Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so that it is not to the king's profit to tolerate them.
Haman has the king's ear, and he uses it to ask the king to destroy a whole people — without ever saying who they are. He makes three claims: they are scattered everywhere, their laws differ from everyone else's, and the crown gains nothing by keeping them.
An accusation that hides its real motive
The reason Haman gave the king was not the reason Haman had. Notice what the story tells us openly, and what it keeps in the dark.
William KellyThere was the secret. God does not appear. There is no intimation in the history that God had spoken about Haman! Yet here was the secret reason; but the only public reason that appears is that Mordecai was a Jew.
Haman chose his words with care. He builds the charge in stages, and he leaves out the name of the people. (The commentator below calls Ahasuerus by his other name, Xerxes.)
Arno Clemens GaebeleinHe tells the king about a certain people who live in his kingdom. He avoids mentioning their name. If he had named them, the plot would not have succeeded. Xerxes must have known the famous history of the Jews well. He also knew that ever since Cyrus, the policy of the Persian Empire had been to protect the Jews. Haman's accusation is twofold. First: their laws are different from those of every people. Second: they do not keep the king's laws. And then the verdict: it is not for the king's profit to tolerate them. They were a separate people, following their God-given law. It was this religious side that stirred up Satan's hatred. Through Haman he now urges the murder of the whole race.
Why the charge worked
Part of Haman's charge was true. The Jews were scattered through the provinces, and they did live by a different law. But one writer looks past the charge to why such a people draw hatred at all, and to how the plot ended.
William KellyAt the start, everything pointed the other way; in the end Satan defeated himself, as he always does. Haman's plea to the king was plausible. God's people are always an offence to the rest of mankind, simply because they are His. The proud and boastful feel it most. This stays true even when their own unfaithfulness costs them His open favour, and that is exactly what had happened.
Scattered among the nations
Haman pointed at the Jews as a people scattered among the provinces. Scripture uses that same description of Israel, and it reaches into the New Testament.
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe term is applied to the nation of Israel, now scattered throughout the world (Esther 3:8). The letters of James and 1 Peter were written especially to believers among them.
The same charge, still in use
Haman's complaint has a shape: these people live by different customs, so they are a danger to the state. One writer ties it to the charge later brought against Paul and Silas at Philippi.
J. G. BellettHe tells the king that a people is scattered through his realm, and that it is not to his profit to let them live, because their customs are different from all other people. That was the secret of the world's hatred then, and it still is (see Acts 16:20-21).
Acts records the wording: "These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice" (Acts 16:20-21, ESV).
Who was really speaking
The book of Esther never names God, and Haman never names the Jews. But behind the minister stood something more than personal spite.
C. E. StuartThe enemy always watched for any circumstance that might serve his ends. He used men as his instruments to defeat God's purpose of salvation. Ahasuerus was the tool of Haman. Haman was the tool of Satan. And God allowed it all, so that He might triumph in delivering His people. What a scene to consider! Man shows blindness and spite. The enemy shows malice and craft. God shows fixed purpose and grace. All this comes out to us in the book of Esther.
Summary
- Name hidden. Haman never says "the Jews." He left the name out on purpose. The king knew their history, and Persia had protected them since Cyrus.
- Motive hidden. The king heard one reason: this people keeps its own laws. Haman's real reason stayed secret, and the record never states it.
- Half true. Part of the charge was accurate. They were scattered, and their law was different. But God's people offend the world because they are His. That stays true even when their own unfaithfulness has cost them His open favour.
- Charge repeated. "Their customs are different" was the secret of the world's hatred then, and it still is. The same charge met Paul and Silas at Philippi.
- God hidden. Ahasuerus was Haman's tool. Haman was Satan's. God allowed it all, so that He might triumph in delivering His people. His name never appears in the book; His hand does.