From Amalek to Haman: The Historical Roots of the Purim Decree

Our story begins in the days of King Shaul, who, in order to establish his reign and assert Israelite sovereignty over large territories, waged many wars against the nations inhabiting the Land of Israel and its surroundings. Among these nations was Amalek, a people who had caused great suffering to Israel. Shaul also sought to fulfill God’s command to punish Amalek for attacking the Israelites during the Exodus from Egypt, an unprovoked assault carried out against a vulnerable nation.

Shaul assembled 210,000 soldiers and struck Amalek from Havilah to Shur, near Egypt. However, he failed to fully carry out God’s command and showed mercy to Agag, king of Amalek. While Agag was held captive, he had relations with a maidservant, who became pregnant as a result. This explains the verse, “And Samuel said, ‘Bring Agag king of Amalek to me.’ And Agag came to him cheerfully, and Agag said, ‘Surely the bitterness of death has passed.’” Agag walked toward his execution with a sense of pleasure, knowing that although he would die, his lineage would continue.

Because Agag was a king, his descendants carefully preserved their family lineage. Even though many years passed, they remembered what Israel had done to their king and people, and they waited for the day they could take revenge.

The Rise of Haman

Under the rule of the Persian Empire, one of these descendants chose, as many did at the time, to give his son a Persian name: Hammedata, who in turn gave his own son the Persian name Haman.

In his youth, Haman was drawn to manual crafts and became skilled in the art of writing. He worked as a scribe in the village where he grew up, called Kartzum. When he reached the age of military service, he was immediately conscripted into the Persian army. He excelled, rose through the ranks, and eventually became a commander of troops.

Haman’s hatred for the Jewish people is generally attributed to his Amalekite ancestry, a hatred rooted in ancient history. However, it is also possible that his animosity was intensified by the treatment he received from Jewish officers or colleagues within the Persian military.

After completing his military service, Haman followed the common path of senior officers and entered royal service in Shushan, the capital city. He advanced rapidly within the government, until King Achashverosh, impressed by his abilities and personality, appointed him as his chief deputy.

Hatred Fueled by Power

From his position close to the king, Haman never ceased inciting him against the Jewish people. His anger intensified particularly because Mordechai the Jew, who also held a high-ranking position in the royal court, refused to bow or prostrate himself before Haman. Mordechai explained that Jewish law forbade him from bowing to any human being or granting divine honor to a person. This stood in sharp contrast to the rest of the king’s servants, who did bow to Haman.

At the same time, Haman pursued another strategy. He secretly met with leaders of commerce and industry throughout the empire, who deeply resented the economic success of the Jews. Haman told them he was planning a legal maneuver that would strip the Jews of their wealth. If they contributed generously to fund his plan, he promised that they would benefit from the spoils taken from the Jews. They agreed and transferred enormous sums of money to him.

The Four Stages of the Decree

Once Haman secured the necessary funds, he decided the time had come to implement his “final solution” to the Jewish problem. The process unfolded in four stages:

1. Haman said to King Achashverosh: “There is one nation scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws differ from those of every other nation, and they do not observe the king’s laws. It is not worthwhile for the king to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let it be written that they be destroyed, and I will weigh out ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who perform the work, to bring into the king’s treasuries.”

2. The king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedata the Agagite, enemy of the Jews. The king said to Haman, “The silver is given to you, and the people as well, to do with them as you see fit.”

3. Royal scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and letters were written exactly as Haman commanded, addressed to the king’s satraps, governors, and officials of every province, in every script and language. Written in the name of King Achashverosh and sealed with the king’s ring, the letters were sent by couriers throughout the empire to destroy, kill, and annihilate all Jews, young and old, children and women, on a single day, the thirteenth of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their possessions.

4. The couriers hurried out by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Shushan the capital. The king and Haman sat down to drink, while the city of Shushan was thrown into confusion.

At this moment, Haman stood at the height of his power. Every element of his plan had fallen into place. He possessed immense wealth and political influence, and he had succeeded in legally sanctioning the annihilation of the Jewish people across the Persian Empire. But after this great rise came a dramatic reversal, from which his downfall would only accelerate.

A Battle Against Eternity

Haman himself admitted that all his honor and wealth meant nothing to him as long as even a single Jew remained alive. Every move he made was aimed at one goal: the total destruction of the Jewish people.

The Jewish people however, operate on an entirely different plane. Many have risen up to destroy them, but none have succeeded. Even Haman’s own advisers and his wife Zeresh warned him: “If Mordechai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him. You will surely fall before him.”

Redemption Before the Decree

There is a well-known principle that God “prepares the cure before the blow.” Indeed, long before Haman rose to power, King Achashverosh had married Esther, a Jewish woman and a relative of Mordechai. Mordechai himself was part of the Persian leadership. However, Achashverosh did not know that Esther was Jewish.

One day, Mordechai uncovered a plot to assassinate the king and informed him through Esther. The conspirators were executed, and Mordechai’s deed was recorded in the royal chronicles.

Later, when the king could not sleep, he ordered the chronicles to be read aloud. Upon hearing of Mordechai’s loyalty, he asked what reward had been given to him. The answer was none. At that moment, Haman entered the royal courtyard. The king asked him what should be done for a man whom the king wishes to honor. Thinking the king meant him, Haman suggested royal garments, the king’s horse, and a public proclamation of honor. The king immediately ordered Haman to do exactly that for Mordechai the Jew.

Thus, Haman was forced to publicly honor the very man he sought to destroy.

The Final Reversal

Immediately afterward, Haman was rushed to a banquet hosted by Queen Esther. There, she revealed her Jewish identity and exposed Haman’s plot to annihilate her people, including herself and Mordechai, who had saved the king’s life. Enraged, the king ordered Haman’s execution.

Through further intervention by Esther, the decree of destruction was neutralized, and Haman’s ten sons were executed. This was the end of Haman the wicked. His plan to destroy the Jews was overturned, and he and his sons were put to death.

Throughout history, this pattern has repeated itself. Nations that sought to annihilate the Jewish people were ultimately defeated and disappeared from history, while the Jewish people endure. As Scripture teaches, the eternity of Israel will not be denied.