Bible Commentary - Esther 8

In this chapter, all of Haman’s possessions are passed over to Mordecai, and Haman’s decree is reversed.

This chapter continues the general theme of “reversal of fortunes”.  As a similar point, we also see Mordecai completely take over Haman’s role and fortune in society.

Throughout the book of Esther, we see numerous parallels between Haman and Mordecai.  They are similar in the sense that both Haman and Mordecai are older figures, and they are both advisors to the king; Haman was second in the kingdom, and Mordecai was a man who sat in the gates (generally a position of respect).  In fact, I would suggest that their similarity is one of the reasons why Haman takes a particular interest in destroying Mordecai, because Haman may have seen a competitor in Mordecai.

Based on their personalities, Haman and Mordecai are opposites.  Haman is a proud and insecure man who is enraged multiple times when he sees that Mordecai doesn’t honor him, but Mordecai is a humble and confident man who is not intimidated by Haman, in spite of Haman’s superior political position.  Mordecai trusts that God will protect him against the more powerful man, and Haman is obviously godless.  Mordecai has a principle interest in protecting and helping his people, and Haman is almost entirely consumed by the pursuit of his own glory and greatness.  Mordecai is basically what you would get if you took Haman and made him a good person.  This contrast between Mordecai and Haman is a teaching device, to show us a godly example, which we should emulate, and a godless example, which we should avoid.

In this chapter, we see Mordecai take control of Haman’s house, wealth and the signet ring of authority which the king “had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai” (v. 2).  Given the parallels and contrasts between these two figures, the message is clear: this is another reversal of fortunes, as the wicked Haman is reduced from glory to death, and the humble yet confident Mordecai is raised up into honor and glory.

More generally, these is another, even more important reversal of fortune in this chapter.  In verses 11-12, Mordecai writes a letter that takes the exact same day that had been planned for the Jews’ destruction and turns it into a day when the Jews are permitted to destroy their enemies (this day is the 13rd day of the 12th month, see Esther 3:13 and 8:12).  This is perhaps the most important reversal in the book of Esther because it takes the day of destruction and turns it into a day of joy and gladness for the Jews.  For their enemies, it changes the day from joy and gladness to death and destruction.

As I previously mentioned, Esther follows a large chiastic structure where nearly every aspect of the story has a “before” and “after” component.  The chiastic structure places a particular emphasis on the events in “the middle” of the chiasm, which is approximately the moment when Esther fasts and goes in to petition the king for her peoples’ lives.  In addition, the parallelism between “before” and “after” parts of the story also emphasize the reversal aspects of the story.

For this particular chapter, there are many parallels with chapter 3.  To give a few examples, in verse 2 the king gives his signet ring to Mordecai; in Esther 3:10, the king gave his ring to Haman.  In verse 9, the scribes of the king are summoned to write in all the various languages of the 127 provinces.  In Esther 3:12, the same thing happened for Haman’s decree to be written to every province and people in their own language.  In verse 13, a copy of the edict was issued as law and published to all the peoples, so that the Jews would be ready to defend themselves.  In Esther 3:14, a copy of the edict was issued as law and published so that all the people should be ready to carry it out.  Finally, in verse 15 the city of Susa rejoices and shouts with gladness, at the salvation of the Jews, while in Esther 3:15, the city of Susa was in confusion over the edict condemning the Jews to death.

The reversals demonstrated are: the exaltation of Mordecai and the downfall of Haman, changing the edict of destruction for the Jews to an edict for their defense and the destruction of their enemies, and the change in Susa from a state of confusion and distress to a state of rejoicing and gladness.

If reversal of fortunes is the central theme of Esther, then I think one of the most instructive perspective we can take is to view reversal of fortunes, particularly as it relates to Haman and Mordecai, as “the answer”.  Then once we consider reversal of fortunes as the answer, it is natural to ask, what is the question?  While I think it can be studied in several different ways, I want to focus on the following question: “Why do the wicked prosper”?

