Esther
Chapter 6
Honor for Mordecai
Since he was sleepless that night, the king asked for the Book of Chronicles and ordered the record of his reign to be read to him.
He came across the passage where Mordecai exposed a plot to assassinate King Ahasuerus, orchestrated by two royal eunuchs guarding the gate, Bagathan and Teresh.
The king asked: “What reward and honor did Mordecai receive for this?” The king’s attendants answered: “None, your majesty.”
Haman had entered the outer court, wanting to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows he had built. “Who is there in the court?” The king asked.
The king’s attendants answered: “Haman is standing in the court.” The king ordered: “Let him come in.”
When Haman entered, the king asked him: “What should be done to the man the king wishes to honor?” Haman thought to himself: Who else would the king want to honor but me?
So he replied: “For the man the king wishes to honor,
let royal robes be brought which the king has worn, and a horse, which the king has ridden, with a royal diadem on its head.
The robes and the horse should be handed to one of the king’s noblest officers, who should dress the man the king wishes to honor and lead him on horseback through the city streets, proclaiming before him: ‘This is what is done for the man the king is pleased to honor!’”
The king ordered Haman: “Hurry! Grab the robes and the horse and do exactly as you have instructed for the Jew Mordecai sitting at the royal gate. Do not leave out anything you have recommended.”
So Haman took the robes and the horse, dressed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the streets, proclaiming: “This is what is done for the man the king is pleased to honor!”
Afterward, Mordecai returned to the king’s gate, while Haman hurried home, very upset and with his head covered.
He told his wife and all his friends everything that had happened. They said to him: “If Mordecai, who caused your downfall, is of Jewish origin, you will not be able to defeat him. You will be destroyed.”
While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs arrived and escorted Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared.
Commentaries
Honor for Mordecai.
A pattern of ignorance appears among the characters, which the reader recognizes. Ahasuerus does not know that Esther is Jewish, that Haman hates Mordecai, that Mordecai is Jewish, or that he owes his life to Mordecai. Haman is unaware that Esther is Jewish or that Mordecai saved the king. This ignorance leads, in the present chapter, to Haman becoming the victim not of the king, but of his vanity; and, as a result, of the Lord, “the Lord will take vengeance on the vengeful” (Sir 28:1). The scene in verses 6-9 is humorous. A key phrase is repeated six times: “whom the king wishes to honor.” The king is thinking about Mordecai, while Haman envisions himself, and with gleeful pride, he repeats the phrase five times. The honorary ceremony seems to be inspired by Genesis 41:42ff.