Esther 7:1

“So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.] Or, “to drink with her” f155, that is, wine; for in the next verse it is called a banquet of wine; so they did according to the invitation the queen had given them, (<170508>Esther 5:8).”

“ESTHER PLEADS FOR HER OWN LIFE AND THE LIFE OF HER PEOPLE. (Est 7:1-6) 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.…”

“banquet: Heb. drink, Est 3:15, Est 5:8 Esther 7:2”

“The king and Haman came to drink (לשׁתּות), i.e., to partake of the משׁתּה, in the queen's apartment. Est 7:2-4 At this banquet of wine the king asked again on the second day, as he had done on the first ( Est 5:6): What is thy petition, Queen Esther, etc.? Esther then took courage to express her petition. After the usual introductory phrases ( Est 7:3 like Est 5:8), she replied: "Let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request." For, she adds as a justification and reason for such a petition, "we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. And if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had been silent, for the enemy is not worth the…”