If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.
If it pleases the king, let it be written as law that they may be destroyed. I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the officials who carry out this business, to be put into the king's treasury.
Haman is offering the king a massive bribe to legalize the destruction of the Jewish people throughout the Persian Empire.
📚 Historical Context
This verse occurs when Haman, the Persian king's right-hand man, is requesting permission to exterminate all Jews in the empire because Mordecai refused to bow down to him. Ten thousand talents of silver was an enormous sum - equivalent to about two-thirds of the Persian Empire's annual tax revenue, showing how wealthy and determined Haman was to carry out his genocidal plan.
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