Ester 7:8

La Nuova Diodati

Poi il re torn dal giardino del palazzo nel luogo del banchetto dove era servito il vino; intanto Haman si era lasciato cadere sul divano su cui stava Ester. Allora il re esclam: "Vuol pure far violenza alla regina, mentre io stesso sono in casa?". Non appena questa parola fu uscita dalla bocca del re, copersero la faccia di Haman.

Parallel Translations

Riveduta Bibbia
Poi il re tornò dal giardino del palazzo nel luogo del convito; intanto Haman s’era gettato sul divano sul quale si trovava Ester; e il re esclamò: "Vuol egli anche far violenza alla regina, davanti a me, in casa mia?" Non appena questa parola fu uscita dalla bocca del re, copersero a Haman la faccia;

Giovanni Diodati Bibbia
Poi il re ritornò dall’orto del palazzo nella casa del convito del vino. Or Haman s’era gittato in sul letto, sopra il quale era Ester. E il re disse: Sforzerebbe egli pure ancora la regina appresso di me in casa? Come quella parola fu uscita della bocca del re, la faccia di Haman fu coperta.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the bed: Esther 1:6, Isaiah 49:23

before me: Heb. with me

they covered Haman's: When a criminal was condemned by a Roman judge, he was delivered to the serjeant with these words: I, lictor, caput obnubito arbori infelici suspendito, "Go, sergeant, cover his head, and hang him on the accursed tree." Esther 6:12, Job 9:24, Isaiah 22:17

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 13:14 - forced her Job 40:13 - bind Proverbs 10:6 - violence Proverbs 14:19 - General Proverbs 19:12 - king's Amos 6:7 - and the

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine,.... Being a little cooler, and more composed in his mind, see :-

and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was; not the bed she lay on to sleep in the night, (for it cannot be thought that it was a bedchamber in which the banquet was,) but on the bed or couch on which she sat or reclined at the banquet, as was the custom in the eastern countries; now, "by", or "near" this, as the word may be rendered, Haman fell down, even at the feet of the queen, begging for mercy; and some think he might embrace her feet or knees, as was the custom of the Greeks and Romans as they were supplicating k; and so it seems to have been with the Jews, see 2 Kings 4:27, and being in this posture, it might appear the more indecent, and give the king an opportunity to say as follows:

then said the king, will he force the queen also before me in the house?, that is, ravish her; not that he really thought so; it was not a time nor place for such an action; nor can it be thought that Haman, in such terror and confusion he was in, could be so disposed; and besides there were others present, as the next clause shows: but this he said, putting the worst construction on his actions, and plainly declaring his opinion of him, that he thought him a man capable of committing the vilest of crimes, and that his supplications were not to be regarded:

as the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face; the servants present, as a man unworthy to see the light; and they took what the king said to amount to a sentence of condemnation, and that it was his will he should die; and they covered his face, as condemned malefactors used to be; which was a custom among the Greeks and Romans, of which many instances may be given l; though Aben Ezra says it was the custom of the kings of Persia, that their servants covered the face of him the king was angry with, that he might not see his face any more, which was well known in the Persian writings.

k "Genibusque suas", &c. Claudian. de Raptu Proserpin l. 1. ver. 50. & Barthius in ib. Vid. Homer. Iliad. 21. l. 75. Plin. l. 1. Ep. 18. l "Caput obnubito", &c. Ciceron. Orat. 18. "pro Rabirio", Liv. Hist. l. 1. p. 15. Curt. Hist. l. 6. c. 11. Vid. Solerium de Pileo, sect. 2. p. 20. & Lipsii not. in lib. 1. c. 1. de Cruce, p. 203, 204.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Like the Greeks and Romans, the Persians reclined at their meals on sofas or couches. Haman, in the intensity of his supplication, had thrown himself upon the couch at Esther’s feet.

They covered Haman’s face - The Macedonians and the Romans are known to have commonly muffled the heads of prisoners before executing them. It may have also been a Persian custom.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Esther 7:8. Will he force the queen — On the king's return he found him at the queen's knees; and, professing to think that he intended to do violence to her honour, used the above expressions; though he must have known that, in such circumstances, the thought of perpetrating an act of this kind could not possibly exist.

They covered Haman's face. — This was a sign of his being devoted to death: for the attendants saw that the king was determined on his destruction. When a criminal was condemned by a Roman judge, he was delivered into the hands of the serjeant with these words: I, lictor; caput obnubito, arbori infelici suspendito. "Go, serjeant; cover his head, and hang him on the accursed tree."