Esther 7:10

So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.

10. So they hanged Haman on the gallows] Heb. tree. Neither hanged they him only to death; but crucified or nailed his dead body to the tree, for greater ignominy. So some gather from Esther 8:5. The Septuagint also render it, So they crucified him. And here hanged the greatness of Haman, who now is fallen from the palace to the gallows, from the highest stage of honour to the lowest stair of disgrace, and lies wrapped up in the sheet of perpetual infamy. "So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord," &c. A like end befell Bonosus, the drunken emperor; Amasis, that insolent king of Egypt; Joan, that libidinous queen of Naples; our Roger Mortimer, that troubler of the realm, hanged at Tyburn; Oliver, that proud prefect, advanced to highest honours and offices by Louis, king of France, but hanged up by his son and successor upon a new and large gallows, set up for the purpose, and not without his desert. High places are not more uneasy than slippery. Even height itself maketh men's brains to swim, and when they fall they come down with a poise.

That he had prepared for Mordecai] Josephus hath here a very good note: Undo mihi contigit mirari nomen Dei, et sapientiam et iustitiam eius agnoscere, &c., I cannot but admire the Lord's wisdom, and acknowledge his justice, in that he not only punished him for his malice to the Church, but by turning his own mischief upon himself, hath made him an example to all posterity, hanging him up in gibbets, that others may take warning. The like the Lord did by Adonibezek, Pharaoh, Goliath, Ahithophel, Absalom, Sennacherib, Maxentius, Valerianus, &c.

Quam bene dispositum terris, ut dignus iniqui

Fructus consilii primis authoribus instet, &c.

See those sacred similes to the same sense, Ecc 10:8-9 Proverbs 26:27 Psalms 7:16 , &c., and beware of making a match with mischief, lest ye have your belly full thereof, ος εν αυτω κακα τευχει ανηρ αλλω κακα τευχων (Hesiod). He that conceiveth with guile, shall (though he grow never so big) bring forth nothing but vanity and worse, Job 15:35 . As he hath sown the wind, so he shall reap the whirlwind, Hosea 8:6 . See Trapp on " Hos 8:6 " Diaboli servus et satelles praecipuus erat Haman, Haman was a servant of the devil and an accomplice in particular, saith Rupertus. Haman was a main stickler for the devil, who had paid him accordingly: the wages of sin is death, and it may well be feared that Haman was killed with death, as Jezebel's children were, Revelation 2:23. Fuit enim homo dinae feritatis planeque αθεος, for he was a most cruel wretch, and a plain atheist. I shall shut up the story of his life as Ambrose doth that of Ahab and Jezebel's fearful end: Fuge ergo, dives eiusmodi exitum, &c. Tremble at such ends, and be careful to avoid them. Such ends ye shall easily avoid if ye carefully flee such like foul and flagitious practices.

Then was the king's wrath pacified] Harbonah had helped to kindle it, Esther 7:9, and by executing Haman, whom he had accused, he now helpeth to quench it. For it was not unusual of old, that men of greatest rank and quality should execute malefactors; as Gideon did Zeba and Zalmunnah; as Samuel did Agag; as Benaiah did Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei, by the command of Solomon, Sententiam ocyus dicto exequuntur oculici (Merl.). The holy angels delight in such an office, as at Sodom, and in Sennacherib's army; and how active shall they be at the last day, but chiefly against such as walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government, 2 Peter 2:10. So shall God's wrath be pacified, as once it was at the time when Phineas, the high priest, had done execution upon that unclean couple. The saints have another way of pacifying him, of preventing his judgments, and disarming his indignation; and that is by remembering their sins, and being confounded in his presence, never opening their mouths any more, Ezekiel 16:63, unless it be in a humble confession, which is the Christian's best apology, as the apostle calleth it, 2 Corinthians 7:11. This will quiet God's Spirit (as the phrase is, Zec 6:8), and cause him to say, as Job 33:24, I have found a reconciliation. Surely, if we judge ourselves, he will not judge us, 1 Corinthians 11:31. God shall be prevented, and the accuser of the brethren put out of office; our Hamans also shall be hanged up before the sun, our sturdy corruptions crucified, and the Lord shall as little repent him of any good he hath done us as Ahasuerus did of gratifying his wife Esther, and kinsman Mordecai; who were now all the doers, seeking the wealth of Israel, and speaking peace to that whole people, as appeareth in the following Chapter s. As for the king, he never so much as once lamented the loss of Haman, nor said se properantius quam prudentius egisse, that he had been more hasty than wise in doing him to death; but was very well pleased with what he had done; his wrath rested, saith the text, as the sea doth in a calm; it lay and slept, as the word signifieth; for anger is an eager desire of revenge, and rendereth a man restless till that be done, Ira est libido puniendi eius qui videtur laesisse iniuria (Cicero).