Esther — Chapter 3

Post haec rex Assuerus exaltavit Aman

Haman was an Amalekite of royal lineage — for Agag was king of Amalek, whom Samuel ordered slain (1 Reg. 15). Although by paternal lineage he was an Amalekite, by fatherland he was a Macedonian; for after the Amalekites were largely slain, partly by Saul and partly by Nebuchadnezzar, Haman's parents fled to other nations and eventually settled in Macedonia and begot Haman there. The Chaldean manuscript adds that Haman had been a slave, which explained why, when elevated by Assuerus, he became puffed up and insufferable. As Proverbs 30:21-22 says: \"Through three things the earth is moved, and a fourth it cannot bear: through a slave when he reigns,\" etc.

Cunctique servi regis, etc., flectebant genua

See here how greatly Assuerus exalted Haman, ordering him to be worshiped like some god or divine being. For the Persian kings wished to be adored as gods and divine beings; hence just as Jupiter in heaven is said to create lesser gods, so Assuerus created Haman as a lesser earthly god, next to himself, and therefore to be worshiped by all. Mordecai alone would not bend the knee or adore him. The true reason why Mordecai refused to kneel before Haman is assigned by Mordecai himself in ch. 13 v. 14: \"I feared lest I should transfer the honor of my God to a man, and lest I should adore anyone except my God.\" For the Persian kings demanded divine honor and adoration due to God from their subjects, as is evident from Justin bk. VI, Herodotus bk. VII, Q. Curtius on Darius, Aeschylus who said the Persians regard their kings as gods, and many others. Hence when Alexander the Great wanted to require the same prostration, a Macedonian rebel Hermolaus said: \"You delight in Persian dress and discipline, you loathe ancestral customs; we wished to kill you therefore as the king of Persians, not Macedonians.\"

Dixerat enim eis se esse Judaeum

Mordecai had told them he was a Jew, and therefore by Jewish religion and law forbidden to worship any man but God alone — whereas the Persians and other Gentiles worshiped even men, especially their kings, as though they were gods. It is plausible that Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Zerubbabel, and other Hebrews in the courts of those kings similarly told the kings they were Jews, to whom it was not lawful to adore anyone but God.

Magisque voluit omnem Judaeorum, qui erant

The word \"more\" implies that Haman had already previously wanted to destroy Mordecai and the Jews, because Mordecai had accused his two eunuch friends and had them crucified. Now, with added injury and what he considered contempt of himself, confirmed in his design, he wished even more to exterminate them. Note first the pride and cruelty of Haman, who because of one Mordecai wished to kill all the Jews utterly innocent: \"Only Mordecai has offended you, O Haman; pursue him alone if you will — why do you pour out your wrath on all the Jews who have not offended you?\" Note second the great dignity of Mordecai, that on his account Haman decreed the destruction of the whole Jewish race, because Mordecai was their leader and captain, as it were a prince.

Missa est sors in urnam, quae Hebraice

A lot was cast into the urn — in Hebrew called \"phur\" — before Haman, to determine which day and which month the Jewish race should be killed. \"Phur\" is a Persian word, while \"goral\" is the Hebrew word for \"lot.\" Some think \"phur\" is not Persian but Hebrew, from the root \"to fall,\" because the lot falls and tumbles into the urn. The Persians used the lot as a kind of divination to discover hidden and dangerous things, as was done in Jon. 1. As St. Augustine says in Ps. 30: \"A lot is something in human uncertainty that indicates the divine will.\" Hence Cicero in De Divinatione calls lots \"things founded on prophecy.\" But this superstition deceived Haman — it postponed the time of the Jews' slaughter, giving Esther an interval to avert it. For if he had immediately executed the plan after receiving the king's license, he would have killed all the Jews. God therefore frustrated his cruel counsel. The sense is: Haman cast the lot in order to learn from it as from a divine oracle which day would be suitable for the slaughter of the Jews, propitious and favorable to himself. From \"phur\" (lot) the feast of the Jews was named \"Purim\" (lots), on which they gave thanks to God for having freed them from the evil lot of destruction that Haman had cast against them.

Si tibi placet, decerne ut pereat, et

If it please the king, let it be decreed that they perish, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the treasury. This amounts to five million gold pieces if Attic talents are meant; if Hebrew talents, the sum would be double, namely ten million gold pieces. This is an enormous price, but Haman could easily collect it from the goods of the Jews already destined for his plunder. He offered this to Darius because he knew that Nilus (Darius, so named by the Persians for his love of gold) had imposed heavy tribute on Persians and Jews — so that the king would not complain of losing the tribute that the Jews used to pay, Haman promises to make up this loss through the millions. If the king should honorably refuse this money (as he in fact did), Haman planned to divert it to his own use, so as to become formidable to the whole realm and even to Darius himself, and if the opportunity arose, to raise an army and seize the throne.

Tulit ergo rex annulum quo utebatur

The king took off his signet ring and gave it to Haman, so that Haman himself might draw up the decree against the Jews in whatever form he wished and seal it with the royal ring, as though it came from the king. Hence when Alexander the Great defeated Darius, he sealed his letters to the Asians with the ring he had taken from Darius, thereby signifying that he was now king of Asia. And when dying and giving his ring to Perdiccas, he thereby designated him as king.

A puero usque ad senem, parvulos et mulieres

This was the barbarous cruelty of Haman, who destined all the Jews including innocent women and children to death — lest any of them growing to manhood should avenge this massacre of his race and seek Haman's head. The same is done by the Japanese and other barbarians.

Festinabant cursores, qui missi erant

Cyrus had established couriers who at fixed places and hours would exchange tired horses and riders for fresh ones, and thus carry the royal letters faster than cranes fly, as Xenophon says. In Persian these couriers were called \"Angari.\" From this comes the word \"angarize,\" meaning \"to compel\" (Matt. 5:41). Scaliger suspects that \"Angels\" (messengers) derived their name from \"Angari\" by the interchange of r and l.