Esther 3:1-6

III. Perverseness of Haman, Chapter 3
A. Scorn of Mordecai

TEXT: Esther 3:1-6

1

After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.

2

And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed down, and did reverence to Haman; for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not down, nor did him reverence.

3

Then the king's servants, that were in the king's gate said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment?

4

Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew.

5

And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not down, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.

6

But he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had made known to him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasureus, even the people of Mordecai.

Today's English Version, Esther 3:1-6

Some time later King Xerxes promoted a man named Haman to the position of prime minister. Haman was the son of Hammedatha, a descendant of Agag. The king ordered all the officials in his service to show their respect for Haman by kneeling and bowing to him. They all did so, except for Mordecai, who refused to do it. The other officials in the royal service asked him why he was disobeying the king's command; day after day they urged him to give in, but he would not listen to them. I am a Jew, he explained, and I cannot bow to Haman. So they told Haman about this, wondering if he would tolerate Mordecai's conduct. Haman was furious when he realized that Mordecai was not going to kneel and bow to him, and when he learned that Mordecai was a Jew, he decided to do more than punish Mordecai alone. He made plans to kill every Jew in the whole Persian Empire.

COMMENTS

Esther 3:1-4 Insubordination of Mordecai: Xerxes decided to promote a man named Haman. The name Haman in Hebrew means violent one, or, riotous one. Some think the name is strictly Persian and is an exact equivalent of the Greek Eumenes, which means well disposed. The Hebrew text has Haman's father, Hammedatha, as an Agagite. Some Jewish tradition would have Haman descended from the Amalekites (of king Saul's day) whose king was Agag. But the scriptures indicate that when Agag fell, he was the last of his house (1 Samuel 15:33). The Assyrian King Sargon, father of Sennacherib, left an inscription (at Khorsabad) indicating that Agag was a territory adjacent to that of Media. The Septuagint (Old Testament in Greek language, written about 300 B.C.) calls Hammedatha, the Bugaean. The Bug River flows into the northern edge of the Black Sea. This could be the territory from which Haman's ancestors came. It is conjectured by some scholars that Hammedatha may be the same as the old Persian Mahadata which means given by the moon. Others have thought the term Agagite was a title such as Pharaoh. In light of all the foregoing information it would seem more accurate to assume that Haman was truly Persian and definitely not related to any Canaanites such as the Amalekites. Haman certainly gave his sons Persian names (cf. Esther 9:7-9).

Haman was promoted above all hassarim (Hebrew for princes). In the language of ancient Turkey he would be called a grand vizier (prime minister), a prince of princes. Haman actually became second ruler in the kingdom of Persia.

It has been suggested that Haman was of lowly origin and not from one of the first families of Persia. This may account for the emphasis placed on an apparent need of Haman to have everyone do obeisance toward him. In ancient times emperors and noblemen ruled as absolute despots and common men were so servile that a man appointed second ruler in an empire would receive the profoundest homage and reverence from all. The very fact that the king (emperor) had commanded all who were in the palace gates to do obeisance to Haman indicates that some might deliberately refuse to do so. Indeed, there was one who did not bow down and pay reverence to HamanMordecai.

Why did Mordecai disobey the orders of the emperor to do honor to Haman? We are not told, unless Mordecai's bold revelation that he was a Jew had something to do with his reason for disobedience. There is a Jewish tradition (Midrash) that Haman wore an image of an idol on his clothing, and Mordecai disobeyed considering such obeisance tantamount to idolatry. It is possible that promotion to second in the kingdom would bring with it the office of high-priest to the pagan religion of Persia. It has also been suggested that advancement to the second highest position in the empire may have caused Haman to claim divine honors for himself. We know that men in high positions of other empires did claim deity and demand worship from their subjects. Daniel's three Hebrew companions were thrown into Nebuhadnezzar's fiery furnace for refusing to worship the emperor's image.
All the other gate-keepers of the king's palace were obeying the king's commandment. The word for commandment is mitzevath in Hebrew and not the word dath (law) which we had in chapter one. Mordecai's contemporaries seem very anxious to protect Haman's honor. Their concern was very plainly prompted by jealousy. At first they probably said to themselves, How does Mordecai get by without humbling himself before Haman, the low-born upstart, when we have to bow down and demonstrate servility every time Haman passes by this gate? They thought Mordecai esteemed himself better than they. These gate-keepers kept badgering Mordecai for some explanation as to why he did not show reverence to Haman until Mordecai told them he was a Jew. That was his excuse. Perhaps Mordecai added more than is recorded; perhaps he told them of his religious scruples. Whatever the case, the gate-keepers made it a point to inform Haman of Mordecai's disobedience to the royal edict. The text says they wanted to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand. The word translated matters is davar in Hebrew and means fundamentally, speech, word. Davar may also mean business, occupation, reason or cause. Apparently, these contemporaries were anxious to see if Mordecai's reason (Jewishness) was sufficient to keep Haman from taking his position of gate-keeper away from him.

Esther 3:5-6 Indignation of Haman: Apparently Haman was not aware of Mordecai's irreverence until told by the other gatekeepers. When Haman saw it for himself he was infuriated. The Hebrew word chemah is translated wrath and means literally, on fire, inflamed, burning with anger. It is the same word used to describe Nebuchadnezzar's anger (Daniel 3:13; Daniel 3:19) when the Hebrews would not bow down and worship his image. The LXX (Septuagint) describes Haman's wrath with the Greek word sphodra which means vehement, exceedingly. Haman dismissed the idea of taking out his rage on just one Jew. He wanted every Jew in the empire of Persia to die because Mordecai refused to show him honor.

Mordecai's insult was based on his ethnic originhe would not do obeisance because he was a Jew. Perhaps if Mordecai had offered some other excuse Haman might have demanded only the life of Mordecai. Jewish commentators see anti-Semitism as Haman's basic motive rather than wounded pride. It is very evident that Haman's first reaction was from wounded pride. And if one Jew refused to honor Haman's position, they all would, reasoned Haman, therefore they shall all be slain.