Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Esther 3:9
If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring [it] into the king’s treasuries.
9. that they be destroyed ] lit. to destroy them. Let an edict be issued for their destruction.
I will pay ten thousand talents of silver ] about 3,750,000 sterling. Xerxes, unscrupulous though we know him to have been, might well be staggered by the request that he should direct this wholesale massacre on such slender grounds as had hitherto been adduced. Hence Haman at once supports his petition by the offer of enormous pecuniary gains to follow, meaning apparently that he will pay the amount, if he has leave to plunder the Jews. The king at an earlier period of his reign had declined a gift from a subject, the value of which was much beyond four and a half million pounds of our money [69] (Herod. vii. 28). His resources, however, had not then been exhausted by the war with Greece. The condition of the imperial treasury was doubtless now very different, and if any such offer as Haman’s was now made, so tempting a measure for replenishing it, and thus supplying Xerxes with the means of gratifying his love of ostentation and excess, might well prove irresistible.
[69] The offer was made by Pythius of Celaenae (see note on Est 1:4) to Xerxes when visiting that town in connexion with his expedition against Greece. Rawlinson ( Herod. vol. iv. 30) calculates the amount to have been “little short of five millions of our money (4,827,144).” Grote, however ( Hist. of Greece, Esther 3:36 note), considers the sum an incredible one.
those that have the charge of the king’s business ] i.e. the royal treasurers. The A.V. ‘those that have the charge of the business’ would rather suggest the business of the massacre. But the word ‘king’s,’ though it is not indeed expressed, is implied in the Hebrew.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ten thousand talents of silver – According to Herodotus, the regular revenue of the Persian king consisted of 14,560 silver talents; so that, if the same talent is intended, Hamans offer would have exceeded two-thirds of one years revenue (or two and one-half million British pound sterling). Another Persian subject, Pythius, once offered to present Xerxes with four millions of gold darics, or about four and one-half pounds.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Est 3:9
I will pay ten thousand talents of silver.
Hamans wealth: ancient millionaires
Crassus owned a landed estate valued at more than one million and a half pounds sterling, and Ridorus, after having lost a good deal in the civil war, left an estate worth one million forty-seven hundred pounds. And Lentulus, the augur, died worth three millions, three hundred and thirty-three thousand, three hundred and thirty-three pounds sterling. Apicius was possessed of above nine hundred and sixteen thousand, six hundred and seventy-one pounds. His wealth, however, was by no means satisfactory or sufficient for him. For after having spent vast sums in his kitchen, he was so miserable that he put an end to his own life by poison. These rich old Romans were not bankers or mere merchants and traders. These amounts did not merely pass through their hands in the way of trade. They were worth so much in hard money. Nor were all the millionaires of ancient times Romans. Herodotus says that Xerxes, in going to Greece, the father of Ahasuerus–or as some say, Ahasuerus himself–found Pythius, the Lydian, possessed of two thousand talents of silver and four millions of gold darics; that is, about twenty-seven and a half millions of dollars (Lib. 7.). And Plutarch informs us, that after Crassus, the Roman general, had given the tenth of all he had to Hercules, he entertained ten thousand people at his tables, and gave to every citizen as much corn as would support him three months; and then had seven thousand one hundred Roman talents remaining; that is, about twenty-eight millions of dollars. Surely, then, there is nothing incredible in our history because it speaks of ten thousand talents of silver. The wealth and luxury of the old world, in many particulars, surpassed our own times. The enormous debts contracted in the days of Alexander and of the Caesars prove that the wealth of those times was great, although this is a way to prove ones wealth by that is not at all to my mind, especially for a Church. Anthony owed, we are told, at the ides of March, 333,333 13s. 4d., which, however, it is said he paid before the calends of April, every penny of it. (W. A. Scott, D. D.)
Costly revenge
His revenge was so dear to him, that he would not only hazard the kings favour by the horrid proposal of murdering a whole nation, but expose himself to a severe loss in his fortune, rather than suffer the hated race to live. What liberal sacrifices will men make to their passions! They will give a great part of the substance of their house to the gratification of their hatred or their lust. Why then should we think it a hard matter to give a part of our substance to God? If our desires are as eager for the advancement of virtue and purity, if we are as earnest in our wishes to have the wants of the poor supplied, and the afflictions of the unfortunate relieved, as revengeful men, like Haman, are to gratify their ill-nature, it will give us pleasure to honour the Lord with our substance, and to minister to the needs of our fellow-men. (G. Lawson.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. Let it be written that they may be destroyed] Let it be enacted that they may all be put to death. By this he would throw all the odium off himself, and put it on the king and his counsellors; for he wished the thing to pass into a law, in which he could have but a small share of the blame.
