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Esther Stopped in the Fourth Chamber Until Three Angels Came

Haman's sons were already dividing her jewels. Esther stood in the fourth chamber and could not take another step toward the throne.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. She Could Not Take the Fourth Step
  2. Haman's Sons Divided Her Jewels
  3. The Cry David Left in Her Mouth
  4. Three Angels Did Three Jobs
  5. The King Turned His Face Away
Esther Stopped in the Fourth Chamber Until Three Angels Came Click for full size

She Could Not Take the Fourth Step

The first door closed behind her and did not open again. Then the second. Then the third. Once the guards of those rooms had let her through, they had no more hold on her. The next three rooms had not yet been given a reason to stop her. Esther stood in the middle of the fourth chamber, the one that opened toward the throne, and her feet would not move.

The floor was stone. Oil lamps smoked along the wall. Somewhere ahead a man sat with the power to kill her for walking in unasked. She had fasted. She had put on the crown. None of that was a step.

Her knees had locked. That was all.

Haman's Sons Divided Her Jewels

In the gallery, Haman's sons were already at work. They had her jewels in their hands. They were casting lots for the royal purple. They had watched this palace take a queen before, for a smaller defiance than coming uninvited. From where they stood this was a death walk, and they meant to have her wardrobe before anyone else thought to claim it.

A lot fell. One of them laughed, a short sound, and slid a ring into his sleeve. Esther heard it. She did not turn her head.

The sons kept counting. Necklaces. Earrings. The gold at the hem. They worked as if she were already gone.

The Cry David Left in Her Mouth

She said the words that were waiting for a moment like this. "Eli, Eli, lamah azavtani" (אלי אלי למה עזבתני). My God, my God, why have You forsaken me (Psalm 22:1).

They were David's words. His line ran through Benjamin down to her. Constructed speech had failed. This was the oldest cry she had, left in the mouth of her people for the hour when doing everything right still felt like being left alone.

The fourth chamber did not answer. The lamps kept smoking. Haman's sons kept sorting gold.

Three Angels Did Three Jobs

God sent three angels. One wrapped her face in threads of grace, thin as light, until the room looked at her differently. One put a hand under her chin and lifted her head, which had dropped toward the stone. One took the golden scepter in Ahasuerus's hand and drew it out, longer than a king's arm, until the metal touched her.

These were jobs. Not a mood that descended. Not a change of heart that could be argued from the king's breakfast. Face. Head. Scepter.

Esther's foot came off the stone. She took the step the chamber had refused her. The scepter was already against her palm.

The King Turned His Face Away

Ahasuerus turned his head so he would not have to see her. The law was the law. An uninvited queen was a dead queen. The angels forced his face back. He looked. The severity went out of his mouth. He held the scepter toward her. He asked what troubled her. He offered up to half the kingdom.

She asked for a banquet. The king and Haman. Today.

Haman went home glad. Then he saw Mordekhai at the gate, who would not stand, and the gladness ran out of him. He had three hundred sixty-five advisers, one for each day of the solar year. None of them could match his wife Zeresh. She went through every death that had already failed against Jews. Drop him in a furnace: Hananiah had walked out of one. Lions: Daniel had walked out. Prison: Joseph had walked out. Fire under a vat: Manasseh had prayed and lived. Wilderness: his ancestors had been born there. Blindness: Samson had killed more Philistines without eyes than with them.

Hang him, she said. No one of his people has come down from a gallows.

Haman liked that. He went to cut the wood.

Esther was still standing in the fourth chamber with the scepter against her. The jewels were still in Haman's sons' hands. The three angels God had sent had not come to make the court kind. They had come to move one woman one more step, and the step was taken.

EstherAngelsDavidPrayerPurimDivine Intervention
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From the tradition

Sources

2 sources

The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Legends of the Jews 12:183Legends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) · Public Domain

Legends of the Jews turns to Three Angels Rescue Esther Frozen in the Fourth Chamber.

The courtiers? Oh, they were already counting her out! Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews paints a vivid picture: Haman’s sons, those vipers, were already dividing up Esther's jewels and casting lots for her royal purple robes. They were so sure of her imminent demise.

Esther understood the gravity of her situation. "Eli, Eli, lamah azabtani," she cried out. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" These aren't just words of despair; they're the very words that found their way into the Psalms of King David, evidence of the universal experience of feeling abandoned in times of crisis.

Here’s where the story takes a turn. Esther placed her trust in God. And He answered.

Legends of the Jews tells us that three angels were sent to assist her. Talk about divine intervention! The first angel, with incredible artistry, enveloped her face with "threads of grace" – imbuing her with an irresistible allure. The second angel lifted her head, giving her an air of regal confidence. And the third angel? Well, the third angel stretched out Ahasuerus's scepter until it touched her.

Now, here's an interesting detail: the king actually tried to avoid looking at Esther. He knew he shouldn’t be seeing her. But the angels, they weren’t having any of that! They forced him to turn his gaze toward her, and he was instantly captivated by her charm. Talk about a cosmic assist!

What does this story teach us? Perhaps it's about the power of faith in the face of overwhelming odds. Or maybe it highlights the importance of courage, even when we feel utterly alone.

