[:en]SCRIPTURE: ESTHER 3
“All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him, but Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor” (Esther 3:2)
HAMAN’S PLOT TO DESTROY THE JEWS (vs. 1-15)
King Xerxes promoted a wicked man Haman to a higher position than all the other nobles. The king had commanded all royal officials to kneel down before him and pay honor to him. But Mordecai refused to kneel down or pay him honor. When Haman knew about it, he was furious. Knowing that he was a Jew, Haman wanted to take revenge not only to Mordecai but to Mordecai’s people, the Jews. He told the king that there is a certain people dispatched and scattered among people in all the provinces of the kingdom whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king’s law. So, he persuaded the king not to tolerate them by issuing a decree to destroy them. He offered to put 10k talents of silver into the royal treasury for the men who will carry out this business (vs. 8-9).
So, the king agreed and took his signet ring and gave it to Haman. All the royal secretaries were summoned to write out a script in the language of each province to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews on the 13th day of the 12th month of Adar and to plunder their goods. It was written in the name of King Xerxes himself and stamped with his own ring. It became a law for every province to execute for that day. So, couriers went out and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The city of Susa was bewildered.[:]