Esther 3

General context

King Ahasuerus promotes Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite and sets his seat above all the princes. At the king's command the servants in the king's gate bow to Haman, but Mordecai does not bow. The servants ask him daily why he transgresses the king's commandment; when he does not listen they tell Haman, since he has told them he is a Jew. Haman, seeing that Mordecai does not bow, is full of wrath, scorns to lay hands on Mordecai alone, and seeks to destroy all the Jews throughout the kingdom. In the first month, Nisan, of the king's twelfth year, Pur, that is the lot, is cast before Haman from day to day and month to month until the twelfth month, Adar. Haman tells the king of a certain people scattered through the provinces whose laws differ and who do not keep the king's laws, asks that it be written that they be destroyed, and offers ten thousand talents of silver. The king takes his ring from his hand and gives it to Haman, whom the narrator calls the Jews' enemy, and tells him the silver and the people are his to do with as he sees fit. On the thirteenth day of the first month the scribes write in the king's name to every province and people, and posts carry letters to destroy, kill and cause to perish all Jews, young and old, little children and women, on the thirteenth of Adar, and to take their spoil. The posts go out in haste, the decree is given in Shushan the palace, the king and Haman sit down to drink, and the city Shushan is perplexed.

Cited passages: Esther 3:1, Esther 3:2, Esther 3:3, Esther 3:4, Esther 3:5, Esther 3:6, Esther 3:7, Esther 3:8, Esther 3:9, Esther 3:10, Esther 3:11, Esther 3:12, Esther 3:13, Esther 3:14, Esther 3:15

Esther 3 (KJV)

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Historical context

Haman is identified as the son of Hammedatha the Agagite; the book uses the term Agagite several times but does not explain it. The narrator gives no reason for Mordecai's refusal to bow; the servants' report links it to his being a Jew, because Mordecai had told them so. The narrator, not any character, labels Haman the Jews' enemy. In his speech to the king Haman never names the people he describes, and the king never asks who they are; the decree is sealed on the strength of that description. The king's reply that the silver is given to Haman leaves it unclear whether the payment is accepted or waived; Mordecai later speaks of the sum Haman had promised to pay. The time markers are the first month, Nisan, of the twelfth year of the reign, five years after Esther became queen in the seventh year, and the scribes write on the thirteenth day of that month. The lot fixes the twelfth month, Adar, and the decree names the thirteenth day of Adar. The letters are written in the king's name and sealed with his ring, which the king has handed to Haman. The terms of the decree are stated without softening: all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, with their spoil for a prey. The chapter says nothing of Esther, and the narrator reports only that the city Shushan was perplexed.

Cited passages: Esther 3:1, Esther 3:2, Esther 3:4, Esther 3:10, Esther 3:8, Esther 3:11, Esther 4:7, Esther 3:7, Esther 2:16, Esther 3:12, Esther 3:13, Esther 3:15

Literary context

The chapter opens with the same words as the previous one, after these things, and turns from a promotion to a plan of destruction in six verses. Mordecai's refusal is stated twice in identical words, that he bowed not nor did him reverence, first as narrated fact and then as what Haman sees. The escalation is explicit: Haman thinks it scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone and so seeks to destroy the whole people. Haman's speech to the king is vague and framed around the king's profit, and the king's answer gives away both silver and people in one sentence without inquiry. The formal language of the decree, to lieutenants, governors and rulers, to every province according to its writing and every people after its language, repeats the pattern of the letters about husbands in the first chapter and returns when the counter-decree is written. The threefold phrase to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish is later echoed by Esther and by the second decree. The lot cast here supplies the name Purim near the end of the book. The chapter closes on a sharp contrast in a single verse, the king and Haman sitting down to drink while the city is perplexed.

Cited passages: Esther 3:1, Esther 2:1, Esther 3:2, Esther 3:5, Esther 3:6, Esther 3:8, Esther 3:11, Esther 3:12, Esther 1:22, Esther 8:9, Esther 3:13, Esther 7:4, Esther 8:11, Esther 9:26, Esther 3:15

Key moments

1. Haman promoted (Esther 3:1). The king sets Haman's seat above all the princes.
2. Mordecai does not bow (Esther 3:2). The servants in the gate bow to Haman, but Mordecai does not.
3. Wrath turns on a whole people (Esther 3:6). Haman scorns to strike Mordecai alone and seeks to destroy all the Jews.
4. The lot is cast (Esther 3:7). Pur is cast before Haman until it falls on the twelfth month, Adar.
5. The king gives his ring (Esther 3:10). The king hands his ring to Haman, the Jews' enemy.
6. Letters of destruction (Esther 3:13). Posts carry letters to kill all Jews on the thirteenth of Adar and take their spoil.
7. Drinking while the city reels (Esther 3:15). The king and Haman sit down to drink while Shushan is perplexed.

For reflection

Haman never names the people he wants destroyed, and the king never asks. What does the chapter show about how a decree of this scale comes to be sealed in one short exchange?

People in this chapter

• Haman
• Mordecai
• Judah

Also indexed here:

• Ahasuerus
• Agag
• Hammedatha