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Ahasuerus exalts Haman the Agagite, and commands
all his officers to do him reverence, which
Mordecai refuses, 1-3.
Haman, informed of
Mordecai's refusal, plots his destruction, and
that of the Jews, 4-6.
Lots are cast to find out
the proper time, 7.
Haman accuses the Jews to
Ahasuerus, counsels him to destroy them, and
offers ten thousand talents of silver for the
damage which the revenue might sustain by their
destruction, 8,9.
The king refuses the money, but
gives Haman full authority to destroy them, 10,11.
Letters are written to this effect, and sent
to the king's lieutenants throughout the empire,
and the thirteenth day of the month Adar is
appointed for the massacre, 12-15.
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Verse 1 . Haman-the
Agagite
Perhaps he was some
descendant of that Agag, king of the
Amalekites, spared by Saul, but destroyed by
Samuel; and on this ground might have an antipathy to
the Jews.
Set his seat above all the
princes
Made him his prime
minister, and put all the officers of state under
his direction.
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Verse 2 . The king's servants,
that were in the king's gate
By
servants here, certainly a higher class of
officers are intended than porters; and
Mordecai was one of those officers, and came to the gate
with the others who were usually there in attendance to
receive the commands of the king.
Mordecai bowed
not
lo yichra. "He did not bow
down;" nor did him reverence, velo
yishtachaveh, "nor did he prostrate himself." I
think it most evident, from these two words, that it was
not civil reverence merely that Haman expected
and Mordecai refused; this sort of respect is
found in the word cara, to bow. This sort
of reverence Mordecai could not refuse without being
guilty of the most inexcusable obstinacy, nor did
any part of the Jewish law forbid it. But Haman
expected, what the Persian kings frequently received, a
species of Divine adoration; and this is implied
in the word shachah, which signifies that kind of
prostration which implies the highest degree
of reverence that can be paid to God or man,
lying down flat on the earth, with the hands and feet
extended, and the mouth in the dust.
The Targum, says that Haman set up a
statue for himself, to which every one was
obliged to bow, and to adore Haman himself. The Jews all
think that Mordecai refused this prostration because it
implied idolatrous adoration. Hence, in the
Apocryphal additions to this book, Mordecai is
represented praying thus: "Thou knowest that if I have
not adored Haman, it was not through pride, nor
contempt, nor secret desire of glory; for I felt
disposed to kiss the footsteps of his feet (gladly) for
the salvation of Israel: but I feared to give to a man
that honour which I know belongs only to my God."
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Verse 7 . The first
month
That is, of the civil
year of the Jews.
The month
Nisan
Answering to a part of our
March and April.
The twelfth year of king
Ahasuerus
According to the chronology
in our Bibles, about five hundred and ten years
before Christ.
They cast Pur, that is,
the lot
This appears to be the
Hebrew corruption of the pure Persian word {Persian}
pari, which signifies any thing that happens
fortuitously. There is an addition here in the Greek
text that was probably in the original, and which
makes this place very plain. I shall set down the whole
verse, and give the Greek in a parenthesis, that it may
be read consecutively with what is in the Hebrew: "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." ((οις ),
, "that they might destroy in one day the
people of Mordecai; and the lot fell on the
fourteenth day of the month Adar.")
We see plainly intimated by the Hebrew text that they
cast lots, or used a species of
divination, to find which of the
twelve months would be the most
favourable for the execution of Haman's design;
and, having found the desired month, then they
cast lots, or used divination, to find out
which day of the said month would be the lucky
day for the accomplishment of the enterprise. But
the Hebrew text does not tell us the result of
this divination; we are left to guess it out; but
the Greek supplies this deficiency, and makes all
clear. From it we find that, when they cast for the
month, the month Adar was taken; and when
they cast for the day, the fourteenth
(Heb. thirteenth) of that month was taken.
