Haman

Biblical Account

Haman first appears in Esther 3. The text introduces him as "Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite" (Esther 3:1). Ahasuerus, king of Persia, set Haman above all the princes, and the king's servants were required to bow to him. Mordecai alone refused to bow (Esther 3:2).

Enraged, Haman resolved to destroy not Mordecai alone but his entire people, the Jews. He had Pur (the lot) cast to fix a day, and it fell on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar (Esther 3:7, 3:13). Haman offered to pay ten thousand talents of silver into the king's treasuries and obtained a decree ordering the destruction of the Jews (Esther 3:9–11). The text repeatedly calls him "the Jews' enemy."

At the urging of his wife Zeresh and his friends, Haman then had a gallows fifty cubits high erected on which to hang Mordecai (Esther 5:14). That night, however, the king could not sleep, and while the court chronicles were being read to him, he learned that Mordecai had once saved his life. Haman was forced to bestow on Mordecai in person the honor he had expected to receive himself (chapter 6). When Esther exposed Haman's plot at her second banquet, Haman was hanged on the very gallows he had prepared for Mordecai (Esther 7:10). His house was given to Esther, and Mordecai received the king's ring (chapter 8). Haman's ten sons were also put to death (Esther 9:7–14). The festival commemorating this deliverance of the Jews is Purim, whose name derives from the "Pur" that Haman cast (Esther 9:24–26).

Significance in Scripture

In the book of Esther, Haman plays the role of the adversary who threatens God's people. The reversal by which his schemes recoil upon himself forms the central structure of the narrative. Because the name of God does not appear explicitly in Esther, many interpreters read Haman's downfall as an illustration of the hidden working of divine providence.

The New Testament neither mentions nor quotes Haman or the book of Esther.

Interpretation and Issues

• The Agagite: Many interpreters connect "Agag" with Agag, king of the Amalekites, in 1 Samuel 15. Mordecai was a Benjamite descended from Kish (Esther 2:5). For this reason, a widespread interpretation sees the conflict between the two men as a continuation of the long-standing hostility between Saul and Agag, that is, between Israel and Amalek. Other scholars, by contrast, take "Agag" as a place name or the name of another family line.
• "Hanging on a tree": The New Korean Revised Version renders the term as "tree" (the KJV has "gallows"). Scholars differ on whether the punishment was hanging on a gallows or impalement on a stake.
• The Greek text: The book of Esther in the Septuagint contains passages not found in the Hebrew text, including one that calls Haman a "Macedonian." The Catholic Church includes these passages in the canon, and they also appear in the Korean Common Translation. Protestants accept only the Hebrew text as canonical.
• Extrabiblical tradition: In Judaism, there is reportedly a custom of making noise to blot out Haman's name whenever it is mentioned during the reading of Esther at Purim. This is a later practice and does not appear in the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

In Korean church preaching, Haman is commonly presented as an example of the end to which pride and envy lead, and Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goeth before destruction," is often cited alongside his story. His account is also treated as a text illustrating God's providence in overturning wicked plans. In Sunday school lessons on the story of Esther, he is presented as the figure opposed to Mordecai and Esther.