Esther 5:14
What does Esther 5:14 mean?
A plain-English look at Esther 5:14 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Esther 5:14 means
Zeresh and Haman’s friends propose a swift, spectacular remedy: build a gallows fifty cubits high and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then, untroubled, go joyfully to Esther’s banquet. The counsel flatters Haman’s pride and feeds his impatience. The towering gallows suggests public humiliation and deterrence; it is vengeance made visible. Haman is pleased and orders it built at once. Unwittingly, he erects the instrument of his own undoing. The verse shows how wicked plans can accelerate under the counsel of the like-minded, even as unseen providence turns their devices back on their heads.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, Let a pillar, fifty cubits high, be made ready for hanging him, and in the morning get the king to give orders for the hanging of Mordecai: then you will be able to go to the feast with the king with a glad heart. And Haman was pleased with the suggestion, and he had the pillar made.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862And Zeresh his wife saith to him, and all his friends, `Let them prepare a tree, in height fifty cubits, and in the morning speak to the king, and they hang Mordecai on it, and go thou in with the king unto the banquet rejoicing;' and the thing is good before Haman, and he prepareth the tree.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Then Zares his wife, and the rest of his friends answered him: Order a great beam to be prepared, fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the king, that Mardochai may be hanged upon it, and so thou shalt go full of joy with the king to the banquet. The counsel pleased him, and he commanded a high gibbet to be prepared.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends to him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the king that Mordecai may be hanged on it: then go in merrily with the king to the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.
Context
This final verse answers Haman’s discontent in verse 13 with action. It ends the chapter ominously, with an execution device rising overnight as Haman anticipates triumph at the next day’s feast. The narrative tension is at its peak: Esther has delayed her request, the king is favorably disposed, and Haman is preparing to destroy Mordecai—setting the stage for the dramatic reversals that the following chapter will unfold.
v.13Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.
v.14This passage
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Psalms 9:15
The nations are sunk down in the pit that they made: In the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
- Psalms 7:13
He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; He maketh his arrows fiery shafts.
- 1 Kings 21:7
And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thy heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
- Mark 6:19
And Herodias set herself against him, and desired to kill him; and she could not;
- 2 Chronicles 22:3
He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab; for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly.
- Amos 6:4
that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;