Haman's Holocaust, and the gallows we build for others

Where do proverbs come from? From the stories of scheming and imperfect people. A story from the book of Esther.

Proverbs 26:27: “If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it; if a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him.”

When people say karma, they mean odds.

If you do dangerous things, danger will befall you. If you rip people off, people will retaliate. Because you’ll meet your match, eventually, we are counseled against sneaky and deceitful behaviors in the first place.

In the book of Esther, Haman, a top aide to King Xerxes, could’ve benefited from that proverb.

Instead, Haman goes down a dark path, and lets pride turn into a racial hate that consumes him.

It all started with a snub.

“All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded his concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor.”….

Day after day they spoke to him about it, but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.” — Esther 3: 2, 4

If there’s anything people hate more than bowing to another man, it’s bowing to another man when others refuse. When in Persia, do as the Persians do.

Yet here was Mordecai, not only an outsider, but a Jew, refusing to bend the knee.

Esther is the only book of the Bible that does not mention God. Such a mention would have gone a long way in explaining why Mordecai wouldn’t bow to another man.

It would have been a continuation of the battle that’s fought throughout the Old Testament, the God of Israel vs the power of man.

Without mention of God, Mordecai’s obstinance reads as impudence. If we’re not invoking a higher power, even our refusal to defer is seen as just another ego trip.

Haman was not only newly-minted in his seat of honor, he was elevated after King Xerxes killed two officers who plotted against him, Bigthana and Teresh. He was rising to a position of trust just as the king needed new people. He was at the height of his powers.

Yet Mordecai, a Jew who was captured as part of the spoils of Babylon, wouldn’t bow to him.

In his seat of power, Haman looked around and saw one threat. Mordecai.

But Haman didn’t let a personal vendetta remain that. He chose to make it racial. He chose to take class action against the Jews of Persia.

“When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.” — Esther 3:5-6

Haman describes the Israelites in a similar fashion to Pharaoh in Exodus: as a self-interested fifth column, either disloyal or unreliably loyal.

In Exodus 1:9-10, Pharaoh complains that the Israelites have become too numerous, and that “if war breaks out, (they) will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”

In Esther 3, Haman warns Xerxes of “a certain people…whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king’s laws.”

He seeks, and is given, a decree to “destroy them.”

Pharaoh spoke the outlines of the “Jewish problem.” Haman had a final solution.

There’s just one problem. King Xerxes’s wife, Esther, is Jewish.

Two problems, actually: Not only is Esther Jewish, she’s Mordecai’s niece! And because her parents have died, Mordecai is the closest thing she has to a father.

When the decree goes out, Mordecai is sad, and the Jewish community of Persia is distraught. They’re about to be killed.

His niece Esther sees his anguish, and has word sent back about what’s troubling Mordecai.

Mordecai relays a message to Esther, about the danger the community faces. He warns her she’s not exempt.

“Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” — Esther 4:13-14

Esther is often presented as a tale of feminist bravery, a Jewish woman speaking up for her people and avoiding a pre-telling of the Holocaust. And it is that.

“And if I perish, I perish,” Esther says in Esther 4:16, after accepting the assignment.

But listen to Mordecai’s words and you’ll see Esther spoke up out of self-interest, too. Israel would be delivered, with or without her.

If Esther didn’t speak up, she’d die in the bloodlust herself.

Esther calls for a banquet, for King Xerxes and Haman.

Haman goes home and brags at the honor. He brags about his success since the promotion. But on leaving the king’s house, he saw Mordecai again, and Mordecai hadn’t bowed.

With every reason to celebrate, Haman decided to drink sour wine.

To cheer him up, Haman’s wife has an idea: Build a gallows to hang Mordecai. Hang Mordecai by day and be happy by the time you go to the banquet at night.

Haman spends his night building the 75-foot high gallows.

King Xerxes had a long night too. He couldn’t sleep, so he has official business read to him.

In the reading, he learns of Mordecai’s role in stopping the assassination plot, and asks if he’s been officially recognized.

“You prepare a table before me, in the presence of my enemies.” — Psalms 23:5

He hasn’t. So King Xerxes puts Haman, of all people, in charge of honoring Mordecai.

Haman gives Mordecai a robe worn by the king, and puts him on a horse rode by the king, and celebrates Mordecai throughout the town.

It’s a humbling experience for Haman, who is left to “rush home, with his head covered in grief,” just before being rousted to Esther’s banquet.

At the banquet, Esther finally speaks up.

Esther asks King Xerxes her husband, who has promised her “even up to half the kingdom,” to put to death the man who sold her people “for destruction and slaughter and annihilation.”

“The adversary and enemy is this vile Haman,” Esther says in Esther 7:6.

With her pointed finger of accusation, it’s the end for Haman. His final conversation is spent groveling in vain at Esther’s feet, that his life be spared.

When King Xerxes orders him put to death, one of his aides reminds the king in Esther 7:9 that the tools for an execution are near at hand: “A gallows 75 feet high stands by Haman’s house. He had it made for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.”

“Hang him on it!” the king says in Esther 7:10.

While Proverbs and Psalms are great “starter” books for new readers of the Bible, you will take the most value from Bible stories.

Reading the maxims of ancient wisdom can bring immediate value, that very night. When I started reading the Bible again, I started at Proverbs.

But the deeper you go on your journey, you’ll find yourself drawn more to the stories of people, and the many lessons to learn from them.

Learning for yourself where proverbs come from — from the stories of people like Haman, who end up trapped by their own schemes — is the great reward of reading the good book.