Ver. 1. So the king and Haman came to the banquet] Heb. To drink, for multorum vivere est bibere; of many, to live is to drink, and profane persons have a proverb, Bibere et sudare est vita Cardiaci. To drink and to sweat is the life of Cardiacus. Such are your chamber champions, whose teeth in a temperate air do beat in their heads at a cup of cold sack and sugar. Belshazzar’s feast days were called σακεαι ημεραι, because he was quaffing in the bowls of the sanctuary, to the honour of Shac or Bacchus (Greg. Posthum.). Little did either he or Haman think, that in the fulness of their sufficiency they should be in such straits, aud that every hand of the troublesome should come upon him; that when they were about to fill their bellies God should cast the fury of his wrath upon them, and rain it upon them while they were drinking, Job 20:22,23. But this is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God, Job 20:29. Why, then, should any saint be sick of the fret, at the prosperity of the ungodly? Surely as fishes are taken in an evil net, and as birds are caught in a snare, so are such snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them, Ecclesiastes 9:12. Of Esther’s invitation Haman might have said, as he did of the gifts one sent him, Munera magna quidem mittit, sed mittit in hamo. (Martial.) But he knew not yet what evil was toward him; though I doubt not but his conscience (if not altogether dead and dedolent) began by this time to stare him in the face; his friends having already read his destiny.
Ver. 2. And the king said again unto Esther] He was very desirous to know what her suit was; and with thought thereof, as it may seem, could not rest the night before. He pursueth his desires, not a little edged by her delays; neither was he of those lusks, who Remque aliquam exoptant, intahescuntque relieta. His love to Esther made him ask again, What is thy petition, and what is thy request? &c. He presseth her to speak out; so doth God his suppliants: “Hitherto ye have asked nothing: ask, that your joy may be full.” Pray, that ye may joy; ye are not straitened in me, but in your own bowels; as if no water come by the conduit, it is not because there is none in the spring, but because the pipes are broken. [See Trapp on “Es 5:6”]
Ver. 3. Then Esther the queen, &c.] See Esther 5:7,8. As Abigail her family, and the woman of Abel the city, so doth Esther by her wisdom and humility deliver herself and her people, ducem sequens lucem fidei, a leader leading the light of faith, as one saith of her. Let my life be given me at my petition] Heb. my soul. See how discreetly she marshalleth her words; setting these two great requests in the head of her petition, which is simplex et non fucata, plain and downright. Truth is like our first parents, most beautiful when naked. Our words in prayer must be neque lecta, neque neglecta, neither curious nor careless; but as the words of petitioners, plain and full and direct to the point. Esther reckoneth herself here among the rest of her poor countrymen, free among the dead, free of that company, and begs for her life and theirs together; because hers was even bound up in theirs. Mortis habet vices quae trahitur vita genuitibus; to live after their death would be a lifeless life; and hence her importunity for both together, since they were in her heart, ad commoriendum et convivendum, if they died she could not live. Good blood will not belie itself. Esther had not showed her kindred and people till now that she must appear for them. See the like in Moses, Hebrews 11:25; in Nicodemus, that night-bird; John 7:51, he speaks boldly, and silences the whole company; John 19:39, he boldly beggeth the body of Jesus; neither could he any longer conceal himself. Surely, as Solomon by trial found out the true harlot mother, so doth God by hard times discover the affections of his people. Then, as Joseph could not refrain tears, so nor they the exercise of their faith and charity.
Ver. 4. For we are sold] i.e. Given up wholly into the power of the enemy, as that which a man hath bought with his money, is his own to dispose of. She refers, doubtless, to the sum proffered by Haman, Esther 3:9, not fearing the face of so potent an enemy, nor going behind his back to set him out in his colours; yea, though her discourse could not but somewhat reflect upon the king, who had given Haman his consent. I, and my people] She makes it a common cause, and saith to her countrymen, as once David did to Abiathar, 1 Samuel 22:23, or as Charles V said to Julius Pestugius, who complained that he had been much wronged by the duke of Saxony, Have a little patience, thy cause shall be my cause, neither will I sit down till I have seen you some way righted. See Esther 7:3. To be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish] These were the very words of that bloody decree which she purposely maketh use of, that he might be sensible of what he had consented to, and might see that she complained not without cause. But what a case was Haman in at the hearing of this! and how did he now repent him, but too late, of ever having a hand in so bloody a business! His iniquity was now full, and the bottle of his wickedness, filled up to the brim with those bitter waters, was even about to sink to the bottom. His gallows was finished last night, and now it groaned hard for him, that he might be destroyed, slain, and made to perish. - Neque enim lex iustior ulla est, Quam necis artifices arte perire sua. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen] Though it had been a hard and sad condition for a queen, especially (which yet was Hecuba’s case and Zenobia’s), yet it would not be grievous to them to sacrifice their liberty to the service of their life: the Gibeonites were glad they might live upon any terms, Joshua 9:24,25. Masters might slay their bondservants, but that was counted a cruelty, and when one did it at Rome, he was amerced by the censor; many times they were manumitted for their good service, and came to great estates. I had held my tongue] Silence is in some cases a crying sin. Taciturnity, I confess, is sometimes a virtue, but not at all where it tends to the betraying of a good cause, or the detriment of the labouring Church. “For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,” &c., Isaiah 62:1. Terentius, that noble general, told Valens, the Arian emperor, that he had abandoned the victory and sent it to the enemy, by his persecuting God’s people, and favouring heretics (Niceph. 1. 11, c. 40). That was an excellent saying of Jerome to Vigilantius, Meam iniuriam patienter tul/i, &c., while the wrong thou didst reached only to myself I took it patiently, but thy wickedness against God I cannot bear with; so was that of Oecolampadius to Servetus (blaming him for his sharpness to the self-same purpose). And, lastly, that of Luther in a letter to his friend Staupicius, Inveniar sane superbus, &c., Let me be accounted proud, peremptory, passionate, or what men please, so that I be not found guilty of a sinful silence when called to speak for God. Although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage] q.d. It is not his ten thousand talents, Esther 3:9, nor all that he is worth, and ten more such as he is, that can make up the loss that the king is sure to sustain by the slaughter of the Jews, a people painful and prayerful (this Daxius made high account of, Ezra 6:16), useful and profitable, careful to maintain good works in St Paul’s sense, Titus 3:8, that is, such as were noted to exceed and excel others in witty inventions, to be their craftmasters, and faithtul to their trust. Besides, if they be taken away, great damage shall redound to the king’s revenue, by non-payment of toll, tribute, and custom, as those malignants could allege, Ezra 4:12, a thing that princes usually are very sensible Of. Or if there should be lucrum in arca, money in the box, yet there would be damnum in conscientia, damnation in the conscience, the foul blur of blood guiltiness would lie heavy, both upon the king’s conscience, and his name among all nations. The Vulgate rendereth this text thus, Nunc autem hostis noster est, cuius crudelitas reduadat in regem. And now he is our enemy, whose cruelty reflecteth upon the king. Tremellius thus, Sed non est hostis iste utilis, damnosus est regi; but now this enemy is no way profitable, but to the king disadvantageous. This the king considers not, and the enemy cares not, so that he may serve his own turn, and satisfy his murderous mind.