Mordecai Is Honored
1That night sleep escaped the king; so he ordered the Book of Records, the Chronicles,† to be brought in and read to him. 2And there it was found recorded that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana† and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the king’s entrance, when they had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.
3The king inquired, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this act?” “Nothing has been done for him,” replied the king’s attendants.
As the king thought about how to honor...
As the king thought about how to honor Mordecai, Haman came to request Mordecai's death. Ironically, the king asked Haman for advice on how to reward Mordecai.
4“Who is in the court?” the king asked.
Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him. 5So the king’s attendants answered him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” “Bring him in,” ordered the king.
6Haman entered, and the king asked him, “What should be done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor?” Now Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king be delighted to honor more than me?”
Haman loved public praise and recognition. He wanted...
Haman loved public praise and recognition. He wanted to be honored like a king, to wear royal clothes, and to ride the king’s horse. In short, he wanted to be king for a day. Haman believed another of the king’s top officials would honor him through the streets of Susa. Instead, Haman had to honor Mordecai in that role (Esther 6:10).
7And Haman told the king, “For the man whom the king is delighted to honor, 8have them bring a royal robe that the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden—one with a royal crest placed on its head. 9Let the robe and the horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them array the man the king wants to honor and parade him on the horse through the city square, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!’”
do just as you proposed...to Mordecai the Jew:...
do just as you proposed...to Mordecai the Jew: Haman, completely shocked by this reversal, could only obey the king's command in full detail.
10“Hurry,” said the king to Haman, “and do just as you proposed. Take the robe and the horse to Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything that you have suggested.”
11So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai, and paraded him through the city square, crying out before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!”
12Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief.
13Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is Jewish, you will not prevail against him—for surely you will fall before him.”
14While they were still speaking with Haman, the king’s eunuchs arrived and rushed him to the banquet that Esther had prepared.