Esther 6:9

Est 6:9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man [withal] whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.

Ver. 9. And let this apparel and horse be delivered, &c.] All must be done in amplest manner; and if it had been done to himself, as he desired, what had all that been but a magnum nihil, as one saith, a great nothing, a glorious fancy, a rattle, to still his ambition for a while? Forte amplior fuisset, nisi veritas esset rem suspicione neutiquam carere (Lavat.). He, simple man, had wrought himself into the fool’s paradise of a sublime dotage, like as the Spaniards have in their dream of a catholic monarchy, divinitus debita, saith one, sed in Utopia. They were laughed heartily at Captain Drake and his company, when they took Sancta Domingo, A.D. 1585, and in the town hall found the king of Spain’s arms, and under them a globe of the world, out of which arose a horse with his forefeet cast forth with this inscription, Non sufficit orbis, Not enough territory. Pyrrhus, that ambitious king of Epirotes, had the like thought; but was slain at last with a tilestone thrown upon his head by a woman. And a like evil end befell Caesar Borgia, who, in imitation of Julius Caesar, would needs be aut Caesar, aut nullus, either Caesar or nothing, and soon after proved to be et Caesar, et nullus, Both Caesar and nothing. Had Haman but contented himself with his present condition (too good for such a captive), he might have lived in the world’s account happily, and have called himself, as that French king did Tres heureuse, thrice blessed; but that insatiable thirst after honour, that gluttonous, excessive desire after more and more greatness, undid him. So true is that proverb of the ancients, Turdus ipse sibi malum cacat, Of the blackbird’s dung is made the lime wherewith he is taken; so out of the dung of men’s sins doth God make his lime twigs of judgment to take them withal.

To one of the king’s most noble princes] Principibus maioribus paratimis. This would be no small addition to the honour of the man and splendour of the day, like as it was here in England, when Henry II, at the coronation of his eldest son, renounced the name of a king for that day, and, as server, served at the table.

That they may array the man withal] Setting him forth to the greatest advantage, as our Henry VI did, when he crowned the Lord Beauchamp king of the Isle of Wight, and as Xerxes did Demaratus, when for honour’s sake he granted him to enter into Sardis, the chief city of Asia, arrayed like himself, with a straight tiara upon his head, which none might wear but kings only (Sen. 1. 6, de Benef.).

Through the street of the city] Of Susa, that he might be seen and cried up by many, for Honor est in honorante. Honour is in honour. As the meteor liveth in the air, so doth honour in the breath of other men. Plato reckoneth it among those dei ludibria quae sursum ac deorsum sub caelo feruntur, like tennis-balls bandied up and down from one to another.

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 6:9. And let this apparel, &c., be delivered to one of the king’s most noble princes — To be his attendant. And bring him on horseback through the city — That all the people may be made to take notice of him, and do him reverence. And proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done, &c. — For his honour, and the encouragement of all to seek the king’s favour.

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

delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes . . . array the man--On grand and public occasions, the royal steed is led by the highest subject through the principal streets of the city, a ceremony which may occupy several hours.

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 9. One of the king's most noble princes] Alas, Poor Haman! Never was the fable of the dog and shadow more literally fulfilled. Thou didst gape at the shadow, and didst lose the substance.

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

(9) Noble.—See above, Est_1:3, Note.

Street.—See above, Est_4:6, Note.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. most noble] the same word as that used in Est_1:3, where see note.

through the street of the city] rather, as in Est_4:6, the broad place of the city, the open space in front of the palace, the most public place in the city. Conversely, in a story of the Thousand and one Nights (ed. König, xi. 19) a local dignitary is led through the city, seated upon a camel backwards, while a crier proclaims in front, ‘Thus are those punished who mix themselves up in affairs without being called to do so.’

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.

And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes,.... The one:

that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour; and the other to be led in state before him:

and bring him on horseback through the street of the city; on another horse, that all might see what honour was done him:

and proclaim before him; as before Joseph, when advanced next to Pharaoh, Gen 41:43 this was not to be done by an herald, but by a nobleman, to whom the apparel and horse were to be delivered, and was done by Haman, Est 6:11,

thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour; these were the words said in the proclamation, signifying this was the man the king delighted to honour, and this the manner in which he would have it done.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Nobles. Literally, "tyrants." (Haydock) --- But this word was not formerly odious; as it only denoted "a prince." Pars mihi pacis erit dextram tetigisse tyranni. (Vigil, Æneid vii.) --- Abuse of power caused it to become hateful. (Tirinus)

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).

Proclaim before him, i.e. cause this to be proclaimed, to wit, by some public officer appointed for that service. Compare Gen 41:43.

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

Bring him on horseback through the city, and proclaim before him. Compare the honours given to Joseph in Egypt. (Gen_41:43)

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

And let the raiment and the horse But he did not mention the crown, for he saw that the king became jealous because he said that they should place the crown on a person’s head.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.