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Esther Rabbah 9:2Esther Rabbah

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah, 2022 · CC-BY

“The king said to her: What troubles you, Queen Esther, and what is your request… Esther said: If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet… The king said: Hasten Haman…The king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared…Haman emerged on that day joyful and glad of heart, but upon Haman’s seeing Mordekhai at the king’s gate, and he did not stand, and he did not move on his account, Haman became filled with fury…Haman restrained himself…and brought his supporters and Zeresh his wife, etc.” (Esther 5:3–5; 8–10). Among all of them, there was no one capable of giving counsel like Zeresh his wife. He [Haman] had three hundred and sixty-five advisers, corresponding to the days of the solar year. His wife said to him: The person [Mordekhai] about whom you are asking, “If he is of the progeny of the Jews…you will not prevail against him” (Esther 6:13) – unless you approach him with cleverness, with [a strategy] that has never been attempted against members of his nation. If you drop him into a fiery furnace, Ḥananya and his cohorts have already been rescued [from it]; if [you place him in] the lions’ den, Daniel already emerged from it. If you incarcerate him in prison, Joseph already emerged from it. If you ignite a fire in a vat beneath him, Menashe [king of Judah] already pleaded, and the Holy One blessed be He acceded to his plea and he emerged from it. If you exile him to the wilderness, his ancestors already procreated in the wilderness, and they were confronted with numerous ordeals and passed them all and were rescued. If you blind his eyes, Samson took numerous Philistine lives when he was blind. Rather, hang him on a gibbet, as no member of his people has survived it.Immediately, “the matter was pleasing to Haman and he prepared the gibbet” (Esther 5:14). From what tree was that gibbet crafted? The Rabbis said: When he came to prepare it, the Holy One blessed be He called to all the trees of Creation: ‘Who will give [of its wood] so this wicked one [Haman] will be hanged on it?’ The fig said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel brings first fruits from me. Israel was likened to the first fruits [of a fig]; that is what is written: “Like a first fruit on a fig tree in its first season”’ (Hosea 9:10).The grapevine said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; that is what is written: “You transported a vine from Egypt”’ (Psalms 80:9).The pomegranate said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “Your temple is like a pomegranate slice”’ (Song of Songs 4:3).The nut said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was likened to me; that is what is written: “I have descended to the nut garden”’ (Song of Songs 6:11).The citron said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel takes from me for a mitzva; that is what is written: “You shall take for you on the first day the fruit of a pleasant tree…”’1This verse refers to the mitzva to take the four species on Sukkot (the Festival of Tabernacles). Rabbinic tradition identifies the “pleasant tree” as the citron. (Leviticus 23:40).The myrtle said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “And he was standing among the myrtles”’ (Zechariah 1:8).The olive said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “The Lord called your name a flourishing olive-tree, fair of fruit and form”’ (Jeremiah 11:16).The apple said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; as it is stated: “Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the boys” (Song of Songs 2:3), and as it is written: “And the fragrance of your face like apples”’ (Song of Songs 7:9).The palm said: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me; that is what is written: “This, your stature, is likened to a palm”’ (Song of Songs 7:8).Acacia trees and cypress trees said: ‘We will give of ourselves, as the Sanctuary was crafted and the Temple was constructed from us.’The cedar and the date said: ‘We will give of ourselves, as we are analogized to the righteous, as it is stated: “The righteous man flourishes like a palm tree; like a cedar in Lebanon he grows tall”’ (Psalms 92:13).The willow says: ‘I will give of myself, as Israel was analogized to me, as it is stated: “Like willows by streams of water” (Isaiah 44:4); and they take from me for the mitzva of the four species in the lulav.’At that moment, the thorn said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, I, who have nothing to ascribe [litlot] to myself, I will give of myself, and that impure one will be hanged [veyitaleh]. My name is thorn, and he [Haman] is a painful thorn; it is appropriate for a thorn to be hanged on a thorn.’ They found [suitable wood from a thorn] and erected [the gibbet].When they brought it before Haman, he prepared it at the entrance to his house and measured himself on it to show his servants how Mordekhai should be hanged on it. A divine voice replied to him: ‘The tree is suitable for you; this tree has been prepared for you since the six days of Creation.’ The Rabbis there [i.e. Babylonia] say: Where in the Torah is there [an allusion] to Haman? It is, as it is stated: “Was it from the tree [hamin haetz]” (Genesis 3:11), which is expounded to read: Haman haetz.Another matter: “it was on the third day” (Esther 5:1). Israel is never subject to trouble for more than three days, as in Abraham’s regard it is written: “On the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place from a distance” (Genesis 22:4). The tribes, “he gathered them into custody for three days” (Genesis 42:17). Jonah, as it is stated: “Jonah was in the innards of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 2:1). And the dead will live only after three days, as it is stated: “On the third day He will raise us” (Hosea 6:2).2At the resurrection of the dead, all will be revived for the day of judgement, when some will be granted “eternal life,” and others will receive “reproaches and everlasting abhorrence” (Daniel 12:2). The midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) here is stating that the righteous will experience the anxiety of the impending judgement for three days before they are granted eternal life. This miracle, too, transpired after three days of their fasting; that is what is written: “It was on the third day, that Esther donned royalty” (Esther 5:1). She sent and invited Haman to a banquet with the king on the fifteenth of Nisan. Once they ate and drank, Haman said: ‘The king promotes me, his wife honors me, and there is no one in the kingdom greater than I am,’ and his heart was overjoyed; that is what is written: “Haman emerged on that day joyful and glad of heart” (Esther 5:9).

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