His Own Petard

          Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen.  The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.

            Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.

           The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”

            As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits^[b] stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.”

            The king said, “Impale him on it!”  So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided. (Esther 76b-10) 

            I’m a little uncertain about this passage. First, it says “as soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.” That could mean they put a sack over his head, but its also the action one takes when someone has died. I haven’t looked far, but I haven’t found anything that tells me about this phrase.  The thing to keep in mind, then, is that it’s possible that he died on the spot.

           The next difficulty is the fact that we are told earlier that Haman had ordered gallows built and that he intended to hang Mordecai on it. Yet here, the king says to impale Haman on it. According to one commentary, the problem is two-fold. First, there is the translation, and secondly, there is our assumptions about the translated terms. To make a long story short, hanging can be understood to mean impaling, and the word translated gallows is better translated “tree.” There’s no real problem with the text, even in the case of my question, because impaling was not only a means of execution, it was also a means of humiliation to the family. It doesn’t matter whether he was alive or dead when they hung, or suspended, him on the thing on which they typically hung such criminals.

           I think Haman is the best example possible of “hoisted on his own petard.” His tragedy is not quite complete, and he is spared watching his family His decisions led him to this point. His hatred of others and his desire for “social justice.” He would not, could not forgive the Jews for what they did to his ancestors. This seems to me to be the fate of those who “can never forgive.”