Esther’s petition for herself and her people: Aman is hanged upon the gibbet he had prepared for Mardochai.
Esther entertayning the king and Aman againe at a feast, is promised to obtaine, whatsoeuer she wil aske. 3. she demandeth saftie for her self, and al the people, against Amans crueltie, 6. and Aman is hanged on the gallowes, which he had prepared for Mardocheus.
1So the king and Aman went in, to drink with the queen.Al re adunque, e Aman andarono a cena nell'appartamento della regina.THE king therfore and Aman went in, to drinke with the queene.Intravit itaque rex et Aman, ut biberent cum regina. 2And the king said to her again the second day, after he was warm with wine: What is thy petition, Esther, that it may be granted thee? and what wilt thou have done: although thou ask the half of my kingdom, thou shalt have it.E il re anche questa volta le disse, quando fu riscaldato dal vino: Che domandi tu, o Esther, e che vuoi, che si faccia? Quand'anche tu chiedessi la metà del regno mio, la avrai.And the king said to her also the second day, after he was warme with wine: What is thy petition Esther that it may be geuen thee? and what wilt thou haue done? although thou shalt aske the half part of my kingdome, thou shalt obteyne.Dixitque ei rex etiam secunda die, postquam vino incaluerat: Quæ est petitio tua, Esther, ut detur tibi ? et quid vis fieri ? etiam si dimidiam partem regni mei petieris, impetrabis. 3Then she answered: If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please thee, give me my life for which I ask, and my people for which I request.Ed ella gli rispose: Se io ho trovato grazia negli occhi tuoi, o re, e se così a te piace, salvami la vita mia, per cui ti prego, e il popol mio, per cui ti chieggo grazia.To whom she answered, If I haue found grace in thyne eies ô king, and if it please thee, geue me my life for the which I make request, and my people for the which I besech.Ad quem illa respondit: Si inveni gratiam in oculis tuis o rex, et si tibi placet, dona mihi animam meam pro qua rogo, et populum meum pro quo obsecro. 4For we are given up, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. And would God we were sold for bondmen and bondwomen: the evil might be borne with, and I would have mourned in silence: but now we have an enemy, whose cruelty redoundeth upon the king.Perocché e io, e il mio popolo siamo stati venduti alla distruzione, alla strage, allo sterminio: e fossimo noi almeno venduti per ischiavi, e per ischiave; tollerabil sarebbe tal male, e io gemerei in silenzio: ma ora abbiam per nimico un uomo, la crudeltà del quale cade sopra del re.For we are deliuered I and my people, to be destroyed, murdered, and to perish. And would God we were sold for bondmen and bondwemen: it were a tolerable euil, and mourning I would hold my peace: but now it is our enemie, whose crueltie redoundeth vpon the king.Traditi enim sumus ego et populus meus, ut conteramur, jugulemur, et pereamus. Atque utinam in servos et famulas venderemur: esset tolerabile malum, et gemens tacerem: nunc autem hostis noster est, cujus crudelitas redundat in regem.