I will pay ten thousand talents of silver] He had said before that it was not for the king’s profit to suffer them; but here he is obliged to acknowledge that there will be a loss to the revenue, but that loss he is willing to make up out of his own property.
Ten thousand talents of silver is an immense sum indeed; which, counted by the Babylonish talent, amounts to two millions one hundred and nineteen thousand pounds sterling; but, reckoned by the Jewish talent, it makes more than double that sum.
Those who cavil at the Scriptures would doubtless call this one of the many absurdities which, they say, are so plenteously found in them, supposing it almost impossible for an individual to possess so much wealth. But though they do not believe the Bible, they do not scruple to credit Herodotus, who, lib. vii., says that when Xerxes went into Greece, Pythius the Lydian had two thousand talents of silver, and four millions of gold darics, which sums united make near five millions and a half sterling.
Plutarch tells us, in his life of Crassus, that after this Roman general had dedicated the tenth of all he had to Hercules, he entertained the Roman people at ten thousand tables, and distributed to every citizen as much corn as was sufficient for three months; and after all these expenses, he had seven thousand one hundred Roman talents remaining, which is more than a million and a half of English money.
In those days silver and gold were more plentiful than at present, as we may see in the yearly revenue of Solomon, who had of gold from Ophir, at one voyage, four hundred and fifty talents, which make three millions two hundred and forty thousand pounds sterling; and his annual income was six hundred and sixty-six talents of silver, which make four millions seven hundred and ninety-five thousand two hundred pounds English money.
In addition to the above I cannot help subjoining the following particulars: –
Crassus, who was mentioned before, had a landed estate valued at one million six hundred and sixty-six thousand six hundred and sixty-six pounds thirteen shillings and four pence.
C. Coecilius Ridorus, after having lost much in the civil war, left by will effects amounting to one million forty-seven thousand one hundred and sixty pounds.
Lentullus, the augur, is said to have possessed no less than three millions three hundred and thirty-three thousand three hundred and thirty-three pounds six shillings and eight pence.
Apicius was worth more than nine hundred and sixteen thousand six hundred and seventy-one pounds thirteen shillings and four pence; who, after having spent in his kitchen eight hundred and thirty-three thousand three hundred and thirty-three pounds six shillings and eight pence, and finding that he had no more left than eighty-three thousand three hundred and thirty-three pounds six shillings and eight pence, considered it so little for his support, that he judged it best to put an end to his life by poison!
The superfluous furniture of M. Scaurus, which was burnt at Tusculum, was valued at no less than eight hundred and thirty-three thousand three hundred and thirty-two pounds thirteen shillings and four pence.
Anthony owed, at the ides or March, the sum of three hundred and thirty-three thousand three hundred and thirty-three pounds six shillings and six pence, which he paid before the calends of April.
None of these men were in trade, to account for the circulation of such immense sums through their hands. See DICKSON’S Husband. of the Anc.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Let it be written; let there be a written edict from the king.
Ten thousand talents of silver; whether these were Hebrew, or Babylonish, or Grecian talents we cannot certainly know; but whichsoever they were, it was a vast sum to be paid out of his own estate, which he was willing to sacrifice to his revenge. The charge of the business; either,
1. Of this business, to wit, of destroying the Jews; which as soon as they have procured to be done, I will pay the money into their hands, that by them it may be paid into the kings exchequer. Or rather,
2. Of the kings business, or of the treasures, as is implied in the following words. I will pay it to the kings receivers, that they may put it into the kings treasures.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. I will pay ten thousand talentsof silver . . . into the king’s treasuriesThis sum, reckoningby the Babylonish talent, will be about 2,119,000; but estimatedaccording to the Jewish talent, it will considerably exceed3,000,000, an immense contribution to be made out of a privatefortune. But classic history makes mention of several persons whoseresources seem almost incredible.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
If it please the king, let it be written, that they may be destroyed,…. That is, a law made, signed and sealed, for their destruction, and letters written and sent everywhere, ordering it to be put in execution:
and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those who have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king’s treasury; this he proposed, to prevent any objection that might be made from the loss of tribute paid by this people to the king; and this was a very large sum for him to pay out of his own estate, it being near four millions of our money; it is computed by Brerewood x at 3,750,000 pounds; for as to what is suggested by some, that he intended to repay himself out of the spoil of the Jews, it may be observed, that, according to the king’s letter, they that were employed in destroying the Jews were to have the spoil for a prey or booty to themselves, Es 3:13. Now this sum of money he proposed not to put into the hands of them that should slay the Jews, but into the hands of the king’s receivers of the dues, that they might lay it up in the king’s treasury or exchequer.
x De Pret. & Ponder. Vet. Num. c. 5.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(9) Ten thousand talents of silver.This would be about two and a half millions sterling, being indeed more than two-thirds of the whole annual revenue of the Empire (Herod. iii. 95). Haman may have been a man of excessive wealth (like the Pythius who offered Xerxes four millions of gold darics (Herod. vii. 28), or he probably may have hoped to draw the money from the spoils of the Jews.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Ten thousand talents of silver Nearly $1,700,000. Haman doubtless expected to pay this amount from the Jewish spoils. Compare Est 3:13.
