King James Version
Esther 3
15 verses with commentary
Haman's Plot to Destroy the Jews
After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.</strong> The phrase "after these things" marks the transition to Esther's central conflict. Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite to the highest position in the empire, "above all the princes." The designation "Agagite" is theolo...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
III.
(1) **Haman . . . the Agagite.**—Nothing appears to be known of Haman save from this book. His name, as well as that of his father and his sons, is Persian; and it is thus difficult to see the meaning of the name *Agagite.* which has generally been assumed to imply descent from Agag, king of the Amalekites, with whom the name Agag *may* have been dynastic (Numbers 24:7; 1Samuel 15:8). Thus Jo...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6-9. the queen also sitting by him--**As the Persian monarchs did not admit their wives to be present at their state festivals, this must have been a private occasion. The queen referred to was probably Esther, whose presence would tend greatly to embolden Nehemiah in stating his request; and through her influence, powerfully exerted it may be supposed, also by her sympathy with the patriotic de...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
The rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
--The work was divided, so that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it, with a desire to excel; yet without contention, or separate interests. No strife appears among them, but which should do most for the public good. Every Israelite should lend a hand toward the building up of Jerusalem. Let not nobles think any thing below them...
Read full commentary →And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.</strong> The king commanded all officials to bow and reverence Haman, and everyone complied—except Mordecai. His refusal to bow (<em>kara</em>, כָּרַע) or show reverence (<em>shachah</em>, שָׁחָה, the word also ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Bowed not.**—Perhaps, rather, *did not prostrate himself,* for such was the ordinary Eastern practice (see Herod. iii. 86, vii. 7, 34, 136, viii. 118). The objection on Mordecai’s part was evidently mainly on religious grounds, as giving to a man Divine honours (Josephus *l.c.*)*,* for it elicits from him the fact that he was a Jew (Esther 3:4), to whom such an act of obeisance would be abho...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6-9. the queen also sitting by him--**As the Persian monarchs did not admit their wives to be present at their state festivals, this must have been a private occasion. The queen referred to was probably Esther, whose presence would tend greatly to embolden Nehemiah in stating his request; and through her influence, powerfully exerted it may be supposed, also by her sympathy with the patriotic de...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
The rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
--The work was divided, so that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it, with a desire to excel; yet without contention, or separate interests. No strife appears among them, but which should do most for the public good. Every Israelite should lend a hand toward the building up of Jerusalem. Let not nobles think any thing below them...
Read full commentary →Then the king's servants, which were in the king's gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then the king's servants, which were in the king's gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment?</strong> Fellow officials challenged Mordecai's disobedience, asking why he "transgressed" (<em>avar</em>, עָבַר) the royal command. Their question suggests either genuine puzzlement or pressure to conform. Public refusal of the king's explicit command constituted ser...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. Sanballat the Horonite--**Horonaim being a town in Moab, this person, it is probable, was a Moabite.
**Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite--**The term used indicates him to have been a freed slave, elevated to some official dignity. These were district magistrates under the government of the satrap of Syria; and they seem to have been leaders of the Samaritan faction.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
The rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
--The work was divided, so that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it, with a desire to excel; yet without contention, or separate interests. No strife appears among them, but which should do most for the public good. Every Israelite should lend a hand toward the building up of Jerusalem. Let not nobles think any thing below them...
Read full commentary →Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew.</strong> The officials pressured Mordecai "daily," but he refused to comply. Finally they reported him to Haman "to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand"—testing whether his stated reason (bei...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Whether Mordecai’s matters would stand.**—This should be, his *words:* whether his statement that he belonged to a nation who might only pay such reverence to God, would hold good.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11-12. So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days--**Deeply affected with the desolations of Jerusalem, and uncertain what course to follow, he remained three days before informing any one of the object of his mission [Ne 2:17, 18]. At the end of the third day, accompanied with a few attendants, he made, under covert of night, a secret survey of the walls and gates [Ne 2:13-15].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
The rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
--The work was divided, so that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it, with a desire to excel; yet without contention, or separate interests. No strife appears among them, but which should do most for the public good. Every Israelite should lend a hand toward the building up of Jerusalem. Let not nobles think any thing below them...
Read full commentary →And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.</strong> Haman's response to Mordecai's refusal was rage—"full of wrath" (<em>male Haman chemah</em>, מָלֵא הָמָן חֵמָה), literally "Haman was filled with rage." This intense emotional response to one man's defiance reveals Haman's pride and insecurity. A truly secure leader wouldn't be devasta...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11-12. So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days--**Deeply affected with the desolations of Jerusalem, and uncertain what course to follow, he remained three days before informing any one of the object of his mission [Ne 2:17, 18]. At the end of the third day, accompanied with a few attendants, he made, under covert of night, a secret survey of the walls and gates [Ne 2:13-15].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
The rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
--The work was divided, so that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it, with a desire to excel; yet without contention, or separate interests. No strife appears among them, but which should do most for the public good. Every Israelite should lend a hand toward the building up of Jerusalem. Let not nobles think any thing below them...
