Esther 7:3

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

1The king and Haman came to feast with Esther the queen. 2Once again, on the second day while drinking wine, the king asked Esther, “Queen Esther, whatever you ask will be given to you. Whatever you seek, even to half the kingdom, will be done.” Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if the king is pleased, spare my life; this is my request. And spare my people; this is my desire. 4For my people and I have been sold to destruction, death, and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept silent. Indeed, the trouble wouldn’t be worth burdening the king.” 5King Ahasuerus spoke up and asked Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is the one who would devise such a scheme?”

Esther 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

Words taken from the KJV.

• Then Estherאֶסְתֵּר'estêr · EstherH635
• the queenמַלְכָּהmalkâh · queenH4436
• answeredעָנָה‛ânâh · to answerH6030
• and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• If I have foundמָצָאmâtsâ' · to findH4672
• favourחֵןchên · favorH2580
• in thy sightעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eye: seeingH5869
• O kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• and if it pleaseטוֹבţôb · be pleasingH2895
• let my lifeנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: lifeH5315
• be givenנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
• me at my petitionשְׁאֵלָהshe'êlâh shêlâh · petitionH7596
• and my peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• at my requestבַּקָּשָׁהbaqqâshâh · requestH1246

Cross-references for Esther 7:3

• Esther 7:7The king arose in anger and went from where they were drinking wine to the palace garden. Haman remained to beg Queen Esther for his life because he realized the king was planning something terrible for him.
• 1 Kings 20:31His servants said to him, “Consider this: we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. So let’s put sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads, and let’s go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life.”
• 2 Kings 1:13Then the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. The third captain went up and fell on his knees in front of Elijah and begged him, “Man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious to you.
• Job 2:4“Skin for skin!” Satan answered the Lord. “A man will give up everything he owns in exchange for his life.
• Jeremiah 38:26If they do, tell them, ‘I was bringing before the king my petition that he not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”
• Esther 4:8Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa ordering their destruction, so that Hathach might show it to Esther, explain it to her, and command her to approach the king, implore his favor, and plead with him personally for her people.
• Psalms 122:6Pray for the well-being of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure;

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

• Readings, Select

In the dictionaries

• Esther
• Esther, Hadassah
• Banquet
• Esther, Book of

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