Bible Commentary - Esther 6

In this chapter, the king orders that Haman honor Mordecai.

If my readers remember the introduction to Esther I wrote earlier, I said that the central theme of Esther is reversal of fortunes.  Basically the way reversal of fortunes is demonstrated in this story is through two parts: the establishment of a particular intent or pattern, and then the reversal of that pattern.  In broad terms, the “establishment” is concentrated in the first 4-5 chapters, which lays out the general background and framework of the story.  Once we pass through the climax of the story in chapters 4 or 5, the remainder of the book consists of the reversal of fortunes previously established.

To show one example, Esther 3:5 and 5:9 establish a pattern of Mordecai refusing to honor Haman, and Haman being enraged at it.  Haman gets his revenge by ordering the destruction of the entire Jewish race, and at the very end of chapter 5 he decides to petition for Mordecai’s death.  Verse 1 of this chapter has the closest thing to a deus ex machina that we will find in Esther, because if the king had not suffered insomnia on this one particular night, asking to read the royal chronicles on this one particular night, it is very possible that Haman would have asked for (and received) the death of Mordecai.

But because it does happen, we see (at least) two reversals in the same moment.  The first is that Haman went to the king planning to ask for Mordecai’s death, and instead is ordered to honor Mordecai.  The second is that Mordecai refused to obey the king’s command to honor Haman, but Haman is forced to honor Mordecai.  One could also add that Haman instructed the king with the expectation that he would be honored himself, but instead the honor was given to his enemy.  There are many layers of irony in this part of the story.

Going back to verse 1, this is one of the clearest instances of the book of Esther nearly touching the subject of divine intervention.  There are other cases where people hint at the possibility of divine intervention (such as the “deliverance arising from another place” of Esther 4:14), but this is the one really clear instance where we see it happen.  It is instructive to note the Greek Esther translation of verse 1: “That night the Lord took sleep from the king…”.  So while Hebrew Esther leaves the point ambiguous, Greek Esther makes it clear that they viewed this as an instance of divine intervention. I want to touch on a couple points here.

The bible has a lot of crazy stories about food coming from heaven, or people being raised from the dead or leprosy being healed and stuff like that.  But for how many miracles are recorded in the bible, most people see very few miracles like that in their day to day lives.  This creates a tension, as many people seek to explain the difference between biblical miracles and what they see in their personal lives.  The tension is resolved in different ways by different people: some people resolve that God simply doesn’t perform those kinds of miracles anymore, and “no miracles” is the new standard.  Other people view this difference as arising from their own deficits or lack of knowledge or training.  Perhaps if I was a holier person, or wiser, or more gifted, I could perform miracles of many kinds, but because I am not, I cannot.

I don’t intend to pick sides here, but I do want to point out that Esther presents an alternative view of what divine intervention can look like, that is quite different from the miracles of Exodus or Kings.  Instead, what we see in Esther is a relatively subtle intervention.  God is tipping the scales in favor of his servants, but what plays a much bigger role in the story is the faithfulness and persistence of humble men and women like Esther and Mordecai.  From the structure of the story, I think we have very good reason to believe that Esther indeed came to her position as queen “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).  How did Esther get her position?  It is clear that she received favor from the king’s eunuchs, and ultimately the king himself, but Esther also played a role with her quiet diligence, faithfulness and obedience; in some measure to the king, but also to God.

In this context, Mordecai and Esther were already positioned to bring deliverance to the Jews, in large part because of their own efforts.  However, so often we find our own efforts are not enough to make it the whole way, and that is true here too.  God breaks in by calling attention to Mordecai’s previous service to the king, and that’s basically all it takes to get things turning around.

On the other hand, if Esther and Mordecai are receiving favor because of their faithfulness and hard work, Haman’s prideful attitude has set him up for a tremendous “fall” (v. 13).  There are few things that demonstrate Haman’s character more directly than verse 6; Haman simply doesn’t believe that there is anybody better than himself, and that there is nobody more deserving of honor and praise than himself.  Of course, this attitude is why Haman himself declares the many honors that should be bestowed on Mordecai, his enemy, because Haman couldn’t imagine a world where the king would seek to honor Mordecai.

Lastly, this chapter contains a second instance of Haman rushing home to meet his wife and friends.  He did this just a little while ago in chapter 5, when he returned home to brag about his personal success in life.  This time around, he rushes home in shame and grief, devastated that he was compelled to honor his enemy with the same honors that he desired for himself.  Coming from a man who was “enraged” that Mordecai refused to bow before him, I can’t imagine how Haman must have felt when he was compelled to honor Mordecai above himself.  This is also another reversal of fortune; previously, Mordecai was grieving and fasting (Esther 4:1-3) and Haman was honored and rejoicing.  Now Mordecai is honored, and Haman is grieving.

I would also like to point out that Haman has awful friends.  Can you imagine going home in grief and shame, and the advice your friends give you is, “Because Mordecai is Jewish, you will certainly fall before him.”  Thank you so much for the help and advice, wife and friends.  But why should Haman be concerned that Mordecai is of Jewish origin?  Why would that result in Haman’s downfall?  The inference our (predominantly Jewish) audience would take from this verse is that Haman is doomed to fall because God is with the Jewish people.  Greek Esther makes this point explicitly, modifying the verse to say “If Mordecai is of the Jewish people… you will not be able to defend yourself, because the living God is with him.”  It’s another place where the Hebrew text strongly infers the point and the Greek text makes the point explicitly.

In the next chapter, things go from bad to worse for Haman and he is put to death on his own gallows.