References (45)
After this event, King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) promoted Haman son of Hammedata, the Agagite, and placed him in the place of all the princes who were with him.
[The event referred to is that Mordecai has saved the king’s life, see . The reader senses that all is not right. Shouldn’t Mordecai have received some reward or recognition for saving the king’s life? Instead, a completely different person is introduced, Haman. Whether Haman was actively involved in covering up Mordecai’s role, or whether it was a bureaucratic mistake, this is later discovered by the king () and Mordecai is rewarded. In , four years have passed since Esther became queen, Est 2:16. The events of and occur sometime during this four-year period (479–474 BC).
Haman is introduced as the ”Agagite”, a deliberate reference to the conflict between the Israelites and the Amalekites. The conflict stems from the Exodus when the Israelites fought Amalek, see ; . Balaam predicts that the king of Israel will be greater than ”Agag”, see Numbers 24:1, 7. Saul who was a Benjamite, see , was commissioned to destroy the Amalekites, but fails to do so even though he wins the battle, see . The connection between Mordecai the Benjamite, see Est 2:5, and Haman the Agagite prepares the reader for a future confrontation of some kind. The name Haman means: Magnificent, splendid and awesome. In Aramaic it means: necklace, chain, jewelry; but also ”of foreign origin”. Haman has several allusions to Lucifer, see , and also has a parallel with what happened to his sons, see and .]
All the king’s servants, who were in the king’s gate, bowed down and prostrated themselves before Haman, because the king had commanded him to do so. But Mordecai did not bow, nor did he bow before him.
[There are several examples where Jews have bowed to show reverence for other people, see ; ; ; ; ; . The reason why Mordecai did not bow must therefore have a religious explanation. The Persians considered the king divine, and it is not unlikely that Haman also considered himself divine. Since the Jews follow the commandment not to worship other gods (Exodus 20:5), Mordecai did not bow to Haman, see . See also .]
Now it happened that while they were talking to him every day, he still did not listen to them, and they told Haman about this, to see if Mordecai’s word (explanation) would be valid, because he had said that he was a Jew [and does not worship idols, see ].
When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down to him, Haman was filled with anger.
But it seemed to him to be too simple just to lay hands on Mordecai, for they had told him which people Mordecai belonged to, so Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were beyond the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus (Xerxes), all the people of Mordecai.
In the first month, which is the month of Nisan (March/April), in the 12th year of the reign of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) [five years after Esther became queen, about 474 BC], lots were cast before Haman, from day to day and from month to month, [the lot fell on] the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar (February/March).
[The pagan worldview placed great emphasis on asking the gods for advice. Haman would cast lots to find the ’most auspicious’ day to carry out his plan. Finds of ancient dice in the Assyrian Empire show how important the role of the various gods were in this. It is likely that at the beginning of the year the dice are thrown to determine days for important events. The lot now falls in the last month, barely a year after the casting of the lot.]
Haman said to King Ahasuerus (Xerxes), ”There is a special people [the Jews] scattered and dispersed among the peoples of all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of all other peoples, nor do they keep the king’s laws. Therefore it does not benefit the king to preserve (tolerate) them.
The king took his ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedata the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews,
and the king said to Haman, ”The silver is given to you, the people as well, do with them as you see fit.”
Then the king’s scribes were summoned in the first month on the 13th day of the month [This is the day before the Passover feast which begins on Nisan 14, see ; in 479 B.C. it was April 17.] Everything was written according to what Haman commanded, to the king’s satraps [provincial governors - ”protectors of the land”; there were 20-28 of them] and the governors who were over all the provinces, and to the princes of each nation, to all the provinces in their own writing (in their various written languages) and to each nation in their own language. In the name of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) it was written, and it was sealed with the king’s signet ring.
[Here in there is a strange coded message. With an interval of 6 letters it says Haman v´Satan rajach which means ”Haman and Satan stink.” Number six is man’s speech. See also ; ; ; , ; ; ; and the fact box at the end of the book of Esther about how God’s name is hidden in the book of Esther.]
The letters were hastily distributed by the king’s couriers as soon as the decree was issued in the palace of Susa.
The king and Haman sat down and drank, but the city of Susa was in shock.
Mordecai told him [Hatach] what had happened to him and the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay out of the king’s treasury to destroy the Jews.
Esther replied, ”If it seems good to the king, may the king and Haman come today to a banquet I have prepared for him.”
[Here in the name of God JHVH is encoded in the four words translated ”may the king and Haman come today”. The initial letters form a forward acrostic pattern for God’s name Yahweh, see also ; ; .]
Then the king said, ”See that Haman makes haste so that we can do as Esther has said.”
The king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
that if I have found grace (undeserved love) in the eyes of the king and it pleases the king to grant me my request and carry out my desire, let the king and Haman come to a second banquet that I will prepare for them, then tomorrow I will do as the king has said.”
So Haman went out that day, glad and happy in his heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, and that he did not get up or move for him, Haman was filled with anger against Mordecai.
So Haman stopped himself (he did not give vent to his anger) and went home.
