John Gill Commentary Esther 3

After these things
After the marriage of Esther, and the discovery of the conspiracy to take away the king's life, five years after, as Aben Ezra observes, at least more than four years, for so it appears from (Esther 3:7)

did King Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite ;
whom both the Targums make to descend from Amalek, and to be of the stock or family of Agag, the common name of the kings of Amalek. So Josephus ^F7 states, but this is not clear or certain. In the apocryphal Esther he is said to be a Macedonian, and Sulpitius the historian says^F8

and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with
him ;
erected a throne for him, higher than the rest, either of his own princes and nobles, or such as were his captives, see (2 Kings 25:28).

It was the custom of the kings of Persia, which it is probable was derived from Cyrus, to advance those to the highest seats they thought best deserved it:

says he to his nobles, let there be seats with you as with me, and let the best be honoured before others;--and again, let all the best of those present be honoured with seats above others ^F9 .

FOOTNOTES:

• F7: Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 11. c. 6.) sect. 5.
• F9: Xenophon, Cyropaedia, l. 8. c. 41.

And the king's servants that were in the king's gate
Or court, all his courtiers; for it cannot be thought they were all porters, or such only that

bowed and reverenced Haman ;
gave him divine honours, as to a deity; for such were given to the kings of Persia ^F11 , and might be given to their favourites, and seems to be the case; for, though Haman might not erect a statue of himself, or have images painted on his clothes, as the Targum and Aben Ezra, for the Persians did not allow of statues and images ^F12 ; yet he might make himself a god, as Jarchi, and require divine worship, with leave of the king, which he had, yea, an order for it:

for the king had so commanded concerning him ;
which shows that it was not mere civil honour and respect, for that in course would have been given him as the king's favourite and prime minister by all his servants, without an express order for it; this, therefore, must be something uncommon and extraordinary:

but Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence ;
which is a further proof that it was not mere civil honour that was required and given; for that the Jews did not refuse to give, and that in the most humble and prostrate manner, and was admitted by them, (1 Samuel 24:8) (2 Samuel 14:4) (18:28) (1 Kings 1:16) , nor can it be thought that Mordecai would refuse to give it from pride and sullenness, and thereby risk the king's displeasure, the loss of his office, and the ruin of his nation; but it was such kind of reverence to a man, and worship of him, which was contrary to his conscience, and the law of his God.

FOOTNOTES:

• F11: Vid. Salden. Otia Theolog. l. 3. Exercitat. 1. sec. 4, 5.
• F12: Laert. Prooem. ad Vit. Philosoph. p. 5, 6.

Then the king's servants, which were in the king's gate
Observing the behaviour of Mordecai towards Haman from time to time:

said unto Mordecai, why you transgress the king's commandment ?
of giving reverence to Haman, which they knew he could not be ignorant of.

Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily to him
Putting him in mind of his duty to obey the king's command, suggesting to him the danger he exposed himself to, pressing him to give the reasons of his conduct:

and he hearkened not unto them ;
regarded not what they said, and continued disobedient to the king's order, and disrespectful to Haman

that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand ;
they informed Haman that Mordecai refused to give him reverence as the king had ordered; this they did to try whether such a conduct would be suffered and bore with, and whether Mordecai would persevere in it when taken notice of:

for he has told them that he was a Jew ;
which was all the reason he gave why he would not reverence Haman; and a reason sufficient, because, by a fundamental law of his religion, he was not to worship mere man, but God only. This confirms what has been before observed; for this would have been no reason for refusing civil respect and honour, but was a strong one for denying religious worship and reverence. No wonder that the Jews should refuse it, when even the Grecians, though Heathens, refused to give the Persian kings the divine honours they required ^F13 ; yea, the Athenians put Timagoras to death for prostrating himself in such a manner to Darius ^F14 ; for the Persian kings were, as Aristotle says ^F15 , called Lord and God, and said to hear and see all things.

FOOTNOTES:

• F13: Herodot. Polymnia, sive, l. 7. c. 136. Justin e Trogo. l. 6. c. 2. Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 1. 21.
• F14: Plutarch. in Artaxerxe, Valer. Maxim. l. 6. c. 3.
• F15: De Mundo, c. 6.

And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him
reverence
For, after the information given him, he observed and watched him, to see whether he bowed and did him reverence or not:

then was Haman full of wrath ;
exceedingly displeased and angry; it was such a mortification to him he could not bear.