Why did Haman want to destroy the Jews?
Haman is promoted above all the princes, and when one Jew will not bow, his wrath swells from a man to a nation. He buys a decree to annihilate them, and the king signs it without a thought.
This question arose from studying How did a Jewish exile become queen of Persia?.
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What the Scripture says
A man lifted up
After these things the king promoted Haman above all the princes, and set his seat above them all. Pride is the soil and the offense is the seed. From the height of his station, Haman cannot bear one person who will not honor him.
After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.
One Jew would not bow
All the king's servants bowed to Haman, for the king had commanded it, but Mordecai did not bow or pay him homage. Mordecai bows to God alone, and that refusal is the spark of the whole plot.
All the king’s servants who were in the king’s gate bowed down, and paid homage to Haman; for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai didn’t bow down or pay him homage.
Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily to him, and he didn’t listen to them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew.
Wrath against a people
When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow, he was full of wrath, but he scorned to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Because Mordecai was a Jew, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews throughout the kingdom. Contempt for one becomes hatred for all.
When Haman saw that Mordecai didn’t bow down, nor pay him homage, Haman was full of wrath. But he scorned the thought of laying hands on Mordecai alone, for they had made known to him Mordecai’s people. Therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even Mordecai’s people.
A decree to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews
Haman tells the king the people keep different laws and are not worth keeping, and offers ten thousand talents of silver for the deed. The king gives his signet and the letters go out 'to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews,' young and old, in a single day.
Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different than other people’s. They don’t keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not for the king’s profit to allow them to remain. If it pleases the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who are in charge of the king’s business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”
Letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder their possessions.
The king and Haman sat down to drink
With the decree sent, 'the king and Haman sat down to drink,' but the city of Susa was perplexed. The men who signed the death warrant feast, and the people marked for death sit in confusion. The silence of God is never the end of the story.
The couriers went out in haste by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given out in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Shushan was perplexed.
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What did Esther risk to save her people?→“For if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows if you haven’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this?””How did the king's sleepless night save a nation?→“On that night, the king couldn’t sleep. He commanded the book of records of the chronicles to be brought, and they were read to the king.”How did the tables turn on Haman?→“So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.”What is the feast of Purim?→“as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending presents of food to one another, and gifts to the needy.”How does Esther point to Christ?→““Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I and my maidens will also fast the same way. Then I will go in to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.””How does the book of Esther point forward to the greater exodus?→“Letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder their possessions.”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
Letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder their possessions.
But he scorned the thought of laying hands on Mordecai alone, for they had made known to him Mordecai’s people. Therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even Mordecai’s people.
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