Friday, March 06, 2015

5755 Megillah thought


My new thought this Purim is that by the time we get to Chapter 7 and Haman's downfall, he had to have already been in a precarious political position. Your top minister is going to be a well-connected player, who's sitting on top of his own power base. You don't just kill him without discussing it with the other top people. Tony Soprano, for instance, never would have moved against his #2 guy that impulsively -- unless the guy was already friendless, weak and under suspicion. 

So was Haman already at his end of his rope? Some of the supporting evidence for this theory include:
  • The behavior of the king's men. At the end of chapter 6 they appear and "hasten to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared." What's the hurry? And why the special escort? If the king afraid Haman will miss the party? Why does the king want him there?
  • Charvonah's treachery. When Haman get's into a bad spot with the king, Charvonah doers not hesitate to stick a knife in his side. I doubt he would have shown such a lack of discretion unless he knew Haman was finished.
  • Instantly, all the kingdom officials and governors are on Mordechai's side. Virtually overnight, the political situation in Persia is as follows: And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants and the deputies, and those who did the business that belonged to the king, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them
What happened to Haman? What did he do that suddenly made him expendable? Why did his political support suddenly dry up.  Is it possible that there is a deleted scene in which Mordechai sets him up, just as he caused the downfall of Bigsan and Teresh? Here's another clue. The language Esther and the King use at the second banquet sounds forced and fake. Its almost as if they are reading off a script. Is it possible that Mordechai and Esther have already won the king's support and now the king and queen have staged the second banquet to provide a public justification for the execution they've already decided to carry out?

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