she never understood many of David’s Psalms till she was in deep affliction.

That Esther put on her royal apparel — She knew that

Men glorify her as than they glorify her clothes. People are usually regarded as they are habited, and good clothes conduce much to the setting forth of beauty to the best. Like a right daughter of Sarah, 1 Peter 3:3 ; 1 Peter 3:5 , she knew that the outward adorning, by plaiting the hair, wearing of gold, and putting on of apparel, would not at all commend her to God (in obedience to whom she had wanzed her face with fasting, and trusted that he would put upon her his comeliness), but considering that the king, her husband, looked much at such things, she laid aside her fasting weeds, and put on her best. Induit se regno (so the original runs), she clothed herself in rich and royal array; as Queen Mary of England did on her coronation day: her head was so laden with precious stones, that she could hardly hold it up, saith the story; and all things else were according. Whether Esther came to the king, leaning upon one maid, and having another to hold up her train, as Josephus hath it, is uncertain. It is likely she left her attendants outside, lest she should draw them into danger; and contented herself (when she went in to the king) with those faithful companions, Faith, Hope, and Charity, who brought her off also with safety, according to Proverbs 18:10 ; Proverbs 14:26 .

And stood in the inner court of the king’s house — A bold adventure questionless, but the fruit of the prayer of faith; this was it that put spirit and mettle into her. What if she were queen? so had Vashti been, and yet discarded for her disobedience. Besides, how could she tell, either, what the king’s mind towards her was; (he had not seen her of a month, and if Haman knew her to be a Jewess, what would not he suggest against her?) or, what was the mind of God, till he had signified it by the event. It was therefore a heroical courage in Esther, proceeding from her faith, which, when it is driven to work alone without sense, then God thinks it lieth upon his credit to show mercy.

Over against the king’s house — Where she might see him, and be seen by him. This she did, Nec temere, nec timide, Neither rashly nor fearfully, which, saith one, is the Christian’s motto.

And the king sat upon his royal throne — Royal indeed, as Athenaeus describeth it. But yet short of Solomon’s, 1 Kings 10:18 , much more of the Lord Christ’s, supported aud surrounded with an innumerable company of angels. It should be our earnest desire to see this King of glory upon his throne; to see him and enjoy him. Austin wished that he might have seen three things: 1. Romam in flore; 2. Paulum in ore; 3. Christum in corpore. Rome in the flourish, Paul in the pulpit, Christ in the flesh. Venerable Bode cometh after, and correcting this last wish, saith, Imo vero Christum in solio sedentem, Let me see Christ upon his throne royal rather. Isaiah saw him so, Isaiah 6:1 , and took far more delight therein than the merry Greeks did or could do at their Olympic games, celebrated at the same time, in 760-759 BC, 1590 years after the flood, in the 14th Jubilee, according to Ussher.

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And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, [that] she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that [was] in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.

And it was so — God, the great heart disposer, so ordered it.

That when the king saw Esther the queen, … — Beautified by God in a special manner, as was Moses, αστειος τω θεω , Acts 7:20 , Stephen, Acts 6:15 , … And some faces we know do appear most orientally fair when they are most instamped with sorrow.

That she obtained favour in his sight — Josephus saith, that at first the king frowned upon her, so that she fell into a swoon before him. Rex autem, voluntate arbitror Dei, mentem mutavit, i.e. but the king, as God would have it, changed his mind, and cheered her up. How true this is I know not; but this I know, that the wrath of a king is as the roaring of a lion, which is so terrible, that it astonieth all that hear it, and that omne trahit secum Caesaris ira malum. All drag the evil wrath with Caesar himself. Sir Christopher Hatton, being checked and threatened by Queen Elizabeth, died soon after; neither could the queen, having once cast him down with her word only, raise him up again, though she visited him, and comforted him. Esther here was soon raised and relieved.

Enecat, ut possit vivificare Deus.

And the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre — He did not kick her out of his presence, as some Cambyses would have done, neither did he command her to the block, as Henry VIII did his Anne Bullen upon a mere pretence of disloyalty; neither yet did he cashier her, as he had done Vashti for a less offence: but, by holding out his sceptre, shows his gracious respects unto her. This was the Lord’s own work, as was likewise that of old, that Laban should leave Jacob with a kiss, Genesis 31:55 Esau meet him with a kiss, Genesis 33:4 , where the word kissed hath a prick over each letter in the original, to show the wonder of God’s work in changing Esau’s heart from his former hatred. Hebrew Text Note Let a man’s ways please the Lord, and men shall quickly befriend him. This is compendiosissima hominum gratiam consequendi via, saith Lavater here, the readiest way to win favour with all others. When David was once a man after God’s heart, whatsoever he did pleased the people.

So Esther drew near, and touched the top of his sceptre — With her hand, saith the Chaldee; with her mouth, saith the Vulgate translation. This she did, either in token of submission, or for the avoiding of danger; for, as Josephus saith, He that touched the king’s sceptre was out of the reach of evil, O απτομενος, ακινδυνος . Wives should submit themselves to their own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Submission includeth reverence (in heart, speeches, gestures) and obedience to all their husband’s lawful commands and restraints. This is no more than is meet, saith the apostle, Colossians 3:19 .