Read full commentary →And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.</strong> Haman's rage escalated from personal vendetta to genocide. Killing Mordecai alone seemed insufficient—"he thought scorn" (<em>vayiven be-einav</em>, וַיִ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13-15. I went out by night by the gate of the valley--**that is, the Jaffa gate, near the tower of Hippicus.
**even before the dragon well--**that is, fountain on the opposite side of the valley.
**and to the dung port--**the gate on the east of the city, through which there ran a common sewer to the brook Kedron and the valley of Hinnom.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
The rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
--The work was divided, so that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it, with a desire to excel; yet without contention, or separate interests. No strife appears among them, but which should do most for the public good. Every Israelite should lend a hand toward the building up of Jerusalem. Let not nobles think any thing below them...
Read full commentary →In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.</strong> Haman used divination—casting "Pur" (פּוּר, the Akkadian word for "lot")—to determine the auspicious date for destroying the Jews. The practice of casting lots for...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **In the first month** . . . **the twelfth year.**—In the March or April of 474 B.C.
**Nisan.**—The later name of the month, known in the Pentateuch as Abib. In this month the Passover had been first instituted, when God smote the Egyptians with a terrible visitation, the death of the first-born, and bade the destroying angel spare the houses with the blood-besprinkled door-posts. It was in th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13-15. I went out by night by the gate of the valley--**that is, the Jaffa gate, near the tower of Hippicus.
**even before the dragon well--**that is, fountain on the opposite side of the valley.
**and to the dung port--**the gate on the east of the city, through which there ran a common sewer to the brook Kedron and the valley of Hinnom.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
The rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
--The work was divided, so that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it, with a desire to excel; yet without contention, or separate interests. No strife appears among them, but which should do most for the public good. Every Israelite should lend a hand toward the building up of Jerusalem. Let not nobles think any thing below them...
Read full commentary →And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them. for the: Heb. meet or, equal, etc
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KJV Study Commentary
Haman's accusation: <strong>'And Haman said unto the king, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them'</strong>. Haman's genocidal proposal disguises antisemitism as state security concern. He ide...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **A certain people scattered abroad . . .**—A certain part of the nation had returned with Zerub-babel, but (Ezra 2:64) these only amounted to 42,360, so that the great majority of the nation had preferred to stay comfortably where they were in the various districts of the Persian Empire.
**Neither keep they** **. . .**—The charge of disloyalty has been a favourite weapon in the hands of perse...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13-15. I went out by night by the gate of the valley--**that is, the Jaffa gate, near the tower of Hippicus.
**even before the dragon well--**that is, fountain on the opposite side of the valley.
**and to the dung port--**the gate on the east of the city, through which there ran a common sewer to the brook Kedron and the valley of Hinnom.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
The rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
--The work was divided, so that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it, with a desire to excel; yet without contention, or separate interests. No strife appears among them, but which should do most for the public good. Every Israelite should lend a hand toward the building up of Jerusalem. Let not nobles think any thing below them...
Read full commentary →If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king's treasuries. that they: Heb. to destroy them pay: Heb. weigh
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them.</strong> Haman's accusation against the Jews is masterfully manipulative. He doesn't name them ("a certain p...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Ten thousand talents of silver.**—This would be about two and a half millions sterling, being indeed more than two-thirds of the whole annual revenue of the Empire (Herod. iii. 95). Haman may have been a man of excessive wealth (like the Pythius who offered Xerxes four millions of gold darics (Herod. vii. 28), or he probably may have hoped to draw the money from the spoils of the Jews.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16-18. the rulers knew not--**The following day, having assembled the elders, Nehemiah produced his commission and exhorted them to assist in the work. The sight of his credentials, and the animating strain of his address and example, so revived their drooping spirits that they resolved immediately to commence the building, which they did, despite the bitter taunts and scoffing ridicule of some ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
The rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
--The work was divided, so that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it, with a desire to excel; yet without contention, or separate interests. No strife appears among them, but which should do most for the public good. Every Israelite should lend a hand toward the building up of Jerusalem. Let not nobles think any thing below them...