Some have questioned whether Pur may not have
signified also some game of chance, which they
played before or with Haman, from day to day, to divert
him from his melancholy, till the lucky time came in
which he was to have the gratification of slaying all
the people who were objects of his enmity; or they cast
lots, or played, who should get the property of such and
such opulent families. Holinshed, one of our
ancient historians, informs us that, previously to the
battle of Agincourt, the English army, under
Henry V., were so thinned and weakened by disease, and
the French army so numerous, that "Frenchmen, in the
mean while, as though they had been sure of victory,
made great triumphe, for the captaines had determined
before how to divide the spoil; and the
souldiers, the night before, had plaied the
Englishmen at dice." To this the chorus of
Shakspeare alludes:-
"Proud of their numbers, and secure of soul, The
confident and over-lusty French Do the low-rated
English play at dice. _____________The poor
condemned English, Like sacrifices by their watchful
fires, Sit patiently and inly ruminate The morning's
danger; and their gestures sad, Investing lank-lean
cheeks, and war-worn coats, Presenteth them unto the
gazing moon So many horrid ghosts. HEN. V.
Monstrelet, who is an impartial writer, does
not mention this.
Did Haman and his flatterers intend to divide
the spoils of the designed-to-be-massacred Jews in some
such manner as this?
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Verse 8 . Their laws are
diverse from all people
Such they
certainly were; for they worshipped the true God
according to his own laws; and this was
not done by any other people then on the face of the
earth.
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Verse 9 . Let it be written
that they may be destroyed
Let it be
enacted that they may all be put to death. By
this he would throw all the odium off himself, and put
it on the king and his counsellors; for he wished the
thing to pass into a law, in which he could have
but a small share of the blame.
I will pay ten thousand
talents of silver
He had said before
that it was not for the king's profit to suffer
them; but here he is obliged to acknowledge that
there will be a loss to the revenue, but that
loss he is willing to make up out of his own property.
Ten thousand talents of silver is an immense
sum indeed; which, counted by the Babylonish
talent, amounts to two millions one hundred
and nineteen thousand pounds sterling; but, reckoned
by the Jewish talent, it makes more than double
that sum.
Those who cavil at the Scriptures would doubtless
call this one of the many absurdities which, they
say, are so plenteously found in them, supposing it
almost impossible for an individual to possess so much
wealth. But though they do not believe the Bible, they
do not scruple to credit Herodotus, who, lib.
vii., says that when Xerxes went into Greece,
Pythius the Lydian had two thousand
talents of silver, and four millions of gold
darics, which sums united make near five millions and
a half sterling.
Plutarch tells us, in his life of
Crassus, that after this Roman general had
dedicated the tenth of all he had to Hercules, he
entertained the Roman people at ten thousand
tables, and distributed to every citizen as much corn as
was sufficient for three months; and after all
these expenses, he had seven thousand one
hundred Roman talents remaining, which is more than
a million and a half of English money.
In those days silver and gold were more plentiful
than at present, as we may see in the yearly revenue of
Solomon, who had of gold from Ophir, at one
voyage, four hundred and fifty talents, which
make three millions two hundred and forty
thousand pounds sterling; and his annual income was
six hundred and sixty-six talents of silver,
which make four millions seven hundred and
ninety-five thousand two hundred pounds English
money.
In addition to the above I cannot help subjoining the
following particulars:-
Crassus, who was mentioned before, had a
landed estate valued at one million six hundred and
sixty-six thousand six hundred and sixty-six pounds
thirteen shillings and four pence.
C. Coecilius Ridorus, after having lost much
in the civil war, left by will effects amounting to one
million forty-seven thousand one hundred and sixty
pounds.
Lentullus, the augur, is said to have
possessed no less than three millions three hundred and
thirty-three thousand three hundred and thirty-three
pounds six shillings and eight pence.
Apicius was worth more than nine hundred and
sixteen thousand six hundred and seventy-one pounds
thirteen shillings and four pence; who, after having
spent in his kitchen eight hundred and thirty-three
thousand three hundred and thirty-three pounds six
shillings and eight pence, and finding that he had no
more left than eighty-three thousand three hundred and
thirty-three pounds six shillings and eight pence,
considered it so little for his support, that he judged
it best to put an end to his life by poison!
