So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
And the king cometh in, and Haman, to drink with Esther the queen,
So the king and Haman went to dine with Esther the queen,
And the king and Haman came to drink with Esther the queen.
Esther — A Jewish orphan becomes queen of Persia; Haman plots genocide; Mordecai and Esther intervene; deliverance comes by providence — and God's name never once appears in the book.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
Voices1
So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. Or, "to drink with her" (e), that is, wine; for in the next verse it is called a banquet of wine; so they did according to the invitation the queen had given them, Est 5:8. (e) לשתות "ut biberent", V. L. Tigurine version; "ad bibendum", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, Vatablus.
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Esther 3:15The couriers left, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was…
leads to
Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal garments of blue and white, with a large gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa shouted…
Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast…
For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.
Through
Esther 5:8If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, may the king and Haman come tomorrow to the…
leads to
A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, grant me my life as my petition, and the lives of my people as my…
“If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if I have found favor in his sight, and the matter seems proper to the king, and I am pleasing in his sight, may an order…
That night sleep escaped the king; so he ordered the Book of Records, the Chronicles, to be brought in and read to him.
The whole web at once: see the Arc.
The verses this one reaches3
If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, may the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king’s question.”
The couriers left, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion.
Therefore, you will now go into exile as the first of the captives, and your feasting and lounging will come to an end.
