Esther 6:10-14
Haman Led the Horse
Read the passage
10“Hurry,” said the king to Haman, “and do just as you proposed. Take the robe and the horse to Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything that you have suggested.”
11So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai, and paraded him through the city square, crying out before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!”
12Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief.
13Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is Jewish, you will not prevail against him—for surely you will fall before him.”
14While they were still speaking with Haman, the king’s eunuchs arrived and rushed him to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
The king tells Haman to hurry and carry out his proposal—for Mordecai the Jew.
Do not neglect anything that you have suggested.
Haman has imagined the royal robe, the horse, and the proclamation for himself. Now he must give every part of that honor to the man he came to have killed. He dresses Mordecai and leads him through the city square, announcing the king's delight.
Afterward, Mordecai returns to the king's gate. Haman rushes home with his head covered in grief. The man Haman wanted dead is back at his post; the man who sought his death leaves in grief.
Haman tells Zeresh and his friends what happened. The people who advised him to build the gallows now predict his downfall. Since Mordecai is Jewish and Haman has begun to fall before him, they say, he will not prevail. Their earlier encouragement has given way to a warning that his plan will fail.
Before the conversation is over, the king's eunuchs arrive to hurry Haman to Esther's banquet. He wanted to control Mordecai's future. Instead, he has been made to honor him and is being taken toward another encounter he cannot control.
Questions
1 Whom does Xerxes tell Haman to honor?
AnswerMordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Haman must leave out none of the honors he proposed.
2 What must Haman proclaim?
AnswerThat this is what is done for the man the king delights to honor. He says it while parading Mordecai through the city square.
3 Where do the two men go afterward?
AnswerMordecai returns to the king's gate. Haman rushes home with his head covered in grief.
4 What interrupts the discussion with Haman's wife and advisers?
AnswerThe king's eunuchs arrive and hurry him to Esther's banquet. His advisers have just warned that he will fall before Mordecai.
What This Means for Us
Imagining the praise we think we deserve can make another person's recognition hard to bear. When someone else is thanked or honored, practice being glad for them. If honor comes to you, receive it gratefully and keep attending to your responsibilities. Neither applause nor its absence determines your worth before God.
Prayer
Father, we spend more time imagining our own honor than we would ever admit. Free us from needing to be seen. And when we are given something good, keep us steady enough to put it down and get back to work. Amen.