Esther 7:5

5 And king Ahasuerus answered, and said, Who is this, and of what power, that he be (so) (fool)hardy to do such things?

Esther 7:5 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 7:5

Then the King Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the
queen
The words in the original text lie thus, "and the King Ahasuerus said, and he said to Esther the queen"; which doubling of the word does not signify, as Jarchi suggests, that before he spoke to her by a messenger, or middle person, but, now he knew she was of a royal family, he spoke to her himself; but it is expressive of the ruffle of his mind, and the wrath and fury he was in, that he said it again and again, with a stern countenance and great vehemence of speech:

who is he? and where is he?
who is the man? and where does he live?

that durst presume in his heart to do so;
that has boldness, impudence, and courage enough to perpetrate so vile an action: or "that has filled his heart" ^F9; the devil no doubt filled his heart to do it, see ( Acts 5:3 ) , but the king had either forgot the decree he had granted, and the countenance he had given him to execute it; or, if he remembered it, he was now enraged that he should be drawn in to such an action by him; and perhaps till now was ignorant of Esther's descent, and knew not that she would be involved in the decree.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 (wbl walm rva) "qui replevit cor suum", Drusius; "implevit", De Dieu.

Esther 7:5 In-Context

3 To whom she answered, O! king, if I have found grace in thine eyes (if I have found favour before thee), and if it pleaseth thee, give thou my life to me, for which I pray thee now, and also the life of my people, for the which I beseech thee.

4 For I and my people be given, that we be defouled, and strangled, and that we perish; O! why not had we rather been sold into servants and servantesses, for that evil might have been suffered, and I, (now) wailing, should have been still; but now our enemy is present, whose cruelty turneth against the king. (For I and my people have been sold into slaughter, so that we be strangled, and destroyed, and that we utterly perish; O! why had we rather not been sold into slavery, yea, both men and women alike, for that evil might have been endured, and I, instead of wailing, would now be silent; and even now our enemy is present here, and his cruelty turneth against even the king.)

5 And king Ahasuerus answered, and said, Who is this, and of what power, that he be (so) (fool)hardy to do such things?

6 And Esther said, Our worst adversary and enemy is this Haman. The which thing when he heard, he was astonished at once, and he was not sufficient to bear the semblance, or the indignation, of the king and of the queen. (And Esther said, Our adversary and our enemy is this wicked Haman! And when Haman heard this, he was stunned, and he was not able to bear the indignation of both the king and the queen.)

7 And the king rose up wroth, and from the place of the feast he entered into a garden beset about with trees. And Haman rose up for to pray Esther, the queen, for his life; for he understood (the) evil made ready of the king to him. (And the king rose up enraged, and left the place of the feast to go out into the garden beset about with trees. And Haman rose up to beg Queen Esther for his life; for he understood that the king now intended evil for him.)