5And king Assuerus answered and said: Who is this, and of what power, that he should do these things?E il re Assuero rispose, e disse: Chi è costui, che tanto può, e ardisce di far questo?And king Assuetus answering, said: Who is this, and of what might, that he dare doe these things?Respondensque rex Assuerus, ait: Quis est iste, et cujus potentiæ, ut hæc audeat facere ? 6And Esther said: It is this Aman that is our adversary and most wicked enemy. Aman hearing this was forthwith astonished, not being able to bear the countenance of the king and of the queen.Esther gli disse: Nemico nostro, e persecutore pessimo egli è questo Aman. Ciò udendo quegli rimase stupido, né potea sostenere gli sguardi del re, e della regina.And Esther said: It is this Aman out aduersarie and most wicked enemie. Which he hearing forthwith was astonished, not enduring to beare the countenance of the king and of the queene.Dixitque Esther: Hostis et inimicus noster pessimus iste est Aman. Quod ille audiens, illico obstupuit, vultum regis ac reginæ ferre non sustinens. 7But the king being angry rose up, and went from the place of the banquet into the garden set with trees. Aman also rose up to entreat Esther the queen for his life, for he understood that evil was prepared for him by the king.E il re sdegnato si alzò, e dal luogo del convito passò in un giardino piantato di alberi. Aman parimente si alzò per raccomandare la sua vita alla regina; perocché comprese, che il re meditava la sua rovina.But the king being wrath rose vp, and from the place of the banket went into the garden set with trees. Aman also rose vp, to intreate Esther the queene for his life, for he vnderstood that there was euil prepared him of the king.Rex autem iratus surrexit, et de loco convivii intravit in hortum arboribus consitum. Aman quoque surrexit ut rogaret Esther reginam pro anima sua: intellexit enim a rege sibi paratum malum. 8And when the king came back out of the garden set with trees, and entered into the place of the banquet, he found Aman was fallen upon the bed on which Esther lay, and he said: He will force the queen also in my presence, in my own house. The word was not yet gone out of the king’s mouth, and immediately they covered his face.E quegli tornato dal giardino piantato di alberi, in entrando nel luogo del convito trovò Aman disteso sul letto, in cui giaceva Esther, e disse: Vuol egli ancora far violenza alla regina presente me in casa mia? E appena usci di bocca del re questa parola, che subitamente copersero a quello la faccia.Who when he was returned out of the garden set with trees, and had entered into the place of the banket, he found Aman to haue fallen vpon the bed, wherin Esther lay, and he said: The queene also he wil force in my presence, in my house. Neither was the word yet passed from the kings mouth, and immediatly they couered his face.Qui cum reversus esset de horto nemoribus consito, et intrasset convivii locum, reperit Aman super lectulum corruisse in quo jacebat Esther, et ait: Etiam reginam vult opprimere, me præsente, in domo mea. Necdum verbum de ore regis exierat, et statim operuerunt faciem ejus.
9And Harbona, one of the eunuchs that stood waiting on the king, said: Behold the gibbet which he hath prepared for Mardochai, who spoke for the king, standeth in Aman’s house, being fifty cubits high. And the king said to him: Hang him upon it.E Harbona uno degli eunuchi, che servivano il re, disse: Ecco là in casa di Aman il patibolo, che egli aveva apprestato per Mardocheo, che aveva parlato per salute del re, ed è alto cinquanta cubiti. E il re gli disse: Appiccatelo a quello.And Harbona, one of the eunuches which stood wayting on the king, sayd: Behold the gibbet, which he had prepared for Mardocheus, that spake for the king, standeth in Amans house, hauing in height fiftie cubites. To whom the king said: Hang him vpon it.Dixitque Harbona, unus de eunuchis, qui stabant in ministerio regis: En lignum quod paraverat Mardochæo, qui locutus est pro rege, stat in domo Aman, habens altitudinis quinquaginta cubitos. Cui dixit rex: Appendite eum in eo. 10So Aman was hanged on the gibbet, which he had prepared for Mardochai: and the king’s wrath ceased.Fu pertanto Aman appeso al patibolo, che egli aveva preparato a Mardocheo, e l'ira del re si calmò.Aman therfore was hanged on the gibbet, which he had prepared for Mardocheus: and the kings wrath ceased.Suspensus est itaque Aman in patibulo quod paraverat Mardochæo: et regis ira quievit.
7:1
Year of the World 3495.
Drink. Wine was only used at great feasts, Ecclesiasticus 31:17. Water was served up first, from the river Choaspes only. The king and his eldest son were allowed to drink of "the golden waters," of which they alone had 70 fountains. (Athen. 12:2.)
