Berean Standard Bible
Esther 7:3
3Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, grant me my life as my petition, and the lives of my people as my request.
Esther 7:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:
- New International Version (NIV)Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Then Queen Esther answered, "If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request.
Context of Esther 7:3
1So the king and Haman went to dine with Esther the queen, 2and as they drank their wine on that second day, the king asked once more, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given to you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be fulfilled.” Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, grant me my life as my petition, and the lives of my people as my request. 4For my people and I have been sold out to destruction, death, and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as menservants and maidservants, I would have remained silent, because no such distress would justify burdening the king.” 5Then King Xerxes spoke up and asked Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is the one who would devise such a scheme?”
Read all of Esther 7Esther 7:3 word by word
וַתַּ֨עַן אֶסְתֵּ֤ר הַמַּלְכָּה֙ וַתֹּאמַ֔ר אִם־מָצָ֨אתִי חֵ֤ן בְּעֵינֶ֙יךָ֙ הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וְאִם־עַל־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ ט֑וֹב תִּנָּֽתֶן־לִ֤י נַפְשִׁי֙ בִּשְׁאֵ֣לָתִ֔י וְעַמִּ֖י בְּבַקָּשָׁתִֽי׃Read the interlinear
- Queenמַלְכָּהmalkâh · queenH4436
- Estherאֶסְתֵּר'estêr · EstherH635
- repliedעָנָה‛ânâh · to answerH6030
- ·אָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Ifאִם'im · ifH518
- I have foundמָצָאmâtsâ' · to findH4672
- favorחֵןchên · favorH2580
- in your sightעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eye: seeingH5869
- O kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
- it pleasesטוֹבţôb · pleasantH2896
- ·עַל‛al · uponH5921
- grantנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
- my lifeנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: lifeH5315
- as my petitionשְׁאֵלָהshe'êlâh shêlâh · petitionH7596
- and the lives of my peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- as my requestבַּקָּשָׁהbaqqâshâh · requestH1246
Cross-references for Esther 7:3
- Esther 7:7In his fury, the king arose from drinking his wine and went to the palace garden, while Haman stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life, for he realized that the king was planning a terrible fate for him.
- 1 Kings 20:31Then the servants of Ben-hadad said to him, “Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful. Let us go out to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life.”
- 2 Kings 1:13So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. And the third captain went up, fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, “Man of God, may my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours please be precious in your sight.
- Job 2:4“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life.
- Jeremiah 38:26then tell them, ‘I was presenting to the king my petition that he not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”
- Esther 4:8Mordecai also gave Hathach a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for the destruction of the Jews, to show and explain to Esther, urging her to approach the king, implore his favor, and plead before him for her people.
- Psalms 122:6Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you prosper.
Commentaries on Esther 7:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Let my life be given me - This was very artfully, as well as very honestly, managed; and was highly calculated to work on the feelings of the king. What! is the life of the queen, whom I most tenderly love, in any kind of danger?Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4my life...and the lives of my people: The statement that someone wanted to kill the queen and her family likely surprised and shocked the king. my people and I have been sold: Esther carefully mentioned the large sum Haman paid the king to approve the decree (Esther 3:8–11). She also used the exact words from Haman’s decree, stating its purpose was to destroy, kill, and annihilate (see Esther 3:13). If we had merely been sold as menservants and…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-64. we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed--that is, by the cruel and perfidious scheme of that man, who offered an immense sum of money to purchase our extermination. Esther dwelt on his contemplated atrocity, in a variety of expressions, which both evinced the depth of her own emotions, and were intended to awaken similar feelings in the king's breast. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue--Though a great calamity…Read the comment
Topics related to Esther 7:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Esther 7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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