For Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur (that is, cast lots), to crush and to destroy them.
Esther 9:24 gives the official reason for a new yearly feast. In one sentence the Jews recorded where their enemy came from, how far his hatred went, and how he chose the date.
"The Agagite": an old feud
The verse does not call Haman a Persian official. It ties him to Agag, and commentators read that as a family line, not a job title. This also explains a refusal earlier in the book that looks, at first glance, like simple rudeness:
Morrish Bible DictionaryHaman was the son of Hammedatha the Agagite (Esther 3:1-10; Esther 8:3, 5; Esther 9:24). Fürst says that Josephus explains Haman's Gentile name as meaning "Amalekite by race," and Jewish tradition says the same. That is, Haman was an Amalekite. This explains why Mordecai refused to bow down before Haman. He belonged to the race the LORD had sworn to fight for ever, and the race Saul had orders to destroy completely.
Amalek was Israel's sworn enemy, under a standing verdict from God. Mordecai's refusal rested on that, not on personal pride.
An enemy of a whole people
The verse calls him "the enemy of all the Jews," and the plot matches the title. One man's slight was not enough for him:
J. G. BellettHe must have the blood of all the Jews; his heart will not be satisfied by the life of the one who had refused to honour him. He must have the lives of the whole nation. He breathes the spirit of the enemy of Israel. That enemy later says, "Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!" (Ps. 83).
Pur: a lot cast in the dark
The verse stops to translate the foreign word: Pur means "the lot." Haman did not work out a date. He gambled for one. Writers point out what that shows about him:
H. L. RossierThe Antichrist will rage against those who do not acknowledge his power and authority, and who refuse to bear his mark on their forehead and hands. Haman's fury is like it. It burns against a man who despises his person and refuses his yoke, and it knows no limits. But he would have scorned to put Mordecai alone to death. He must strike him down together with all his people. Haman cast Pur (that is, the lot) to learn when this extermination should take place. He believes in this superstitious practice. Later the Antichrist will do the same and consult the "god of fortresses" (Dan. 11:38). Even the most unbelieving man must have some religion: a fact we may observe every day.
The lot that served God instead
The lot he consulted named the last month of the year. That left the threatened people a long window in which to escape:
H. L. RossierThe lot points to the twelfth month for the massacre of the Jews. Why not the third or the fourth month, to take away any chance of escape from the oppressed people? Is it not once again hidden Providence which directs everything as always? What can "the enemy of the Jews" (Esther 9:10, 24) do against the secret counsels of Providence? He must obey the lot he has consulted, and from that point his swift road to death and judgment begins.
A feast named after the enemy's weapon
The Jews could have named the holiday after Esther, or Mordecai, or the battle. They named it after Haman's dice. They knew whose hand had thrown them:
Leslie M. GrantThe two-day feast the Jews set up at this time was called Purim, after Pur, the lot Haman cast with the aim of destroying the Jews. Very likely the Jews knew Solomon's proverb, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD" (Proverbs 16:33). Haman had expected demon power to back him up. But no doubt the Jews recognised that the Lord had stepped in with His own clear decision. The Jews did recognise the Lord's hand in this. Yet God still did not allow His name to be mentioned in public.
A shadow of a last enemy
Some writers read Haman as a preview of an enemy still to come:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinAmalek is always the bitter enemy of Israel. His final overthrow will come with the second coming of Christ... This Haman, the Amalekite, is later called "the Jews' enemy" (verse 10). He foreshadows that final enemy. That enemy rises to trouble Israel and tries to wipe them out before the King of Israel appears.
Summary
- Ancestry. "The Agagite" ties Haman to Amalek, Israel's sworn enemy — he inherited his hatred, he did not invent it.
- Ambition. He wanted a nation, not a man; Mordecai's refusal was the excuse, extermination was the aim.
- Lot. Pur means "the lot." He trusted chance and dark powers to name the day — even the most unbelieving man keeps some religion.
- Overruled. The lot he obeyed gave him the twelfth month, and that delay opened his own road to death and judgment.
- Memorial. The Jews named the feast Purim after the enemy's dice — they turned his weapon into their calendar.