以斯帖記 第三章 Esther 3
- 馬克牧師
- May 14
- 9 min read
各位平安，我們今天要繼續來讀《以斯帖記》第三章的故事。
昨天呢，我們已經了解整個故事的時空背景：有一位強大但昏庸的波斯皇帝，有我們的男主角末底改，還有女主角以斯帖。整個故事的舞台、角色都已經設定好。甚至連反派角色——我們今天要認識的哈曼，也正式登場了。
他一出場就很不簡單，國王不知為何，突然之間就把他升到了 “一人之下，萬人之上” 的位置，成為了宰相。甚至還頒布命令，要求所有人都要向他跪拜。這種待遇，按理來說，應該是皇帝才能享有的。哈曼究竟立了什麼大功，我們不知道。故事沒說。但我們知道，他將成為末底改、以斯帖，甚至整個猶太民族的一場巨大危機的源頭有一件事情，讓哈曼和末底改正面對上了。
為什麼呢？因為王下令要所有人向哈曼跪拜，而末底改卻沒有照做。我們都知道，猶太人對這種事情真的是寧死不屈的 - 對末底改來說，這命令實在太難接受了。因為他是猶太人，而猶太人只敬拜一位真神——就是耶和華，不向任何人跪拜。
我們如果去讀《但以理書》的話，會發現這可不是第一次發生類似的事。當時巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒也曾經下令，要所有人向金像跪拜。但以理的三個朋友拒絕了，結果被丟進火窯裡。還有但以理本人，因為持守信仰，被丟進獅子坑。這些人都因為敬拜真神而堅持不跪拜，後來也都蒙神拯救。
末底改肯定也知道這些故事，所以他寧願得罪哈曼這個全國第二有權勢的人，也堅持不跪拜。
這事引起了旁邊人的注意。他們問末底改：「你為什麼不聽王的命令呢？」但他就是不動搖。大家也都開始想看戲了——這個猶太人到底能撐多久？到底是末底改硬，還是哈曼狠？
哈曼一聽到這事，氣炸了。他心裡想：這末底改算老幾？王的命令他都敢不聽，竟然敢不向我跪拜？
不只這樣，哈曼氣到不只是想對付末底改一個人，他直接把整個猶太民族都拉進來，打算把他們全都消滅。
那我們就得問了：哈曼到底為什麼這麼恨猶太人？末底改不跪，你最多氣到處罰他一個人，怎麼會想到要滅族呢？
這背後其實有一段舊約歷史。如果你有注意看第三章第一節，會發現哈曼被稱為「亞甲人哈曼」。那亞甲人是誰呢？他們是亞瑪力人的後代，而亞瑪力人是以色列人古老的敵人——可以說是世仇。
這段歷史的恩怨，其實可以追溯到《撒母耳記上》第15章32到33節。
當時神吩咐掃羅要徹底攻打亞瑪力人，結果掃羅因為愛惜他們的財物，沒有完全遵命，反倒是撒母耳親手殺了亞瑪力王亞甲。從那時起，亞甲人就和以色列人結下了世仇。
所以你看，過了這麼多百年，到了以斯帖記這個時代，哈曼這個亞甲人的後代一旦得勢，當然想為他的民族報仇。這樣看，就比較能理解他為什麼不只是針對末底改一個人，而是想要整個滅絕猶太民族。
哈曼接著做了一件非常惡毒的事——他抽籤來決定哪一天動手，這個動作也讓人毛骨悚然。當時是在尼散月，也就是差不多三到四月左右，而抽中的亞達月則是次年的一到二月，意思是：他給自己大約一年的時間，準備這場抄家滅族的行動。
但你看喔，哈曼雖然脾氣暴躁，心思卻非常細膩。他用一套非常高明的話術，成功說服了國王。我們來看看他是怎麼講的：「有一個民族，散居在王國各省的人民之中。他們的律例與其他民族不同，也不遵守王的律例，所以容忍他們對王是不利的。若王允許，請下旨消滅他們。我願捐出一萬他連得銀子交給管理國事的人，納入王的庫房。」
你看這段話的結構非常有策略性。
第一句：「有一個民族，散居在各省。」——這句話是事實，但他沒有指名道姓，先丟出一個「有問題的群體」，讓人產生距離感。
第二句：「他們的律例不同。」——這也是事實，猶太人確實有自己的律法，像是摩西五經和《托拉》，他們代代遵守。但哈曼提這句，是在鋪陳。
第三句：「他們不遵守王的律例。」——這就開始惡意栽贓了。他把猶太人堅守信仰，扭曲成不忠於帝國的證據。
第四句：「容忍他們對王不利。」——這是致命的一擊。他把這一切說成是為國家、為王考量，講得冠冕堂皇，完全站在“忠臣”的角度。
然後，他再拋出重磅炸彈：「我願意出錢，一萬他連得銀子。」
我特別去查了一下這筆錢有多大，一萬他連得大約相當於三億五千萬美元（以2025年五月銀價計算）。如果照當時的工資來換算，一個工人要工作六千天才能賺到一個他連得，那這總額的購買力可能超過一百億美元！這不管在哪個時代，都是一筆驚天巨款。
