Esther 6:10

6:4-11 See how men's pride deceives them. The deceitfulness of our own hearts appears in nothing more than in the conceit we have of ourselves and our own performances: against which we should constantly watch and pray. Haman thought the king loved and valued no one but himself, but he was deceived. We should suspect that the esteem which others profess for us, is not so great as it seems to be, that we may not think too well of ourselves, nor trust too much in others. How Haman is struck, when the king bids him do honour to Mordecai the Jew, the very man whom he hated above all men, whose ruin he was now designing!

Then the king said to Haman, make haste,.... And without delay go into the royal treasury, or wardrobe, as the Targum adds: "and take the apparel"; the royal robe, the purple one, or one of the precious purple robes; and then, as the same Targum, go to the king's stable, and take thence the king's "horse", that stands in the chief place in the stable, whose name is "Shiphregaz"; but how the Targumist came by the name of it, I know not; however it was not unusual for kings to give a name to their favourite horse, as Alexander the great did to his called Bucephalus and even for all kings of Persia, as Darius Hystaspis (b): as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate; the person he meant this honour for he describes by name, by nation, and by office, that there might be no mistake: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken; the king objected not to anything that had been proposed, and insisted on it that every thing be done punctually by Haman as he had advised, and from which he could not with honour recede; though nothing could be more mortifying to him to do, to a man he came to court to get a grant to hang on a gallows he had prepared. (b) Herodot. Thalia, sive, l. 3. c. 88.

Esther 6:10 . The king said, Do even so to Mordecai the Jew — If the king had but said as Haman expected, Thou art the man, what a fair opportunity would be have had to perform the errand he came on, and to have requested, that, to grace the solemnity of his triumph, Mordecai, his sworn enemy, might be hanged at the same time; but how is he thunderstruck when the king bids him, not to order all this to be done, but to do it himself to Mordecai the Jew, the very man he hated above all men, and whose ruin he was seeking, and now came to solicit! He saw it was now to no purpose to think of moving any thing to the king against Mordecai, since he is the man whom the king delights to honour.

Verse 10. - Make haste . The king will have no more delay in a matter which has been delayed far too long. Haman is to "hasten, and confer the honour at once. Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth in the king's gate . Mordecai's nationality and his employment were probably mentioned in the book of the chronicles. From these the king has learnt them, and he uses probably the very phrase of the records. Let nothing fail . Observe every particular of honour that you have mentioned; let there be no omission of one jot or tittle. Esther 6:10

Verse 32. - The decree of Esther . Rather, "a commandment of Esther." Some fresh act seems to be intended - something beyond the joint letter of Esther and Mordecai; though why it was needed, or what additional authority it could give, is not apparent. And it was written in the book . i.e. "this commandment of Esther was inserted in the book of the chronicles," where the writer probably found it. No other book being mentioned in Esther but this, "the book" can have no other meaning (see Esther 2:23 ; Esther 6:1 ; Esther 10:2 ). Esther 9:32

This honour, then, the haughty Haman was now compelled to pay to the hated Jew. The king commanded him: "Make haste, take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said," i.e., in the manner proposed by thee, "and do even so to Mordochai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate; let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken," i.e., carry out your proposal exactly. How the king knew that Mordochai was a Jew, and that he sat in the king's gate, is not indeed expressly stated, but may easily be supplied from the conversation of the king with his servants concerning Mordochai's discovery of the conspiracy, Esther 6:1-3 . On this occasion the servants of the king would certainly give him particulars concerning Mordochai, who by daily frequenting the king's gate, Esther 2:19 ; Esther 5:9 , would certainly have attracted the attention of all the king's suite. Nor can doubt be case upon the historical truth of the fact related in this verse by the question: whether the king had forgotten that all Jews were doomed to destruction, and that he had delivered them up to Haman for that purpose (J. D. Mich.). Such forgetfulness in the case of such a monarch as Xerxes cannot surprise us.