“Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.”
When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, he saw Haman falling on the couch where Esther was reclining, and the king said, Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house? As the word left the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face, demonstrating that the king's return to the banquet coincides with Haman's desperate attempt to beg Esther for mercy, which the king interprets as an assault on the queen. This misinterpretation of Haman's gesture of supplication as an attack on the queen seals Haman's fate and moves events beyond the possibility of mercy or negotiation. The verse shows how a single moment of misunderstanding or misinterpretation can seal a person's fate when combined with a ruler's rage and the poison of accusation.
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