Zeresh
Zeresh, the wife of Haman, advised him to have Mordecai hanged on a gallows (Est.5.10,14; 6.13,13).
Biography
Zeresh was the wife of Haman the Agagite, the chief official of the Persian King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) who conceived a genocidal plot against the Jewish people throughout the empire. She plays a revealing advisory role in the book of Esther: after Haman recounted his humiliation at seeing Mordecai the Jew refuse to bow at the king's gate, Zeresh and his friends suggested he build a gallows seventy-five feet high and have Mordecai hanged on it the following morning (Esther 5:14). Later, after Haman was forced to honor Mordecai publicly, Zeresh and her advisors ominously warned that if Mordecai was of Jewish descent, Haman would surely fail, a prediction that proved accurate when Haman was himself hanged on the very gallows he had constructed.
Significance
Zeresh functions in the book of Esther as both an instigator and a prophet of doom. Her counsel to build the gallows for Mordecai accelerated the chain of events that would lead to her husband's downfall, illustrating the biblical principle that schemes against God's people tend to rebound upon their architects (Psalm 7:15-16). Remarkably, her second counsel, that Haman would inevitably fall if Mordecai was Jewish, echoes the ancient promise of Genesis 12:3 that those who curse Abraham's descendants will themselves be cursed. Zeresh thus inadvertently testifies to the indestructibility of God's covenant people. Her character serves as a narrative foil to Esther: while both women advise powerful men, only Esther's counsel leads to life and deliverance.
Verse Appearances (3)
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]