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Worthington
People. She was more concerned for these than for half of the kingdom. Hence all fasted and prayed, and Esther obtained their deliverance. (Worthington)
7:4
Haydock
Perish. Three terms of the same import express the greatness of the misery. (Haydock)
Haydock
King. Whose revenue will be greatly impaired, (Calmet) and character injured, for having given such power to a monster. (Haydock)
Calmet
The kings of Persia had taken many precautions not to be thus deluded, having appointed officers, who were styled "the eyes and ears" of the king, purposely to obtain all necessary information. But these eyes were often darkened; these ears were often deaf, (Calmet) and unwilling to act with fidelity; (Haydock) though their diligence in make secret transactions known, caused the people to look upon their kings as gods. (Apul. Mund. Cyrop. viii.) (Calmet)
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Haydock
What. Hebrew, "where, who durst entertain this design?" (Haydock)
7:6
Worthington
Astonished. Horror of a guilty conscience is the first punishment. (St. Chrysostom) (Worthington)
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Calmet
Set. Hebrew, "of the palace," (Haydock) belonging to the queen. (Calmet)
7:8
Haydock
My own. Hebrew, "will he force....in the house?" (Haydock)
Haydock
Those who know with what jealousy the Persians treated their wives, so as to punish with death those who crossed the road before the queens, (Plut. Artax.) or touched them, will not wonder at the indignation of Assuerus, (Calmet) though his suspicions were groundless. (Haydock)
Haydock
Aman wished to incline the queen to shew clemency, (Menochius) and intercede for him. He threw himself as a suppliant at her feet, as she lay on the bed at table. (Haydock)
Curtius vi
Face. His crime was notorious; no trial was requisite, and the kings could treat their subjects as slaves. It was customary to cover the faces of those who were led to execution. Philotas was thus conducted into the presence of Alexander. (Curtius vi.)
7:9
Haydock
Harbona. Cr.[Greek?], "Bougathan." (Haydock)
Jos.[Josephus?]
He had been to call Aman to the feast. (Jos.[Josephus?])
Worthington
Little dependance is to be had on false friendship, when a man is disgraced. (Worthington)
Curtius ix
Upon it. His body was perhaps afterwards exposed in the street, Esther 16:18. It is not clear that he was nailed to the cross, though this custom prevailed in the country, 1 Esdras 6:11. Alexander crucified many satraps. (Curtius ix.)
Calmet
The old Vulgate observes that the wife and ten children of Aman suffered with him, Esther 9:6. (Calmet)
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After threedayes fast of al the Iewes with prayers and other workes of penance, Esther asked and obtained the saftie of the whole people more precious to her then halfe of the kingdom.
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Horrour of a guiltie conscience is commonly the first torment of a sinner. S. Chrissocons. 4. de Lagaro.
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VVhat litle trust in false freindshipe, when bad men once fal into disgrace.
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 3.21
… The king of Persia himself also, though fierce and proud, yet thought it seemly to show honour to the man who had given information about a plot which had been laid against himself, to save a free people from slavery, to snatch them from death, and not to spare him who had pressed on such unseemly plans. So finally he handed over to the gallows
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Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 21.20
… Before Mordecai, Haman proclaimed, Thus shall it be done to the man, in honouring whom the king is pleased ; and as for Jesus, His preachers came out of the People that persecuted Him, and they said:— This is Jesus the San of God. The blood of Mordecai was required at the hand of Haman and his sons;
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 22.21
… As soon as the Son of God set foot upon the earth, He formed for Himself a new household there; that, as He was adored by angels in heaven, angels might serve Him also on earth. Then chaste Judith once more cut off the head of Holofernes. Then Haman—whose name means iniquity—was once more burned in fire of his own kindling.
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2. AFTER HE HAD GROWN WARM WITH WINE. For Darius was a heavy drinker of wine. Whence this inscription was written on his tomb: "I am able to drink much wine, and to bear it well," according to the testimony of Athenaeus, book X. The same thing was also said of Cyrus the Younger himself, as Plutarch records in his Life of Artaxerxes. "King Cambyses," as Seneca writes in book III of On Anger, chapter xiv, "being excessively devoted to wine, was admonished by Praexaspes, one of his dearest friends, to drink more sparingly, saying that drunkenness was shameful in a King, whom the eyes and ears of all followed. To this he replied: And you shall know how I shall never fall short of myself; I will approve it now, and my eyes shall be at their post after wine and my hands. He then drank more liberally than usual, and from larger cups; and now heavy and wine-sodden, he ordered the objector's son to step beyond the threshold, and standing with his left hand raised above his head. Then he drew his bow, and pierced the very heart of the young man (for he said that was what he was aiming at), and cutting open his breast, showed the arrow sticking in his very heart: and looking back at the father, he asked whether he thought his hand was steady enough. But he replied that Apollo could not have shot more accurately. May the gods destroy him utterly, in spirit and in condition alike." Thus far Seneca.
