Esther 8:1

THE PRACTICAL REVERSAL OF THAT IRREVOCABLE DECREE

This chapter deals with the danger that yet remained. Yes, Haman was dead, but that decree which he had devised was still in force, backed up by the power of that "Law of the Medes and Persians that altereth not." This meant that all the Jews in the Persian empire were still subject to general slaughter and the confiscation of their property on the thirteenth of Adar. Something had to be done about that.

CONSEQUENCES OF HAMAN'S EXECUTION

"On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king;for Esther had told what he was unto her. And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecaiø And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman."

"The house of Haman" (Esther 8:1). "Confiscation of goods and properties of the condemned accompanied executions in Persia, as in other Oriental countries."[1] The house of Haman included not merely the castle and its furnishings but also the host of servants, retainers, and attendants that went along with it.

The king gave this vast estate to Esther; and she might well have desired to give it to Mordecai; but what she did was even better. She placed him in absolute control over it, thus providing him with a residence and dignity that were appropriate to his new office as Prime Minister.

Summarizing the consequences in evidence here: (1) Haman's vast properties were conferred upon Esther; (2) Mordecai was given the management and control of them; (3) Ahasuerus bestowed the office of Prime Minister upon Mordecai when he gave him the ring that had been worn by Haman. (4) The ring gave Mordecai the power to seal documents and to convey with them the authority of law.

"It was perfectly natural for the king to confer this great authority upon Mordecai. The king had already delighted to honor him for exposing the plot against the king's life."[2] Also, he had learned that Mordecai was the foster father of the queen.