Esther 8:3

And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Esther	אֶסְתֵּ֗ר 'es.Ter	H635	Ester · proper noun, a woman's name
spake	וַתְּדַבֵּר֙ va.te.da.Ber	H1696	perhaps properly · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
again	וַתּ֣וֹסֶף va.To.sef	H3254	to add or augment (often adverbial · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
before	לִפְנֵ֣י lif.Nei	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
king	הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ ha.Me.lekh	H4428	a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
down	וַתִּפֹּ֖ל va.ti.Pol	H5307	to fall · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
at	לִפְנֵ֣י lif.Nei	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
feet	רַגְלָ֑יו rag.Lav	H7272	a foot (as used in walking) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
besought	וַתִּתְחַנֶּן va.tit.cha.nen-	H2603	properly · conjunction + verb, hithpael sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
tears	וַתֵּ֣בְךְּ va.Te.vek	H1058	to weep · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
away	לְהַֽעֲבִיר֙ le.ha.'a.Vir	H5674	to cross over · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
mischief	רָעַת֙ ra.'At	H7451	bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral) · noun, common feminine singular construct
Haman	הָמָ֣ן ha.Man	H2001	Haman · proper noun, a man's name
Agagite	הָֽאֲגָגִ֔י ha.'a.ga.Gi	H91	an Agagite or descendent (subject) of Agag · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine singular absolute
device	מַֽחֲשַׁבְתּ֔וֹ ma.cha.shav.To	H4284	a contrivance · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
devised	חָשַׁ֖ב cha.Shav	H2803	properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Jews	הַיְּהוּדִֽים hai.ye.hu.Dim	H3064	a Jehudite (i.e. Judaite or Jew) · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine plural 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

1 Samuel 25:24 And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience…
2 Kings 4:27 And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God sai…
Esther 3:8-15 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 7:4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held…
Isaiah 38:2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,
Hosea 12:4 Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Beth-el, and there he spake with u…
Hebrews 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save h…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Esther 8:3-14

Haman, the chief enemy of the Jews, was hanged, Mordecai and Esther, their chief friends, were sufficiently protected; but many others there were in the king's dominions that hated the Jews and desired their ruin, and to their rage and malice all the rest of that people lay exposed; for the edict against them was still in force, and, in pursuance of it, their enemies would on the day appointed fall upon them, and they would be deemed as rebels against the king and his government if they should offer to resist and take up arms in their own defence. For the preventing of this, I. The queen here makes intercession with much affection and importunity. She came, a second time, uncalled into the k…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Esther 8:3

Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet--The king was then not reclining at table, but sitting on a divan, most probably in the Persian attitude, leaning back against the cushions, and one foot under him. besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman--that is, to repeal the sanguinary edict which, at the secret instigation of Haman, had been recently passed (Est 3:12).

Adam Clarke on Esther 8:2

The king took off his ring - In the ring was the seal of the king. Giving the ring to Mordecai was tantamount to giving him the seal of the kingdom, and constituting him the same as lord chancellor among us.

John Gill on Esther 8:3

And Esther spake yet again before the king,.... Went into his presence, without being called for as before, with a new petition: and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears; the more to work upon his affections, and move him to grant her request; which she might be the more encouraged to hope for, through the success she already had: to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews; to revoke, abolish, and make void a mischievous scheme Haman had devised against the Jews, to root out the whole nation of them in the Persian empire.

The Church Fathers

So when Esther falls at the feet of the king and beseeches him for the sake of her people, this must refer to the fact that every day the holy Church humbly petitions the Lord Almighty—through the faith and mysteries of the incarnate, only-born Son of God—to free her children so that through his grace, the arrogance of the enemy might be crushed and the innocence of the faithful be freed from their hands.
— Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Esther

The fact that Esther falls at the feet of the king and entreats him for the salvation of the people plainly symbolizes the holy church that humbly implores the almighty Lord every day for the rescue of her children through the faith and the mystery of the incarnation of the only begotten Son, so that the arrogance of her enemies may be restrained by the (Lord's) grace, and the innocence of the faithful may be freed from the clutches of the (wicked).
— Rabanus Maurus, EXPLANATION ON THE BOOK OF ESTHER 11

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

Agag — Flame, the usual title of the Amalekite kings, as “Pharaoh” was of the Egyptian. (1.) A king of the Amalekites referred to by Balaam (Num. 24:7). He lived at the time of the Exodus. (2.) Another king…
Feet, The · Respect exhibited by falling at — Respect exhibited by falling at
Ring · Given as a token — Given as a token
Salutations · By bowing — By bowing

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).

Esther 8:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Esther 8:3-14

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Esther 8:3

Adam Clarke on Esther 8:2

John Gill on Esther 8:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Esther 8:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Esther 8:3-14

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Esther 8:3

Adam Clarke on Esther 8:2

John Gill on Esther 8:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Esther 8:3-4

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Esther 8:3

Rashi on Esther 8:3