Taking a step back for a moment, let’s once again consider the political environment that existed during the timeframe of this story.  Judah was living as slaves in exile, subjected to the authority and laws of an idolatrous nation.  They had been taken out of their homes, away from their inheritance; they had lost everything of value.  While there may have been poverty in other parts of the Persian empire, the capital Susa would have undoubtedly been home to the wealthiest men and women in the empire.  We can easily imagine that there are many poor, enslaved, yet pious Jews, who could relate to Mordecai.  We can also easily imagine that many of these Jews would have known wealthy but arrogant Persians.  It’s a bit speculative, but I would suggest that many Jews in the exile would find themselves asking, “why is that arrogant Persian so far from God, and yet successful in life, while I am in poverty in spite of my piety and devotion to God?”  Or in short, “why do the wicked prosper”.

This is a topic that is addressed frequently throughout the bible (though many of these references are later that Esther; for instance, Psalm 73, Jeremiah 12, and literally the entire book of Job).  The prophetic literature frequently pronounces dooms upon the wicked, stating that while they may prosper for a time, their prosperity would be short-lived.  We can also possibly look at Deuteronomy as a mental framework for how many Jews viewed good versus evil.  Although Deuteronomy is not directly concerned with non-Israelites, I think the general framework that is established in the law should still give us some sense of what the Jews in Esther’s time would expect.  The basic idea is that if the Israelite are faithful to obey God, they will be blessed, and if they turn away from him they will be cursed.  In conflict with their enemies, God promises them victory if they are faithful to him (Deut 28:7), otherwise they will be chased away in defeat (Deut 28:25).  It is a fairly natural extension for Jews to think, “because these foreign nations do not obey the LORD, they will also be cursed and will fall before us.”

The Jews of Esther’s time observe foreign nations ruling over them, which was also promised in Deuteronomy 28 if they lived in sin and disobedience to God.  However, as the pious and devoted Jews rededicate themselves to the LORD (those who would relate to Mordecai), they would expect for God to raise them back up and they would no longer be subjected to their foreign oppressors.  Particularly with reference to Haman and Mordecai, I would view it as almost like an inversion of the “natural order”.  The “natural order” is that Mordecai should be blessed and Haman should be in disgrace or death.  Instead, we see Haman blessed and Mordecai threatened with death.

This results in a natural tension, which Esther seeks to answer.  What is the answer?  “Reversal of fortunes.”  The book of Esther seeks to address the tension between what the Jewish people expect should happen in the world and what they actually observe, and the book’s answer is that God will cause a reversal of fortunes, the wicked will perish and the righteous will prosper.  Even though the book begins with everything the opposite of what it should be, by the end of the book everything has been restored to what it “ought” to be, and that’s really the whole point of what reversal of fortunes is all about.

One last point I would like to discuss is the Greek Esther (GE) copy of this chapter.  Greek Esther ostensibly contains a copy of the decree issued by Mordecai to all the nations.  This decree is heavily biased in favor of the Jews, using language that it’s unlikely a Persian would have written.  For instance, it calls the Jews  the “chosen people” of God (GE 16:21), and also says that the Jews are “children of the living God” (GE 16:16).  Verse 9 specifically says that Mordecai is the one who wrote the decree on behalf of the king, so I wouldn’t say that the pro-Jewish bias is entirely inconsistent, but the decree in Greek Esther also claims that Haman is a Macedonian who was attempting to deceive the king and thereby steal the kingdom for himself.  GE 16:13-14 suggests that Haman’s true intent was to destroy Mordecai “our savior and perpetual benefactor” and Esther, “the blameless partner of our kingdom”, so that Haman “would catch us undefended and would transfer the kingdom of the Persians to the Macedonians”.

This reframes Haman’s threat from an attack on the Jews to a subversive attack on the Persian empire itself.  I don’t think that is strictly implausible, I don’t see any evidence in the rest of Esther to support that idea.  From the rest of the book, it really does seem like Haman is primarily focused on destroying the Jews and I don’t see any evidence that Haman is interested in overthrowing the king.  It is possible that this shift in emphasis reflects a later date of composition for the additions to Greek Esther compared to the Hebrew version of the story, since the Macedonians only became a major military force in the later periods of the Persian empire.

In the next chapter, the Jews finally execute vengeance upon their enemies, as per the king’s decree.