Esther 3:1

"Esther."

Key Reflection

In first-century Jewish households, foot washing was an extremely menial and degrading task typically performed by lowly servants. The opening of Esther 3:1 with just the name "Esther" would have immediately signaled to the original audience that something significant and potentially scandalous was about to unfold, as it sets the stage for a narrative where a queen—someone of high status—would be involved in actions traditionally reserved for the lowliest servants.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

The name, Haman, is probably the same as the Classical Omanes, and in ancient Persian, “Umana”, an exact equivalent of the Greek “Eumenes.” Hammedatha is perhaps the same as “Madata” or “Mahadata”, an old Persian name signifying “given by (or to) the moon.” The Agagite -The Jews generally understand by this expression “the descendant of Agag,” the Amalekite monarch of1 Samuel 15:0. Haman, however, by his own name, and the names of his sonsEsther 9:7-9and his father, would seem to have been a genuine Persian. The Classical writers make no mention of Haman’s advancement; but their notices of the reign of Xerxes after 479 B.C.

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