Esther 1:7-8

1:7 Drinks ¹  were served in golden containers, all of which differed from one another. Royal wine was available in abundance at the king’s expense. 1:8 There were no restrictions on the drinking, ²  for the king had instructed all of his supervisors ³  that they should do as everyone so desired. ⁴ 

Esther 3:15

3:15 The messengers ⁵  scurried forth ⁶  with the king’s order. ⁷  The edict was issued in Susa the citadel. While the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in an uproar! ⁸ 

Esther 4:16

4:16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I ⁹  will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. ¹⁰  If I perish, I perish!”

Esther 7:1

The King Has Haman Executed

7:1 So the king and Haman came to dine ¹¹  with Queen Esther.

Esther 5:6

5:6 While at the banquet of wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your request? It shall be given to you. What is your petition? Ask for as much as half the kingdom, ¹²  and it shall be done!”

Esther 7:2

7:2 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 up to half the kingdom, and it shall be done!”

Esther 7:8

7:8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet of wine, Haman was throwing himself down ¹³  on the couch where Esther was lying. ¹⁴  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.

Esther 7:7

7:7 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, ¹⁵  for he realized that the king had now determined a catastrophic end for him. ¹⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “to cause to drink” (Hiphil infinitive construct of שָׁקָה, shaqah). As the etymology of the Hebrew word for “banquet” (מִשְׁתֶּה, mishteh, from שָׁתָה, shatah, “to drink”) hints, drinking was a prominent feature of ancient Near Eastern banquets.

² tn Heb “the drinking was according to law; there was no one compelling.”

³ tn Heb “every chief of his house”; KJV “all the officers of his house”; NLT “his staff.”

⁴ tn Heb “according to the desire of man and man.”

³ tn Heb “runners.” So also in 8:10, 14. Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “couriers.”

⁴ tn Or “went forth in haste” (so ASV).

⁵ tn Heb “with the word of the king.”

⁶ sn The city of Susa was in an uproar. This final statement of v. 15 is a sad commentary on the pathetic disregard of despots for the human misery and suffering that they sometimes inflict on those who are helpless to resist their power. Here, while common people braced for the reckless loss of life and property that was about to begin, the perpetrators went about their mundane activities as though nothing of importance was happening.

⁴ tn Heb “I and my female attendants.” The translation reverses the order for stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”

⁵ tn Heb “to drink”; NASB “to drink wine.” The expression is a metaphor for lavish feasting, cf. NRSV “to feast”; KJV “to banquet.”

⁶ sn As much as half the kingdom. Such a statement would no doubt have been understood for the exaggeration that it clearly was. Cf. the similar NT scene recorded in Mark 6:23, where Herod makes a similar promise to the daughter of Herodias. In that case the request was for the head of John the Baptist, which is a lot less than half the kingdom.

⁷ tn Heb “falling”; NAB, NRSV “had (+ just TEV) thrown himself (+ down TEV).”

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.”

⁸ 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.

⁹ 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.”