Aridai
Aridai was one of the ten sons of Haman, who were killed and hanged after their father's downfall.
Biography
Aridai was the ninth of ten sons born to Haman the Agagite, the chief minister of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). His name appears in Esther 9:9 among those executed by the Jews of Susa on the thirteenth of Adar, following the dramatic reversal engineered by Esther and Mordecai. When Haman's plot to annihilate the Jewish people was exposed and Haman himself hanged on the very gallows he had prepared for Mordecai (Esther 7:10), the royal decree could not be revoked. A counter-edict permitted the Jews to defend themselves, and Aridai, along with his nine brothers, perished in the resulting conflict. Their deaths brought a complete end to Haman's household and legacy.
Significance
Aridai's fate illustrates the biblical principle that the sins of the wicked recoil upon their own households (Proverbs 11:5). His death alongside his brothers signals the thorough dismantling of Haman's anti-Semitic agenda, underscoring God's providential protection of the covenant people even in a foreign land without a reigning Israelite king. The annihilation of Haman's sons points to the deeper theme running through Esther: that no scheme devised against God's people can ultimately prevail when faithfulness and courage are exercised in response to divine providence.
Verse Appearances (1)
Esther
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]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]