Est 8:3 | KingComments | STEP | Esther appears again in the presence of the king to speak to him ( ). When she is with him, she falls down at his feet and weeps and implores. She comes to him in this way, because of the plan Haman devised against the Jews. Haman may have been killed, but not what he devised. The creator of the annihilation has been judged, but the threat of annihilation has not been removed. Evil can survive a human being and the evil he devised can be carried out after his death. What people plan and write can be very useful or very harmful after their death. Esther can’t really be happy with the threat of annihilation still hanging over her head. She lives for her people and also wants to die for them, to which she goes again in the presence of the king. By going to the king to plead for her people, she shows true brotherly love ( ). The king again grants her the golden scepter as a sign that she is in favor with him ( ; ). This time she does not touch the scepter, but takes the liberty of standing before the king without giving up the place of complete dependence. Her approach to the king shows both trust and dependence. She appeals to him in the awareness that everything depends entirely on his goodness. This is apparent from a fourfold appeal to the king’s mind with which she introduces her question: “If it pleases the king and if I have found favor before him and the matter [seems] proper to the king and I am pleasing in his sight” ( ) There’s no sign of any posturing. She’s modest. Nor is there any reproach as to why the king has still not answered that part of her question in which she asked for the life of her people ( ). Then Esther makes her proposal. She suggests that the king will write a letter to revoke the letters from Haman with his plan for the annihilation of the Jews ( ). She avoids any thought of reproaching the king that those letters were written in his name and sealed with his signet ring ( ). She places all the responsibility for the evil plan with its inventor, “Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite”. In the motivation of her request, Esther identifies herself fully with her people in a penetrating, emotional way ( ). She asks the question in a way that the answer is clearly and unequivocally contained in the question. By doing so, she takes the king into her feelings. She wants it to penetrate deeply within him: “For how can I endure to see the calamity which will befall my people, and how can I endure to see it? And how will I be able to see the destruction of my family?” She’s saying that she’s absolutely not going to be able to do that. She is the advocate of her people here with the king par excellence. We hear a similar way of speaking from the mouth of Judah when he pleads with Joseph to take Benjamin back home. Judah does this in view of his father’s grief if they would return to him without Benjamin ( ).

‏ Esther 8:3

Esther’s Pleading

Esther appears again in the presence of the king to speak to him (Est 8:3). When she is with him, she falls down at his feet and weeps and implores. She comes to him in this way, because of the plan Haman devised against the Jews. Haman may have been killed, but not what he devised. The creator of the annihilation has been judged, but the threat of annihilation has not been removed. Evil can survive a human being and the evil he devised can be carried out after his death. What people plan and write can be very useful or very harmful after their death.

Esther can’t really be happy with the threat of annihilation still hanging over her head. She lives for her people and also wants to die for them, to which she goes again in the presence of the king. By going to the king to plead for her people, she shows true brotherly love (1Jn 3:16). The king again grants her the golden scepter as a sign that she is in favor with him (Est 8:4; Est 5:1-2). This time she does not touch the scepter, but takes the liberty of standing before the king without giving up the place of complete dependence.

Her approach to the king shows both trust and dependence. She appeals to him in the awareness that everything depends entirely on his goodness. This is apparent from a fourfold appeal to the king’s mind with which she introduces her question:

“If it pleases the king

and if I have found favor before him

and the matter [seems] proper to the king

and I am pleasing in his sight” (Est 8:5)

There’s no sign of any posturing. She’s modest. Nor is there any reproach as to why the king has still not answered that part of her question in which she asked for the life of her people (Est 7:3).

Then Esther makes her proposal. She suggests that the king will write a letter to revoke the letters from Haman with his plan for the annihilation of the Jews (Est 8:5). She avoids any thought of reproaching the king that those letters were written in his name and sealed with his signet ring (Est 3:12). She places all the responsibility for the evil plan with its inventor, “Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite”.

In the motivation of her request, Esther identifies herself fully with her people in a penetrating, emotional way (Est 8:6). She asks the question in a way that the answer is clearly and unequivocally contained in the question. By doing so, she takes the king into her feelings. She wants it to penetrate deeply within him: “For how can I endure to see the calamity which will befall my people, and how can I endure to see it? And how will I be able to see the destruction of my family?” She’s saying that she’s absolutely not going to be able to do that.

She is the advocate of her people here with the king par excellence. We hear a similar way of speaking from the mouth of Judah when he pleads with Joseph to take Benjamin back home. Judah does this in view of his father’s grief if they would return to him without Benjamin (Gen 44:34).