Bible Strands
Esther 6:4
“Who is in the court?” the king asked. Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The king addresses his attendants at the precise moment Haman arrives at the palace’s outer court to petition for Mordecai’s execution.
The words — The Hebrew term חָצֵר (cha.Tzer) designates the specific courtyard space, while בָּא (Ba') marks Haman’s sudden entry to fulfill his prepared plot.
The thread — This sudden presence intersects with the established law regarding unsummoned approach to the throne (Esther 4:11) and the fifty-cubit gallows Haman built for Mordecai (Esther 5:14).
Why it lands — The narrative records a precise convergence of timing that places the antagonist exactly where the king needs him, requiring the reader to track how irony unfolds through sequence rather than explicit commentary.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king’s house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
Cross-references
- Esther 5:14 His wife Zeresh and all his friends told him, “Have them build a gallows fifty cubits high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go to the banquet with the king and enjoy yourself.” The advice pleased Haman, and he had the gallows constructed.
- Esther 4:11 “All the royal officials and the people of the king’s provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned—that he be put to death. Only if the king extends the gold scepter may that person live. But I have not been summoned to appear before the king for the past thirty days.”
- Esther 5:1 On the third day, Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace across from the king’s quarters. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the royal courtroom, facing the entrance.
- Psalms 2:4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord taunts them.
- Esther 3:8 Then Haman informed King Xerxes, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples of every province of your kingdom. Their laws are different from everyone else’s, and they do not obey the king’s laws. So it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.
- Esther 7:9 Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said: “There is a gallows fifty cubits high at Haman’s house. He had it built for Mordecai, who gave the report that saved the king.” “Hang him on it!” declared the king.
- Job 5:13 He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.
- Psalms 33:19 to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.
- Proverbs 3:27 Do not withhold good from the deserving when it is within your power to act.
- Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.