Read full commentary →And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy. enemy: or, oppressor
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.</strong> Ahasuerus removed his signet ring and gave it to Haman, conferring absolute authority to issue decrees in the king's name. The ring represented royal authority—documents sealed with it carried legal force equivalent to the king's personal command. The designation "t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16-18. the rulers knew not--**The following day, having assembled the elders, Nehemiah produced his commission and exhorted them to assist in the work. The sight of his credentials, and the animating strain of his address and example, so revived their drooping spirits that they resolved immediately to commence the building, which they did, despite the bitter taunts and scoffing ridicule of some ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
The rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
--The work was divided, so that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it, with a desire to excel; yet without contention, or separate interests. No strife appears among them, but which should do most for the public good. Every Israelite should lend a hand toward the building up of Jerusalem. Let not nobles think any thing below them...
Read full commentary →And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.</strong> Ahasuerus told Haman to keep the money (Haman had offered 10,000 talents, v. 9) and gave him absolute authority over "the people"—still unnamed, showing the king's shocking indifference to their identity. The phrase "to do with them as it seemeth good to thee" gr...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **And the king said** **. . .**—With indifference which seems incredible, but which is quite in accordance with what we otherwise know of Xerxes, the king simply hands over to his minister the whole nation and their possessions to do with as he will. The king perhaps was glad to throw the cares of government on his minister, and, too indolent to form an opinion for himself, was content to bel...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16-18. the rulers knew not--**The following day, having assembled the elders, Nehemiah produced his commission and exhorted them to assist in the work. The sight of his credentials, and the animating strain of his address and example, so revived their drooping spirits that they resolved immediately to commence the building, which they did, despite the bitter taunts and scoffing ridicule of some ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
The rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
--The work was divided, so that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it, with a desire to excel; yet without contention, or separate interests. No strife appears among them, but which should do most for the public good. Every Israelite should lend a hand toward the building up of Jerusalem. Let not nobles think any thing below them...
Read full commentary →Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring. scribes: or, secretaries
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it writ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **On the thirteenth day of the first month.**—From the next verse we see that the thirteenth of Adar was to be the lucky day for Haman’s purpose, which may have suggested the thirteenth of Nisan as a suitable day for this preliminary step. Bishop Wordsworth reminds us that this day was the eve of the Passover, so that Haman’s plot against the Jews strangely coincides in time with one five hun...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
The rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
--The work was divided, so that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it, with a desire to excel; yet without contention, or separate interests. No strife appears among them, but which should do most for the public good. Every Israelite should lend a hand toward the building up of Jerusalem. Let not nobles think any thing below them...
Read full commentary →And the letters were sent by posts 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 upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.
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KJV Study Commentary
Genocidal decree: <strong>'And the letters were sent by posts 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 upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey'</strong>. The decree orders complete annihilation of all Jews empire-wide o...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Posts.**—Literally, *the runners.* (See Note on Esther 1:22.)
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
The rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
--The work was divided, so that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it, with a desire to excel; yet without contention, or separate interests. No strife appears among them, but which should do most for the public good. Every Israelite should lend a hand toward the building up of Jerusalem. Let not nobles think any thing below them...
Read full commentary →The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day.</strong> The decree was published empire-wide, commanding readiness for the thirteenth of Adar. The phrase "published unto all people" ensured everyone knew the date and authorization for destroying Jews. This public proclamation served multiple...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Copy.**—Heb., *pathshegen.* A Persian word, only occurring here and in Esther 4:8; Esther 8:13.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
The rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
--The work was divided, so that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it, with a desire to excel; yet without contention, or separate interests. No strife appears among them, but which should do most for the public good. Every Israelite should lend a hand toward the building up of Jerusalem. Let not nobles think any thing below them...
Read full commentary →The posts went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The posts went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed.</strong> The messengers departed swiftly, spreading the genocidal decree. The final sentence captures moral contrast: "the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed." While the ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **Perplexed.**—The inhabitants of the capital were puzzled and alarmed, as well they might be, at so marvellously reckless an order. Their sympathies, too, were clearly with the Jews and against Haman. (See Esther 8:15.)
**Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 3 Ne 3:1-32. The Names and Order of Them That Builded the Wall of Jerusalem.
**1. Then Eliashib the high priest--**the grandson of Jeshua, and the first high priest after the return from Babylon.
**rose up with his brethren the priests--**that is, set an example by commencing the work, their labors being confined to the sacred localities.
**and they builded the sheep gate--**close to ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 3
The rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
--The work was divided, so that every one might know what he had to do, and mind it, with a desire to excel; yet without contention, or separate interests. No strife appears among them, but which should do most for the public good. Every Israelite should lend a hand toward the building up of Jerusalem. Let not nobles think any thing below them...
Read full commentary →