哈曼說得好聽，是要幫王處理這件麻煩事，連錢都自己出。你說，如果你是皇帝，聽到有人這樣講，你會不會覺得這人真的是忠心耿耿？多好的忠臣哪。
哈曼當然知道皇帝不可能要他的錢，所以皇帝也順著說：「錢你留著吧，我把這件事交給你處理，這個民族你可以任意待他們。」注意到嗎，皇帝連這族人是誰都不知道，就把命令給下了，連多問兩句都不肯，說他昏庸也實在不過分。你看，哈曼講了漂亮的話，做了忠臣的姿態，還得到了實權和命令，成功借刀殺人。這就是哈曼的高明之處——口口聲聲為老闆著想，實際上是借皇帝的手，來達到自己的報復目的。奸臣，真的都特別聰明對吧？
所以我們看到這裡，哈曼已經完全得勢。
皇帝不但把那一萬他連得的銀子說「歸你了」，甚至把整個民族的生死都交給哈曼，任他處置。
接著，王的書記被召來，當場就用亞哈隨魯王的名義寫下聖旨，發往各省。每一份都是用當地的語言與文字寫成的，並且蓋上王的玉璽——這可不是普通的通知書，而是一道真正的「死亡聖旨」。
聖旨內容明確：在亞達月十三日，也就是猶太曆的十二月十三日——換算成今天的時間，大約是來年的一月，要將帝國境內所有的猶太人，不分男女老少，全部殺光、滅盡，並奪取他們的財產。
就這樣，一場滅族、抄家的陰謀被正式定下來。而且王的使臣急忙出發，將這道命令發往全國。當時的波斯帝國其實擁有相當高效的郵差系統，是專門為皇室與軍事服務的。所以這道聖旨，幾乎是以最快的速度傳遍全國。有點像是小說裡面說的 “八百里加急特旨” 這種意思。
一夜之間，整個波斯境內的猶太人都陷入生死存亡的危機中。而首都書珊也陷入混亂，猶太人要大難臨頭了。
就這樣，第三章我們看到了猶太人即將面臨滅族之災，這該怎麼辦呢？故事的張力達到了頂點，我們明天接下去看第四章的故事，感謝各位的聆聽，願上帝祝福各位。
Peace to you all. Today we continue our reading of Esther chapter 3.
Yesterday, we covered the background of the story: a powerful yet foolish Persian emperor, our male lead Mordecai, and the female lead Esther. The stage is set, the characters introduced, and now, even the antagonist—Haman—makes his entrance.
Right from the start, Haman doesn’t come in quietly. For reasons unknown, the king suddenly elevates him to the highest position—second only to the king himself. He even issues a decree requiring everyone to bow before Haman. That kind of honor is usually reserved only for the king. What great service Haman had done to deserve this, we don’t know—the text doesn’t say. But what we do know is that he becomes the source of a major crisis for Mordecai, Esther, and the entire Jewish people.
So what sparks the direct conflict between Haman and Mordecai?
The king commanded everyone to bow to Haman, but Mordecai refused. And we know—Jews don’t take this kind of thing lightly. For Mordecai, it was impossible to comply. As a Jew, he worships only the one true God—Yahweh—and bows to no one else.
