Esther replied, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked man—Haman!” And Haman stood in terror before the king and queen.
Parallel translations
- WEB Esther said, “An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman!” Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
- KJV And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
- NKJV And Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!” So Haman was terrified before the king and queen.
- NASB And Esther said, “A foe and an enemy is this wicked Haman!” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.
- NLT Esther replied, “This wicked Haman is our adversary and our enemy.” Haman grew pale with fright before the king and queen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Esther names the wicked Haman as the adversary, and he is terrified before the king and queen. The enemy stands exposed and undone.
Overview
With a single bold declaration, Esther unmasks Haman, whose terror reveals his guilt. The accuser of God's people is suddenly the accused, dread replacing his pride. The verse marks the decisive reversal in which the persecutor is brought to judgment, a pattern fulfilled in the final overthrow of all who oppose God's people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Job 18:5–12Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.
- 1 Cor 5:13God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”
- 2 Th 2:8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.
- Ps 139:19–22O God, that You would slay the wicked—away from me, you bloodthirsty men—
- Ps 73:17–20until I entered God’s sanctuary; then I discerned their end.
- Neh 6:16When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and disheartened, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God.
- Esth 3:10So the king removed the signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.
- Job 15:21–22Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
- Ps 27:2When the wicked came upon me to devour my flesh, my enemies and foes stumbled and fell.
- Ps 73:5–9They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men.
- 1 Sam 24:13As the old proverb says, ‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand will never be against you.
- Prov 24:24–25Whoever tells the guilty, “You are innocent”—peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him;
- Eccl 5:8If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.
- Prov 16:14The wrath of a king is a messenger of death, but a wise man will pacify it.
- Dan 5:5–6At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing,
- Isa 21:4My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight of my desire has turned to horror.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Though God is never named, his hidden hand preserves the people from whom the Messiah will come — a deliverance 'for such a time as this' that anticipates the open deliverance of Christ.
How Esther 7:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.