Charles Ellicott Commentary 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 peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the king`s damage." — Esther 7:4 (ASV)

We are sold. —See above, Esther 3:9.

To be destroyed... —Literally, to destroy and to kill, and to cause to perish. These are the identical words used in the king’s proclamation for the destruction of the Jews.

In this, Esther at once confesses her nationality. Relying on the king’s still recent gratitude to one of her race, and aided by his present cordiality to her, she risks—as indeed she can no longer avoid doing—the fate of herself and her people on the momentary impulse of her fickle lord.

Happily for her, God has willed that these grounds of reliance, perhaps untrustworthy at any other time, will suffice. The “hearts of kings are in His rule and governance,” and now the heart of one is “disposed and turned, as it seems best to His godly wisdom.”

Although the enemy... —The meaning of this clause is not quite clear. The literal translation is, although (or because) the enemy is not equal to (that is, does not compensate for) the king’s loss.

This may mean (a) that Haman, though willing to pay a large sum into the royal treasury, cannot thereby make up for the loss the king must incur from a wholesale massacre being carried on in his realm; or (b) that “if we were merely to be sold into slavery, instead of being killed outright, I would have said nothing, because the enemy was not one worth the king’s while to trouble himself about.”

We prefer the former view. The word “enemy” is the one translated adversary, in Esther 7:6, and properly means one who oppresses, afflicts, or distresses.

The word which is, literally, equal to, comparable with, has already occurred in Esther 3:8 and Esther 5:13.