But when it came before the king, he gave orders in writing that his evil plan that he had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.
Esther 9:25 is the short official summary of the whole story: Haman's plot, Esther's appeal, and the reversal that hanged the schemer on his own gallows. It raises the question the book never answers by name — who turned the plot around?
The lot Haman cast
The verse looks back to the "Pur," the lot Haman threw to pick the day for the massacre. That day fell almost a year later. Commentators see God's hand behind the long delay.
J. G. BellettThe Amalekite and his company cast the lot, the Pur, only to fix the day for this act of extermination. But as we know, the lot may be "cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD" (Prov. 16:33). And so it was here. Eleven long months stand between the two dates. The lot was cast on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it fixed the slaughter of the nation for the thirteenth day of the twelfth month. That time was given so that God would ripen His purposes toward both His people and their enemies.
When she came before the king
The verse turns on a single moment: the matter came before the king. That hearing is where a private scheme became public knowledge.
Leslie M. GrantVerses 24-25 briefly retell the history of the plot of Haman the Agagite to wipe out the Jews. He cast Pur, that is, the lot, which in Haman's case meant consulting evil spirits. At first his scheme seemed to be working. Then Esther stepped in — the king not only respected her, he loved her — and the whole plot came out into the open. So Haman's wickedness recoiled on his own head, and he and his sons were hanged on the gallows he had put up for Mordecai.
The device returns on his own head
"His evil plan... should return on his own head" is not only poetic justice. Writers point out that God's purpose and Haman's own choices are both fully real here.
Ernst-August BremickerGod does not only use circumstances or events to carry out His purposes. He also uses people — whether godly people like Mordecai and Esther, or ungodly and wicked people like Haman... God's dealings with people never contradict or remove man's responsibility. Man is not a puppet in His hand... In the book of Esther this is seen in connection with the great enemy and hater of the Jews called "this wicked Haman" (7:6). In the end, his wickedness resulted in his own destruction and their salvation. People may call this irony, but it is nothing of the kind. It was God's hand and purpose. It was also the outcome of Haman's own free decision, and he was fully responsible for all his decisions and actions.
Commentators see a settled rule of Scripture here, not a one-off.
Leslie M. GrantSo the evil Haman planned came back violently on his own head, as Ecclesiastes 10:8 warns, "He who digs a pit will fall into it."
The gallows as a picture
Some writers find more than irony in the gallows Haman built.
Michael HardtIt is beautifully significant that Haman hangs on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. At the cross, Satan was defeated. Through death, the one who had the power of death was destroyed (Heb. 2:14). What looked like a great defeat turned out to be the greatest victory of all time — and the end of the adversary.
Why the days are called Purim
The feast takes its name from Haman's lot. Yet God is still not named, even in the letters that set up the feast. Commentators contrast what God's book leaves out with what man's own writings later put in.
William KellyHere again, notice, the book holds to its character all the way through. Even here it does not name Him whom it would normally be the highest duty to proclaim. Yet the complete contrast shows up in man's own word. The Talmud lays down that at the feast of Purim a man should drink until he cannot tell the difference between "Blessed be Mordecai" and "Cursed be Haman."
Others read the feast as pointing forward rather than backward.
H. L. RossierOnly one feast, the feast of Purim, is mentioned in this book: a new feast that will last forever in memory of the deliverance of God's earthly people... So ends this account. It brings us to the dawn of the glorious time that follows deliverance, and points us prophetically to the threshold of the millennial reign of Christ.
Summary
- Plot. Haman schemed to destroy a whole people, and the plan looked unstoppable.
- Lot. The "Pur" he cast set the date eleven months away — time in which God ripened His purposes.
- Return. The evil he devised came back on his own head; God's purpose and Haman's own responsibility both stand.
- Gallows. He died on the structure he built, a reversal some read as a picture of the adversary's defeat at the cross.
- Memorial. Purim keeps his lot in its name, so the deliverance would never be forgotten — yet God's name stays unspoken to the last.