For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage.
Ver. 4. For we are sold] i.e. Given up wholly into the power of the enemy, as that which a man hath bought with his money, is his own to dispose of. She refers, doubtless, to the sum proffered by Haman, Esther 3:9, not fearing the face of so potent an enemy, nor going behind his back to set him out in his colours; yea, though her discourse could not but somewhat reflect upon the king, who had given Haman his consent.
I, and my people] She makes it a common cause, and saith to her countrymen, as once David did to Abiathar, 1 Samuel 22:23, or as Charles V said to Julius Pestugius, who complained that he had been much wronged by the duke of Saxony, Have a little patience, thy cause shall be my cause, neither will I sit down till I have seen you some way righted. See Esther 7:3 .
To be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish] These were the very words of that bloody decree which she purposely maketh use of, that he might be sensible of what he had consented to, and might see that she complained not without cause. But what a case was Haman in at the hearing of this! and how did he now repent him, but too late, of ever having a hand in so bloody a business! His iniquity was now full, and the bottle of his wickedness, filled up to the brim with those bitter waters, was even about to sink to the bottom. His gallows was finished last night, and now it groaned hard for him, that he might be destroyed, slain, and made to perish.
- Neque enim lex iustior ulla est,
Quam necis artifices arte perire sua.
But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen ] Though it had been a hard and sad condition for a queen, especially (which yet was Hecuba's case and Zenobia's), yet it would not be grievous to them to sacrifice their liberty to the service of their life: the Gibeonites were glad they might live upon any terms, Joshua 9:24,25 . Masters might slay their bondservants, but that was counted a cruelty, and when one did it at Rome, he was amerced by the censor; many times they were manumitted for their good service, and came to great estates.
I had held my tongue ] Silence is in some cases a crying sin. Taciturnity, I confess, is sometimes a virtue, but not at all where it tends to the betraying of a good cause, or the detriment of the labouring Church. "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest," &c., Isaiah 62:1 . Terentius, that noble general, told Valens, the Arian emperor, that he had abandoned the victory and sent it to the enemy, by his persecuting God's people, and favouring heretics (Niceph. 1. 11, c. 40). That was an excellent saying of Jerome to Vigilantius, Meam iniuriam patienter tul/i, &c., while the wrong thou didst reached only to myself I took it patiently, but thy wickedness against God I cannot bear with; so was that of Oecolampadius to Servetus (blaming him for his sharpness to the self-same purpose). And, lastly, that of Luther in a letter to his friend Staupicius, Inveniar sane superbus, &c., Let me be accounted proud, peremptory, passionate, or what men please, so that I be not found guilty of a sinful silence when called to speak for God.
Although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage] q.d. It is not his ten thousand talents, Esther 3:9, nor all that he is worth, and ten more such as he is, that can make up the loss that the king is sure to sustain by the slaughter of the Jews, a people painful and prayerful (this Daxius made high account of, Ezr 6:16), useful and profitable, careful to maintain good works in St Paul's sense, Titus 3:8, that is, such as were noted to exceed and excel others in witty inventions, to be their craftmasters, and faithtul to their trust. Besides, if they be taken away, great damage shall redound to the king's revenue, by non-payment of toll, tribute, and custom, as those malignants could allege, Ezra 4:12, a thing that princes usually are very sensible Of. Or if there should be lucrum in arca, money in the box, yet there would be damnum in conscientia, damnation in the conscience, the foul blur of blood guiltiness would lie heavy, both upon the king's conscience, and his name among all nations. The Vulgate rendereth this text thus, Nunc autem hostis noster est, cuius crudelitas reduadat in regem. And now he is our enemy, whose cruelty reflecteth upon the king. Tremellius thus, Sed non est hostis iste utilis, damnosus est regi; but now this enemy is no way profitable, but to the king disadvantageous. This the king considers not, and the enemy cares not, so that he may serve his own turn, and satisfy his murderous mind.