Esther 3:1

1 After these things hath the king Ahasuerus exalted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and lifteth him up, and setteth his throne above all the heads who [are] with him,

Esther 3:1 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 3:1

After these things
After the marriage of Esther, and the discovery of the conspiracy to take away the king's life, five years after, as Aben Ezra observe, at least more than four years, for so it appears from ( Esther 3:7 )

did King Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite;
whom both the Targums make to descend from Amalek, and to be of the stock or family of Agag, the common name of the kings of Amalek; and so Josephus ^F7; but this is not clear and certain; in the apocryphal Esther he is said to be a Macedonian; and Sulpitius the historian says

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 he was a Persian, which is not improbable; and Agag might be the name of a family or city in Persia, of which he was; and Aben Ezra observes, that some say he is the same with Memucan, see ( Esther 1:14 ) ,

and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with
him;
erected a throne for him, higher than the rest, either of his own princes and nobles, or such as were his captives, see ( 2 Kings 25:28 ) . It was the custom of the kings of Persia, which it is probable was derived from Cyrus, to advance those to the highest seats they thought best deserved it: says he to his nobles, let there be seats with you as with me, and let the best be honoured before others;--and again, let all the best of those present be honoured with seats above others ^F9.

F7 Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 11. c. 6.) sect. 5.
F8 Hist. Sacr. l. 2. p. 78.
F9 Xenophon, Cyropaedia, l. 8. c. 41.

Esther 3:1 In-Context

1 After these things hath the king Ahasuerus exalted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and lifteth him up, and setteth his throne above all the heads who [are] with him,

2 and all servants of the king, who [are] in the gate of the king, are bowing and doing obeisance to Haman, for so hath the king commanded for him; and Mordecai doth not bow nor do obeisance.

3 And the servants of the king, who [are] in the gate of the king, say to Mordecai, `Wherefore [art] thou transgressing the command of the king?'

4 And it cometh to pass, in their speaking unto him, day by day, and he hath not hearkened unto them, that they declare [it] to Haman, to see whether the words of Mordecai do stand, for he hath declared to them that he [is] a Jew.

5 And Haman seeth that Mordecai is not bowing and doing obeisance to him, and Haman is full of fury,