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Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what [is] thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.

Then said the king unto her — He perceived both by this her bold adventure, and also by her countenance and habit, that she had some very great suit to him. He therefore accosteth her (as the Lord did the angel, Zechariah 1:13 ) with good words and comfortable words. And this way one man may be an angel, nay, a god, to another, Genesis 33:10 . Indeed, it is God that comforteth by the creature, as by a conduit-pipe. The air yieldeth light as an instrument; the water may heat, but not of itself. The Lord put it into the heart of Ahasuerus to cheer up Esther in this sort; wherein also he did but his duty, for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church: so ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself, Ephesians 5:28-29 .

What wilt thou, queen Esther? — That he called her by her name, and with such an honourable attribution, was a sign of no small favour. The hearts of Joseph’s brethren were so big swollen with spite and spleen, that they could not call him by his name, but said, "Behold, this dreamer," Genesis 37:19 . So the Pharisees called our Saviour, This fellow, Eκεινος , John 7:11 . And the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he? they could not find in their hearts to say, Where is Jesus? So Saul asked not for David, much less for his son-in-law David, but for the son of Jesse, by way of contempt. Christ tells his disciples that their enemies shall cast out their names for naught, Luke 6:22 , and chargeth them courteously to salute their enemies, calling them friendly by their names, Matthew 5:47 .

And what is thy request? — q.d. Fear not to utter it, I am very earnest to know it, and fully resolved to grant it. It was more troublesome to Severus the emperor to be asked nothing than to give much. When any of his courtiers had not made bold with him, he would call him and say, Quid est cur nihil petes? What meanest thou to ask me nothing? Hitherto ye have asked me nothing (saith the King of saints to his beloved Esther); ask, that your joy may be full, John 16:24 . He is worthily miserable that will not make himself happy by asking.

It shall be given thee to the half of the kingdom — A proverbial rather than a prodigal speech, and much in this king’s mouth. If some ambitious Semiramis had had such an offer, what ill use might she soon have made of it! The dancing damsel made no good use of the like from Herod. But a bee can suck honey out of a flower, that a fly has not the skill to do. Esther prudently and modestly improveth the immoderate offer of the king, and conceiveth good hope. How much more may we (upon those exceeding great and precious promises given us by God) of an exuberancy of love, and a confluence of all comforts for this life and a better! especially since God doth not pay his promises with words, as Sertorius is said to have done; neither is he off and on with his people ( nec mutatur, nec mentitur ), but performeth all with the better, as Naaman pressed the prophet’s man to take two talents when he asked but one. The widow of Sarepta had more than she could tell what to do with; her cruse never ceased running till she had no room. The Shunammite would ask nothing of the prophet, nor make use of his offered courtesy. He sends for her again, and makes her a free promise of that which she most wanted and desired, a son, 2 Kings 4:16 . God’s kindness is beyond all this. He giveth his servants what they forget or presume to ask; and sends his Spirit to help them, and to form their prayers for them, and thereby to seal them up to the day of redemption, to assure them of the kingdom.

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And Esther answered, If [it seem] good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.

And Esther answered — She did not presently pour forth her whole heart into the king’s bosom, rail against Haman, beg for her people, …, but prudently reserveth herself till a fitter opportunity. Unadvised open-heartedness is a fruit of fool-hardiness, Proverbs 29:11: "A fool uttereth all his mind" (ye shall have it presently, so near his mouth doth it lie, that all will out suddenly): "but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards," or, in an inner room ( in ulteriori animi recessu ), as the word may be rendered, till he see his time to produce it.

If it seem good to the king — Princes must have silken words given them, as the mother of Artaxerxes (perhaps Esther) told one. The rule of old was η ηκιστα, η ηδιστα , short or sweet.

Let the king and Haman come this day to the banquet — She knew that the king loved Haman’s company, and especially at a banquet. It was policy in Rebecca to provide such savoury meat as the old man loved; so here. Be wise as serpents. David is commended for his prudent (and thereby prosperous) deporting himself in Saul’s house, 1 Samuel 18:14 God gave Solomon politic wisdom exceeding much. Who is a faithful and a wise servant? saith our Saviour, …, Matthew 24:45 . And "who is a wise man and endued with knowledge (saith St James) amongst you? let him show out of a good conversation his works, with meekness of wisdom," James 3:13 . But if it were policy in Esther to invite Haman, whom she hated, was it likewise piety? did she not dissemble? R. Solomon saith, she invited Haman alone with the king, that other courtiers might envy him, and so undermine him. But that is but a sorry excuse, neither doth Lyra’s allegation of her good intention much mend the matter. They answer better, who say, that she invited him, that she might accuse him to his face; and so cut off all matter of his excuse or escape. Hereby also she would show, saith Lavater, that she accused him, not out of wrath or revenge; but that she was drawn to it, and, as it were, driven by mere necessity.

