Esther 3:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we have Haman promoted by the king and then honored by the people. Ahasuerus had recently taken Esther into his favor, but that did not help her relatives. It did not even stop him from promoting a man who was an enemy of her people. When good people rise in power, they still often find they cannot do the good they want, or stop the harm they wish to prevent.

This Haman was an Agagite, an Amalekite, or at least descended from Agag, a name linked with the rulers of Amalek. Some think he was a prince by birth, like Jehoiachin, whose seat was set above the other captive kings (2 Kings 25:28). The king took a liking to him, and princes do not have to explain why they favor someone. He made Haman his favorite, his trusted counselor, and his chief minister. Such power court favor had at that time, that all the people bowed before this rising sun, and the king’s servants were ordered to bow to him and show him respect (Esther 3:2).

It is hard to see what the king found admirable or deserving in Haman. He was not a man of honor or justice, and he showed no steady courage or wise judgment. He was proud, hot-tempered, and eager for revenge. Yet he was promoted and flattered, and no one in the kingdom was greater than he. A ruler’s favorites are not always worthy men.

Mordecai stood firm on his principles and refused to honor Haman as the other servants did (Esther 3:2). His friends urged him to comply, reminding him of the king’s command and the danger he faced if he refused. Since Haman was so arrogant, Mordecai’s life was in real danger (Esther 3:3). They spoke to him every day (Esther 3:4), trying to persuade him, but he would not listen. He told them plainly that he was a Jew and could not do it in good conscience.

People likely took his refusal in the worst possible way. Some would say he was proud or jealous, unwilling to honor Haman because he himself had not been advanced through Esther’s family connection. Others may have thought him disloyal to the king, or simply awkward and overly particular. No one else seems to have objected, but Mordecai’s refusal was still godly, careful, and pleasing to God.

A Jew’s faith would not allow him to give such extreme honor to any mere man, especially such a wicked man as Haman. In the apocryphal additions to this book, Mordecai speaks to God about this matter and says, in effect, that he refused not out of pride, but so he would not put human glory above God’s glory. He says he would not worship anyone but God. More than that, he saw it as wrong to show such honor to an Amalekite, one of the people God had said he would fight against forever (Exodus 17:16), and of whom he had given the warning, “Remember what Amalek did” (Deuteronomy 25:17). Religion does not destroy good manners. It teaches us to give honor where honor is due. Still, a citizen of Zion treats a vile man like Haman with contempt, not respect (Psalm 15:4).

Let those who live by conscience remain steady and firm, even when others blame or threaten them, as Mordecai was.

Haman then began to plan revenge. Some who wanted to win his favor pointed out Mordecai’s disrespect, waiting to see whether Haman would bend or break (Esther 3:4). Then Haman noticed it himself and burned with anger (Esther 3:5). A gentle and humble man would have ignored the slight and said, “Let him have his way. What does it hurt me?” But Haman’s proud spirit exploded. He became restless and furious, and everyone around him felt it too.

It was quickly decided that Mordecai must die. The man who would not bow to Haman must lose his head. If Haman could not have his honor, he would have blood. In this court, refusing to honor Haman was treated as a capital offense, just as refusing to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image had been. Mordecai was an important man, holding a place of honor, and he was also Queen Esther’s cousin. Yet Haman counted his life as nothing compared with the insult he had suffered.

He therefore planned to destroy all Mordecai’s people because Mordecai was a Jew, and that was the reason he had given for refusing to bow. This shows Haman’s unbearable pride, his ruthless cruelty, and the old hatred of an Amalekite against God’s people. Saul son of Kish, a Benjamite, had spared Agag, but Mordecai son of Kish, also a Benjamite (Esther 2:5), would find no mercy from this Agagite. Haman intended to destroy all the Jews throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus (Esther 3:6). That likely included even those who had returned to their own land, since it was still under the king’s rule. “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation” (Psalm 83:4). His wish was like Nero’s cruel desire, that they all had only one neck.