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
So the king and Haman went to dinner with Queen Esther.
2
At this second dinner, while they were drinking wine the king again asked, "Queen Esther, what would you like? Half of my kingdom! Just ask and it's yours."
3
Queen Esther answered, "If I have found favor in your eyes, O King, and if it please the king, give me my life, and give my people their lives.
4
"We've been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed - sold to be massacred, eliminated. If we had just been sold off into slavery, I wouldn't even have brought it up; our troubles wouldn't have been worth bothering the king over."
5
King Xerxes exploded, "Who? Where is he? This is monstrous!"
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.