Esther 8:5

“And said, if it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, etc.] This heap of phrases, which signify much the same thing, are used to work upon the king’s affections, and to show how submissive she was to his will: let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king’s provinces. She wisely takes no notice of any concern the king had in them, but suggests as that she looked upon them as forged by Haman, who put the king’s name and seal to them, without his knowledge and consent.”

“reverse the letters devised by Haman . . . to destroy the Jews--The whole conduct of Esther in this matter is characterized by great tact, and the variety of expressions by which she describes her willing submission to her royal husband, the address with which she rolls the whole infamy of the meditated massacre on Haman, and the argument she draws from the king's sanction being surreptitiously obtained, that the decree should be immediately reversed--all indicate the queen's wisdom and skill, and she succeeded in this point also.”

“If &c. - She uses various expressions, that she might confirm the king's favour, by such a full submission to his good pleasure. Haman - She prudently takes off the hatefulness of the action from the king, and lay's it upon Haman, who had for his own ends contrived the whole business, and circumvented the king in it. Esther 8:8”

“8:5 Esther was asking for the unusual favor of reversing a law signed with the king’s seal. • the orders of Haman: Esther diplomatically avoided suggesting any responsibility on the king’s part.”

“if I: Est 7:3; Exo 33:13, Exo 33:16; Sa1 20:29 I be pleasing: Est 2:4, Est 2:17 letters: Heb. device, Est 3:12, Est 3:13 which he wrote: or, who wrote Esther 8:6”

“The introductory formula are in part similar to those used Est 1:19; Est 5:4, Est 5:8; Est 7:3; but the petition referring to a great and important matter, they are strengthened by two new phrases: "If the thing is advisable (כּשׁר, proper, convenient, advantageous, a later word occurring again only Ecc 11:6; Ecc 10:10, \- in Ecc 2:21; Ecc 4:4-5, Ecc 4:10 of the same book, כּשׁרון) before the king, and if I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written (let a writing be used, like Est 3:9), to frustrate (להשׁיב, i.e., to put out of force) the letters, the device of Haman ... which he wrote to destroy the Jews, who are in all the provinces of the king." המן מחשׁבת, the device, the proposal of…”