So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. ] Or, "to drink with her" F5, that is, wine; for in the next verse it is called a banquet of wine; so they did according to the invitation the queen had given them, ( Esther 5:8 ) .
FOOTNOTES:
F5 (twtvl) "ut biberent", V. L. Tigurine version; "ad bibendum", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, Vatablus.
1
And so the king and Haman went to eat with Esther
2
for a second time. Over the wine the king asked her again, "Now, Queen Esther, what do you want? Tell me and you shall have it. I'll even give you half the empire."
3
Queen Esther answered, "If it please Your Majesty to grant my humble request, my wish is that I may live and that my people may live.
4
My people and I have been sold for slaughter. If it were nothing more serious than being sold into slavery, I would have kept quiet and not bothered you about it; but we are about to be destroyed - exterminated!"
5
Then King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, "Who dares to do such a thing? Where is this man?"
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.