Esther 7:8, commentary and pictures

The verse belongs to the history of the Jews under the great Persian king Xerxes, called Ahasuerus in the Bible. Haman in the verse was the prime minister and head of the Amalekites, the wicked and sworn enemies of God's children, in his plotting to destroy the Jews. His attempt to destroy all of God's people under Ahasuerus was part of Satan's effort against the people through whom the promised Man-child would come, but God frustrated that purpose. The verse stands within God's overruling providence in bringing a Jewish maiden to the throne of Persia and in saving the Jews from their enemies, to their triumphant vindication and the utter defeat of their enemy, the wicked Haman.

Esther's second feast furnished the proper occasion for presenting her request for her own life and the life of her people, with timing governed by providence. The events of the preceding night had prepared the king to decide the question rightly, whereas had she presented her petition the preceding day before the way was providentially prepared, a different decision might have been given. Haman's project to hang Mordecai on the gallows would have been granted by the king if his attention had not first been called to Mordecai's faithful service in saving his life. After Esther exposed Haman as the adversary, the king rose in wrath and stepped into the palace garden, and Haman rose to plead with Esther for his life because he knew the king's wrathful astonishment meant his ruin. In anxiety and fear while pleading, he fell upon the divan or couch where Queen Esther was sitting.

The king returning from the garden to the banquet room discovered Haman fallen upon the bed beside Esther, where he had actually fallen only while pleading for his life. He instantly took that posture as an attempt to force the queen in his own house and presence, suspecting that his murderous scheme against Esther and her people included a design to seize the kingdom itself and threaten his authority. As the word went out of the king's mouth, Haman's face was covered, marking his disgrace, immediate condemnation, and impending punishment. The episode ends with Haman executed and hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai, turning his plot against Mordecai back upon himself, so that the adversary suffers the punishment he had sought for God's servant.

In the wider account Haman's plot against the Jews is thus overturned through God's providence, resulting in their salvation. This is a pattern of Satan's punishment for his attacks on God's people, which is not an atonement for their sins, since those are dealt with through Christ. The verse belongs to the account of how Esther's wisdom and courage helped Mordecai overcome Haman and save the Jewish people from a planned massacre, while Haman's pride ended in his disgrace and expulsion from the king's court.