Charles Ellicott Commentary Esther 6:13

"And Haman recounted unto Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai, before whom thou hast begun to fall, be of the seed of the Jews, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him." — Esther 6:13 (ASV)

Told. This is the same word as on a former occasion (Esther 5:11). Then, the tale was one of boastful pride in what he possessed and in what he hoped to become. Now, however, it is one of bitter disappointment and bitter anticipation. This state is not brightened by any of the thoughts that usually lessen the sharpness of sorrow, such as when people have nobly done their duty (even if it is not God’s will that their efforts should succeed for the present), or when the hope can be cherished that a brighter time will soon dawn.

Haman could find none of this comfort. He had not failed in an honest discharge of his duty, but rather in a cruel and unjust scheme (not that the king can be called any better in this matter). He knew the customs of his country far too well to suppose for a moment that, after having made such an attempt and failed, he would be allowed to try a second time.

If Mordecai ... before whom thou hast begun ... Poor comfort the unfortunate schemer received from his household. He already knew too well that he had begun to fall; his heart must have told him only too clearly that it was merely the beginning. What then could he expect from this communication to his family? Had he been the representative of a fallen cause—fallen but not discredited, despairing even of his cause, yet not ashamed of the course that had led to this outcome—he might have been helped with counsel, encouragement, and sympathy. Contrast Zeresh’s perhaps last words to her husband with those, for example, of the wives of good John Rogers or Rowland Taylor, on their way to the stake in the days of the Marian persecution.