John Trapp on Esther 7:5

Verſe 5. Then the King Ahaſhuerus anſwered, &c.] It ſeems he did not yet, by all that Eſther had ſaid, underſtand whom ſhe meant: ſo high an opinion he had of Haman his minion, the only ornament and bulwark of the Empire, the greateſt Publicola, Quis hic ipſe[illegible: 1 letter] & ubi hic ill[illegible: 1 letter] and moſt eſteemed Patriot. The King therefore, as not thinking him ſo near hand, haſtily asketh, He ſaid and ſaid, (ſo the Heb. hath it) to the Queen.

Who is he, and where is he?] Who is that Sirrah, he, and where is that Sirrah, he? words of utmoſt indignation and readineſſe to be revenged: ſuch as were thoſe of Charles the fifth Emperour. If that Villaine were here (ſpeaking of Farneſius the Popes General,P[illegible: 1 letter]raei. Medu[illegible: 1 letter] Hiſt. [illegible: 1 letter]rofan. Era[illegible: 1 letter]m ep. l. 1[illegible: 1 letter] ad obtrectat. who had raviſhed certain Ladies) I would kill him with mine own hand or thoſe of fiery Friar, who openly in the Pulpit at Antwerp, preaching to the people, wiſhed that Luther were there, that he might tear him with his teeth. But could this King poſſibly ſo ſoon forget what himſelf had not two moneths before granted to be done againſt Eſthers people, (which was with his right hand to cut off his left?) or did he not all this while know what Countrey-woman his beloved Eſther was? and might he not expect that the Hamaniſts ſhould come and take her forcibly from him to execution, by vertue of his own Edict, as Daniels adverſaries had dealt by him, though Darius laboured till the going down of the Sun to deliver him, but could not, Dan. 6.14? and as Steven Gardiner and his Complices attempted to do by Queen Katherine Parre, had not her husband Henry the eighth rated them away, and graciouſly reſcued her out of their bloody fingers?

That durſt preſume in his heart to do ſo] Heb. Whoſe heart hath filled him to do ſo? Cujus cor perſuaſit ipſi, ſo Vatablus. Whoſe heart hath perſwaded him thus to do. The devil had filled Hamans heart, ſitting a brood thereon, and hatching there this horrid plot, Acts 5.3. But (to do the devil right) Haman had ſuffered the Sun, (nay many Suns) to go down upon his wrath, and thereby given place to the devil, Eph. 4.26, 27. Nemo ſibi de ſuo palpet (ſaith an Ancient) quiſque ſibi Satan eſt; Let no man deceive his own heart, each man is a Satan to himſelf; and though men bleſſe themſelves from having to do with the devil, and ſpet at his very name, yet they fetch not up their ſpettle low enough; they ſpet him out of their mouthes, but not out of their hearts, as being filled with all unrighteouſneſſe, fornication, wickedneſſe, covetouſneſſe, maliciouſneſſe; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, Rom 1.29. Hamans heart thus ſtuffed might well have ſaid to him at the Gallows, as the heart of Apollodorus the Tyrant ſeemed to ſay to him, who dreamed one night that he was fleaed by the Scythians, and boiled in a Cauldron, and that his heart ſpake to him out of the kettle. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. It is I that have drawn thee to all this. Thoſe in hell cry ſo ſurely.