Those that have the charge of the business Namely, the business of superintending, receiving, and depositing the revenues of the kingdom.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Est 3:9. And I will pay ten thousand talents of silver The sum which Haman here offers the king in lieu of the damage that his revenues might sustain by the destruction of so many of his subjects, is prodigious for any private man, and shows how outrageously he was bent against the Jews. We read, however, of several private persons in history, who in ancient times were possessors of much greater sums. Pithius the Lydian, for instance, when Xerxes passed into Greece, was possessed of two thousand talents of silver, and four millions of daricks in gold, which together amounted to near five millions and a half of our sterling money. Though this may seem strange to us at present, our wonder will cease, if we consider, that from the time of David and Solomon, and for one thousand five hundred years afterwards, the riches of this kind were in much greater plenty than they are now. The prodigious quantities of gold and silver that Alexander found in the treasuries of Darius; the vast loads of them which were often carried before the Roman generals when they returned from conquered provinces; and the excessive sums which certain of their emperors expended in donatives, feasts, shows, and other instances of luxury and prodigality, are sufficient instances of this. But at length the mines of the ancient Ophir, which furnished all this plenty, being exhausted, and by the burning of cities and devastation of countries upon the irruption of barbarous nations both of the west and east, a great part of the gold and silver wherewith the world then abounded, being wasted and destroyed, the great scarcity of both which afterwards ensued was thus occasioned; nor have the mines of Mexico and Peru been as yet able fully to repair it.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Est 3:9 If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring [it] into the king’s treasuries.
Ver. 9. If it please the king ] Here he showeth himself a smooth courtier, and speaketh silken words, the sooner to insinuate. But if Solomon had been by he would have said, “When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart,” Pro 26:25 .
Let it be written that they may be destroyed
And I shall pay ten thousand talents of silver
To the hands of those, &c.
To bring it into the king’s treasuries] That he might not be damnified in the tributes formerly paid by the Jews for their liberty of conscience. Kings use to take care that their incomes and revenues be not impaired or diminished. It is said of Soliman, the Great Turk, that, seeing a company of many thousands of his Christian subjects fall down before him, and hold up the forefinger, as their manner of conversion to the Turkish religion is, he asked what moved them to turn? they replied, it was to be eased of their heavy taxations. He, not willing to lose in tribute for an unsound accession in religion, rejected their conversion, and doubled their taxations.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
that they may be destroyed: Heb. to destroy them
and I will pay: Heb. and I will weigh, Gen 23:16, Here Haman is obliged to acknowledge that there would be a loss to the revenue, which he was willing to make up out of his own property. Ten thousand talents of silver, counted by the Babylonish talent, amount to 2,119,000.; but reckoned by the Jewish talent, they amount to double that sum. In those days, silver and gold were more plentiful than at present; and we have many instances of individuals possessing almost incredible riches. Herodotus relates, that when Xerxes went into Greece, Pythius the Lydian had 2,000 talents of silver, and 4,000,000 of gold darics, which unitedly amount to nearly 5,500,000. Plutarch tells us, that after Crassus had dedicated the tenth of all he had to Hercules, he entertained the Roman people at 10,000 tables, and distributed to every citizen as much corn as was sufficient for three months; and, after all these expenses, he had 7,100; Roman talents left, which amount to more than 1,500,000. Lentulus the augur is said to have possessed no less than 3,333,333. 6s. 8d. Apicius was worth more than 916,671 13s. 4d.; and, after having spent in his kitchen 833,333 6s. 8d. he considered the remainder too little for his support, and poisoned himself!
ten thousand: Mat 18:24
Reciprocal: Ezr 4:22 – why should Est 1:19 – it please the king Est 2:4 – the thing Est 7:4 – we are sold Job 18:8 – he is cast Psa 74:8 – said Jer 32:9 – weighed Dan 3:8 – and accused Act 16:20 – being Act 25:15 – when Heb 3:4 – but
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Est 3:9. Let it be written that they may be destroyed Let a written edict from the king be published for that purpose; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver Whether these were Hebrew, or Babylonish, or Grecian talents, we cannot certainly know. But whichsoever they were, it was a vast sum to be paid by a private person, being probably above three millions sterling, and shows how outrageously he was bent on the destruction of the Jews. But undoubtedly Haman expected to get that sum, and much more, by seizing on all their effects. To the hands of those that have the charge of the business Not of those who should have the charge to kill them, but of those that received the kings money, as appears by the next words, to bring it into the kings treasuries.