So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?”
Ahasuerus cannot sleep, and he has just learned that Mordecai once saved his life and no one ever rewarded him. At that moment Haman walks in to ask permission to hang him, and the king's question names no one — so Haman fills the blank with himself.
A chain of coincidences
Nothing here looks like a miracle. One writer simply lists the links, one by one:
H. L. RossierThe gallows is set up for Mordecai. Haman's plan, skilfully put together, seems headed for sure success. Why, on this very same night, should sleep escape the king? Why should the idea come to him of having the book of his annals read to him to soothe his sleeplessness? Why did the reader land on the passage about Mordecai? Why did the king ask about the honours given to his rescuer? Where did his question come from: "Who is in the court?" Why should Haman come, at this precise instant, to ask his master to execute Mordecai? Why should the king word his question to Haman in such a way that it caused his favourite to fall into the trap?
Two people can watch the same events and see different things:
H. L. RossierThe secret providence of God on behalf of His people appears in this chapter in a most remarkable way. The world calls it chance; the believer discerns the hand of God and worships Him.
What Haman said in his heart
The verse records a thought no one else in the room could hear. One writer draws a conclusion from that:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinAnd the king asks Haman, "What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?" In his blind self-love and deluded pride, Haman thought he was the man the king would honour still more. A writer in the Talmud puts it well: "since the writer of the book of Esther knew what was in Haman's heart, he must have been inspired in writing this account."
The bill he wrote for himself
Haman assumed the honour was his, so he set no limit on it. His answer is a self-portrait, the ambition of his heart put into words:
William KellyHaman had no thought of anyone but himself. So he was caught in his own snare. He asked with no restraint. He suggested to the king the highest honours — honours higher than had ever been given to a subject before.
He wanted more than wealth. He wanted the whole city watching:
F. B. HoleIn his pride, Haman assumed that the man to be honoured could be no one but himself. So he suggested that the king raise this man to almost royal dignity, and in the most public way imaginable. Then the king appointed Haman to carry out his own suggestions — not for himself, but for Mordecai.
Why God let him climb so high
God did not cut Haman off early. He let him climb:
William KellySo it is. The pride of the wicked blinds them to their own destruction. It blinds them just as much when they hate the righteous they despise. He whose eyes are over all is slow to act. He lets men show what they are, and in the end He accomplishes His purpose openly for His own glory. Haman had already received honours beyond example. He was certain that he alone could be the man the king delighted to honour, and the king had invited him to name the largest measure possible. So of course his suggestions knew no limits. And so he fell into the pit he had dug himself. But notice how everything seems to flourish brightly for the enemy, and to threaten God's own people with danger they cannot escape, right up till the hour is about to strike.
From the gallows to the throne
Commentators read Mordecai as a picture of Christ — the rejected man later crowned in public:
H J VineMordecai was the man whom the king delighted to honour. But first he was the man who had a gallows fifty cubits high waiting for him. But Haman the Agagite was hanged on it, and the king's anger was satisfied. Mordecai's exaltation brought rest and blessing and gladness to God's people, and in time peace and prosperity for all. Then what shall we say of the One greater than Joseph and greater than Mordecai? He passed through the time of His sorrows. He left the prison-tomb of death behind for ever. He rose from among the dead and ascended to God's right hand. There He is crowned with glory and honour upon the throne.
Summary
- Chance — A sleepless night, a random page, an enemy arriving at the wrong moment. What the world calls coincidence, faith reads as the hand of God.
- Heart — The verse opens a man's private thought. Haman's self-love was so total that he could not imagine any other name in the king's question.
- Blindness — Pride does not warn a man he is falling; it convinces him he is climbing. Haman wrote the honours list, unaware he was writing it for his enemy.
- Patience — God is slow to act so that men show what they are. He lets the enemy flourish right up to the hour when the trap he built closes on him.
- Christ — The gallows first, the crown after. Mordecai's rise brought rest to his people. The exaltation of the greater Man brings blessing to all.