Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews.
Haman is dead, and his estate now belongs to Esther. But the letters he sent are still crossing the empire, and every Jew in it is still under sentence of death. So the queen comes to the throne a second time. She weeps at the king's feet, not for herself, but for a whole people the law has condemned.
A rescue only half finished
The banquet settled two things: Haman was dead, and Esther's own life was safe. Neither one touched the danger over the nation. That gap drives her back into the throne room.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinMordecai had become the prime minister of Persia. Haman the Agagite had been executed, and all his property given to the queen. Yet the horrible decree still stood, and the first proclamation was still in force. Something had to be done to complete the deliverance of her people. Her life and Mordecai's life had been spared, but what about her beloved people? The fateful day was still in the future. But no one had recalled the evil decree, and it had to be met in some way.
Another writer looks past the palace to God's care for the whole nation.
William KellyGod did not only catch the cruel adversary of His people completely in his own trap. He would also care for the Jews across the whole of the king's dominions, where they were still under sentence of death. The deliverance was not yet complete. The prime enemy was destroyed, but they were still in danger.
Why he is called "the Agagite"
The verse does not just say "Haman." It adds his family line, and that name carries an old war behind it.
Morrish Bible DictionaryHaman was the son of Hammedatha the Agagite. Fürst says that Josephus explains Haman's Gentile name to mean he was an Amalekite by race. Jewish tradition says the same. This explains why Mordecai refused to bow down before Haman. He was of that race with which the Lord had sworn to have war forever, and which Saul was directed to utterly destroy (Ex. 17:16; Deut. 25:19; 1 Sam. 15:3).
Falling at his feet
Earlier in the book Esther prepared for the throne room by fasting. Now she comes another way. Her plea rests on the king's grace, not on any right of her own.
H. L. RossierBut Esther has one more duty to fulfil toward the one who holds supreme authority. She speaks to Ahasuerus, throws herself at his feet, weeps and pleads with him. Before, she had fasted for three days, with no food and no drink. Now she humbles herself before the sovereign and begs for his grace. He alone, her lawful husband, can turn the disaster aside in grace.
The risk she took, and the confidence she had
She risked her life again by coming in. What changed was not the danger but her fear, because the king had already proved his love.
Leslie M. GrantEsther again risked her life in coming before the king. But she was surely free from the fear she had before, for he had proven his love for her. When the king held out his sceptre to her, she begged him with tears to undo the evil of Haman's scheme to destroy the Jews.
The obstacle her tears run into
She is asking the king to undo Haman's letters. That is the one thing Persian law would not allow, and the reason ran deeper than the king's own wishes.
Leslie M. GrantNo one could revoke Haman's edict, because it carried the king's own seal. People held the laws of the Medes and Persians to be ordered by God, and therefore unchangeable.
The way round the law
There was still a way forward, and it ran through the ring now in Mordecai's hand.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe edict cannot be cancelled, so the first proclamation stands. But Mordecai now had the signet ring, which gave him authority to issue decrees in the king's name. He could do as he pleased and write to the Jews in the king's name, and this second proclamation would also be impossible to reverse.
A picture of a later day
Some writers read the scene forward, to a day when only grace can hold back judgment.
H. L. RossierThe Jewish wife will show this same attitude in the future day. Evil plotted by men against the people will be about to overtake them. Only grace will be able to put an end to judgment.
Summary
- Unfinished. The enemy was dead and Esther was safe. But her people were still under sentence, and her safety was not their deliverance.
- Ancient. Haman is "the Agagite," an Amalekite. God had sworn war on that race forever, so this hatred was old, not new.
- Costly. She risked her life to come in a second time. What steadied her was not her rank but the love the king had proved.
- Dependent. She fasted before; now she falls, weeps and begs. Her plea rests wholly on grace, because the law of Persia could not be recalled.
- Answered. The old decree had to stand, but the ring in Mordecai's hand let a second, unchangeable decree go out for the Jews.