Esther 7:4

Esther 7:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage.
• New International Version (NIV)For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king."
• New Living Translation (NLT)For my people and I have been sold to those who would kill, slaughter, and annihilate us. If we had merely been sold as slaves, I could remain quiet, for that would be too trivial a matter to warrant disturbing the king.”

Context of Esther 7:4

2And on the second day, at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!” 3Then 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. For we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.” 5So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?” 6And Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!” So Haman was terrified before the king and queen.

Esther 7:4 word by word

כִּ֤י נִמְכַּ֙רְנוּ֙ אֲנִ֣י וְעַמִּ֔י לְהַשְׁמִ֖יד לַהֲר֣וֹג וּלְאַבֵּ֑ד וְ֠אִלּוּ לַעֲבָדִ֨ים וְלִשְׁפָח֤וֹת נִמְכַּ֙רְנוּ֙ הֶחֱרַ֔שְׁתִּי כִּ֣י אֵ֥ין הַצָּ֛ר שֹׁוֶ֖ה בְּנֵ֥זֶק הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For we are soldמָכַרmâkar · to sellH4376
• I and my peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• to be destroyedשָׁמַדshâmad · to destroyH8045
• to be slainהָרַגhârag · to killH2026
• and to perishאָבַד'âbad · to perishH6
• But ifאִלּוּ'illû · ifH432
• for bondmenעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
• and bondwomenשִׁפְחָהshiphchâh · maidservantH8198
• I had held my tongueחָרֵשׁchârash · be quietH2790
• although the enemyצַרtsar tsâr · distressH6862
• could not countervailשָׁוָהshâvâh · be likeH7737
• the king’sמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• damageנֶ֫זֶקnêzeq · injuryH5143

Cross-references for Esther 7:4

• Esther 3:9If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”
• Esther 4:7And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries to destroy the Jews.
• Deuteronomy 28:68“And the Lord will take you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, ‘You shall never see it again.’ And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”
• 1 Samuel 22:23Stay with me; do not fear. For he who seeks my life seeks your life, but with me you shall be safe.”
• Esther 3:13And the letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their possessions.
• Esther 8:11By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to gather together and protect their lives—to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions,
• Psalms 44:22Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
• Genesis 37:26So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
• Joshua 9:23Now therefore, you are cursed, and none of you shall be freed from being slaves—woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”
• Nehemiah 5:5Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children; and indeed we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been brought into slavery. It is not in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands and vineyards.”
• Joel 3:6Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem You have sold to the Greeks, That you may remove them far from their borders.
• Amos 2:6Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they sell the righteous for silver, And the poor for a pair of sandals.
• Esther 7:6And Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!” So Haman was terrified before the king and queen.

Commentaries on Esther 7:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4To be destroyed, to be slain - She here repeats the words which Haman put into the decree. See Esther 3:13. Could not countervail the king's damage - Even the ten thousand talents of silver could not be considered as a compensation to the state for the loss of a whole nation of people throughout all their generations.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4The king now learned, perhaps for the first time, that his favorite was a Jewess. Although the enemy … - i. e. “although the enemy (Haman) would not (even in that case) compensate (by his payment to the treasury) for the king‘s loss of so many subjects.”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 7:4

• Readings, Select
• Servant

In the dictionaries

• Banquet
• Esther
• Countervail
• Damage
• Esther, Book of
• Peace

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