Esther 3:1-15

3:1 | The phrase after these things suggests that about four years had passed since Esther became queen.

3:2 | Jews would bow down to kings (2 Sam. 18:28) and to others in power (Gen. 23:7), but Mordecai would not bow before Haman, who expected to be revered. Daniel and his friends felt a similar conviction (Dan. 3). Mordecai is about to become the focus of anti-Semitism.

3:7 | It was Nisan, roughly April, the first month in the Persian calendar. The Persians cast Pur (the lot) to determine the day on which to destroy the Jewish race.

3:9 | Ten thousand talents of silver weighted about 300 tons/ So when Haman promised the greedy, recently defeated King Ahasuerus that sum if he signed a proclamation to destroy (lit. “wipe out”) the Jews, he was promising great wealth. No doubt the money would come from the confiscated goods of the victims.

3:10-13 | To sign official documents, ancient kings would press their signet ring – imprinted with their distinctive royal symbol – into soft wax placed on the document. By giving Haman this ring, the king also gave him his power.

3:12-13 | Haman’s plan was so carefully crafted and communicated that everyone in the kingdom knew what it all meant: all the Jews were to be annihilated.