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3. GRANT ME MY LIFE, that is, my life. This was a sharp arrow with which Esther struck Ahasuerus, and more so Haman, as if to say: This Haman obtained from you by fraud the means to kill all the Jews; therefore I too, who am a Jewess, am to be killed by him, and thus you will be deprived of me as queen, and of my bed, which you have so greatly desired and do desire. Therefore Haman is not so much an injurious and violent man to me as to you, O my King Ahasuerus and husband, and he is equally treacherous and deceitful.
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4. AND WOULD THAT WE WERE SOLD AS SERVANTS AND HANDMAIDS, so that our lives being spared, we could at least serve and be enslaved to the King and the Persians! BUT NOW OUR ENEMY (who wishes to despoil me and all the Jews of life) IS SUCH THAT HIS CRUELTY REDOUNDS UPON THE KING, both because through his edict for the death of the Jews, who enrich his treasury with enormous tributes, and who render many services to the king, and from whom he is able to enlist many strong soldiers for his own and the kingdom's protection; indeed, whom he can set as wise men over his provinces, as Daniel was set with his three companions. In this injury, and in many other ways, Haman deprives you, Ahasuerus, of what you gain from the Jews, and of what you could gain in greater measure. The same grave and perpetual infamy he brings upon you among all nations, that you should utterly destroy our nation, which is innocent, indeed well-deserving of you; therefore the cruelty of Haman, seeking the extermination of the Jews, redounds upon you above all.
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6. AND ESTHER SAID: OUR ENEMY AND ADVERSARY IS THIS WICKED HAMAN. Note here the magnanimity of Esther, in that she does not accuse the absent Haman secretly, as timid and base little women do, but accuses him openly in the presence of Ahasuerus, so that he himself might know that the accusation is sincere and true, which Haman cannot deny: whence, struck by this unexpected accusation as if by lightning, Haman was stupefied and struck dumb. Let princes learn from Esther not to fear the great power and insolence of the mighty, but to suppress and trample it down. This is the art of kings. Truly Seneca in Hercules Furens: "The first art of kingship is to be able to endure hatred." And in Oedipus: "He who fears hatred too much / Knows not how to reign." And in the Thebaid: "Together with this the Creator of the world placed God / Hatred and kingship."
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8. HE FOUND AMAN UPON THE BED (not a nocturnal bed for sleep, but a banqueting couch, on which they reclined at table) WHERE ESTHER LAY, so that he, prostrate as a suppliant at her knees, might beg from her that his life be granted to him. Whence St. Athanasius in the Synopsis: "Aman," he says, "when he saw the king affected with grief and moved with anger on account of the unworthy deed against the Jews, in his absence besought the queen, falling upon her knees. The king, when he entered and saw Aman touching the knees of the queen, suspecting that he was doing this for a shameful purpose, ordered him to be hanged on wood," etc. The same thing is related by Severus Sulpitius: "Then," he says, "the king returning saw Aman embracing the knees of the Queen." For of old suppliants held the knees of him to whom they supplicated, as it were a seat of mercy, and this for four reasons which I have reviewed at length in Exodus IV, 15. AND THE KING SAID: DOES HE ALSO WISH TO OPPRESS THE QUEEN, IN MY PRESENCE? The king said this, partly from anger, partly from jealousy, by which he was consumed for Esther; for this passion is suspicious of evil and of rivals, even where in fact nothing of the sort exists, as in Aman here there was nothing. He suspects therefore that Aman wishes to oppress Esther, that is, not so much to do violence to her life as to her chastity, enticed by her extraordinary beauty, just as Ahasuerus himself felt himself enticed by the same. AND IMMEDIATELY THEY COVERED HIS FACE. Thus they did to him with whom the king was displeased, as if he were unworthy to see the royal countenance, and lest the king, seeing a face hateful to him, be moved to greater anger and indignation. Again they covered the face of Aman, as if he were condemned to death and punishment. Thus Lyra; for the condemned were led to death with veiled eyes, so that, seeing their country, citizens, friends, children, wives, they would not die seven times over rather than once. Thus now the eyes of those condemned to capital punishment are veiled, lest they see the sword vibrating against their neck, and thus be terrified, and by falling deflect and frustrate the blow of the sword. Hence that ancient sentence of the Roman judges upon a condemned man in Livy and Cicero: "Go, lictor, bind his hands, cover his head, scourge him, hang him on an unlucky tree (cross)."
