Esther 7:4
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.
Esther 7:4 in other translations
| BSB | For 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.” |
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| WEB | For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for male and female slaves, I would have held my peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the king’s loss.” |
| ASV | 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 peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the king’s damage. |
| YLT | for we have been sold, I and my people, to cut off, to slay, and to destroy; and if for men-servants and for maid-servants we had been sold I had kept silent--but the adversity is not equal to the loss of the king.' |
| DARBY | 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 adversary could not compensate the king's damage. |
| BBE | For we are given up, I and my people, to destruction and death and to be cut off. If we had been taken as men-servants and women-servants for a price, I would have said nothing, for our trouble is little in comparison with the king's loss. |
| Webster | For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bond-men and bond-women, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage. |
What does Esther 7:4 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Es 7:1-6. Esther Pleads for Her Own Life and the Life of Her People.
4. 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 to the Jews, the enslavement of that people might have enriched the national treasury; and, at all events, the policy, if found from experience to be bad, could be altered. But the destruction of such a body of people would be an irreparable evil, and all the talents Haman might pour into the treasury could not compensate for the loss of their services.Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Esther 7:1-6
If the love of life causes earnest pleadings with those that can only kill the body, how fervent should our prayers be to Him, who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell! How should we pray for the salvation of our relatives, friends, and all around us! When we petition great men, we must be cautious not to give them offence; even just complaints must often be kept back. But when we approach the King of kings…
Esther 7:4 in the original Hebrew
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Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Cross references for Esther 7:4
- Esther 3:9
If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.
- Esther 3:13
And the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.
- Deuteronomy 28:68
And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.
- Esther 8:11
Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey,
- Joshua 9:23
Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.
- Amos 2:6
Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;
- Joel 3:6
The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.
- Psalms 44:22-23
Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.
- Esther 7:6
And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
- 1 Samuel 22:23
Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard.
- Genesis 37:26-28
And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
- Esther 4:7-8
And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them. Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.
Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3:9; 4:7,8; De 28:68; 1Sa 22:23
to be destroyed, etc. Heb. that they should destroy, andkill, and cause to perish.
3:13; 8:11; Ps 44:22,23
But if we.
Ge 37:26-28; De 28:68; Jos 9:23; Ne 5:5; Joe 3:6; Am 2:6
the enemy.
6; 3:9
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain
Context
- Esther 7:3
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:
- Esther 7:4
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.
- Esther 7:5
Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?
Esther 7:4 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Porque vendidos estamos yo y mi pueblo, para ser destruídos, para ser muertos y exterminados. Y si para siervos y siervas fuéramos vendidos, callárame, bien que el enemigo no compensara el daño del rey. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | Car nous sommes vendus, moi et mon peuple, pour être détruits et tués, et pour périr. Or si nous avions été vendus pour être serviteurs et servantes, j’aurais gardé le silence, bien que l’ennemi ne puisse compenser le dommage fait au roi. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Denn wir sind verkauft, ich und mein Volk, um vertilgt, ermordet und umgebracht zu werden; und wenn wir zu Knechten und Mägden verkauft worden wären, so hätte ich geschwiegen, obgleich der Bedränger nicht imstande wäre, den Schaden des Königs zu ersetzen. |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Traditi enim sumus ego et populus meus, ut conteramur, jugulemur, et pereamus. Atque utinam in servos et famulas venderemur: esset tolerabile malum, et gemens tacerem: nunc autem hostis noster est, cujus crudelitas redundat in regem. |