If we look back at the Book of Daniel, we see this isn’t the first time this kind of situation happened. Back then, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon ordered everyone to bow to a golden statue. Daniel’s three friends refused and were thrown into a fiery furnace. Daniel himself was later thrown into the lion’s den for staying faithful to God. These people all stood firm in worshiping only God—and God delivered them.
Mordecai surely knew these stories. So even at the risk of offending Haman—the second most powerful man in the empire—he refused to bow.
This caught people’s attention. They asked Mordecai, “Why aren’t you following the king’s orders?” But he remained unmoved. People started watching, curious how long this Jew could hold out. Would Mordecai stand firm, or would Haman come down hard?
When Haman found out, he was furious. In his mind: “Who does Mordecai think he is? Ignoring a royal decree? Refusing to bow to me?”
But Haman’s anger went beyond Mordecai. He wasn’t content with punishing one man—he wanted to destroy the entire Jewish people.
Why such hatred? Why go so far over one man’s defiance?
There’s a historical reason rooted in the Old Testament. In verse one of chapter three, Haman is called “the Agagite.” Agagites were descendants of the Amalekites—ancient enemies of Israel, sworn foes for generations.
This grudge goes all the way back to 1 Samuel 15:32-33. God had commanded King Saul to wipe out the Amalekites completely. But Saul disobeyed—he spared their king and livestock. It was the prophet Samuel who ultimately killed King Agag. From that point on, the Agagites bore deep resentment against Israel.
So now, centuries later, a descendant of Agag rises to power. Of course he’s looking to settle old scores. That’s why his plan isn’t just to kill Mordecai—it’s to annihilate the entire Jewish people.
Then Haman does something chilling—he casts lots to decide the day for this mass extermination. He casts the lot in the month of Nisan (March-April), and it falls on the thirteenth of Adar (January-February the following year). That gave him almost a year to prepare for the slaughter.
Haman, though hot-tempered, was cunning. He used clever rhetoric to convince the king. Let’s take a look at his words:
“There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them. And I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the royal treasury for the men who carry out this business.”
Each sentence was carefully crafted.
The first line—“a certain people dispersed among the provinces”—was vague but suspicious. No names mentioned, just a hint that “there’s a problematic group out there.”
Next: “their customs are different.” True—Jews followed the Torah, the laws of Moses—but Haman wasn’t complimenting them. He was setting them up.
Then: “they do not obey the king’s laws.” That’s a blatant lie, twisting their loyalty to God into disloyalty to the empire.
And finally: “it is not in the king’s interest to tolerate them.” A deadly conclusion, framing the Jews as a threat to the throne.
And just to seal the deal, Haman offers a massive bribe—10,000 talents of silver.
I looked this up. That’s about $350 million in today’s silver prices (as of May 2025). Back then, it would take a laborer around 6,000 workdays to earn one talent. So this amount could be equivalent to over $10 billion in purchasing power. An astronomical sum in any era.
Haman sweet-talked the king: “Let me take care of it. I’ll even pay for it.” If you were the king, wouldn’t you think, “What a loyal servant”?
Of course, Haman knew the king wouldn’t take the money. And the king, not bothering to ask further, simply says, “Keep the money. Do with the people as you see fit.” He didn’t even ask who the people were. That’s how careless—and frankly, foolish—this king was.
Haman spoke cleverly, acted like a loyal servant, and got both power and permission to kill. He succeeded in using the king as a weapon for personal revenge. That’s how dangerous a clever traitor can be.
So now, Haman is fully in control.
The king not only gave him the money, but also handed over the fate of an entire nation.
Immediately, royal scribes were summoned. Orders were written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with his signet ring. Each province received the decree in its own language. This was no ordinary memo—it was an official death sentence.
The decree set the date: the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar. That day, all Jews—young and old, men and women—were to be annihilated and their property plundered.
A genocide had been officially ordered.
Royal messengers quickly spread the news across the empire. Persia had an advanced courier system, serving both the court and the military. So this message traveled fast—like an ancient version of “express military dispatch.”
Overnight, the entire Jewish population across Persia found themselves in mortal danger. And the capital, Susa, was thrown into chaos.
So that’s chapter 3. The Jewish people stand on the brink of disaster. What happens next?
We’ll find out in chapter 4 tomorrow. Thanks for listening. May God bless you all.
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