The superfluous furniture of M. Scaurus, which
was burnt at Tusculum, was valued at no less than
eight hundred and thirty-three thousand three hundred
and thirty-two pounds thirteen shillings and four pence.
Anthony owed, at the ides or March, the
sum of three hundred and thirty-three thousand three
hundred and thirty-three pounds six shillings and six
pence, which he paid before the calends of
April.
None of these men were in trade, to account for the
circulation of such immense sums through their hands.
See DICKSON'S Husband. of the Anc.
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Verse 10 . The king took his
ring
In this ring was no doubt
included his privy seal, and he gave this to
Haman, that when he had formed such a decree as
he thought fit, he might seal it with this ring,
which would give it its due force and influence among
the rulers of the provinces. The privy seal of
many of our sovereigns appears to have been inserted in
their rings; and the seals of Eastern potentates
were worn in rings upon their fingers. One such seal,
once the property of the late Tippoo Sultan, lies
before me; the inscription is deeply cut in
silver, which is set in a massy carriage of
gold. This, as fitted to the finger, he probably
kept always on his hand, to be ready to seal despatches,
purpose, as it seems to refer to one of the chief
cutcheries, or military officers.
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Verse 12 . Unto the king's
lieutenants
achashdarpeney.
This is in all probability another Persian word,
for there is nothing like it in the Hebrew
language, nor can it be fairly deduced from any
roots in that tongue. The Vulgate
translates ad omnes satrapas regis, to all
the satraps of the king. It is very likely that
this is the true sense of the word, and that the
achsadrapani, as it may be pronounced, is the
Chaldee or Hebrew corruption of the Persian word
{Persian} satraban, the plural of {Persian}
satrab, a Persian peer, though the word is now
nearly obsolete in the Persian language; for since the
conquest of Persia by Mohammedanism, the names of
officers are materially changed, as something of
Islamism is generally connected with the titles
of officers both civil and military, as well as
religious.
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Verse 13 . To destroy, so kill,
and to cause to perish
To put the
whole of them to death in any manner, or by
every way and means.
Take the spoil of them for a
prey.
Thus, whoever killed a Jew had
his property for his trouble! And thus the hand of every
man was armed against this miserable people. Both in the
Greek version and in the Latin the copy of
this order is introduced at length, expressing "the
king's desire to have all his dominions in quiet and
prosperity; but that he is informed that this cannot be
expected, while a certain detestable people are
disseminated through all his provinces, who not only are
not subject to the laws, but endeavour to change them;
and that nothing less than their utter
extermination will secure the peace and
prosperity of the empire; and therefore he orders that
they be all destroyed, both male and female, young and
old,"
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Verse 15 . The
posts
Literally, the couriers,
the hircarrahs, those who carried the public
despatches; a species of public functionaries, who have
been in use in all nations of the world from the
remotest antiquity.
The decree was given at
Shushan
It was dated from the
royal Susa, where the king then was.
The city Shushan was
perplexed.
They saw that in a short
time, by this wicked measure the whole city would be
thrown into confusion; for, although the Jews
were the only objects of this decree, yet, as it armed
the populace against them, even the Persians
could not hope to escape without being spoiled, when a
desperate mob had begun to taste of human blood, and
enrich themselves with the property of the murdered.
Besides, many Persian families had, no doubt, become
united by intermarriages with Jewish families, and in
such a massacre they would necessarily share the same
fate with the Jews. A more impolitic, disgraceful, and
cruel measure was never formed by any government; and
one would suppose that the king who ordered it must have
been an idiot, and the counsellors who advised it must
have been madmen. But a despotic government is ever
capable of extravagance and cruelty; for as it is the
bane of popular freedom and happiness, so is it the
disgrace of political wisdom and of all civil
institutions. Despotism and tyranny in the state are the
most direct curses which insulted justice can well
inflict upon a sinful nation.
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Copyright Statement
The Adam Clarke Commentary is a derivative
of an electronic edition prepared by GodRules.net.
Bibliography
Information
Clarke, Adam.
"Commentary on Esther 3". "The Adam Clarke Commentary".
<http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?book=es&chapter=003>.
1832.
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