Esther — Chapter 12

Datis pro delatione muneribus

Gifts were given him for the information — these were small and of little value; for afterward greater ones were given, as is clear from ch. 6 v. 3. Or this is a prolepsis (anticipation): these gifts seem to have been given to Mordecai not immediately after the disclosure but long after, when the king reading the Annals understood that no reward had been given Mordecai for his disclosure, as narrated in ch. 6 v. 3.

Aman vero filius Amadathi Bugaeus erat

Why is Haman called \"Bugaeus\"? Some say: \"Bugaeus\" means \"son of Bogis.\" For Xerxes held Bogis in great honor (Herodotus bk. VII and VIII), and Bogis too was a Macedonian, as Haman was, as is clear from Herodotus saying he was from the city of Sion, that is, Amphipolis, a city of Macedonia near the river Arymon. More correctly, \"Bugaeus\" or \"Ugaeus\" is the same as \"Agagaeus,\" i.e., descended from the race of Agag king of Amalek — as is clear from the Septuagint rendering at ch. 2:1 \"of the race of Agag\" as \"Bugaeus,\" for from Agag dropping the first aleph we get Gag or Gog, and from Gog comes Gogeus, then Bogeus or Bugeus. For the letter b is sometimes interchanged with g, as St. Jerome in Hebrew Places attests. Alternatively \"Bugaeus\" might be not a proper name but an appellative from Greek βοῦς (ox) and εύχομαι (to boast), meaning one who boasts in bovine, i.e., immense, fashion — a title fitting Haman, who as Homer says was a βυγάστης, meaning a great boaster.