Esther 5:11-12

5:11 Haman then recounted to them his fabulous wealth, ¹  his many sons, ²  and how the king had magnified him and exalted him over the king’s other officials and servants. 5:12 Haman said, “Furthermore, Queen Esther invited ³  only me to accompany the king to the banquet that she prepared! And also tomorrow I am invited ⁴  along with the king.

Esther 6:6-10

6:6 So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?” Haman thought to himself, ⁵  “Who is it that the king would want to honor more than me?” 6:7 So Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king wishes to honor, 6:8 let them bring royal attire which the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden – one bearing the royal insignia! ⁶  6:9 Then let this clothing and this horse be given to one of the king’s noble officials. Let him ⁷  then clothe the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him lead him about through the plaza of the city on the horse, calling ⁸  before him, ‘So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!’”

6:10 The king then said to Haman, “Go quickly! Take the clothing and the horse, just as you have described, and do as you just indicated to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Don’t neglect ⁹  a single thing of all that you have said.”

Esther 7:6

7:6 Esther replied, “The oppressor and enemy is this evil Haman!”

Then Haman became terrified in the presence of the king and queen.

Esther 7:10

7:10 So they hanged Haman on the very gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. The king’s rage then abated.

Job 20:5

20:5 that the elation of the wicked is brief, ¹⁰ 

the joy of the godless ¹¹  lasts but a moment. ¹² 

Acts 12:22-23

12:22 But the crowd ¹³  began to shout, ¹⁴  “The voice of a god, ¹⁵  and not of a man!” 12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord ¹⁶  struck ¹⁷  Herod ¹⁸  down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died. ¹⁹ 

¹ tn Heb “the glory of his riches” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “the splendor of his riches.”

² sn According to Esth 9:10 Haman had ten sons.

³ tn Heb “caused to come”; KJV “did let no man come in…but myself.”

⁴ tn Heb “called to her”; KJV “invited unto her”; NAB “I am to be her guest.”

⁵ tn Heb “said in his heart” (so ASV); NASB, NRSV “said to himself.”

⁶ tc The final comment (“one on whose head the royal crown has been”) is not included in the LXX.

⁷ tc The present translation reads with the LXX וְהִלְבִּישׁוֹ (vÿhilbisho, “and he will clothe him”) rather than the reading of the MT וְהִלְבִּישׁוּ (vÿhilbishu, “and they will clothe”). The reading of the LXX is also followed by NAB, NRSV, TEV, CEV, and NLT. Likewise, the later verbs in this verse (“cause him to ride” and “call”) are better taken as singulars rather than plurals.

⁸ tn Heb “and let them call” (see the previous note).

⁹ tn Heb “do not let fall”; NASB “do not fall short.”

¹⁰ tn The expression in the text is “quite near.” This indicates that it is easily attained, and that its end is near.

¹¹ tn For the discussion of חָנֵף (khanef, “godless”) see Job 8:13.

¹² tn The phrase is “until a moment,” meaning it is short-lived. But see J. Barr, “Hebrew ’ad, especially at Job 1:18 and Neh 7:3,” JSS 27 (1982): 177-88.

¹³ tn The translation “crowd” is given by BDAG 223 s.v. δῆμος; the word often means a gathering of citizens to conduct public business. Here it is simply the group of people gathered to hear the king’s speech.

¹⁴ tn The imperfect verb ἐπεφώνει (epefwnei) is taken ingressively in the sequence of events. Presumably the king had started his speech when the crowd began shouting.

¹⁵ sn The voice of a god. Contrast the response of Paul and Barnabas in Acts 14:13-15.

¹⁶ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

¹⁷ sn On being struck…down by an angel, see Acts 23:3; 1 Sam 25:28; 2 Sam 12:15; 2 Kgs 19:35; 2 Chr 13:20; 2 Macc 9:5.

¹⁸ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁹ sn He was eaten by worms and died. Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 (19.343-352), states that Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea in a.d. 44. The account by Josephus, while not identical to Luke’s account, is similar in many respects: On the second day of a festival, Herod Agrippa appeared in the theater with a robe made of silver. When it sparkled in the sun, the people cried out flatteries and declared him to be a god. The king, carried away by the flattery, saw an owl (an omen of death) sitting on a nearby rope, and immediately was struck with severe stomach pains. He was carried off to his house and died five days later. The two accounts can be reconciled without difficulty, since while Luke states that Herod was immediately struck down by an angel, his death could have come several days later. The mention of worms with death adds a humiliating note to the scene. The formerly powerful ruler had been thoroughly reduced to nothing (cf. Jdt 16:17; 2 Macc 9:9; cf. also Josephus, Ant. 17.6.5 [17.168-170], which details the sickness which led to Herod the Great’s death).