Esther 5:9-13

VI. The Petulance of Haman, Esther 5:9-14

A. Depression

TEXT: Esther 5:9-13

9

Then went Haman forth that day joyful and glad of heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up nor moved for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.

10

Nevertheless Haman refrained himself, and went home; and he sent and fetched his friends and Zeresh his wife.

11

And Haman recounted unto them the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.

12

Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to-morrow also am I invited by her together with the king.

13

Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.

Today's English Version, Esther 5:9-13

When Haman left the banquet he was happy and in a good mood. But then he saw Mordecai at the entrance of the palace, and when Mordecai did not rise or show any sign of respect as he passed, Haman was furious with him. But he controlled himself and went on home. Then he invited his friends to his house and asked his wife Zeresh to join them. He boasted to them about how rich he was, how many sons he had, how the king had promoted him to high office, and how much more important he was than any of the king's other officials. What is more, Haman went on, Queen Esther gave a banquet for no one but the king and me, and we are invited back tomorrow. But none of this means a thing to me as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the entrance of the palace.

Esther 5:9-10 Disregarded: The Hebrew text says Haman left Esther's banquet samecha vevtov lev, i.e., joyful and good of heart. He was exhilarated that he had been singled out by the queen for special favor this day and tomorrow also. The Jewish Haggadah also theorizes that Haman thought Esther prepared the banquet in his honor, little realizing that she had set a trap for him. According to the Haggadah, Esther's motive in inviting Haman to the banquet was that he should not discover that she was Jewish, and that the Jews should not say, We have a sister in the king's palace, and so neglect to pray for God's mercy. Furthermore, says Jewish tradition, Esther thought that by being friendly to Haman she would arouse the king's jealousy to such an extent that he would kill both of them.

But when Haman came out of the queen's chambers he evidently went directly past Mordecai at the king's gate. Mordecai made no move whatever to acknowledge Haman. Remaining in either a sitting or squatting position, Mordecai ignored the presence of the second most important man in the entire kingdom of Persia. There is nothing more galling than such utter contempt shown openly in the presence of others (Pulpit Commentary). The Hebrew word translated wrath is chemah and is more accurately fury. Anger raged within Haman's heart. The interesting thing to observe here is Haman's physical restraint. He must have recognized some danger in precipitous and public revenge or he would have seized Mordecai and executed him on the spot. He dared not do anything to jeopardize his new promotion to such high rank. He cunningly held his fury in check until he was on surer grounds. Then he would be prepared to fulfill his hidden wrath on this Jew, Mordecai. Rage, wounded pride and desire for revenge is psychological dynamite. It must explodeeither internally or externally. All that is needed is a spark of self-justification and that is often supplied by sympathetic friends or Yes men. That is where Haman went. He called in his friends and his wife for supportive rationalizations to justify what he had already made up his mind to do.

Esther 5:11-13 Discontentment: There is nothing more boring than to have to attend a party given by a man who uses the evening to brag and boast about all that he has. Of course, if the braggart has the power Haman had, attendance is compulsory.

To be the father of many sons was counted an honor by the Persians (Herodotous 1:136) as with most cultures of the ancient world. We know already that Haman was rich enough to offer to Xerxes an amount of money equal to one year's tax revenue for the whole Persian empire (cf. Esther 3:9). Haman also had been promoted to chief of all princes. He probably went into great detail as he recounted all these honors. The more he embellished them the more he was sure of his own self-importance. To put the icing on the cake, Haman was even convinced that the queen herself was impressed with his importance. He alone had been invited to accompany the emperor to a place of honor at the queen's banquet. Not once, but twice had the queen invited him.

But Haman was bitter. He could not enjoy any of this. The Hebrew word translated availeth is shoveh and means satisfy or suffice. In other words, all the fame and fortune Haman had was not sufficient to satisfy his soul so long as there was one Jewish gate-keeper who ignored his importance! Today we would say Haman had an identity problem. He suffered from a poor self-image. No matter how much he bragged about his own importance, he really didn-'t feel important so long as there was one person who did not agree with his own estimate of himself. Haman just could not handle that. It destroyed him. He did not understand that self-respect and respect from others does not accrue from titles but from character! One would come centuries after Haman and teach that the greatest among men would be the servant of all.