Haman

Haman was the chief minister or vizier of King Ahasuerus. Haman was an Amalekite, and when Mordecai refused to humble himself before him, Haman decided to have all the Jews in Persia exterminated. He was able to mislead Kind Ahasuerus and procure a bloody decree for the death of all the Hebrew people in a single day. In addition, Haman's wife, Zeresh, urged him to build a very high gallows with which to hang Mordecai.

In the meantime, King Ahasuerus was restless and could not sleep. He called his servants and asked them to read to him from the history books of his kingdom. While listening, he was reminded that Mordecai had once saved his life but that he had not been honored for this act.

The next day, Haman appeared before the king. He planned to ask the king to have Mordecai hanged upon the gallows which had just been made, but the king did not know this. Instead, when Haman was called in to the see the king, Ahasuerus asked him,"What shall be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor?" Haman assumed that the king wished to honor him, so he said that the king should give the man he wished to honor the royal garments, horse, and crown and then be lead around the city with great honor. King Ahasuerus agreed and said, "The man that I wish to honor is Mordecai the Jew." The king then asked Haman to take the royal garments, and the crown, and the horse and lead Mordecai through the city in triumph.

Later, after Mordecai had warned Queen Esther about Haman's plot to kill the Jews, and Esther had risked her life to appeal to the king, Ahasueurs recognized the wickedness of Haman, and he had Haman hung on the very gallows he had constructed.

These illustrations of Haman are from several biblical texts. Feel free to use these pictures of Haman in your artwork. Click on the Haman drawings below to see more details about saving a free image or about purchasing an image of Haman at a higher resolution.