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Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste, that he may do as Esther hath said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste — Heb. Accelerate or hasten Haman, sc. to an ill bargain, as it proved the very next day. Look how thunder commonly happens when the sky seemeth most clear; so Haman saw himself enveloped with a storm in one of the fairest days of his fortune. Philosophers say, that before a snow the weather will be warmish; when the wind lies the great rain falls, and the air is most quiet when suddenly there will be an earthquake.

So the king and Haman came to the banquet — Who but the king and Haman? So Tiberius called Sejanus, My Sejanus, partaker of all my cares and counsels, …, and made him his colleague in the empire, Sιανον τον εμον, κοινωνιον φροντιδων (Dio). But he soon cast him from supreme honour to extreme ignominy, so that the same senator who accompanied him to the senate conducted him to prison; they which sacrificed unto him as to their god, which kneeled down to him to adore him, scoffed at him, and loaded him with contempt and contumelies. So Caesar Borgia, that restless ambitionist, who, emulating Julius Caesar, would needs be aut Caesar, aut nullus, either Caesar or nothing, was shortly after et Caesar, et nullus, both Caesar and nothing, being slain in the kingdom of Navarre.

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And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What [is] thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what [is] thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.

And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine — Which seemeth to have been after the other banquet of dainties and sweetmeats, during which they drank water. Only the king had aurum potabile, a golden water prepared, which he and his eldest son alone might drink; and none else might taste of it on pain of death, των δε αλλων εαν τις πιη θανατον η ζημια (Athenaeus). At this latter banquet they drank wine freely one to another; and, inter poculorum laetitiam, as Josephus hath it, Eν τω πατω , Inter pocula, when his heart was now merry within him, after he had drunk wine abundantly, as the Latin hath it, the king said unto Esther,

What is thy petition? to the half of the kingdom — The promise the king reneweth, as supposing that Esther durst not propose her request because of the greatness of the matter; and assuring her that she should have it, though never so great. And saith not the God of heaven as much to his servants and suppliants? Isaiah 45:11 Jeremiah 33:3 . Why, then, stand they off in a sinful shamefacedness, and improve not to the utmost this divine indulgence, this precious privilege? why say they not with Luther (who well understood the latitude of this royal charter), Fiat mea voluntas, Let my will be done: my will, I say, because the same with thine, Lord? why do they not grow upon God, and work upon his promise (which is so exceeding broad, Psalms 119:96 ), as David did? 1 Chronicles 17:23-25 ; he goes over it again, and yet still encroacheth, 1 Chronicles 17:26 ; he presseth and oppresseth it, till he hath expressed the sweetness out of it, and so we have all good leave to do, Isaiah 66:11 , even to suck and be satisfied by those full-strutting breasts of divine consolation. But what mean those foul great babies, the Papists, to pray the Virgin Mary to exhibit unto them the breasts of her grace? … And what frontless blasphemers are they to say, that God the Father hath shared his kingdom with her; keeping his justice to himself, and giving his mercy to her to dispose of? And this, say they, that they may not seem to be mad without reason, was prefigured by Ahasuerus’s saying to Esther, I will grant thy request to the half of my kingdom.

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

My petition and my request is — She speaks to the king in his own very words: and so must we if we mean to speed in heaven. Take unto you words, and say, Take away all iniquity, and give good, … Produce God’s own words in prayer, and say, as she did to Judah, "Whose are these?" Genesis 38:25 . He loves to be set upon in his own words, to be pressed with his promise, to be sued upon his bond. This David knew, and therefore cries, Psalms 86:11 , "Unite my heart to fear thy name": it is as if he should say, Thou hast promised, Lord, to give me one heart, Ezekiel 11:19 ; behold, I find mine heart divided, my thoughts dissipated, and myself disabled for duty (for Anima dispersa fit minor ), Unite it, I beseech thee, … This is the way to make our prayers to be nigh the Lord day and night, as Solomon phraseth it, 1 Kings 8:59 .

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If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do to morrow as the king hath said.

If I have found favour in the sight of the king — As she had, not so much by her beauty and bravery (wherein Vashti perhaps might easily have compared with her), but by the finger of God, who tames for his elect the fiercest creatures (as he did the lions to Daniel, and other savage beasts to the martyrs, whom they would not meddle with), and turneth the king’s heart, as the rivers of water, into what channel soever he pleaseth to put it, Proverbs 21:1 , as the ploughman doth the watercourse with his paddle, or the gardener with his hand.

And if it please the king — See Esther 5:4 , and submit to God, James 4:7 .

And I will do tomorrow as the king hath said — She had learned to prefer opportunity before time. There might be some by at this first banquet whose company she liked not; or she might not yet have so clear an answer in her own heart to her former prayers, and therefore desireth some further time that night to seek God: whatever the reason of her putting it off till next day was, God’s holy hand was in it, that Mordecai might be first so greatly honoured, and Haman’s high gallows prepared: Ilium utique magis securum, Regem autem magis benevolum magisque fecit attentum, saith Rupertus. Hereby she made Haman more secure, and the king more kind and attentive.

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