The king said unto him - He did not give him time to make his request; and put a question to him which, at the first view, promised him all that his heart could wish.

So Haman came in,.... But was prevented speaking to the king about the business he came upon by the following speech of the king:

what shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? he mentions not the name of any man, that he might the more freely, and unbiasedly, and disinterestedly give his advice; nor might the king know of any resentment of Haman to Mordecai:

(now Haman thought in his heart, to whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?) who had been advanced above all the princes and nobles of the realm, and was now in such high honour both with the king and queen, with whom he was to be at a banquet that day; and he might conclude, that by putting this question to him, he could have in view none but himself: Aben Ezra observes, that some from hence gather, that this book was written by the spirit of prophecy, because none could know the thoughts of the heart but God; but though he believes it to be written by the Holy Ghost, yet, as he observes, Haman might disclose this thought of his heart to his friends afterwards.

As soon as he enters the king asks: What is to be done to the man in whose honour the king delighteth? i.e., whom he delights to honour. And Haman, thinking (בּלבּו אמר, to say in one's heart, i.e., to think) to whom will the king delight to show honour more than to me (ממּבּי יותר, projecting before me, surpassing me, hence adverbially, beyond me, e.g., Ecclesiastes 12:12, comp. Ecclesiastes 2:15; Ecclesiastes 7:11, Ecclesiastes 7:16)? votes immediately for the greatest possible mark of honour, and says, Esther 6:7.: "As for the man in whose honour the king delighteth, let them bring the royal apparel with which the king has been clothed, and a horse on which the king has ridden, and the king's crown upon his head, and let them deliver this apparel and horse to one of the chief princes of the king, and let them array (i.e., with the royal apparel) the man in whose honour the king delighteth, and cause him to ride upon the horse through the streets of the city, and proclaim before him: Thus shall it be done to the man in whose honour the king delighteth." וגו אשׁר אישׁ, Esther 6:7, precedes absolutely, and the predicate does not follow till והלבּישׁוּ, Esther 6:9, where the preceding subject is now by an anacoluthon taken up in the accusative (את־האישׁ). Several clauses are inserted between, for the purpose of enumerating beforehand all that appertains to such a token of honour: a royal garment, a royal steed, a crown on the head, and one of the chief princes for the carrying out of the honour awarded. The royal garment is not only, as Bertheau justly remarks, such a one as the king is accustomed to wear, but, as is shown by the perf. לבשׁ, one which the king has himself already put on or worn. Hence it is not an ordinary state-robe, the so-called Median apparel which the king himself, the chief princes among the Persians, and those on whom the king bestowed such raiment were wont to appear in (Herod. 3.84, 7.116; Xenoph. Cyrop. 8.3.1, comp. with the note of Baehr on Her. 3.84), but a costly garment, the property of the sovereign himself. This was the highest mark of honour that could be shown to a subject. So too was the riding upon a horse on which the king had ridden, and whose head was adorned with a royal crown. נתּן is perf. Niph., not 1st pers. pl. imperf. Kal, as Maurer insists; and בּראשׁו אשׁר refers to the head of the horse, not to the head of the man to be honoured, as Clericus, Rambach, and most ancient expositors explain the words, in opposition to the natural sense of - בּראשׁו נתּן אשׁר. We do not indeed find among classical writers any testimony to such an adornment of the royal steed; but the circumstance is not at all improbable, and seems to be corroborated by ancient remains, certain Assyrian and ancient Persian sculptures, representing the horses of the king, and apparently those of princes, with ornaments on their heads terminating in three points, which may be regarded as a kind of crown. The infin. absol. ונתון is a continuation of the preceding jussive יביאוּ: and they shall give, let them give the garment - to the hand of a man, i.e., hand or deliver to him. The garment and horse are to be delivered to one of the noblest princes, that he may bring them to the individual to be honoured, may array him in the garment, set him on the horse, and proclaim before him as he rides through the city, etc. On הפּרתּמים, comp. Esther 1:4, and on the matter itself, Genesis 41:43. רחוב is either an open square, the place of public assemblage, the forum, or a collective signifying the wide streets of the city. יעשׂה כּכה as in Deuteronomy 25:9 and elsewhere.

So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?

6:6 Man - He names none, because he would have the more impartial answer. And probably knew nothing of the difference between Haman and Mordecai. Thought - As he had great reason to do, because of the favour which the king had shewed to him above all others.

whom the king...: Heb. in whose honour the king delighteth

6. What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour?-In bestowing tokens of their favor, the kings of Persia do not at once, and as it were by their own will, determine the kind of honor that shall be awarded; but they turn to the courtier standing next in rank to themselves, and ask him what shall be done to the individual who has rendered the service specified; and according to the answer received, the royal mandate is issued.

6:4-11 See how men's pride deceives them. The deceitfulness of our own hearts appears in nothing more than in the conceit we have of ourselves and our own performances: against which we should constantly watch and pray. Haman thought the king loved and valued no one but himself, but he was deceived. We should suspect that the esteem which others profess for us, is not so great as it seems to be, that we may not think too well of ourselves, nor trust too much in others. How Haman is struck, when the king bids him do honour to Mordecai the Jew, the very man whom he hated above all men, whose ruin he was now designing!