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9. AND HARBONA SAID: BEHOLD THE WOOD WHICH AMAN PREPARED FOR MORDECAI, WHO SPOKE FOR THE KING, namely for the king's safety, revealing to him the snares of the conspirators. Harbona was a eunuch, who being sent by the king to summon Aman, that he might go with him to the banquet of Esther, entering the house of Aman, saw in it a gallows, and from the servants, as Josephus says, learned that Aman had erected it for Mordecai; whence he himself here denounces this to the king, seeing the king displeased with him, and Aman, as it appears, hostile on account of his pride, and wishing him to be removed and hanged.
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10. HAMAN WAS THEREFORE HANGED, not in his own house, but in the gate of the city of Susa, as is said in chapter xvi, verse 18. For the gallows was transferred from Haman's house to the gate for his greater ignominy, so that to all entering and leaving the city he was now suspended as a spectacle and mockery, he who a little before was adored by all as a god. Gretser, book I On the Cross, chapter xix, suspects that Haman was fixed to the cross with nails; others believe a noose was placed around his neck, as is now done; nothing in this matter is certain. It is certain that this cross was fifty cubits high, so that he who had sought the highest things might be suspended most high, and be visible to all. See here first how great was the efficacy of the fastings and prayers of Esther, Mordecai and the Jews; secondly, how true is that saying of the Blessed Virgin: "He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble;"; thirdly, how all worldly things are unstable and vain; for behold, suddenly Haman, who was highest, becomes lowest, and Mordecai, who was lowest, becomes highest, namely the impious and proud "Are lifted on high, / That they may fall with heavier ruin." Fourthly and properly, how evil which anyone unjustly prepares for another returns upon the preparer, and in God's just judgment falls upon his own head. For the cross prepared for Mordecai was given to Haman who prepared it. Thus Phalaris, when Perillus suggested to him that he torture the guilty in a brazen bull with fire underneath, so that their bellowing might delight his ears, first cast Perillus himself into the bull, concerning which Ovid, book I On the Art of Love: "And Phalaris with violent bull burned the limbs of Perillus: / The unhappy author stained his own work." He adds the example of Busiris, who, when Thrasys suggested to him that he sacrifice his guests to Jupiter to obtain rain, sacrificed Thrasys himself: "You shall be the first victim of Jupiter, / He said, and you as a guest shall give water to Egypt." Whence he concludes with this epiphoneme: "Nor is there any law more just; / Than that the authors of death perish by their own art." Finally, see here how great is the deception of the world. Whence St. Bernard rightly exclaims, epistle 107: "O wicked age, which art wont to bless your friends alone in such a way that you make them enemies of God. Haman found favor with King Ahasuerus; this favor brought him the cross. Ahithophel found favor with Absalom; this brought him hanging." And St. Augustine, epistle 144 to Anastasius: "This world, he says, is more dangerous when flattering than when troublesome, and is to be feared more when it shows itself to be loved than when it admonishes and compels contempt." Thus we see those who are great with princes gradually fall, as fell Sejanus, Ahithophel, Haman, Joab, and many others. Whoever is wise, therefore, before his fall let him timely withdraw himself from the court.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
7:4
… God's servants; but when šāṭān, without the article, indicates a human enemy (1 Sam. 29:4; 2 Sam. 19:22; 1 Kings 5:4 [Heb. 18], and cf. 11:14, 23, 25), it is translated ἐπίβουλος "plotter." Διάβολος translates šār and šōrēr ("enemy": Haman) in Esth. 7:4 and 8:1. While the Vulgate of the Old Testament transliterates satan 5 times, the Septuagint admits oṇrā only in 1 Kings 11:14, 23. Διάβολος also occurs in Wis. 2:24 (origin …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.