Scripture Daily

Context No. 309 of 4322 · Esther (Greek)

Context · Reflection

Esther (Greek) 6:6-14: in context

6The king said to Haman, “What should I do for the man whom I wish to honor?” Haman said within himself, “Whom would the king honor but myself?” 7He said to the king, “As for the man whom the king wishes to honor, 8let the king’s servants bring the robe of fine linen which the king puts on, and the horse on which the king rides, 9and let him give it to one of the king’s noble friends, and let him dress the man whom the king loves. Let him mount him on the horse, and proclaim through the streets of the city, saying, “This is what will be done for every man whom the king honors!” 10Then the king said to Haman, “You have spoken well. Do so for Mordecai the Jew, who waits in the palace, and let not a word of what you have spoken be neglected!” 11So Haman took the robe and the horse, dressed Mordecai, mounted him on the horse, and went through the streets of the city, proclaiming, “This is what will be done for every man whom the king wishes to honor.” 12Then Mordecai returned to the palace; but Haman went home mourning, with his head covered. 13Haman related the events that had happened to him to Zeresh his wife and to his friends. His friends and his wife said to him, “If Mordecai is of the race of the Jews, and you have begun to be humbled before him, you will assuredly fall; and you will not be able to withstand him, for the living God is with him.” 14While they were still speaking, the chamberlains arrived to rush Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

This is one of the great comic reversals in the Bible, and it turns entirely on an assumption. The king, having just remembered that Mordecai once saved his life and was never rewarded, asks Haman a question with no name attached: what should be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor? Haman has come to the palace that very morning to ask permission to hang Mordecai. But when he hears the question, the text lets us into his head. Whom would the king wish to honor, he says to himself, but me?

That single unspoken assumption is his undoing. Certain the honor is meant for himself, Haman designs the most extravagant tribute he can imagine: dress the man in the king's own robe, set him on the king's own horse, and have a noble lead him through the city crying out that this is what is done for the man the king delights in. And the king says, wonderful, go do all of it, exactly as you have described, for Mordecai the Jew. Haman is forced to robe his enemy, hoist him onto the royal horse, and walk through the streets shouting the man's praises. He goes home in mourning, his head covered, and even his wife and friends read the sign: if Mordecai is a Jew, you have begun to fall before him and you will not prevail, for the living God is with him.

The whole humiliation was authored by three words Haman never said aloud, but for me. He could not imagine the king meaning anyone else. Where has my quiet assumption that something must be about me, or for me, blinded me so completely that I set up my own fall, or found myself serving the very thing I resented?

Sources