Haman

Haman (also known as Haman the Agagite, Hebrew: המן האגגי) is a significant character in the Hebrew Bible’s Book of Esther. The Persian name Haman means “magnificent” or “eminent,” and his character was as ostentatious as his name.

Jewish tradition believes that “Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite” was a descendant of Agag, the Amalekite king (1 Samuel 15:8). The Amalekites were originally “the first among the nations” (Numbers 24:20), the most formidable nation encountered on the way to Canaan. They did not fear God (Deuteronomy 25:18) and were the first among nations to attack God’s people and resist His will, becoming a symbol of all forces that oppose God and His people. Therefore, God declared that He would be at war with the Amalekites from generation to generation (Deuteronomy 25:17-19) and allowed the Amalekites to repeatedly fight against the Israelites (Numbers 14:45; Judges 3:13; 6:3; 1 Samuel 14:48; 30:1) as a tool for disciplining His people.

In the past, Saul, son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin (1 Chronicles 12:1), did not obey God’s command to utterly destroy Agag, the Amalekite king (1 Samuel 15:2-3). Now, God would use another Benjaminite, Mordecai, a great-grandson of Kish, to continue the conflict with Haman, a descendant of King Agag.

King Ahasuerus of Persia promoted Haman and commanded all his servants to bow down and pay homage to him at the king’s gate. However, Mordecai alone would not bow down or pay homage. Consequently, Haman and his wife Zeresh plotted to annihilate all the Jewish people throughout the Persian Empire. Haman persuaded King Ahasuerus to kill Mordecai and all the Jews in the entire country.

Queen Esther herself was Jewish. Upon hearing that her people were in danger, she risked her life to appear before King Ahasuerus. The king, enraged by her revelation, rose and left. Haman, seeing that the king was determined to inflict punishment upon him, got up and pleaded with Queen Esther for his life. When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was found falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the words left the king’s mouth, Haman’s face was covered. Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance, said, “Haman has even set up a pole fifty cubits high at his house for Mordecai, who spoke up for the king’s good.” The king said, “Hang him on it!” So they hanged Haman on the pole he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided. Haman was hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. His ten sons—Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha—were also killed, and their bodies were impaled on poles (Esther 9:5-14).

During the Jewish festival of Purim, the Book of Esther is publicly read aloud. Each time Haman’s name is pronounced, listeners turn their graggers (ratchets), creating noise to obscure Haman’s name as a sign of contempt for his plot to annihilate the Jews.