ז וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרשׁ לְאֶסְתֵּר הַמַּלְכָּה וּלְמָרְדֳּכַי הַיְּהוּדִי הִנֵּה בֵית–הָמָן נָתַתִּי לְאֶסְתֵּר וְאֹתוֹ תָּלוּ עַל–הָעֵץ עַל אֲשֶׁר–שָׁלַח יָדוֹ בַּיְּהוּדִיים [בַּיְּהוּדִים]
7. And the king said to Esther the Queen and to Mordechai the Yehudi, “Behold, the house of Haman I have given to Esther, and him who wanted to send his hand on the Yehudim they hanged.
- The verse makes it clear that Mordechai was present at this time. According to the Vilna Gaon, Achashverosh said this in Mordechai’s presence because he was afraid Esther would cry again. Achashverosh was easily affected by her tears, and did not want her emotional appeal to counter what he is going to say.
- However, the Yosef Lekach says that, for reasons that will be clarified in the next verse (Esther 8:8), the king cannot contradict his previous decree, and Mordechai was there because the country’s greatest mind was needed to decide how to override the previous decree, nevertheless.
