Bible Strands
Esther 3:8
Then Haman informed King Xerxes, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples of every province of your kingdom. Their laws are different from everyone else’s, and they do not obey the king’s laws. So it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Haman addresses King Xerxes immediately after the lot falls on Adar to determine the date for destruction. He frames his petition by claiming a specific group’s laws differ from everyone else’s and that they do not obey royal decrees.
The words — The Hebrew מְפֻזָּר (me.fu.Zar) translates literally to "scattered," describing the group’s dispersed status across every province. The phrase יֶשְׁנוֹ עַם־אֶחָד (yesh.N/o 'am- 'e.Chad) literally means "there is one people," emphasizing Haman’s deliberate singular framing.
The thread — This motif of a distinct people scattered among nations echoes Leviticus 26:33 and appears in later accounts of Jewish diaspora life in Ezra 4:12 and Acts 16:20.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize how political rhetoric can isolate a group by emphasizing their legal and cultural difference from the ruling power. It demands attention to how language is weaponized to justify state violence.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them.
Cross-references
- Ezra 4:12 Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came from you to us have returned to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring its walls and repairing its foundations.
- Acts 16:20 They brought them to the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews and are throwing our city into turmoil
- Leviticus 26:33 But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.
- Deuteronomy 4:27 Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
- Jeremiah 50:17 Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
- Zechariah 7:14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known, and the land was left desolate behind them so that no one could come or go. Thus they turned the pleasant land into a desolation.”
- John 7:35 At this, the Jews said to one another, “Where does He intend to go that we will not find Him? Will He go where the Jews are dispersed among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?
- Deuteronomy 30:3 then He will restore you from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you from all the nations to which the LORD your God has scattered you.
- Deuteronomy 32:26 I would have said that I would cut them to pieces and blot out their memory from mankind,
- Nehemiah 1:8 Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses when You said, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations,