Esther 6:14

Est 6:14 And while they [were] yet talking with him, came the king’s chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Ver. 14. And while they were yet talking with him] But could not yield him one word of comfort. He hoped haply that they would have found out for him some good occasion, some means of supplanting Mordecai, now his co-rival and counterfactionist, and of incensing the king against him, that he might build upon his ruins. But the hope of unjust men shall perish, Pro 11:7, Etiam spes valentissimo perit, so some render it, and themselves with it. As Haman had not one to speak for him when the king frowned upon him; so here he hath not one to speak to his heart, or to shore him up, now that he is upon the fall. Those that before took crafty counsel against God’s people, and consulted against his hidden ones, Psa 83:3, are now at their wits’ end, as seeing themselves taken as wild beasts in a snare, δρασσομενος, 1Co 3:19, "in their own craftiness," yea, they are mad for the sight of their eyes, which that day they should see, Deu 28:34.

Came the king’s chamberlains, and hasted to brinq Haman] Heb. and hurried and headlonged in a turbulent manner; for it may be the king and queen tarried for him. Could he have been any way excused, he had no such mind to have gone. For his stomach was full, and what if he should meet Mordecai, the new favourite, there, and see him set above him? But now it is no time to consult further with friends, or cast perils by himself. Harbonah hasteneth him, having first taken notice of the lofty gallows, and (as Josephus saith) asked of one of the servants of the house what it meant, and for whom it was prepared? See Est 7:9.

Unto the banquet that Esther had prepared] That fatal feast, Ubi manducaret quod apud inferos digereret (August.), where his food in his bowels was turned, it became the gall of asps within him, Job 20:14. Why then should any saint envy the wicked man his fed bits, his murdering morsels? is not his food sauced, his drink spiced, with the bitter wrath of God? Adonijah’s feast ended in horror; the ears of his guests were filled (because their bellies had prepared deceit, Job 15:35) with the sound of those trumpets, which at once proclaim Solomon’s triumph and their confusion. Ever after the meal is ended comes the reckoning, but at this banquet of Esther it came before, Est 7:2. And Haman sped not so well as Caesar Borgia’s nobles, whom he invited to a feast, and after they had well dined, he cut off their heads.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Est 6:14. The king’s chamberlains hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet — Who was now slack to go thither, by reason of the great dejection of his own mind, and the fear of a worse entertainment from the king and queen than he had formerly received.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

came the king's chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared--Besides the invitation given to an entertainment, a message is always sent to the guests, immediately at the day and hour appointed, to announce that all things are ready.

Next: Esther Chapter 7

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 14. Hasted to bring Haman] There was a dreadful banquet before him, of which he knew nothing: and he could have little appetite to enjoy that which he knew was prepared at the palace of Esther.

ONE grand design of this history is, to show that he who lays a snare for the life of his neighbour, is most likely to fall into it himself: for, in the course of the Divine providence, men generally meet with those evils in life which they have been the means of inflicting on others: and this is exactly agreeable to the saying of our Lord: "With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you withal."

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

14. The dramatic instinct of the writer presents us with a sudden change of scene, and contrasts Haman’s exultant anticipations (Est_5:12) of splendour attaching to the royal banquet with the dark forebodings which now oppressed the apparently so highly honoured guest.

hasted to bring Haman] We need not suppose that the coming of the attendants implies fear on the part of Esther that through a presentiment of his approaching fall he might fail to arrive. The Eastern custom of fetching guests is well known. Cp. Luk_14:17.

Est_7:3. Haman’s humiliation of the morning doubtless encourages Esther to prefer her petition without further delay. The abruptness perceptible in her speech is itself indicative of the emotion with which its utterance was accompanied.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CHAPTER VI.

As. Thus from morning till noon, (Tirinus) or night, had this petty god (Haydock) been forced to stoop to the meanest offices, and durst not say a word in opposition. (Tirinus) --- He would gladly have now absented himself from the feast, (Menochius) with the idea of which he had been enraptured. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

He was now slack to go thither, by reason of the great dejection of his own mind, and the fear of a worse entertainment from the king and queen than he had formerly received.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

14. Hasted to bring Haman — The avenging fates seem to hurry him to his doom.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Came the king"s chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman. This is a custom not elsewhere mentioned as Persian, but quite in accordance with Oriental ideas. The polite host sends his servants to escort guests of importance from their own homes to the place of entertainment.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To bring - Who was now slack to go thither, by reason of the great dejection of his own mind.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

During this conversation certain courtiers had already arrived, who hastily brought Haman to the banquet of the queen, to which he would certainly go in a less happy state of mind than on the preceding day.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)