Esther 3:6

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Esther 3:1-6

Here we have, I. Haman advanced by the prince, and adored thereupon by the people. Ahasuerus had lately laid Esther in his bosom, but she had no such interest in him as to get her friends preferred, or to prevent the preferring of one who she knew was an enemy to her people. When those that are good become great they still find that they cannot do good, nor prevent mischief, as they would. This Haman was an Agagite (an Amalekite, says Josephus), probably of the descendants of Agag, a common... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Esther 3:6

And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone ,.... That would not be a sufficient gratification of his revenge; he was too low and mean a person only to wreak his vengeance on; nothing short of his whole nation would satisfy him: for they had showed him the people of Mordecai ; that they were the Jews; for Mordecai had told the king's servants, that talked with him on the subject, that he was a Jew, and gave that as a reason why he could not and would not reverence Haman: ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 3:1-6

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 3:1-6

Foolish pride and wild resentment. The lesson of this portion of the narrative is one concerning human sin. In some places Scripture seems to depict the character and the conduct of sinners in such a way as to impress the mind of the reader with what is called "the exceeding sinfulness of sin." And what more natural and appropriate than such representations of human iniquity in a book which brings to us the remedy for the disease, and the liberation from the bondage, which afflict mankind?... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 3:6

He thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone . If Haman had simply said to Ahasuerus, "There is one of your menials who persistently disobeys a royal edict, and at the same time insults me," Ahasuerus would, as a matter of course, have told him to put the menial to death. But the revengeful temper of the man was such that this seemed to him insufficient. Mordecai had insulted him as a Jew, and the Jews should pay the penalty. Mordecai should be punished not only in person, but in his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 3:6

The intemperateness of contempt. "And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone." The projected deed of Haman, if it had been carried to completion, would not have been entirely without precedent and parallels more or less nearly resembling it. Herodotus, in the first book of his history, tells us of a massacre of the Scythians, actually carried into execution, and which preceded by about a hundred years that now proposed by Haman. When Darius Hystaspis ascended the throne, some... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 3:6

Revenge. I. THE WRATH OF THE WICKED IS REVENGEFUL . The feeling is natural that prompts to retaliation. All human history is blurred by its activity. A Haman could not be offended without seeking to do the offender hurt. In the light of Christian truth it is mean and contemptible, but it is natural, and therefore almost universal. II. THE SPIRIT OF REVENGE IS NECESSARILY UNJUST . It does not measure the evil it contemplates by the injury that has excited it;... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Esther 3:6

To destroy all the Jews - In the East massacres of a people, a race, a class, have at all times been among the incidents of history, and would naturally present themselves to the mind of a statesman. The Magophonia, or the great massacre of the Magi at the accession of Darius Hystaspis, was an event not then fifty years old, and was commemorated annually. A massacre of the Scythians had occurred about a century previously. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Esther 3:6

Esther 3:6. And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone He thought that particular vengeance was unsuitable to his quality, and to the greatness of the injury; wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews Which he attempted from that implacable hatred which, as an Amalekite, he had against them; from his rage against Mordecai; and from Mordecai’s reason of this contempt, because he was a Jew, which, as he truly judged, extended itself to all the Jews, and would equally engage... read more

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

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