Haman’s Plot Against the Jews

The villainous plot by Haman, chief minister to Persian King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I), to annihilate all Jews throughout the Persian Empire. His scheme was thwarted through the courage of Queen Esther and her cousin Mordecai, commemorated in the festival of Purim.

Haman’s hatred stemmed from Mordecai’s refusal to bow to him—an act Mordecai viewed as idolatry. Enraged, Haman convinced the king to decree the destruction of all Jews on a date determined by casting lots (purim). He offered 10,000 talents of silver to the royal treasury and portrayed Jews as disloyal subjects whose customs differed from Persian law.

Unaware that Esther was Jewish, King Ahasuerus authorized the decree. Mordecai urged Esther to intervene despite the capital risk of approaching the king unbidden. Her famous response—“If I perish, I perish”—preceded her courageous three-day fast and dangerous appeal. Through two banquets, Esther revealed both her Jewish identity and Haman’s genocidal plot.

The king, outraged at Haman’s treachery, hanged him on the very gallows Haman had built for Mordecai. Unable to revoke the irrevocable Persian decree, the king issued a counter-decree allowing Jews to defend themselves. The Jews’ victory over their enemies on the 13th of Adar and their celebration on the 14th established Purim as a perpetual memorial of God’s hidden providence in delivering His people from destruction.