1
Es 7:1-6.
繁體中文
英文原文
Es 7:1-6.
ESTHER PLEADS FOR HER OWN LIFE AND THE LIFE OF HER PEOPLE.
4
無標題
繁體中文
4. 我和我的本族被賣了，要被剪除——即被那人殘忍而不忠的詭計所賣，他曾獻上巨額錢財，要買我們全族的滅絕。以斯帖用種種不同的說法反覆述說他所圖謀的暴行，既表明她自己情感之深切，也是要喚起王心中類似的感受。
我們若被賣為奴為婢，我也閉口不言——猶太人被賣為奴雖是一大災禍，卻可使國庫富足；而且無論如何，這一政策若經證明為不善，尚可更改。但如此眾多的人民被毀滅，卻是無可挽回的禍患，哈曼即使把無數銀子倒進國庫，也無法補償失去他們服事的損失。
英文原文
4. we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed--that is, by the cruel and perfidious scheme of that man, who offered an immense sum of money to purchase our extermination. Esther dwelt on his contemplated atrocity, in a variety of expressions, which both evinced the depth of her own emotions, and were intended to awaken similar feelings in the king's breast.
But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue--Though a great calamity to the Jews, the enslavement of that people might have enriched the national treasury; and, at all events, the policy, if found from experience to be bad, could be altered. But the destruction of such a body of people would be an irreparable evil, and all the talents Haman might pour into the treasury could not compensate for the loss of their services.
7
Es 7:7-10.
繁體中文
斯 7:7-10。
王吩咐將哈曼吊死在他自己的木架上。
7. 王見有惡事臨到他——波斯王下令處死一個罪犯之後，隨即起身進入內院女眷的住處，便是無可指望寬恕的記號。甚至王在盛怒中突然起身，便等同於已宣告了判決。
英文原文
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.
8
無標題
繁體中文
8. 哈曼正伏在以斯帖所躺的榻上——波斯人在席上斜倚的臥榻，確切樣式我們不得而知。但很可能與希臘人和羅馬人所用的沒有多大差別。哈曼也許起初是站起來求以斯帖開恩；但被逼到絕境，便不得不採取最懇切哀求的姿態，撲倒在那王后斜倚的臥榻上。王恰在那時回來，便因這看似侵犯女性端莊的舉動而怒火中燒。
他們就蒙了哈曼的臉——這一舉動引人注目的含義在於：一個罪犯已不配再看王的面；因此，在波斯，罪犯被押去處刑之時，第一件事便是用面紗或布巾蒙住他的臉。
英文原文
8. Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was--We do not know the precise form of the couches on which the Persians reclined at table. But it is probable that they were not very different from those used by the Greeks and Romans. Haman, perhaps, at first stood up to beg pardon of Esther; but driven in his extremity to resort to an attitude of the most earnest supplication, he fell prostrate on the couch where the queen was recumbent. The king returning that instant was fired at what seemed an outrage on female modesty.
they covered Haman's face--The import of this striking action is, that a criminal is unworthy any longer to look on the face of the king, and hence, when malefactors are consigned to their doom in Persia, the first thing is to cover the face with a veil or napkin.
9
無標題
繁體中文
9. 太監哈波拿在王面前說，看哪，那木架——這太監很可能是被差去送請柬給哈曼的使者，那一次便看見了那木架。他如今主動提供這一消息，既可能是出於對哈曼那冷酷陰謀的憎惡，也可能是出於對他那可親的女主人的同情——她與她的百姓一同陷於迫在眉睫的危險之中。
英文原文
9. Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows--This eunuch had probably been the messenger sent with the invitation to Haman, and on that occasion had seen the gallows. The information he now volunteered, as well it may be from abhorrence of Haman's cold-blooded conspiracy as from sympathy with his amiable mistress, involved with her people in imminent peril.
10
無標題
繁體中文
10. 於是人將哈曼掛在他為末底改所預備的木架上——圖謀惡事的人，自己的腳被自己所暗藏的網羅纏住，他並非絕無僅有
(詩 9:15)。
但像對這位滔天罪犯的處決那樣，定罪如此公正、報應如此當得的，從來未有。
英文原文
10. So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai--He has not been the only plotter of mischief whose feet have been taken in the net which they hid
(Ps 9:15).
But never was condemnation more just, and retribution more merited, than the execution of that gigantic criminal.
斯 7:1-6。
以斯帖為己命與同胞之命懇求。