Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Esther 7:6

And Esther said, The adversary and enemy [is] this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

The adversary and enemy of the king, and of my person and people.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And Esther said, the adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman,…. Who was not only an enemy to her and her people, but an adversary to the king, by advising and persuading him to that which was to the loss of his revenues, as well as of his reputation; also, she pointed at him, and gave him his just character; her charge of wickedness upon him, as it was true, it was honourably made to his face before the king, of which, if he could, he had the opportunity of exculpating himself:

then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen; gave visible signs of his confusion, consternation, and trouble of mind, by the fall of his countenance, his pale looks, his trembling limbs, and quivering lips, being struck dumb, and not able to speak one word for himself.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(6) Was afraid. . . .Shrank back in terror before . . . See the use of the word in 1Ch. 21:30; Dan. 8:17.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

6. This Haman With flashing eye and impassioned gesture the queen now boldly exposes the man whom yesterday her heart failed her to expose.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

(6) And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

How delightful was this honest boldness. The righteous are bold as a lion. Think of Haman’s terrors: his own conscience accused him: he needed no other. Alas! what an awful day will that be to the sinner, when standing before the judgment-seat of Christ. Oh! for grace now in the day of grace to flee from the wrath to come!

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Est 7:6 And Esther said, The adversary and enemy [is] this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

Ver. 6. And Esther said ] Now she found her time to strike while the iron was hot; she therefore layeth hold upon the opportunity that God had even thrust into her hand, and laying aside all base fear, pointeth out the enemy present, and painteth him out in his proper colours. A well chosen season, saith one, is the greatest advantage of any action; which as it is seldom found in haste, so it is too often lost in delay. It is not for Queen Esther now to drive off any longer. The negligent spirit cries, Cras, Domine. Tomorrow thou shalt pray for me, said Pharaoh to Moses. Fools are ever futuring, semper victuri, as Seneca hath it, but “a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment,” Ecc 8:5 . The men of Issachar in David’s days were in great account, because they had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do, and when to do it, 1Ch 12:32 .

The adversary ] Heb. The man adversary, the Lycanthropos, the man of might that distresseth us, angustiator, that is, our calamity; as the people of Rome once, by an elegant solecism, cried out, Calamitas nostra Magnus est Our distress is great, meaning of it Pompey, surnamed Magnus.

And enemy ] That is, the utter enemy, that sworn swordman of Satan, the old manslayer, from whom Haman hath drawn this ancient enmity, Gen 3:15 .

Is this wicked Haman ] Pessimus iste, such a most wicked one, this homo hominum quantum est, pessimus, homo post homines natos nequissimus, as wicked a man as goes on two legs, Bipedum nequissimus, a merum scelus, a man made up of mischief, a very breathing devil. Cicero telleth of one Tubulus, who was praetor a little before his time, so wicked a wretch, ut eius nomen non hominis sed vitii esse videretur, that his name seemed to be, not the name of a man, but of vice itself. And Josephus saith of Antipater, that his life was a very mystery of iniquity, K . Think the same of Haman, so portentously, so peerlessly wicked and malicious, that Esther can find no word bad enough for him, unless it be Harang, that naughtiest of all naughts; as St Paul could call sin no worse than by its own name, sinful sin, exceeding sinful, Rom 7:13 . Tiberius was rightly characterized by his tutor Theodorus Gadareus, dirt kned with blood. P . Haman was such another, if not worse, and now he hears of it; for never till now did the man adversary hear his true title. Before some had styled him noble, others great; some magnificent, and some perhaps virtuous; only Esther gives him his own, wicked Haman. Ill deserving greatness doth in vain promise to itself a perpetuity of applause. There will be those that will deal plainly, and call a spade a spade. Thus Jeremiah dealt with Jehoiakim, and Ezekiel with Zedekiah, whom he calleth naught and polluted. Go, tell that fox, saith our Saviour, concerning Herod; and God shall smite thee, thou whited wall, saith Paul to Ananias. But what a courage had Esther to speak thus to the king, and of his favourite, and before his face! This was the work of her faith, and the fruit of her prayer.

Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen ] He was amazed and amated, troubled and terrified.

Obstupuit, steteruntque comae, vox faucibus haesit (Virg.).

In the fulness of his sufficiency he fell into straits, Job 20:22 . So that being convinced in his own conscience that the queen’s accusation was very true, and that the king knew it to be so, he had nothing to say for himself, he was even gagged, as it were, or muzzled, as Mat 22:12-13 , according to that of David, Psa 63:11 , “the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.” And again, Psa 12:3 , The Lord shall cut off lying lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things. Here we see how suddenly wicked ones may be cast down upon the discovery of their wickedness, in the height of their pride, in the ruff of their jollity, as was Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Herod, Haman. Surely as thunder commonly is heard when the sky seemeth most clear; so this man saw himself enveloped in a storm in one of the fairest days that ever befell him.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

The adversary: Heb. The man adversary

this wicked: 1Sa 24:13, Psa 27:2, Psa 139:19-22, Pro 24:24, Pro 24:25, Ecc 5:8, 1Co 5:13, 2Th 2:8

was afraid: Neh 6:16, Job 15:21, Job 15:22, Job 18:5-12, Psa 73:5-9, Psa 73:17-20, Pro 16:14, Isa 21:4, Dan 5:5, Dan 5:6

before: or, at the presence of

Reciprocal: 2Ch 24:7 – that wicked 2Ch 28:22 – this is Est 3:1 – promote Haman Est 3:10 – enemy Est 7:4 – the enemy Est 9:10 – enemy Psa 13:2 – enemy Psa 94:3 – the wicked Pro 14:17 – a man Dan 8:2 – Shushan 1Pe 5:8 – your

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Est 7:6. Esther said, The enemy is this wicked Haman It is he that has designed our murder, and I charge him with it before his face: here he is; let him speak for himself, for therefore he was invited. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen It was time for him to fear, when the queen was his prosecutor, the king his judge, and his own conscience a witness against him; and the surprising operations of providence against him that same morning could not but increase his fear. Now he has little joy of his being invited to the banquet of wine, but finds himself in straits when he thought himself in the fulness of his sufficiency.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments