Then the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,
4. held out to Esther the golden sceptre ] Cp. Est 4:11, Est 5:2. On this occasion, however, the king’s action was not in order to permit approach with a petition, but in token of the favourable hearing granted to a request already made.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The king held out the golden sceptre; in token that he accepted her person and petition, and that she should stand upon her feet.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. Then the king held out the goldensceptre toward Estherin token that her request was accepted,and that she needed no longer to maintain the humble attitude of asuppliant.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then the king held out the golden sceptre towards Esther,…. As a token that she had not incurred his displeasure by coming into his presence without leave, and that she was admitted to speak and make her request; see Es 5:3
so Esther arose and stood before the king; she rose from the ground on which she lay prostrate, and stood upon her feet, in an humble manner, to make her speech, and present her petition to the king.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(4) The king held out the golden sceptre.See Note on Est. 4:11.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Held out the golden sceptre We understand that the queen first came and fell weeping before the king, but said nothing until he held out the sceptre. Then she arose, and stood before him, and made the request of which a mere summary is given in the preceding verse. The language of her address is given in the two following verses.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
(4) Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,
It is delightful to see how the Lord directed the mind of the king. But oh! what is it to the tenderness of our glorious King, who everlastingly holds forth the sceptre of his grace to all his petitioners!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Est 8:4 Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,
Ver. 4. Then the king held out the golden sceptre ] It appeareth by this, that she once more put her life in her hand; hazarding it for her people’s safety (as Arsinoe interposed her own body between her children and the murderers sent to slay them), and so performing her promise made to Mordecai, Est 4:16 . God’s children are all such as will not lie, Isa 63:8 ; if they swear to their hurt, yet they dare not change, Psa 15:4 , dare not say and unsay, 2Co 1:18-19 . Of many promises it may be said, as Tertullian doth to the peacock, that they are all in changeable colours; as often changed as moved. Holy Esther was none such; no more was that blessed martyr of Jesus Christ, Mr Hawkes, when in the flames remembering his promise to certain friends (to give them a sign whether the rage of the pain were tolerable), be reached up his hands burning on a light fire, and clapped them over his head three times together, to the great astonishment of the beholders, but especially to them who understood the matter.
So Esther arose, and stood before the king
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
held out: Est 4:11, Est 5:2
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE BOOK OF ESTHER
Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus that in those days Esther arose, and stood before the king, and said, how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?
Est 1:1-3; Est 8:4-6
I. Let us observe the outward stage of these events.In the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, the Persian court forms, as it were, the background of all the transactions of the history. Cyrus, Darius, Artaxerxes, figure as the deliverers and protectors of the returning Israelites. The scene of the book of Esther is laid in Shushan, or Susa, the capital of Persia. There we see Ahasuerus, the great king, as he was called by the Greeks, the same, it is believed, as Xerxes. These Gentile monarchs, this Asiatic kingdom, are made to occupy this prominent place in the Bible in order to remind us that beyond the limits of the chosen people, beyond the limits of Jewry or of Christendom, there are kingdoms and races of men who claim, as well as we, a share in the compassion and justice of the all-merciful, all-holy God.
II. That which gives to the book of Esther an enduring spiritual value is the noble, patriotic spirit of the Jewish race in the presence of the Gentiles amongst whom they sojourned, that passionate love of country and home, that generous pride in the independence of their race and creed, which kindled the song of Deborah, which continued to burn in the hearts of her countrymen and countrywomen after the lapse of a thousand years, and broke forth in the pathetic wail, in the courageous defiance, of the Jewish maiden, who, unseduced by the splendours, undaunted by the terrors, of the Persian court, exclaimed, with the heroic determination, if need be, to sacrifice her life for her country, If I perish, I perish! How can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people?
Dean Stanley.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Est 8:4-6. Then the king held out the golden sceptre Esther had presumed to come a second time into the kings presence without being called: which he did not take ill, but by this token graciously invited her to approach him, indicating that he accepted her person. So Esther arose Having before fallen at his feet; and stood before the king As a petitioner for her people; and said, If it please the king, &c. She uses various expressions, that she might confirm the kings favour by such a full submission to his good pleasure. Even then, when we have ever so much reason and justice on our side, and have ever so clear a cause to plead, yet it becomes us to speak to our superiors with humility and modesty, and all possible expressions of respect. There is nothing lost by decency and good breeding. Let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman She prudently takes off the hatefulness of the action from the king, and lays it upon Haman, who had for his own ends contrived the whole business, and circumvented the king in it. For how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred? My heart will sink under it, and I shall never be able to survive it. She does not urge the innocence of the Jews, but only pleads their affinity to her: probably she knew that this plea would have more weight with the king, even than one grounded on their innocence.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
8:4 Then the king held out the golden {d} sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,
(d) Read Ezr 5:2.