Esther 2:23 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Esther 2:23
And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.
two · cardinal number, both genders dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
hanged
וַיִּתָּל֥וּvai.yi.ta.Lu
H8518
to suspend (especially to gibbet) · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
tree
עֵ֑ץ'Etz
H6086
a tree (from its firmness) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
written
וַיִּכָּתֵ֗בvai.yi.ka.Tev
H3789
to grave · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
book
בְּסֵ֛פֶרbe.Se.fer
H5612
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
chronicles
דִּבְרֵ֥יdiv.Rei
H1697
a word · noun, common masculine plural construct
before
לִפְנֵ֥יlif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
king
הַמֶּֽלֶךְha.Me.lekh
H4428
a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 40:19 Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from of…
Genesis 40:22 But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them.
Esther 10:2 And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they…
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:
Joshua 8:29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase d…
Esther 5:14-6:2 Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou unto the king t…
Esther 7:10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.
Malachi 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written befor…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Esther 2:21–end
This good service which Mordecai did to the government, in discovering a plot against the life of the king, is here recorded, because the mention of it will again occur to his advantage. No step is yet taken towards Haman's design of the Jews' destruction, but several steps are taken towards God's design of their deliverance, and this for one. God now gives Mordecai an opportunity of doing the king a good turn, that he might have the fairer opportunity afterwards of doing the Jews a good turn. 1. A design was laid against the king by two of his own servants, who sought to lay hands on him, not only to make him a prisoner, but to take away his life, Est 2:21. Probably they resented some affro…
MORDECAI, DISCOVERING A TREASON, IS RECORDED IN THE CHRONICLES. (Est 2:21-23)
In those days . . . two of the king's chamberlains . . . were wroth and sought to lay hand on the king, &c.--This secret conspiracy against the king's life probably arose out of revenge for the divorce of Vashti, in whose interest, and at whose instigation, these eunuchs may have acted. Through the vigilance of Mordecai, whose fidelity, however, passed unnoticed, the design was frustrated, while the conspirators were condemned to be executed and as the matter was recorded in the court annals, it became the occasion afterwards of Mordecai's preferment to the place of power and influence for which, in furtherance of…
It was found out - It was proved against them, in consequence of which they were hanged. Perhaps the words ויתלו על עץ vaiyittalu al ets, they were hung upon wood or a tree, may refer to their being impaled. A pointed stake is set upright in the ground, and the culprit is taken, placed on the sharp point, and then pulled down by his legs till the stake that went in at the fundament passes up through the body and comes out by the side of the neck. A most dreadful species of punishment, in which revenge and cruelty may glut the utmost of their malice. The culprit lives a considerable time in excruciating agonies.
It has been observed that the name of God does not once occur in this book. This…
The Church Fathers
Then it adds: "And it was investigated, and discovered, and both men were hung on a gibbet; and the king commanded that it be written in the record book that he should be repaid somehow for saving his life; and it was set down in the accounts, and recorded in the chronicles before the king." The "record books" are, then, the volumes of the two Testaments which set down the rewards that await the righteous in return for their good deeds, and the punishments that await the wicked for their sins. Hence it is written in the Gospel: "The son of man is going to come in the glory of his Father, and will then repay each one according to his works" (Matthew 16). And likewise, "The wicked will come to eternal punishment, while the just come to eternal reward" (Matthew 25). Hence Paul as well writes to the Romans as follows: "For the wrath of God is unleashed upon all the wickedness and injustice of men, who repress in their injustice the truth of God who repays each according to his works; and those who seek glory, honor, and purity by patiently doing good deeds will receive eternal life, while those who trust in wickedness, because they are contentious and will not acquiesce to the truth, will receive wrath and indignation. There will be trouble and distress for every soul of an evildoer" (Romans 1 and 2). Ezekiel as well speaks about this: "The justice of the just man will be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will be upon him. When a soul has sinned, it will die" (Ezekiel 18). The Psalmist also refers to this in the same terms: "The eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and his ears attend to their prayers; the face of the Lord is upon those who do evil, that he may wipe their memory from the earth" (Psalms 33).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Bigthan — One of the eunuchs who “kept the door” in the court of Ahasuerus. With Teresh he conspired against the king’s life. Mordecai detected the conspiracy, and the culprits were hanged (Esther 2:21-23;…
Bigthan · A conspiring Persian courtier — A conspiring Persian courtier
Books · Important events recorded in — Important events recorded in
Citizens · .Mor — .Mor
Conspiracy · .Ahasuerus — .Ahasuerus
Gallows · Used for execution of criminals — Used for execution of criminals
Loyalty · .Mor — .Mor
Mordecai · Informs Ahasuerus of a conspiracy against his life and is rewar — Informs Ahasuerus of a conspiracy against his life and is rewar
Punishment · .For trea — .For trea
Teresh · Plotted against Ahasuerus — Plotted against Ahasuerus
Treason · . — .
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out,.... That these two men had entered into a conspiracy to take away the king's life; full proof and evidence were given of it:
therefore they were both hanged on a tree; Josephus (e) says they were crucified; but hanging was frequent among the Persians, as Grotius observes, and better agrees with the word here used:
and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king; in a diary kept by the king's order, in which memorable events were set down, and might be done in the presence of the king, as well as the book lay open before him to read at any time; and this is observed to agree with the manner of Xerxes, who is rep…
The definition of time in Est 2:19 is again take up by the words: in those days; then the explanatory clause, Est 2:20, is repeated; and after this we are informed what it was that had then occurred. In those days Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king's courtiers, who were the threshold-keepers (palace-watchers, lxx ἀρχισωματοφύλακες), were wroth, and sought to lay hands on King Ahashverosh, i.e., to slay him. Est 2:22. This thing was known to Mordochai, and by him communicated to Esther, who told it, in Mordochai's name, to the king. Est 2:23. The matter was investigated (sc. by the king), and found out, sc. as Mordochai had testified. The two criminals were hanged on a tree, i.e., impaled…
impaled on a sharpened pole (literally hanged on a tree, or hanged on wood): This phrase has traditionally been translated hanged on a gallows, but inscriptions from ancient Persia show that impalement was a standard form of execution. Xerxes’ father, Darius I, claimed to have impaled 3,000 Babylonians when he conquered Babylon. Sometimes criminals were executed first and then displayed on a stake, as with the execution of Haman’s sons (9:5-14). • This was all recorded: Mordecai was not rewarded until much later (6:1-14). • While various records of Xerxes’ reign have been found, the particular book mentioned here no longer exists.
Rashi on Esther 2:23
This was inscribed in the book of archives. The favor that Mordechai did for the king.22This was recorded in the book of archives of Media and Persia, and referred to in 10:2 below.
