Haman
Gentile Agagite · Exile & Return · Old Testament
- Role
- Persian official who plotted to destroy the Jews
- When
- c. 480 BC (reign of Ahasuerus)
What they did
Promoted above all the princes, he was enraged when Mordecai would not bow and plotted to destroy all the Jews. He was hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai.
Why it matters: the purpose of their role
His downfall shows that God protects His covenant people and turns the plans of the wicked back on their own heads.
So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified. Esther 7:10 (KJV)
Bible references
After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. Esther 3:1 (KJV)
And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai. Esther 3:5-6 (KJV)
So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified. Esther 7:10 (KJV)
Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them; Esther 9:24 (KJV)
Family
- Father
- Hammedatha
- Spouse(s)
- Zeresh
- Children
- Ten sons
His ten sons are named in Esther 9:7-10.