Esther 6:6-9

B. Arrogance

TEXT: Esther 6:6-9

6

So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor? Now Haman said in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself?

7

And Haman said unto the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honor,

8

let royal apparel be brought which-' the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and on the head of which a crown royal is set:

9

and let the apparel and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man therewith whom the king delighteth to honor, and cause him to ride on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor.

Today's English Version, Esther 6:6-9

So Haman came in, and the king said to him, There is someone I wish very much to honor. What should I do for this man?
Haman thought to himself, Now who could the king want to honor so much? Me, of course.
So he answered the king, Have royal robes brought for this manrobes that you yourself wear. Have a royal ornament put on your own horse. Then have one of your highest noblemen dress the man in these robes and lead him, mounted on the horse, through the city square. Have the nobleman announce as they go: -See how the king rewards a man he wishes to honor!-'

COMMENTS

Esther 6:6 Immodesty: Haman was a vain man. He was the kind of man who felt insecure unless he was constantly being honored and flattered. He had to have it. But he could not handle flattery. He no doubt thought his promotion (Esther 3:1) and his invitation to the queen's banquet (Esther 5:4) were deserved. His pride made him totally unaware of the possibility that anyone else might deserve to be honored by the emperor. The world is still plagued with a few people like Haman. Regretfully, some of them occasionally surface within the Kingdom of God in spite of Paul's admonition, give preference to one another in honor. (Romans 12:10). There is a difference between pride and proper self-worth. It is false humility when we pretend we do not have a capacity that we do have. Proper self-acceptance does not require one to pretend that he has no capabilities; it only requires that he remember that he did not create his capabilities himself. Real humility walks the fine line between self-abnegation and self-acceptance. That is the line Haman could not walk. He could not humble himself and so he could not accept himself unless he was being constantly applauded and honored by others. Immodesty is the result of a twisted vanity. Pride and vanity come from a fundamental insecurity. Immodest behavior and dress are compensations for a vain insecurity.

Haman rationalized that since he had been so deservedly honored in the last day or two, then the emperor must be preparing to honor him further. In Haman's mind there could be no one else whom the emperor would so delight in honoring.

Esther 6:7-9 Imperiousness: Haman suggests the highest honors he can imagine; he suggests honors befitting an emperor. Such honors as Haman suggests were rarely given by Persian monarchs. They are not totally without parallel, however, as the writings of Plutarch and Herodotus testify. For anyone to wear royal apparel previously worn by the emperor was, under ordinary circumstances, a violation of Persian law. But Herodotus (7:17) points out that the emperor might, in certain circumstances, allow it. Apparently Haman was audacious enough to suggest that the one to be honored should even ride upon the king's very own, favorite horse. The horse was adorned with some type of royal ornament to signify it was the mount which belonged specifically to the emperor and was ridden by him only. Ancient has reliefs of the Assyrians show king's horses with tall pointed ornaments like royal turbans on their heads. It is doubtful that the crown royal is the crown the emperor himself wore since Xerxes would scarcely have allowed such a travesty to be made of the imperial symbol of sovereignty. Actually, the relative pronoun -'asher in the Hebrew text indicates that it is the crown of the horse rather than the crown of the emperor.

Haman's final suggestion was that one of the emperor's highest ranking noblemen should be made valet for the one about to be honored. This nobleman-valet will assist the honored one in properly dressing in the royal robes and he will also go in front of the honored one in a procession through the streets of the great capital city proclaiming that the one sitting on the emperor's horse has been signally honored by the emperor himself. A similar kind of honor was bestowed upon Joseph by the Pharaoh of Egypt (cf. Genesis 41:41-43).

There was probably some expression on the emperor's face indicating that Haman's suggestions were pleasing him. Haman's heart was probably beating rapidly as he anticipated the excitement which would soon be his as he rode through the streets on the emperor's horse.