Esther Chapter 7 Verse-by-Verse Commentary
Esther 7:1 & 2a
So the king and Haman went to Queen Ester's banquet; and the king again said to Ester at the wine banquet, "Whatever your request, Queen Ester, you will be granted it;
We open with the king and Haman dining with the queen for the second day in a row. Once again, the king asked the queen what was on her mind and what he could do for her.
Esther 7:2b
whatever you want, up to half the kingdom, it will be done."
Esther had been hesitant to ask the king and so he asks again and reassures her that her request will be granted. You see, the king loved the queen and offered to give her everything. She already owned half of the kingdom because of her position as queen. Now, the king was willing to grant the other half to her. This speaks to how much the king loved the queen and is a picture of God's love for us. Because of our position as His children, through Jesus Christ, He wants to grant our requests just as the king wanted to fulfill the queen's request.
Esther 7:3 & 4a
Ester the queen answered, "If I have won your favor, king, and if it pleases the king, then what I ask be given me is my own life and the lives of my people. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, killed, exterminated. If we had only been sold as men- and women-slaves, I would have remained quiet;
The queen finally gets down to it and asks for her life and the lives of her people. Imagine the shock of the king in hearing this because he still has no idea that she is a Jew. The king was the only one that could pronounce a sentence of death and here it seems that someone else has done this to the woman he loves.
Esther 7:4b
since then [our] trouble would not have been worth the damage it would have caused the king [to alter the situation]."
Esther continues to explain to the king that she would have kept quiet it if wasn't a matter of life and death. You can almost feel the king getting angry as he thinks about someone selling the queen into slavery. This is also the way that God feels when his children are attacked by the devil and his demons.
Esther 7:5
King Achashverosh asked Ester the queen, "Who is he? Where is the man who dared to do such a thing?"
The king was angry at the thought that someone would have the nerve to do such a thing to the woman that he loves. This is kind of the same way with us and God in that He does not like anyone messing with His children. We can walk confidently in Christ because we understand that we, just like the queen, are royalty as children of God. If God is for us then who can stand against us?
Esther 7:6
Ester said, "A ruthless enemy - it's this wicked Haman!" Haman stood aghast, terrified before the king and queen.
Imagine how Haman's mind must have been racing as he hears Esther basically pronounce the death sentence for him. He had to have known when the words came out of her mouth that his fate was sealed. He sowed hatred in condemning the Jews and now he will reap hatred from the king. If we are in Christ, we can sow love and also receive God's love. For those who do not know Christ, they cannot know love and so it is not possible to sow love. Therefore, at the judgment, they will receive the wrath of God.
Esther 7:7
In a rage, the king got up from the wine banquet and went out to the palace garden. But Haman remained, pleading with Ester the queen to spare his life; for he could see that the king had decided to do him in.
The king went out to the garden to calm down as he was so mad that he had been betrayed by one of his closest advisors. Haman knew that his mind was made up and that the only way to save his life was for Esther to talk to the king on his behalf. He stayed behind to beg her to do so. We, like Haman, were condemned men because of our sinful nature and our only hope was to ask Jesus Christ to forgive us of our sins.
Esther 7:8
Haman had just fallen on the couch where Ester was, when the king returned from the palace garden to the wine banquet. He shouted, "Is he even going to rape the queen here in the palace, before my very eyes?" The moment these words left the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.
Haman was out of his mind as he faced certain death. He was begging the queen to intercede on his behalf and even fell on the couch where she was laying. When the king returned and saw that, it was all that he could stand and Haman was seized.
Esther 7:9 & 10
Harvonah, one of the king's attendants, said, "Look! The gallows seventy-five feet high that Haman made for Mordekhai, who spoke only good for the king, is standing at Haman's house." The king said, "Hang him on it." So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordekhai. Then the king's anger subsided.
In his anger, Haman had built this gallows to make a public example of Mordecai. This same anger at the Jews also caused him to offend the king. Now, he is hanged on the very gallows that he had built in anger. This is a reminder to us today that God is love and, since we are His children, we do not have any room in our hearts for this type of anger and hatred. This is also what Paul told the Ephesian believers when he told them to live as children of light (see Ephesians 5:1).