Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Esther 5:7
Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request [is];
7, 8. Esther’s form of reply suggests that for the moment she meant to declare her grief, but suddenly breaks off for some reason which remains hidden from the reader. She virtually acknowledges, however, that she has a weighty petition to present, and promises that, if her two guests will repeat their visit under similar circumstances next day, she will postpone no longer.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Then answered Esther and said, my petition and my request is. What she should for the present make; the principal one she had to ask, for wise reasons, she still deferred.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Est 5:7 Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request [is];
Ver. 7. My petition and my request is ] She speaks to the king in his own very words: and so must we if we mean to speed in heaven. Take unto you words, and say, Take away all iniquity, and give good, &c. Produce God’s own words in prayer, and say, as she did to Judah, “Whose are these?” Gen 38:25 . He loves to be set upon in his own words, to be pressed with his promise, to be sued upon his bond. This David knew, and therefore cries, Psa 86:11 , “Unite my heart to fear thy name”: it is as if he should say, Thou hast promised, Lord, to give me one heart, Eze 11:19 ; behold, I find mine heart divided, my thoughts dissipated, and myself disabled for duty (for Anima dispersa fit minor ), Unite it, I beseech thee, &c. This is the way to make our prayers to be nigh the Lord day and night, as Solomon phraseth it, 1Ki 8:59 .