Esther 6 Study Notes

6:10-11 For Haman, events began to spin out of control. The greatest honor Haman could imagine receiving was bestowed on Mordecai the Jew, his enemy whom he had planned to hang that day.

6:12-13 To cover one’s head was a sign of mourning (Jr 14:4). While no one had died, Haman was mourning his humiliation. The previous advice of Haman’s wife and friends (5:14), who were presumably his advisers (lit “his wise ones,” Hb chakamim), had been given as they offered a solution to Haman’s problem with Mordecai. But now their counsel was ominous: once a person stumbles before a Jew, there is no hope. Why so? The text does not say. Some suggest that Haman’s advisers were aware of Cyrus’s decree (Ezr 1:1-11) that had allowed the exiles to return home and reestablish themselves in Jerusalem. Or maybe the Jews had told their Persian friends about Balaam’s oracle that prophesied blessings on the Jews in place of the curses sought by their enemies (Nm 24:1-10) or about how God had intervened for his people against genocidal Egyptian oppressors (Nm 24:8-9). This is how the Aramaic Targums understood it. On “Targums,” see note at 1:10-12.

6:14 Haman had no time to react to their counsel because he was rushed to the banquet Esther had prepared. It is significant that this is the fourth mention of Haman “rushing” or “hurrying” in the last two chapters (see vv. 10,12,14; 5:5). Previously he was in charge; at this point he was caught up in the rapid events of the moment.