Esther 3

Es 3:1-15.

HAMAN,

ADVANCED BY THE

KING, AND

DESPISED BY

MORDECAI,

SEEKS

REVENGE ON

ALL THE

JEWS.

1. After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman . . . set his

seat above all the princes--that is, raised him to the rank of vizier,

or prime confidential minister, whose pre-eminence in office and power

appeared in the elevated state chair appropriated to that supreme

functionary. Such a distinction in seats was counted of vast importance

in the formal court of Persia.

2. all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and

reverenced Haman--Large mansions in the East are entered by a spacious

vestibule, or gateway, along the sides of which visitors sit, and are

received by the master of the house; for none, except the nearest

relatives or special friends, are admitted farther. There the officers

of the ancient king of Persia waited till they were called, and did

obeisance to the all-powerful minister of the day.

But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence--The obsequious homage of

prostration not entirely foreign to the manners of the East, had not

been claimed by former viziers; but this minion required that all

subordinate officers of the court should bow before him with their

faces to the earth. But to Mordecai, it seemed that such an attitude of

profound reverence was due only to God. Haman being an Amalekite, one

of a doomed and accursed race, was, doubtless, another element in the

refusal; and on learning that the recusant was a Jew, whose

nonconformity was grounded on religious scruples, the magnitude of the

affront appeared so much the greater, as the example of Mordecai would

be imitated by all his compatriots. Had the homage been a simple token

of civil respect, Mordecai would not have refused it; but the Persian

kings demanded a sort of adoration, which, it is well known, even the

Greeks reckoned it degradation to express. As Xerxes, in the height of

his favoritism, had commanded the same honors to be given to the

minister as to himself, this was the ground of Mordecai's refusal.

7. In the first month . . . they cast Pur, that is, the lot--In

resorting to this method of ascertaining the most auspicious day for

putting his atrocious scheme into execution, Haman acted as the kings

and nobles of Persia have always done, never engaging in any enterprise

without consulting the astrologers, and being satisfied as to the lucky

hour. Vowing revenge but scorning to lay hands on a single victim, he

meditated the extirpation of the whole Jewish race, who, he knew, were

sworn enemies of his countrymen; and by artfully representing them as a

people who were aliens in manners and habits, and enemies to the rest

of his subjects, he procured the king's sanction of the intended

massacre. One motive which he used in urging his point was addressed to

the king's cupidity. Fearing lest his master might object that the

extermination of a numerous body of his subjects would seriously

depress the public revenue, Haman promised to make up the loss.

9. I will pay ten thousand talents of silver . . . into

the king's treasuries--This sum, reckoning by the Babylonish

talent, will be about £2,119,000; but estimated according to the

Jewish talent, it will considerably exceed £3,000,000, an immense

contribution to be made out of a private fortune. But classic history

makes mention of several persons whose resources seem almost

incredible.

10. the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto

Haman--There was a seal or signet in the ring. The bestowment of

the ring, with the king's name and that of his kingdom engraven on it,

was given with much ceremony, and it was equivalent to putting the sign

manual to a royal edict.

12-15. Then were the king's scribes called . . . and there

was written--The government secretaries were employed in making out

the proclamation authorizing a universal massacre of the Jews on one

day. It was translated into the dialects of all the people throughout

the vast empire, and swift messengers were sent to carry it into all

the provinces. On the day appointed, all Jews were to be put to death

and their property confiscated; doubtless, the means by which Haman

hoped to pay his stipulated tribute into the royal treasury. To us it

appears unaccountable how any sane monarch could have given his consent

to the extirpation of a numerous class of his subjects. But such acts

of frenzied barbarity have, alas! been not rarely authorized by

careless and voluptuous despots, who have allowed their ears to be

engrossed and their policy directed by haughty and selfish minions, who

had their own passions to gratify, their own ends to serve.

15. the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was

perplexed--The completeness of the word-painting in this verse is

exquisite. The historian, by a simple stroke, has drawn a graphic

picture of an Oriental despot, wallowing with his favorite in sensual

enjoyments, while his tyrannical cruelties were rending the hearts and

homes of thousands of his subjects.