Haman
Who he was
Haman is the primary antagonist in the book of Esther. He was an Agagite, a descendant of the Amalekite kings, and a high-ranking official in the Persian Empire during the reign of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). Haman was promoted to a position of authority and commanded all the royal officials to bow down to him (Esther 3:1–2). However, Mordecai, a Jew, refused to bow to Haman (Esther 3:2–4). Enraged, Haman plotted to destroy not only Mordecai but all the Jews in the empire (Esther 3:5–6). He convinced the king to issue a decree ordering the extermination of the Jews (Esther 3:8–15). Haman also had a gallows built to hang Mordecai (Esther 5:14). However, Haman's plans were thwarted by Queen Esther, who revealed her Jewish identity to the king and exposed Haman's plot (Esther 7:1–6). The king ordered Haman to be hanged on the very gallows he had prepared for Mordecai (Esther 7:7–10). Haman's ten sons were also executed (Esther 9:10–14). The king then issued a new decree, allowing the Jews to defend themselves against their enemies (Esther 8:1–14). Haman's story serves as a powerful example of how God can use individuals to protect His people and bring about justice, even in the face of great adversity.
Article: STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0
Family
FatherHammedathaSpouseZereshChildrenParshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, Vaizatha
Family relations: STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0
Every mention
45 references, counted from STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0 · verse text: World English Bible (public domain)
Esther 45 mentions
Esther 3:1After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.Esther 3:2All the king’s servants who were in the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai didn’t bow down or pay him homage.Esther 3:4Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily to him, and he didn’t listen to them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew.Esther 3:5When Haman saw that Mordecai didn’t bow down nor pay him homage, Haman was full of wrath.Esther 3:6But he scorned the thought of laying hands on Mordecai alone, for they had made known to him Mordecai’s people. Therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole…Esther 3:7In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, and chose the…Esther 3:8Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different from other…Esther 3:10The king took his ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy.Esther 3:11The king said to Haman, “The silver is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.”Esther 3:12Then the king’s scribes were called in on the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month; and all that Haman commanded was written to the king’s local governors, and to the governors…Esther 3:15The couriers went out in haste by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given out in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Susa was perplexed.Esther 4:7Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.Esther 5:4Esther said, “If it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”Esther 5:5Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that it may be done as Esther has said.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.Esther 5:8If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare…Esther 5:9Then Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart, but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he didn’t stand up nor move for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.Esther 5:10Nevertheless Haman restrained himself, and went home. There, he sent and called for his friends and Zeresh his wife.Esther 5:11Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the multitude of his children, all the things in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and…Esther 5:12Haman also said, “Yes, Esther the queen let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow I am also invited by her together with the king.Esther 5:14Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on it. Then go in merrily with…Esther 6:4The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had come into the outer court of the king’s house, to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.Esther 6:5The king’s servants said to him, “Behold, Haman stands in the court.” The king said, “Let him come in.”Esther 6:6So Haman came in. The king said to him, “What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” Now Haman said in his heart, “Who would the king delight to honor more than myself?”Esther 6:7Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor,Esther 6:10Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry and take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Let nothing fail of all that you…Esther 6:11Then Haman took the clothing and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and had him ride through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king…Esther 6:12Mordecai came back to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and having his head covered.Esther 6:13Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to…Esther 6:14While they were yet talking with him, the king’s eunuchs came, and hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.Esther 7:1So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.Esther 7:6Esther said, “An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman!” Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.Esther 7:7The king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden. Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen, for he saw that there was evil…Esther 7:8Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman had fallen on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even assault the…Esther 7:9Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king, said, “Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at…Esther 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was pacified.Esther 8:1On that day, King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, to Esther the queen. Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was to her.Esther 8:2The king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.Esther 8:3Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet and begged him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his plan that he had planned against the Jews.Esther 8:5She said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seems right to the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters…Esther 8:7Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, “See, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he laid his hand on the…Esther 9:10the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ enemy, but they didn’t lay their hand on the plunder.Esther 9:12The king said to Esther the queen, “The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in the citadel of Susa, including the ten sons of Haman; what then have they done in the rest of the…Esther 9:13Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Susa to do tomorrow also according to today’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”Esther 9:14The king commanded this to be done. A decree was given out in Susa; and they hanged Haman’s ten sons.Esther 9:24because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast “Pur”, that is the lot, to consume them and to…
What the dictionary says
(of Persian origin), magnificent, the name of the vizier (i.e., the prime minister) of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Esther 3:1, etc.).
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Read the article →Sources
- STEPBible TIPNR · Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References · CC BY 4.0 · github.com/STEPBible/STEPBible-Data
- Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (1869) · Public domain