John Trapp on Esther 4:11

Verſe 11. All the Kings ſervants] His Courtiers and Counſellours, who haply were as very ſlaves to him,Turk. Hiſt. 1153. as now the greateſt Lords of the Court are to the great Turk; no man having any power over himſelf, much leſſe is he Maſter of the houſe wherein he dwelleth, or of the land which he tilleth, but is in danger of being whipped upon the leaſt diſpleaſure of the Tyrant: eſpecially if he be not a natural Turk borne.Ibid. 361.

And the people of the Kings Provinces do know] i.e. All, both far and near, this ſhewes, that the Law here mentioned was no new Law procured by Haman, to prevent Jewiſh Suppliants, as Lyra would have it, but long ſince made and known to all the Kings ſubjects.

That whoſoever, whether man or woman] Yea, though ſhe be his deareſt Conſort, who ſhould cohabit with him, and not be ſundred for a ſeaſon, but by conſent, 1 Cor. 7.5.

Shall come unto the King] The Perſians uſually hid their King, tanquam aliquod ſacrum myſterium, as ſome precious buſineſſe, and that for two reaſons; Firſt, for State and Authority, leſt familiarity with their ſubjects ſhould breed contempt, and make them over-cheap. Philip the ſecond King of Spaine, was of the ſame minde and practice. For after that he had gotten into his hands the Kingdome of Portugal, and therewith the wealth of the Indies, incluſit ſe in Curiale, he ſhut up and immured himſelf in his Court,Val. Max. Chriſt. and was ſeldome ſeen of any, though never ſo great a man, but upon long ſuit, and as a ſingular favour. This made him to be adored as a demi-god. Secondly for ſecurity and ſafety, leſt if all ſhould be ſuffered to come that would, the King ſhould be aſſaſſinated and made away, as Eglon was by Ehud, Iſhboſheth. by Baanah and Rechab, Gedaliah by Iſhmael, and many Kings of Iſrael and Emperours of Rome were by their own ſervants. The Turks at this day ſuffer no ſtranger to come into the Preſence of their Emperour, but firſt they ſearch him that he have no weapon: and ſo claſping him by the armes,Turk. Hiſt. under colour of doing him honour, diſſemblingly they bereave him of the uſe of his hands, leſt he ſhould offer him any violence: yet hath he alway as he ſitteth in his throne, lying at hand ready by him, a target, a ſcimiter, an iron mace, with bow and arrowes.

—Sors iſta tyrannis Muriti ut gladiis vivant, cinctique venenis.

How much better Ageſilaus King of Spartans, who walked daily among his ſubjects, doing juſtice,Xenoph. orat. de Ageſil. and is therefore by Xenophon worthily preferred before this ſtately King of Perſia? how much better Queen Elizabeth, who often ſhewed her ſelfe to her people, and chearfully received noſegayes, flowers, roſemary from mean perſons. She got the hearts of her ſubjects (which Philip of Spaine, her ſtately Contemporary never could do) by coupling mildneſſe with Majeſty, and ſtooping, yet in a ſtately manner, to thoſe of low condition. So reſerved ſhe was, that all about her ſtood in a reverent awe of her very preſence and aſpect, but much more of her leaſt frown or check; wherewith ſome of them,Speed 1235. who thought they might beſt preſume of her favour, have been ſo ſuddenly daunted and planet-ſtricken, that they could not lay down the grief thereof, but in their graves.

There is one Law of his] A wretched Law it was, written not with black, but with blood, and condemned by very heathens for barbarous and pernicious to the publike. For if the King may not be come at, but upon paine of death, what ſhall become of the poor oppreſſed? and how ſhall he ever heare of the rapines and other miſcarriages of his Favourites and under Officers, by whom he ſhall be even bought and ſold, and himſelf never the wiſer, as Aurelian the Emperour complained Orpheus, that ancienteſt of Poets faineth, that Lite (or Petitions) are Joves daughters, and ever converſant about his Throne. David heard the woman of Tecoa. Solomon the two harlots, and King Joram the affamiſhed woman that called to him for juſtice, with Help O King. Philip of M[illegible: 1 letter]cedon [illegible: 1 letter]ighted the old wife that check't him for his neglect of her; and Trajan, the widow that would not be put off till another time.Plutarch. This was King-like; His office is to judge the people with righteouſneſſe, and the poor with judgement. He ſhall judge the poor of the people, — and break in pieces the oppreſſour, Pſal. 72.2, 4.

To put him to death] [non-Latin text not transcribed] Athenaeus. No ſuch danger in approaching Gods Preſence, he ſoliciteth ſuitours, and ſeeketh ſuch as may come before him John 4.23. This was anciently figured by the door of the Tabernacle, not made of any hard or debarring matter, but of a veile eaſily penetrable: which alſo now is rent,Pſal. 65.2. 1 Tim. 2.8. to ſhew our eaſie acceſſe to Him, who heareth prayers, and willeth that all fleſh come unto him, lifting up in all places pure hands, without warth, and without doubting.

Except ſuch to whom the King ſhall hold out the golden Scepter] In token that he called for them. Thus whom he would be ſlew, and whom he would he kept alive; as Dan 5.19. But Eſther ſhould (as afterwards ſhe did) have truſted God with her life; and with a Romane reſolution have ſaid, Necaſſe eſt ut eam, non ut vivam. It is neceſſary, that I venture, not that I live. That ſhe was fearful when her life lay upon it, we may impute to the weakneſſe of her ſex, or rather of her faith; againſt which ſenſe fights ſore, when 'tis upon its own dunghil; I mean, in a ſenſible danger. Natures retraction of it ſelf from a viſible feare, may cauſe the pulſe of a Chriſtian, that beats truly and ſtrongly in the main point (the ſtate of the ſoule) to intermit and faulter at ſuch a time. Abraham ſhewed ſome, trepidation, and Peter much more.

But I have not been called to come in to the King theſe thirty dayes] There was hot love the while, his concubines, perhaps, had engroſſed him. Doves are ſaid to draw the charet of Venus: and thoſe neither change their mates, not forſake their company. Haman was all the doer, now about the King, as our King Richard the ſecond his Favourites, Knights of Venus rather then Bellona, ſaith the Chronicler, converſing with the King, not without ſuſpicion of foule familiarity, as Walſingham writeth, Speed. 746. Sodomiticâ labe infecti, ferè emnes, ſaith another.