Discovery BoxEsther 7:1-2 
Context7:1 So the king and Haman came to dine 1 with Queen Esther. 7:2 On the second day of the banquet of wine the king asked Esther, “What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you. And what is your petition? Ask up to half the kingdom, and it shall be done!”
Esther 7:8-10
Context7:8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet of wine, Haman was throwing himself down 2 on the couch where Esther was lying. 3 The king exclaimed, “Will he also attempt to rape the queen while I am still in the building!”
As these words left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 7:9 Harbona, 4 one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Indeed, there is the gallows that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke out in the king’s behalf. It stands near Haman’s home and is seventy-five feet 5 high.”
The king said, “Hang him on it!” 7:10 So they hanged Haman on the very gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. The king’s rage then abated.
1 tn Heb “to drink”; NASB “to drink wine.” The expression is a metaphor for lavish feasting, cf. NRSV “to feast”; KJV “to banquet.”
2 tn Heb “falling”; NAB, NRSV “had (+ just TEV) thrown himself (+ down TEV).”
3 tn Heb “where Esther was” (so KJV, NASB). The term “lying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “was reclining.”
4 sn Cf. 1:10, where Harbona is one of the seven eunuchs sent by the king to summon Queen Vashti to his banquet.
5 tn Heb “fifty cubits.” See the note on this expression in Esth 5:14.
