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Esther 3:2
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Haman’s Conspiracy Against the Jews

1 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the aAgagite, and badvanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.  
2 And all the king’s servants who were awithin the king’s gate bowed and paid homage to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bwould not bow or pay homage.  
3 Then the king’s servants who were within the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the aking’s command?”  
4 Now it happened, when they spoke to him daily and he would not listen to them, that they told it to Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand; for Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew.
5 When Haman saw that Mordecai adid not bow or pay him homage, Haman was bfilled with wrath.  
6 But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him of the people of Mordecai. Instead, Haman asought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai.  
7 In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, athey cast Pur (that is, the lot), before Haman to determine the day and the2 month, until it fell on the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.  
8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; atheir laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain.  
9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”
10 So the king atook bhis signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the cenemy of the Jews.  
11 And the king said to Haman, “The money and the people are given to you, to do with them as seems good to you.”
12 aThen the king’s scribes were called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and a decree was written according to all that Haman commanded—to the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province, to the officials of all people, to every province baccording to its script, and to every people in their language. cIn the name of King Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king’s signet ring.  
13 And the letters were asent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, bin one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and cto plunder their possessions.  
14 aA copy of the document was to be issued as law in every province, being published for all people, that they should be ready for that day.  
15 The couriers went out, hastened by the king’s command; and the decree was proclaimed in1 Shushan the citadel. So the king and Haman sat down to drink, but athe city of Shushan was perplexed. 
Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
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Esther 3:2

The king ' s servants , that were in the king ' s gate - By servants here, certainly a higher class of officers are intended than porters; and Mordecai was one of those officers, and came to the gate with the others who were usually there in attendance to receive the commands of the king.

Mordecai bowed not - lo yichra . "He did not bow down;" nor did him reverence, velo yishtachaveh , "nor did he prostrate himself." I think it most evident, from these two words, that it was not civil reverence merely that Haman expected and Mordecai refused; this sort of respect is found in the word cara , to bow. This sort of reverence Mordecai could not refuse without being guilty of the most inexcusable obstinacy, nor did any part of the Jewish law forbid it. But Haman expected, what the Persian kings frequently received, a species of Divine adoration; and this is implied in the word shachah , which signifies that kind of prostration which implies the highest degree of reverence that can be paid to God or man, lying down flat on the earth, with the hands and feet extended, and the mouth in the dust.

The Targum, says that Haman set up a statue for himself, to which every one was obliged to bow, and to adore Haman himself. The Jews all think that Mordecai refused this prostration because it implied idolatrous adoration. Hence, in the Apocryphal additions to this book, Mordecai is represented praying thus: "Thou knowest that if I have not adored Haman, it was not through pride, nor contempt, nor secret desire of glory; for I felt disposed to kiss the footsteps of his feet (gladly) for the salvation of Israel: but I feared to give to a man that honor which I know belongs only to my God."


 
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