8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus , "There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom ; their laws are different from those of all other people and they do not observe the king's laws , so it is not in the king's interest to let them remain . 9 "If it is pleasing to the king , let it be decreed that they be destroyed , and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on the king's business , to put into the king's treasuries ." 10 Then the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman , the son of Hammedatha the Agagite , the enemy of the Jews . 11 The king said to Haman , "The silver is yours , and the people also, to do with them as you please e ." 12 Then the king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth e day of the first month , and it was written just e as Haman commanded to the king's satraps , to the governors who were over each province and to the princes of each people , each province according to its script , each people according to its language , being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's signet ring . 13 Letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces to destroy , to kill and to annihilate all the Jews , both young and old , women and children , in one day , the thirteenth e day of the twelfth e month , which is the month Adar , and to seize their possessions as plunder . 14 A copy of the edict to be issued as law in every province was published to all the peoples so that they should be ready for this day . 15 The couriers went out impelled by the king's command while the decree was issued at the citadel in Susa ; and while the king and Haman sat down to drink , the city of Susa was in confusion .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Esther 3:8-15
Commentary on Esther 3:7-15
(Read Esther 3:7-15)
Without some acquaintance with the human heart, and the history of mankind, we should not think that any prince could consent to a dreadful proposal, so hurtful to himself. Let us be thankful for mild and just government. Haman inquires, according to his own superstitions, how to find a lucky day for the designed massacre! God's wisdom serves its own purposes by men's folly. Haman has appealed to the lot, and the lot, by delaying the execution, gives judgment against him. The event explains the doctrine of a particular providence over all the affairs of men, and the care of God over his church. Haman was afraid lest the king's conscience should smite him for what he had done; to prevent which, he kept him drinking. This cursed method many often take to drown convictions, and to harden their own hearts, and the hearts of others, in sin. All appeared in a favourable train to accomplish the project. But though sinners are permitted to proceed to the point they aim at, an unseen but almighty Power turns them back. How vain and contemptible are the strongest assaults against Jehovah! Had Haman obtained his wish, and the Jewish nation perished, what must have become of all the promises? How could the prophecies concerning the great Redeemer of the world have been fulfilled? Thus the everlasting covenant itself must have failed, before this diabolical project could take place.