Esther 2:21–3:6
One day as Mordecai was on duty at the king’s gate [This position indicates that Mordecai is associated with the decision-makers and men of influence in the kingdom], two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthana and Teresh—who were guards at the door of the king’s private quarters—became angry at King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him. But Mordecai heard about the plot and gave the information to Queen Esther. She then told the king about it and gave Mordecai credit for the report. When an investigation was made and Mordecai’s story was found to be true, the two men were impaled on a sharpened pole. This was all recorded in The Book of the History of King Xerxes’ Reign.
Some time later King Xerxes promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite over all the other nobles, making him the most powerful official in the empire. [The author wants us to notice the lineage of Haman in comparison to Mordecai. Haman is a descendant of Agag, who was the king of the Amalekites, Israel’s sworn enemy for generations. The conflict between the Israelites and the Amalekites can be traced back all the way to Jacob and Esau.]
All the king’s officials would bow down before Haman to show him respect whenever he passed by, for so the king had commanded. But Mordecai refused to bow down or show him respect.
Then the palace officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why are you disobeying the king’s command?” They spoke to him day after day, but still he refused to comply with the order. So they spoke to Haman about this to see if he would tolerate Mordecai’s conduct, since Mordecai had told them he was a Jew.
When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was filled with rage. [Haman is extremely proud and insecure; he can only consider himself successful if everyone else thinks he is a success.] He had learned of Mordecai’s nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes.
RESPONSE
- Haman’s wounded pride drives him to lash out not only against the person threatening his pride (Mordecai), but he takes it several notches further and makes the call to wipe out all Jewish people. Why do you think Haman reacts so irrationally?
2. How does the lineage of Haman and Mordecai connect the book of Esther to the big picture narrative of the Bible?