John Trapp on Esther 3:10

Verſe 10. And the King took his ring from his hand] And thereby gave him power to do what he pleaſed, Gen. 41.42. 1 Kings 21.8. En regis bujus inertiam & imperitiam. How weak (weak as water, Gen. 49.4.) was the heart of this brutiſh Barbarian, skilful to deſtroy? Ezek. 21.31. ſeeing he did all theſe things, the work of an imperious whoriſh woman, Ezek. 16.30. rather then of an able man, (ſuch as every Magiſtrate ſhould be, Exod. 18.21.) juſt, and ruling in the feare of God, 2 Sam. 23.3. In the caſe of Vaſhti, he could referre the matter to the conſideration of a Council. In the caſe of the two Eunuches that had conſpired aganſt his life, he made inquiſition of the matter, and did all things deliberately. In this caſe of Haman after this, though deeply diſpleaſed, yet he did nothing raſhly, till he had gone into the Palace-garden, and conſidered with himſelf what was beſt to be done. But here upon the very firſt motion (without hearing them ſpeak for themſelves, or admoniſhing them to do their duty better, &c.) he gives order for the ſlaying of ſo many thouſand innocents never conſidering that every drop of their blood had a voice in it, to cry for vengeance againſt him and his, Gen. 4.10. Matth. 22.7. And when the King heard it for blood cries aloud to God, 1 Kings 9.26. Surely I have ſeen yeſterday the blood of Naboth. Murther ever bleeds freſh in the eye of Almighty God. To him many yeares, yea, that eternity that is paſt, is but yeſterday. He will give ſuch, blood again to drink, for they are worthy, Rev. 16.6. Dealt he not ſo by Herod, Julian, Attilas, Felix of Wartemburg, Farneſius, Minerius, Charles the ninth King of France, who died by exceeding bleeding at ſundry parts of his body, ſoon after the Pariſian Maſſacre, whereof he was the Authour, giving as large and as bloody a commiſſion to the Duke of Guiſe, to deſtroy, to kill, and to cauſe to periſh all the French Proteſtants, as Ahaſhuerus did here to Haman? Neither was he ſlack to execute it with greateſt inhumanity, crying out to thoſe of his party (after that he had ſlaine the Admiral) Courage, my fellowes, fall on, the King commands it, it is his expreſſe pleaſure, he commands it. But what followed ſhortly after?The Hiſte of French Maſſ. by Mr. Clark.

Quem ſitiit vivens ſceleratâ mente cruorem, Perfidus hunc moriens Carolus ore vomit. Ergo Dei tandem verbo ſubſcribite, Reges; Ne rapiant Stygiae vos Acherontis aquae.

And gave it unto Haman] Who now being his Favourite, might have any thing of him, like as it is ſtoried of Sejanus, that in all his deſignes he found in Tiberius the Emperour ſo great facility and affection to his deſire,Life of Sejan. by P.M. p. 5. that he needed only to ask and give thanks. He never denied him any thing, and oft-times prevented his requeſt, and avowed that he deſerved much more. It was not therefore without cauſe,Tertull. Apol. that the primitive Chriſtians prayed ſo hard for the Emperour, that God would ſend him good Counſellours, and deliver him from flatterers and ſlanderers, thoſe peſts of the Court.

The Jewes enemy] That was his ſtile, or rather his brand and mark of ignominy, worſe then that of Cain, Gen. 4.15. that of Dathan, Numb. 26.9. of Ahaz, 2 Chron. 28.22. It may be he affected this title, and gloried in it: as we read of John Oneale, father to the Earle of Tyrone, that rebel 1598.Camd. that he inſcribed himſelf in all places. I great John Oneale, Couſin to Chriſt, friend to the Queen of England, and foe to all the world beſides.