by
Damien F. Mackey
“The
Rabbis apply to Haman, who heeded his wife’s counsel, the verse (Prov. 10:1):
“a dull son is his mother’s sorrow.” Because he heeded her advice, he himself
“a dull son is his mother’s sorrow.” Because he heeded her advice, he himself
was
hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai”.
Tamar Kadari
Haman, or Aman, was, as we have discovered (with
assistance from Jewish legend), a former king of Judah, namely, Amon, who was,
as further concluded, the exiled king Jehoiachin (Jeconiah or Coniah). Now,
this king had “wives” (2 Kings 24:15): “And [Nebuchednezzar] carried
away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and
his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from
Jerusalem to Babylon”.
As Haman, he also
had “ten sons” (Esther 9:10) – by one or more of his wives.
The however many
“wives” of the king who went into captivity with him may, or may not, have
perished by the time that (about four decades later) the king of Judah had been
freed from prison by the son of Nebuchednezzar (Jeremiah 52:31): “In the thirty-seventh year of the exile
of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, on
the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah
and freed him from prison”.
A handful of years
later again (in the Medo-Persian era) he re-enters the scene as the
conspiratorial Haman, having then only the one wife of whom we are told,
Zeresh.
Emil G. Hirsch et al. tell of a tradition according to
which Jehoiachin was allowed to have his wife with him in prison. The
suggestion here that it was a “Queen Semiramis”, wife of Nebuchednezzar, who
enabled for this to happen would be, though, an anachronism.
And entirely
inaccurate, too, would be Jehoiachin’s ‘repentance’ in light of his being
Haman: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8560-jehoiachin
JEHOIACHIN.
By: Emil G. Hirsch, Bernhard Pick, Solomon Schechter, Louis Ginzberg
…. Jehoiachin's sad
experiences changed his nature entirely, and as he repented of the sins which
he had committed as king he was pardoned by God, who revoked the decree to the
effect that none of his descendants should ever become king (Jer. xxii. 30;
Pesiḳ., ed. Buber, xxv. 163a, b); he even became the ancestor of the Messiah (Tan.,
Toledot, 20 [ed. Buber, i. 140]). It was especially his firmness in fulfilling
the Law that restored him to God's favor. He was kept by Nebuchadnezzar in
solitary confinement, and as he was therefore separated from his wife, the
Sanhedrin, which had been expelled with him to Babylon, feared that at the
death of this queen the house of David would become extinct.
They managed to gain the favor
of Queen Semiramis, who induced Nebuchadnezzar to ameliorate the lot of the
captive king by permitting his wife to share his prison. As he then manifested
great self-control and obedience to the Law, God forgave him his sins (Lev. R.
xix., end). Jehoiachin lived to see the death of his conqueror, Nebuchadnezzar,
which brought him liberty; for within two days of his father's death
Evil-merodach opened the prison in which Jehoiachin had languished for so many
years.
[End of quote]
Tamar Kadari provides further midrashic insight into the situation, telling that Haman’s wife,
Zeresh, was even more wicked than her husband. Included also in this colourful
account is the tragic death of a daughter of the couple, which incident does
not feature (at least explicitly) in the Esther narrative: https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/zeresh-midrash-and-aggadah
Zeresh: Midrash and Aggadah
by Tamar Kadari
The midrash portrays Zeresh as being even more wicked than
her husband Haman (Midrash le-Esther, Ozar ha-Midrashim [ed.
Eisenstein], p. 51). Wise women are celebrated in Proverbs (14:1): “The wisest
of women builds her house,” while the end of this verse says of the wicked
Zeresh: “but folly tears it down with its own hand” (Midrash Proverbs 14:1).
The Book of Esther relates that Haman,
incensed after he saw that Mordecai did not prostrate himself before him,
returned home to consult with his friends and his wife Zeresh. The midrash
elaborates that Haman’s friends were his wife’s lovers and that Haman also had
mistresses, for all idolaters are licentious (Midrash Panim Aherim [ed.
Buber], version B, chapter 5).
In another midrashic
account, Haman had 365 advisors, like the days of the year, but none could give
him advice as good as that of his wife Zeresh. She told him: “If this man of
whom you speak is of Jewish stock, you will not overcome him, but you must act
wisely against him. If you were to drop him into a fiery furnace, Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah were already dropped down there and they were saved. If
you were to throw him into a lions’ den, Daniel was already thrown into a
lions’ den and he emerged unscathed. If you were to put him in prison, Joseph
was already incarcerated there and he left it. If you were to send him to the
wilderness, Israel already were in the wilderness, they were fruitful and
multiplied, they withstood all the tests, and they were saved.
If you were to blind him,
Samson killed many Philistines when he was blind. But hang him on the gallows,
for we have not found a single one of the Jews who was saved from hanging.”
Immediately (Esth. 5:14)
“the proposal pleased Haman, and he had the gallows put up” (Esth. Rabbah 9:2; Midrash
Abba Gurion [ed. Buber], chapter 5).
The Rabbis apply to Haman,
who heeded his wife’s counsel, the verse (Prov. 10:1): “a dull son is his
mother’s sorrow.” Because he heeded her advice, he himself was hanged on the
gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. The Rabbis ask why Haman was not
successful in using his riches to save himself from the scaffold. They reply
that the case of Haman teaches us that all of a wicked man’s riches will be of
no avail when his downfall is at hand (Midrash Proverbs 10:1).
Haman’s downfall began
when Ahasuerus ordered him to parade Mordecai on horseback through the streets
of the city. According to the midrash, when Haman did so, their route led
through a lane that went past Haman’s house. Haman’s daughter looked down from
the roof and thought that the rider on horseback was her father and that
Mordecai was leading him. She took a full chamber pot and emptied it on his
head. Haman looked up; his daughter saw that this was her father, and in her great
amazement and distress she fell from the roof to her death. Therefore it is
said (Esth. 6:12): “Haman hurried home, his head covered in mourning”—he was
“in mourning” over his daughter’s death and “his head was covered” with filth
(BT Megillah 16a). This midrashic account accentuates Haman’s great
shame in the eyes of his household and those of the entire kingdom. The
daughter’s act symbolized what would befall her father. Haman sought to
maltreat Mordecai, but in the end he harmed himself. The daughter’s fall from
the roof was therefore a portent of her father’s imminent ruin.
Afterwards, Haman returned
home to once again take counsel with Zeresh and his confidants. According to
the midrash, they told him: If Mordecai is from one of the tribes of Israel,
you will prevail over him, but if he is from the tribe of Judah, or of
Benjamin, Ephraim or Manasseh, you will not overcome him. For it is written of
Judah (Gen. 49:8): “Your hand shall be on the nape of your foes”; and it is
said of Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh (Ps. 80:3): “at the head of Ephraim,
Benjamin, and Manasseh! Rouse Your might and come to our help!” These tribes
received a special blessing that they would triumph over their enemies;
Mordecai is a Benjaminite, and therefore you cannot harm him. They also told
him: The people of Israel are compared to the dust and the stars. When they
descend, they descend to the dust; and when they rise, they rise to the stars.
So now that Mordecai is in the ascent, you will no longer be able to harm him
(BT Megillah 16a).
The Rabbis prescribe that
on Purim everyone must say: “Cursed be Haman, cursed be his sons,
cursed be Zeresh his wife,” thereby fulfilling Prov. 10:7: “But the name of the
wicked rots” (Esth. Rabbah 10:9).
