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Est_7:9 And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.
Ver. 9. And Harbonah, one of the king’s chamberlains, &c.] See Est_6:14. {See Trapp on "Est_6:14"}
Said before the king] Not a man opens his mouth to speak for Haman, but all against him. Had the cause been better, thus it would have been. Every cur is ready to fall upon the dog that he seeth worried; every man ready to pull a branch from the tree that is falling ( äñõïò ðåóïõóçò ðáò áíçñ îõëåõåôáé ). Cromwell had experience of this when once he fell into displeasure, by speaking against the king’s match with Lady Catherine Howard, in defence of Queen Anne, of Cleve, and discharge of his conscience, for the which he suffered death, Stephen Gardiner being the chief engineer. Had Haman’s cause been like his, albeit he had found as few friends to intercede for him as Cromwell, yet he might have died with as much comfort as he did. But he died more like to the Lord Hungerford, of Hatesby, who was beheaded together with the noble Cromwell, but neither so Christianly suffering, nor so quietly dying for his offence committed against nature, viz. buggery. (sodemy?) Cromwell exhorted him to repent, and promised him mercy from God; but his heart was hardened, and so was this wicked Haman’s. God, therefore, justly set off all hearts from him in his greatest necessity; and now, to add to his misery, brings another of his foul sins to light, that he might the more condignly be cut off.
Behold also the gallows, fifty cubits high] See Est_5:14. This the queen knew not of when she petitioned against Haman. But now they all hear of it, for Haman’s utter confusion.
Which he had prepared for Mordecai] At a time when the king had done him greatest honour, as preserver and near ally by marriage, as now it appeared. This must needs reflect upon the king, and be a reproach to him. Besides, the king looked upon him as one that went about either to throttle the queen (as some understand the words, Est_7:8), or to ravish her; and this was just upon him, say some interpreters, eo quo aliis virginibus et matronis vini intulisset, because it was common with him to ravish other maids and matrons, and hence the king’s suspicion and charge, whereof before.
Who had spoken good for the king] All is now for Mordecai, but not a word for Haman; the rising sun shall be sure to be adored. And the contrary, Sejanus’s friends showed themselves most passionate against him when once the emperor frowned upon him, saying, that if Caesar had clemency, he ought to reserve it for men, and not use it towards monsters. This is courtiers’ custom, ad quamlibet auram sese inclinare, to shift their sails to the sitting of every wind, to comply with the king which way soever he inclineth. It is better, therefore, to put trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes, Psa_118:8-9. If Harbonah spake this out in hatred of Haman’s insolence, and in favour of Mordecai’s innocence and loyalty, he deserved commendation. However, God’s holy hand was in it for the good of his people and overthrow of their enemy; and little did this night-sprung-mushroom Haman (that sucked the earth’s fatness from far better plants than himself) take notice till now of the many hands ready to pluck him up by the roots, when the season should serve to clear the land of such weeds.
Standeth in the house of Haman] Or, by the house of Haman, that he might feed his eyes with that delightful sight, and cry out, as Hannibal did when he saw a ditch filled with man’s blood, O iucundum spectaculum, O pleasant spectacle. The story of that king of France is well known, who vowed to see a certain martyr executed; but before that could be done had his eye put out at a joust, whereof not long after also he died. And that of Sir Ralph Ellerker, governor of Calais in King Henry VIII’s time, who, at the death of Adam Damlip, martyr, called to the executioner, saying, Dispatch the knave, have done, I will not away before I see the traitor’s heart out. But shortly after, in a skirmish between the French and us at Bullen, this knight was not only slain among others, but stripped, dismembered, and his heart ripped out, and so left a terrible example, saith Mr Fox, of God’s justice to all bloody and merciless men. "Thou shouldest not have looked," &c., Oba_1:12. See the note there.
Then the king said, Hang him thereon] The kings of Persia had absolute and unquestionable power to do whatsoever they wished, Quicquid libuit, licuit. All their subjects, except their queens, were no better than their slaves: whom they would they slew, and whom they would they kept alive; whom they would they set up, and whom they would they put down, Dan_5:19. Haman is here, without order of law, more than the king’s command, adjudged to be hanged. The truth is, it was a clear case, and the malefactor was self condemned; hang him, therefore, saith the king; a short and just sentence, and soon executed.