Esther 5:7
in Esther 5Esther replied, “This is my petition and my request:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is:
KJV
Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is;
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This verse in Esther 5
Commentary
4 notes on this versePerhaps her heart failed her now when she was going to make her request, and she desired to take some further time for prayer, that God would give her a mouth and wisdom. The putting of it off thus, it is likely, she knew would be well taken as an expression of the great reverence she had for the king, and her unwillingness to be too pressing upon him.
This site's exposition
at the banquet of wine
on Esther 5:6-8
At the banquet of wine the king repeats his offer in full, and Esther defers a second time, asking only for another banquet the next day. The delay is read two ways that need not compete: it is sound statecraft, giving her time to judge Haman's temper and the king's mood, and it is also the room the story needs, since this evening's postponement is what leaves the king with unfinished business the very night that follows.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
This postponement of the petition is not due to a fault of laziness but must be attributed to the virtue of patience, clearly indicating that the reward of the righteous and the punishment of the sinners are reserved for the future. "Tomorrow," in fact, must …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
The words behind it
5 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתַּ֥עַן | vataan | and she answered | H6030 → | |
| אֶסְתֵּ֖ר | ʾester | Esther | H635 → | 55 times |
| וַתֹּאמַ֑ר | vatomar | and she said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שְׁאֵלָתִ֖י | sheelati | petition my | H7596 → | 14 times |
| וּבַקָּשָׁתִֽי׃ | uvakashati | and request my | H1246 → | 8 times |
וַתַּ֥עַןand she answered
vataanH6030 →
אֶסְתֵּ֖רEsther
ʾesterH635 →55 times
וַתֹּאמַ֑רand she said
vatomarH559 →5305 times
שְׁאֵלָתִ֖יpetition my
sheelatiH7596 →14 times
וּבַקָּשָׁתִֽי׃and request my
uvakashatiH1246 →8 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Esther
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Rabanus Maurus, EXPLANATION ON THE BOOK OF ESTHER 8 and W. F. Adeney, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Expositor's Bible).