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, 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:

And she said, If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews that are in all the king's provinces:

And said: If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and my request be not disagreeable to him, I beseech thee, that the former letters of Aman the traitor and enemy of the Jews, by which he commanded that they should be destroyed in all the king's provinces, may be reversed by new letters.

and said, If it please the king and if I have found grace before him, and the thing seem right to the king, and I be pleasing in his sight, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews that are in all the king's provinces.

and saith, 'If to the king it be good, and if I have found grace before him, and the thing hath been right before the king, and I be good in his eyes, let it be written to bring back the letters, a device of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, that he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all provinces of the king,

And she said, If it is the king's pleasure and if I have his approval and this thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing to him, then let letters be sent giving orders against those which Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, sent out for the destruction of the Jews in all divisions of the kingdom:

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,.... 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.

The introductory formula are in part similar to those used Esther 1:19; Esther 5:4, Esther 5:8; Esther 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 Ecclesiastes 11:6; Ecclesiastes 10:10, - in Ecclesiastes 2:21; Ecclesiastes 4:4-5, Ecclesiastes 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 Esther 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 Haman, is added to הסּפרים, briefly to characterize the contents of the letters. On the matter itself, comp. Esther 3:8. and Esther 3:12. "For how shall I endure to see the destruction of my people?" The verbs וראיתי אוּכל are so combined that the second is governed by the first, וראיתי standing instead of the infinitive; comp. Ew. 285, c. ראה cons. בּ denotes an interested beholding, whether painful or joyous, of something; comp. Genesis 44:34. מולרת in parallelism with אם denotes those who are of like descent, the family, members of a tribe.

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.