Esther 6:4 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Esther 6:4
And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king’s house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
a yard (as inclosed by a fence) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
king’s
הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ha.Me.lekh
H4428
a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
house
בֵּיתbeit-
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
speak
לֵאמֹ֣רle.Mor
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
king
לַמֶּ֔לֶךְla.Me.lekh
H4428
a king · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
hang
לִתְלוֹת֙lit.lOt
H8518
to suspend (especially to gibbet) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
Mordecai
מָרְדֳּכַ֔יma.re.do.Khai
H4782
Mordecai · proper noun, a man's name
gallows
הָעֵ֖ץha.'Etz
H6086
a tree (from its firmness) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
prepared
הֵכִ֥יןhe.Khin
H3559
properly · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
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
Esther 5:14 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 4:11 All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king int…
Esther 5:1 Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against t…
Psalms 2:4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
Esther 3:8-11 And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy ki…
Esther 7:9 And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai,…
Job 5:13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
Psalms 33:19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Esther 6:4-11
It is now morning, and people begin to stir.
I. Haman is so impatient to get Mordecai hanged that he comes early to court, to be ready at the king's levee, before any other business is brought before him, to get a warrant for his execution (Est 6:4), which he makes sure that he shall have at the first word. The king would gratify him in a greater thing than that; and he could tell the king that he was so confident of the justice of his request, and the king's favour to him in it, that he had got the gallows ready: one word from the king would complete his satisfaction.
II. The king is so impatient to have Mordecai honoured that he sends to know who is in the court that is fit to be employed…
Now Haman was come into the outward court--This was early in the morning. It is the invariable custom for kings in Eastern countries to transact business before the sun is hot, often in the open air, and so Haman was in all probability come officially to attend on his master.
Adam Clarke on Esther 6:4
Who is in the court? - This accords with the dream mentioned by the Targum; and given above.
Now Haman was come - This must have been very early in the morning. Haman's pride and revenge were both on the tenters to be gratified.
John Gill on Esther 6:4
And the king said, who is in the court?.... Being in haste to confer some honour on Mordecai for what he had done:
now Haman was come into the outward court of the king's house; though it was early in the morning, being eager to get to the speech of the king before he was engaged in any business, to obtain a grant from him:
to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him; of which he made no doubt of having, and therefore had prepared for it.
Keil & Delitzsch on Esther 6:1-11
An unexpected turn of affairs. Est 6:1. On that night between Esther's first and second banquet, the king's sleep fled, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles and to read therefrom. On הזּכרנות ספר, comp. Ezr 4:15. The title is here more particularly stated than in Est 2:23, where the book is briefly called: The book of the chronicles. נקראים ויּהיוּ, and they (the chronicles) were read before the king. The participle denotes the long continuance of this reading.
Est 6:2
And it was found written therein among other matters, that Mordochai had given information concerning the two courtiers who were plotting against the king's life. This is the conspiracy related Est 2…
The Church Fathers
Mordecai was also persecuted as Jesus was persecuted. Mordecai was persecuted by the wicked Haman; and Jesus was persecuted by the rebellious people. Mordecai by his prayer delivered his people from the hands of Haman; and Jesus by his prayer delivered his people from the hands of Satan. Mordecai was delivered from the hands of his persecutor; and Jesus was rescued from the hands of his persecutors. Because Mordecai sat and clothed himself with sackcloth, he saved Esther and his people from the sword; and because Jesus clothed himself with a body and was illuminated, he saved the church and its children from death. Because of Mordecai, Esther was well pleasing to the king and went in and sat instead of Vashti, who did not do his will; and because of Jesus, the church is well pleasing to God and has gone in to the king, instead of the congregation that did not his will. Mordecai admonished Esther that she should fast with her maidens, that she and her people might be delivered from the hands of Haman; and Jesus admonished the church and its children [to fast], that it and its children might be delivered from the wrath. Mordecai received the honor of Haman, his persecutor; and Jesus received great glory from his Father, instead of his persecutors who were of the foolish people. Mordecai trod on the neck of Haman, his persecutor; and as for Jesus, his enemies shall be put under his feet. Before Mordecai, Haman proclaimed, "Thus shall it be done to the man, in honoring whom the king is pleased"; as for Jesus, his preachers came out of the people who persecuted him, and they said, "This is Jesus the Son of God." The blood of Mordecai was required at the hand of Haman and his sons; and "the blood of Jesus," his persecutors took "on themselves and on their children."
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
Gallows — Heb. ‘ets, meaning “a tree” (Esther 6:4), a post or gibbet. In Gen. 40:19 and Deut. 21:22 the word is rendered “tree.”
Civil Service · APPOINTMENT IN, ON ACCOUNT OF MERIT — APPOINTMENT IN, ON ACCOUNT OF MERIT
Gallows · Used for execution of criminals — Used for execution of criminals
Mordecai · Informs Ahasuerus of a conspiracy against his life and is rewar — Informs Ahasuerus of a conspiracy against his life and is rewar
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).
Just as the king was pondering what to do to honor Mordecai, Haman arrived to seek Mordecai’s death. With great irony, the narrator recounts the king’s consulting with him about how to reward Mordecai.
Rashi on Esther 6:1
The king’s sleep was disturbed. It was a miracle.1Otherwise, would Achashveirosh’s sleep be disturbed, particularly on this night, after having partied earlier in the day. Achashveirosh’s sleep was disturbed by a dream in which he saw Haman grabbing a sword to kill him. (Esther Rabbah 10:1) And some [Rabbis] say that he took to heart that Esther had invited Haman; [thinking] perhaps she had set eyes upon him, and he [Haman] would assassinate him.2Maseches Megillah 15b.
To bring the book of archives. It is the custom of kings that when their sleep is disturbed, parables and tales are recounted before them until their sleep is restored. Our Rabbis, however, explained that since he took to hea…
