_could not the king sleep_ better literally, as marg., _the king's sleep fled_from him. The LXX. paraphrases, -The Lord withheld sleep from the king"; and so the Targums. But in the present Heb. text the name of God never occurs; see Introd. p. xv. Suetonius (cap. 50) says that the Roman emperor Ca... [ Continue Reading ]
Esther 6:1-11. Mordecai's elevation In this section we are shewn the strange concatenation of apparently trivial circumstances which collectively have the effect of bestowing the highest reward and most signal disgrace upon the humble and virtuous Israelite and the highly placed enemy of that peopl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Bigthana_ in Esther 2:21 Bigthan, while the same name in Esther 1:10 loses yet another letter. The Targum says that the plan was to put a poisonous snake in the cup from which the king drank. lf the promise of the preceding verse. _my hiding place_ The same word as in Psalms 27:5; Psalms 31:20; Ps... [ Continue Reading ]