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Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Esther 3:1-15

3:1-7:10 PLAN TO DESTROY THE JEWSHaman plots evil (3:1-15)Some time later, a proud and ambitious man named Haman was promoted to the position of chief minister in the Empire. He apparently demanded that people honour him almost as if he were a god. Mordecai refused, letting it be known that he was a Jew, and claiming that to give Haman such honour was against his Jewish religion. Haman was furious, and decided to get his revenge by killing all the Jews in the Empire (3:1-6). (Esther had now... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Esther 3:9

Esther 3:9. And I will pay ten thousand talents of silver— The sum which Haman here offers the king in lieu of the damage that his revenues might sustain by the destruction of so many of his subjects, is prodigious for any private man, and shows how outrageously he was bent against the Jews. We read, however, of several private persons in history, who in ancient times were possessors of much greater sums. Pithius the Lydian, for instance, when Xerxes passed into Greece, was possessed of two... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Esther 3:9

9. I will pay ten thousand talents of silver . . . into the king's treasuries—This sum, reckoning by the Babylonish talent, will be about £2,119,000; but estimated according to the Jewish talent, it will considerably exceed £3,000,000, an immense contribution to be made out of a private fortune. But classic history makes mention of several persons whose resources seem almost incredible. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Esther 3:7-15

B. Haman’s Proposal 3:7-15His pride having been wounded, Haman set about to take revenge, not only on Mordecai, but also on all of Mordecai’s relatives. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Esther 3:8-9

2. Haman’s request 3:8-9Perhaps Haman did not mention the Jews by name since Ahasuerus’ predecessors, Cyrus and Darius I (Hystaspes), had issued proclamations favorable to them (Ezra 1:1-4; Ezra 6:3-5; Ezra 6:8-12). In any case, his failure to mention them by name, set him up for Esther’s revelation that it was her people whom Haman planned to destroy (Esther 7:4). The Jews did indeed live a separated life, as Haman said (cf. Numbers 23:9), but they were not a dangerous, rebellious element... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Esther 3:1-15

Haman’s Revengeful Design Against the Jews1. The Agagite] It has been suggested that the name is an epithet meant to recall the Amalekite Agag hewn in pieces by Samuel (1 Samuel 15:33), and intended to indicate contempt and abhorrence.2. Mordecai bowed not, etc.] In the apocryphal ’Rest of Esther’ Mordecai explains in a prayer to the Almighty that he refused to bow down to Haman, ’that he might not prefer the glory of man above the glory of God.’ Amongst many heathen peoples divine honours were... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Esther 3:9

(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. read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Esther 3:1-15

The Solitariness of Principle Esther 3:8 In this story of the Persian Empire it is related how Haman, the king's chief favourite, felt insulted because Mordecai the Jew neglected to give him sufficient honour. His wounded dignity demanded revenge, but could not be satisfied with merely inflicting punishment on the man who had offended him. Because Mordecai was a Jew he would have the indignity wiped out by the extermination of the whole tribe. So Haman, by a little judicious flattery of the... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Esther 3:1-15

HAMAN AND HIS WICKED PLOT CHAPTER 3 1. The promotion of Haman and Mordecai’s faithfulness (Esther 3:1-6 ) 2. Haman’s proposal and the King’s assent (Esther 3:7-11 ) 3. The proclamation of death (Esther 3:12-15 ) Esther 3:1-6 . How long after these things the history of this chapter came to pass is not definitely stated. It probably happened after a short interval. We are now introduced to Haman, the Son of Hammedatha the Agagite. Him the king promoted and set his seat above all the... read more

L.M. Grant

L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible - Esther 3:1-15

HAMAN'S ADVANCEMENT AND CONSPIRACY (vv. 1-15) After this (though we are not told how long after) King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, an Agagite, to a position above all the princes (v. 1).Agag had been the king of the Amalekites(1 Samuel 15:8), who were bitter enemies of Israel from the time Israel came out of Egypt(Exodus 17:8-16) concerning whom God said He would utterly blot out the remembrance of them from under heaven (Exodus 17:8-14). King Saul had later spared Agag when destroying the... read more

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