John Trapp on Esther 3:8

Verſe 8. And Haman ſaid unto King Ahaſhuerus] After that by ſortilegy, (or ſorcery, for it is no better, as the very name ſheweth, and Varro affirmeth,) he had light upon a luckie day, wherein to ſpeak to the King, and a black day, wherein to do execution, he taketh the boldneſſe to move the King in it. Now Mr. Perkins affirmeth, that as men do put confidence in lot-ſorcery, or the like diabolical divinations, or elſe they cannot attaine to any foreknowledge by them; ſo therein, explicitely or implicitely, they have confederacy with the devil, Oh, that this were well conſidered!

There is a certain people] Not worth the naming.

Scattered abroad] But was that their fault? was it not their miſery rather, according to that God had threatened them, Deut. 3 2. and were they not therefore to be pitied, and not preyed upon? It is ſaid of Queen Elizabeth, Camd Eliz. 531. that ſhe hated, no leſſe then did Mithridates, ſuch as maliciouſly perſecuted vertue forſaken of fortune.

And diſperſed among the people] And therefore the more dangerous, ſith every ſect ſtrives to ſpread their opinions, and theſe, being Antimagiſtratical, may do much hurt, and draw many from their obedience, prove ſeedſmen of ſedition. It may very well be that the ſect of the Eſſenes were now beginning among the Jewes, who taught,Joſeph. l. 18. c. 2. that God alone, and no mortal man was to be acknowledged for Lord and Prince. Hence they were called Eſſeni or Haſhoni, that is, Rebels, Weems. and for their ſakes the whole Nation might be the worſe thought of (as if they were all ſuch) like as the Proteſtants were in France for the Anabaptiſts ſake, in the reigne of King Francis. Scultet. An. 454.

In all the Provinces of thy Kingdome] Quarum proventu gaudet, alitur, inſoleſcit. Where they do no good, but devoure graine as vermine, as excrements in humane ſociety, and deſerve to be knockt on the head, which may eaſily be done, becauſe they are disjected, and not able to make head againſt an adverſary.

And their Lawes are diverſe from all people] So they were, and better, their enemies themſelves being Judges, Deut. 4.6, 7, 8. Proſpers conceit was, that they were called Judaei, becauſe they received Jus Dei, their Lawes from God, who might ſay to them, as once Joſeph did to his brethren, Gen. 45.12. Behold, your eyes ſee, that it is my mouth that ſpeaketh unto you. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. And therefore if Demoſthenes could ſay of Lawes in general, that they were the invention of Almighty God; And if Cicero could ſay of the Lawes of the twelve Tables in Rome, that they farre exceeded and excelled all the Libraries of all the Philoſophers, how much more true was all this of the Lawes of the Jews given by God, and ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediatour, Moſes? Seneca (though he jeared the Jewes for their weekly Sabbath, as thoſe that loſt the ſeventh part of their time, yet) he could not but ſay, that being the baſeſt people, they had the beſt Lawes, and gave Lawes unto all the world. Thoſe holy Levites, Nehem. 9.13. acknowledge with all thankfulneſſe, that God had given them right judgements, true Lawes, good Statutes and Commandments, whereby he ſevered them from all other people, as his own peculiar, and this was their glory whereever they came; though the Sycophant in the text turneth their glory into ſhame, as one that loved vanity, and ſought after leaſing, Pſal. 4.2.

Neither keep they the Kings Lawes] Mordecai indeed would not do him reverence, becauſe it went againſt his conſcience: no more would others of them keep the Kings Lawes in like caſe, but obey God rather then man, where they could not do both. Otherwiſe they were charged, Jer. 29.7. to ſeek the peace of the cities where they abode, and to ſubmit to their civil and municipal Lawes: and ſo they did doubtleſſe, for the generality of them. But this impudent liar repreſents them to the King as Refractaries and Rebels, &c. The devil began his Kingdome by a lie, and by lies he upholdeth it. He was a liar and a murtherer from the beginning; but firſt a liar, and thereby a murtherer. He cannot handſomely murther, except he ſlander firſt, Cant. 5.6. the credit of the Church muſt firſt be taken away, and then ſhe is wounded; traduced ſhe muſt be, and then perſecuted. Thus David is believed to ſeek Sauls life: Elias is the Troubler of Iſrael: Jeremy, the Trumpet of Rebellion: the Baptiſt, a Stirrer up of ſedition: Chriſt, an enemy to Caeſar: Paul, a peſtilent Incendiary; the primitive Chriſtians, a publike miſchief: the Reformed Churches, Antimagiſtratical: this colour of right, yea, of Piety was laid upon the French Maſſacre, and by Edicts a faire cloke ſought to cover that impious fraud,Camd. Eliz. as if there had been ſome horrid treaſon hatch't by the Huguenots. The primitive Perſecutours uſed to put Chriſtians into beares and dogges skins, or other ugly creatures; and then bait them; ſo wicked men put religion and its Profeſſours, into ugly conceits and reports, and then ſpeak and act againſt them.

Therefore it is not for the Kings profit] Heb. It is not meet, equal, or profitable to the King to ſuffer them, ut inſoleſcat per licentiam, ſo the Vulgar Latine rendreth it, but without warrant from the Orig. See here how this Sycophant fils his mouth with arguments, the better to atchieve his deſire. An elaborate ſet ſpeech he maketh, neither is there a word in it, but what might ſeem to have weight. He pretends the Kings profit and the publike good, concealing and diſſembling his ambition, avarice, envy, malignity, that ſet him a work. Politicians when they ſoare higheſt, are like the Eagle, which whiles aloft, hath her eye ſtill upon the prey, which by this meanes ſhe ſpies ſooner, and ſeizes upon better. In parabolâ ovis caprùs ſuas quaerunt, as the Proverb hath it, Haman holds it not fit there ſhould be more religions then one in a Kingdome, for preventing of troubles. Nebuchadnezzar was of the ſame minde, when he commanded all men to worſhip his golden image. But muſt all therefore die that will not do it? and is it for the Kings profit that the righteous be rooted out? Is not ſemen ſanctum ſtatumen terrae? the holy ſeed,Iſa. 6.13. the ſtay of the State? the beauty and bulwark of the Nation? See Jer. 5.1. Ezek. 2.2.30, 31. Abſque ſtationibus non ſtaret mundus.