Esther 7
New English Translation
The King Has Haman Executed
7 So the king and Haman came to dine[a] with Queen Esther. 2 On the second day of the banquet of wine the king asked Esther, “What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you. And what is your petition? Ask for up to half the kingdom, and it shall be done.”
3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have met with your approval,[b] O king, and if the king is so inclined, grant me my life as my request, and my people as my petition. 4 For we have been sold[c]—both I and my people—to destruction and to slaughter and to annihilation. If we had simply been sold as male and female slaves, I would have remained silent, for such distress would not have been sufficient for troubling the king.”
5 Then King Ahasuerus responded[d] to Queen Esther, “Who is this individual? Where is this person to be found who is presumptuous enough[e] to act in this way?”
6 Esther replied, “The oppressor and enemy is this evil Haman!”
Then Haman became terrified in the presence of the king and queen. 7 In rage the king arose from the banquet of wine and withdrew to the palace garden. Meanwhile, Haman stood to beg Queen Esther for his life,[f] for he realized that the king had now determined a catastrophic end for him.[g]
8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet of wine, Haman was throwing himself down[h] on the couch where Esther was lying.[i] The king exclaimed, “Will he also attempt to rape the queen while I am still in the building?”
As these words left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Harbona,[j] one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Indeed, there is the gallows that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke out on the king’s behalf. It stands near Haman’s home and is 75 feet[k] high.”
The king said, “Hang him on it!” 10 So they hanged Haman on the very gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. The king’s rage then abated.
Footnotes
- Esther 7:1 tn Heb “to drink”; NASB “to drink wine.” The expression is a metaphor for lavish feasting, cf. NRSV “to feast”; KJV “to banquet.”
- Esther 7:3 tn Heb “If I have found grace in your eyes” (so also in 8:5); TEV “If it please Your Majesty.”
- Esther 7:4 sn The passive verb (“have been sold”) is noncommittal and nonaccusatory with regard to the king’s role in the decision to annihilate the Jews.
- Esther 7:5 tc The second occurrence of the Hebrew verb וַיּאמֶר (vayyoʾmer, “and he said”) in the MT should probably be disregarded. The repetition is unnecessary in the context and may be the result of dittography in the MT.
- Esther 7:5 tn Heb “has so filled his heart”; NAB “who has dared to do this.”
- Esther 7:7 sn There is great irony here in that the man who set out to destroy all the Jews now finds himself begging for his own life from a Jew.
- Esther 7:7 tn Heb “for he saw that calamity was determined for him from the king”; NAB “the king had decided on his doom”; NRSV “the king had determined to destroy him.”
- Esther 7:8 tn Heb “falling”; NAB, NRSV “had (+ just TEV) thrown himself (+ down TEV).”
- Esther 7:8 tn Heb “where Esther was” (so KJV, NASB). The term “lying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “was reclining.”
- Esther 7:9 sn Cf. 1:10, where Harbona is one of the seven eunuchs sent by the king to summon Queen Vashti to his banquet.
- Esther 7:9 tn Heb “50 cubits.” See the note on this expression in Esth 5:14.
Esther 7
New King James Version
Haman Hanged Instead of Mordecai
7 So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, (A)at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”
3 Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. 4 For we have been (B)sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as (C)male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.”
5 So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?”
6 And Esther said, “The adversary and (D)enemy is this wicked Haman!”
So Haman was terrified before the king and queen.
7 Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. 8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across (E)the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?”
As the word left the king’s mouth, they (F)covered Haman’s face. 9 Now (G)Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! (H)The [a]gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke (I)good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.”
Then the king said, “Hang him on it!”
10 So (J)they (K)hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided.
Footnotes
- Esther 7:9 Lit. tree or wood
Esters 7
Det Norsk Bibelselskap 1930
7 Så kom da kongen og Haman til gjestebudet hos dronning Ester.
2 Mens de satt og drakk vin, sa kongen også denne annen dag til Ester: Hvad er din bønn, dronning Ester? Den skal tilståes dig. Og hvad er ditt ønske? Var det enn halvdelen av riket, skal det opfylles.
3 Da svarte dronning Ester: Har jeg funnet nåde for dine øine, konge, og tykkes det kongen godt, så la mitt liv bli mig gitt på min bønn, og mitt folks liv efter mitt ønske!
4 For vi er solgt, både jeg og mitt folk, til å ødelegges, drepes og utryddes; var det enda bare til å være træler og trælkvinner vi var solgt, da hadde jeg tidd, men nu er vår fiende ikke i stand til å oprette kongens tap.
5 Da sa kong Ahasverus til dronning Ester: Hvem er han, og hvor er han som har dristet sig til å gjøre så?
6 Ester svarte: En motstander og fiende, denne onde Haman der! Da blev Haman forferdet for kongens og dronningens åsyn.
7 Kongen reiste sig i harme, forlot gjestebudet og gikk ut i slottshaven; men Haman blev tilbake for å be dronning Ester om sitt liv; for han skjønte at kongen hadde fast besluttet hans ulykke.
8 Da så kongen kom tilbake fra slottshaven til huset hvor gjestebudet var blitt holdt, lå Haman bøid over den benk som Ester satt på; da sa kongen: Tør han endog øve vold mot dronningen her i mitt eget hus? Ikke før var dette ord gått ut av kongens munn, før de tildekket Hamans ansikt.
9 Harbona, en av hoffmennene hos kongen, sa: Se, ved Hamans hus står det allerede en galge, femti alen høi, som han selv har latt gjøre i stand for Mordekai, han hvis ord engang var til så stort gagn for kongen. Da sa kongen: Heng ham i den!
10 Så hengte de Haman i den galge han hadde gjort i stand for Mordekai, og kongens vrede la sig.
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
