And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble officials. Let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’”
Haman comes into the royal court to ask for one thing: permission to hang Mordecai. Instead the king asks him how to honour a man. What he says next is a portrait of his own heart, and it becomes the sentence he must carry out on the man he came to kill.
Pride Answers Its Own Question
The king asked a general question, but Haman heard a personal one. So he set no ceiling on what he asked for.
William KellyHaman had no thought of anyone but himself. So he was caught in his own trap. He asked without holding back. He suggested to the king the highest honours — honours higher than any subject had ever received… What a downfall! The man he hated most of all living men was the very one whom he himself, as the chief noble of the empire, had to honour — exactly as he had suggested.
What He Asked For
Haman asked for more than gifts. He asked to look like the king for a day, in front of the whole city.
Leslie M. GrantBut he wanted the cheers of all the people. So he suggested that the man to be honoured should be dressed in a royal robe which the king himself had worn. He should be set on a horse that the king had ridden, one with a royal crest on its forehead. Then one of the king's most noble princes should lead him through the city square. A proclamation would go before him, saying that this was done to the man whom the king delighted to honour.
God Behind The Scenes
The book of Esther never names God. Yet Haman walked into the court at the exact moment the king was reading about Mordecai. Commentators do not call that chance.
C. H. MackintoshAt the very moment that this record was being read out, none other than the proud and wicked Haman had to be standing in the court of the king's house. He had come to make sure of Mordecai's death. Instead the providence of God forces him to plan for Mordecai's triumph and dignity. He had come to get him hanged on a gallows. Instead he must clothe him with the king's robe, set him on the king's horse, lead him through the streets of the city on foot like a servant, and announce his triumph like a mere herald.
The Pit He Dug Himself
No one tricked Haman into this speech. God let him say what he wanted, and his own words ruined him.
William KellySo it is: the pride of the wicked blinds them to their own destruction, just as it blinds them in their hatred of the righteous they despise. He whose eyes are over all is slow to act, so that men may show what they are. In the end He accomplishes His purpose openly, to His own glory. Haman had honours beyond example. He was sure that he alone could be the man whom the king delighted to honour. The king invited him to name the fullest measure of that honour, and his suggestions knew no bounds. So he fell into the pit he had made himself.
The Enemy Made Into A Herald
The sharpest turn is not that Haman loses his position. It is that he had to announce, in public, the greatness of the man he hated. A writer here contrasts him with Paul.
Michael HardtIt almost reminds one of Haman, the relentless enemy of Mordecai. He was the one who had to describe the glory of Mordecai… Haman thought he was that man. But then he hears the king's words… Of course, there is a crucial difference between Haman and Paul. Paul became — by God's grace — a voluntary, joyful and conscious preacher of the glory of Christ.
The Man The King Delights To Honour
One writer sees in Mordecai a picture of Christ. He is brought low, then raised high, and raised for the sake of others.
H. L. RossierOne man had to become the deliverer of the people. Here again we find in Mordecai such an interesting picture of Christ. For this, he first humbled himself to the lowest degree, in sackcloth and ashes; then he had to be raised to supreme dignity. It was necessary that the Almighty should make him, in picture, Lord and Christ. Yet all these honours given to him do not stop Mordecai from keeping his place as a servant: he returns to "the king's gate."
Summary
- Question. The king asked how to honour a man. Haman assumed the man was himself, and asked without restraint.
- Honour. He named the king's own robe and horse, a royal crest, a noble escort, and a public proclamation. No subject had ever received more.
- Hand. Haman came to the court to arrange a hanging. Instead he had to plan a triumph. The God this book never names is moving every piece.
- Herald. The man who hated Mordecai most had to walk before him and proclaim his greatness. His praise was forced, unlike the glad preaching of Christ's glory.
- Honoured. Mordecai was humbled to sackcloth, then raised high. He still went back to serve at the king's gate, and he points to Christ, the true man whom the King delights to honour.