Esther 7:10
in Esther 7So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.
KJV
So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.
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This verse in Esther 7
Commentary
7 notes on this verseIt is written in Proverbs: "He who digs a pit will fall into it; and when one starts a stone rolling it will roll back upon him" (Proverbs 26). So too Haman was forced to suffer the cross he had prepared for Mordecai. We might, …
This site's exposition
So they hanged Haman
"So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai." Commentators set Psalm 7:15-16 beside it, where the man who digs a pit falls into the pit of his own making. The same law of retribution completes itself in the palace at Susa.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
It is written in the book of Proverbs: "Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on the one who starts it rolling." So also Haman was forced to support the cross that he had prepared for Mordecai.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The enemies of God's church have often been thus taken in their own craftiness. In the morning Haman was designing himself for the robes and Mordecai for the gallows; but the tables are turned: Mordecai has the crown, Haman the cross. The Lord is known by such judgments.
1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. 2 And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai--He has not been the only plotter of mischief whose feet have been taken in the net which they hid (Ps 9:15). But never was condemnation more just, and retribution more merited, than the execution of that gigantic criminal.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Moreover, there is the gallows. He “also” committed another evil, that he prepared the gallows to hang the king’s friend, who saved the king from [being] poison[ed].
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּתְלוּ֙ | vaiyitlu | and they hanged | H8518 → | 27 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָמָ֔ן | haman | Haman | H2001 → | 54 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָעֵ֖ץ | haetz | the gallows | H6086 → | 328 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הֵכִ֣ין | hekhin | he had prepared | H3559 → | |
| לְמָרְדֳּכָ֑י | lemaredokhai | for Mordecai | H4782 → | 60 times |
| וַחֲמַ֥ת | vachamat | and [the] rage of | H2534 → | 125 times |
| הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| שָׁכָֽכָה׃ פ | shakhakhah | it subsided | H7918 → |
וַיִּתְלוּ֙and they hanged
vaiyitluH8518 →27 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָמָ֔ןHaman
hamanH2001 →54 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הָעֵ֖ץthe gallows
haetzH6086 →328 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
הֵכִ֣יןhe had prepared
hekhinH3559 →
לְמָרְדֳּכָ֑יfor Mordecai
lemaredokhaiH4782 →60 times
וַחֲמַ֥תand [the] rage of
vachamatH2534 →125 times
הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
שָׁכָֽכָה׃ פit subsided
shakhakhahH7918 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 7:16His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.
it leads to
- Esther 9:25
But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 37:12–13
The wicked scheme against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them,
- 1 Kings 2:32
The LORD will bring his bloodshed back upon his own head, for without the knowledge of my father David he struck down two men more righteous and better than he when he put to…
- 1 Samuel 26:10
David added, “As surely as the LORD lives, the LORD Himself will strike him down; either his day will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.
- 1 Samuel 31:3–4
When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him critically.
- Esther 9:25
Through
Daniel 6:24At the command of the king, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they and their children and wives. And before they had reached the bottom…
it leads to
- Isaiah 38:13
I composed myself until the morning. Like a lion He breaks all my bones; from day until night You make an end of me.
- Isaiah 38:13
Through
Esther 2:1Some time later, when the anger of King Xerxes had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and what had been decreed against her.
it leads to
- Daniel 6:14–18
As soon as the king heard this, he was deeply distressed and set his mind on delivering Daniel, and he labored until sundown to rescue him.
- Daniel 6:14–18
Through
Ezekiel 5:13And when My anger is spent and I have vented My wrath against them, I will be appeased. And when I have spent My wrath on them, they will know that I, the LORD,…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 20:8
But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out…
- Ezekiel 20:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About Esther
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Esther and Rabanus Maurus, EXPLANATION ON THE BOOK OF ESTHER 10.