Haman’s Promotion and Plot against the Jews: Esther 1–2 describes the splendors of the Persian court as well as its dangers. One queen was banished and her replacement installed. An assassination attempt by two officials was uncovered and executions followed. Chapter 3 begins with echoes of these earlier chapters. Like the king, Haman is a person with great honor (and wealth, 5:11). He also has a very sensitive ego. Mordecai, like Vashti, refuses to comply with a simple command to perform a gesture of deference. Thus, both challenge the honor of the one to whom all others pay their respects. Both Mordecai and Vashti provoke empire-wide efforts to punish not only themselves but also those associated with them by deed or race. Retaliation escalates to dramatic proportions, forcing what is a …