He sent for his friends and his wife Zeresh. [The name is of Persian origin and means ’gold’].
Haman told them of his wealth and glory (he boasted), and of the multitude of his children, and all about how the king had promoted him and how he had risen above the princes and the king’s servants.
Haman also said, ”Yes, Queen Esther did not let anyone accompany the king to her banquet that she prepared, except me, and tomorrow I am also invited by her along with the king.
Then Zeresh, his wife, and all his friends said to him: ”Have a wooden pole (gallows) 50 cubits [22.5 meters] high made and speak to the king tomorrow morning so that Mordecai can be hung there, then you can go with the king to the banquet with joy.” This pleased Haman and he had the wooden pole (gallows) made and erected [Anyone hung on wood is cursed, see .]
The king said, ”Who is in the courtyard?”
Now Haman came into the outer court of the king’s house to talk with the king about hanging Mordecai on the pole (gallows) he had prepared for him. [The outer court of Susa was 62 x 53 meters].
The king’s servants answered him: ”Look, Haman is standing in the courtyard.”
The king said, ”Let him come in.”
Haman came in and the king said to him: ”What should be done for the man whom the king wants to honor?”
Haman thought in his heart, ”Who would the king want to honor besides me?
So Haman said to the king: ”For the man whom the king wants to honor,
Then the king said to Haman, ”Hurry and take a royal robe and a horse as you have spoken, and do this for Mordecai the Jew who sits in the king’s gate. Let nothing of what you have spoken be undone.”
Then Haman took the royal robe and the horse, dressed Mordecai, and paraded him through the streets of the city, crying out: ”This is what you do with the man the king wants to honor!”
Afterward Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried home to his house, mourning and covering his head.
Haman recounted (in detail) everything that had happened to him to his wife Zeresh and all his friends.
Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him: ”If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is really a Jew, you will not be able to resist him. In fact, you will indeed fall before him.” [This is advice consistent with God’s promise to Abraham, see .]
While they were still talking, the king’s servants hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
The king and Haman came to the banquet with Queen Esther.
Esther answered, ”An adversary and an enemy, this evil Haman.”
Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen.
The king got up in anger from the banquet of wine and went out into the palace garden. Haman stayed behind to plead for his life with Queen Esther, because he saw that the king had decided against him.
[Here in , the name of God YHVH is encoded in the four words translated ”it was evil decreed against him.” The last letter of these words forms a forward acrostic pattern for the name of God Yahweh, see also ; ; .]
The king came back from the garden to the banquet in the palace with wine, and Haman had fallen (kneeled down) on the couch where Esther was sitting. Then the king said, ”Will he molest the queen also here before me in the house?” When the word went out from the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.
Then Charvona, one of the king’s servants who was before the king, said, ”Look, there is a wooden pole fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke well of the king. It is in front of Haman’s house.”
Then the king said, ”Hang him on it.”
They hung Haman on the wooden pole that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s anger was appeased.
On that day King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) gave the house of Haman to Queen Esther. Mordecai came before the king, because Esther had told her who he [Mordecai] was.
The king took off his ring [signet ring that has royal stamp and authority], which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over Haman’s house.
Esther spoke again before the king and fell down at his feet and begged him with tears to remove the iniquity of Haman the Agagite and his decision that he had made against the Jews.
She said, ”If it pleases the king and I have found favor (undeserved love – Hebr. chen) in his eyes, and if this thing seems right to the king and if I please his eyes, let a letter be written revoking the decision of Haman son of Hammedata the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces,
Then King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, ”Look, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hung him on the wooden stake (gallows) because he laid his hand on the Jews.
the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedata, the enemy of the Jews, they struck. But they did not lay their hand on (touch) the spoil (their possessions) [This shows that they acted in selfdefense, not for material gain, see ; .]
[The ten sons of Haman and the meaning of the names:
Parshaneddata - self-absorbed
Dalfon - feeling sorry for oneself
Aseppata - self-sufficient
Porata - pleasure-seeking
Adalja - inferior
Aridata - self-confident
Parmashetta - superior
Arisaj - brazen ignorance, foolishness
Aridaj - proud and haughty
Vajezata - self-righteous
The interesting thing about the sons of Haman is that their names mean the things that stand in the way of a relationship with God. Figuratively speaking, we all need to hang the sons of Haman in our lives on the wooden stake, crucifying them with Jesus. Just as the Jews didn’t put their hand on what was wasted, we shouldn’t touch it or anything related to it once we’ve let it leave our lives.]
Then the king said to Queen Esther, ”The Jews have slaughtered and destroyed 500 men in the castle of Susa and the ten sons of Haman, so what have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Well, whatever is your desire will be guaranteed to you, and whatever you further request will be done.”
Then Esther said, ”If it pleases the king, let the Jews of Susa be guaranteed to do tomorrow what they have done according to today’s decree, and let the ten sons of Haman be hung on stakes.”
The king commanded it to be done, and a decree was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman.
because Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews, had taken counsel against the Jews to destroy them and cast ”por”, that is, lots, to discourage and destroy them,
