Haman

Haman (meaning noise or tumult; of Persian origin), son of Hammedatha the Agagite, was the grand vizier of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) and the principal antagonist of the book of Esther. Elevated above all other nobles, Haman demanded prostration from the royal servants, and when Mordecai the Jew refused on religious grounds, Haman determined not merely to destroy Mordecai but to annihilate every Jew in the Persian empire. He persuaded the king to issue a decree authorizing the genocide, casting lots (pur) to determine the optimal date for the massacre—the origin of the festival of Purim.

Haman's downfall came through a series of dramatic reversals: the king's sleepless night led him to honor Mordecai for an old service just as Haman arrived to request Mordecai's execution; Esther's two banquets revealed both her petition and Haman's identity as the threat; and Haman was hanged on the very gallows he had prepared for Mordecai (Esth. 7:10). The narrative is often read as a paradigmatic story of divine providence overturning the schemes of the wicked.