Esther 3

Some time later, King Ahasuerus honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite. He raised him to a higher rank and gave him a seat above all the other officials who served with him.

1After 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.

Note"Ahasuerus" is the Hebrew form of the Persian royal name Khshayarsha, which comes into English through Greek as Xerxes; the king is generally identified as Xerxes I, who ruled the Persian empire from 486 to 465 BC. "Agagite" identifies Haman's ancestry: Agag was the king of the Amalekites whom Saul spared and Samuel killed (1 Samuel 15), and the Amalekites were remembered as Israel's oldest enemies. Since Mordecai is introduced in chapter 2 as a descendant of Kish, Saul's father, the two men's family labels set an ancient feud behind the quarrel. The "seat above all the princes" is a literal matter of rank and precedence at court, where where you sat showed your standing.

2All the king's servants at the king's gate knelt down and showed honor to Haman, because the king had ordered this. But Mordecai would not kneel or show him honor.

2And all the king’s servants, that were in the king’s gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.

NoteThe homage in question is the Persian court practice of prostration, kneeling and bowing to the ground before a superior. "The king's gate" was not just a doorway but the gatehouse complex of the palace, the place where royal business was transacted; men "in the king's gate" held official positions there, so Mordecai is a court official refusing an order in public view. The text never says why he refuses.

3So the king's servants at the king's gate asked Mordecai, "Why do you disobey the king's order?"

3Then the king’s servants, which were in the king’s gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king’s commandment?

4They spoke to him about it day after day, but he would not listen to them. So they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's behavior would be allowed to stand, since Mordecai had told them he was a Jew.

4Now 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.

Note"Whether Mordecai's matters would stand" means whether his conduct, and the reason he gave for it, would be allowed to pass. He had told them he was a Jew, and they report this along with the refusal, apparently to see whether that answer would be accepted as an excuse.

5When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel or show him honor, he was filled with rage.

5And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.

6But he thought it beneath him to attack Mordecai alone, because he had been told who Mordecai's people were. So Haman looked for a way to destroy all the Jews, Mordecai's people, in the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

6And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.

Note"Thought scorn to lay hands on" is 1611 English for considering something beneath him: killing one man alone seemed too small a response.

7In the first month, the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast the Pur, that is, the lot, in front of Haman. They cast it for each day and each month, and it fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar.

7In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.

Note"Pur" is a foreign word the book itself glosses for its readers as "the lot", a marked object thrown to settle a question by chance, a common way in the ancient Near East of letting a decision fall outside human hands. The festival of Purim, described later in the book, takes its name from this word. Nisan is the first month of the Babylonian-Jewish calendar, falling in March–April; Adar is the twelfth, in February–March. The twelfth year of Xerxes is about 474 BC. Because the lot falls on the last month of the year, the date chosen leaves nearly eleven months before the killing is to take place.

8Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered and spread out among the peoples in every province of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws. It does the king no good to let them stay.

8And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them.

NoteThe word translated "laws" is used in this book both for royal decrees and for a people's own customs and religious practice, so Haman's charge slides between the two: their customs are unlike everyone else's, therefore (he claims) they do not obey the king. He never names the people to the king.

9If it pleases the king, let an order be written that they be destroyed. And I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the men who handle such business, to be brought into the king's treasury."

9If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.

NoteA talent was a unit of weight, roughly 75 pounds (about 34 kilograms) of silver. Ten thousand talents is therefore something like 340 tons, a figure meant to sound staggering. The Greek historian Herodotus put the annual tribute of the whole Persian empire at about 14,500 talents, so Haman is offering a sum in the region of two-thirds of a year's imperial income.

10So the king took his signet ring off his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.

10And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy.

NoteA signet ring carried the king's personal seal; pressing it into wax or clay authenticated a document as the king's own act. Handing it over transfers the power to issue binding orders in the king's name, which is why this gesture matters more than any spoken permission.

11And the king said to Haman, "The silver is yours, and the people are yours too. Do with them whatever you think best."

11And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.

NoteThe king's reply is genuinely ambiguous in the Hebrew and has been read two ways: either "keep your silver" (a refusal of the payment) or "the silver is granted to you" (permission to use it as he proposed). The rendering keeps the ambiguity of the original.

12Then, on the thirteenth day of the first month, the king's secretaries were called in. Everything Haman ordered was written down for the king's satraps, for the governors over each province, and for the officials of each people. It was written for each province in its own script and for each people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's signet ring.

12Then were the king’s scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king’s ring.

Note"Satraps" were the governors of the great provinces of the Persian empire, the highest regional officials, with lesser governors and local officials under them. The empire ran on written orders copied out by professional scribes into the many scripts and languages of its subject peoples; that multilingual bureaucracy is what is being described here.

13The letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces, ordering that all Jews be destroyed, killed, and wiped out, young and old, little children and women, on one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and that their goods be taken as plunder.

13And the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.

Note"Posts" are couriers. The Persian empire maintained a relay system of mounted messengers along its royal roads, famous in the ancient world for its speed. "To take the spoil of them for a prey" means the victims' property is offered to the killers as plunder, an incentive written into the order.

14A copy of the document was to be issued as law in every province and made known to all the peoples, so that they would be ready for that day.

14The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day.

NoteThe written order is to be published as law in each province in advance, so that the population knows the date and is prepared to act on it.

15The couriers went out, hurried along by the king's command, and the order was issued in the fortress of Shushan. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Shushan was thrown into confusion.

15The posts went out, being hastened by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed.

Note"Shushan the palace" is the fortified citadel of Susa, the raised royal compound, distinct from the ordinary city below it, which is named separately at the end of the verse. "Perplexed" in 1611 English means thrown into confusion or agitation, not merely puzzled. The contrast is deliberate: the two men who issued the order sit down to drink while the city around them reels.