Bible Strands
Esther 6:13
Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is Jewish, you will not prevail against him—for surely you will fall before him.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Haman recounts his recent humiliation to his wife Zeresh and his circle of friends, prompting them to issue a warning before the king’s messengers arrive to summon him to Esther’s banquet.
The words — וַיְסַפֵּר (vayyəsappēr) means “and he recounted,” and אֹהֲבָיו ('ohăḇāyw) translates literally to “his friends,” marking the moment Haman shifts from private grief to public consultation.
The thread — This warning echoes the principle that those who oppose God’s chosen will stumble, paralleling the caution in Proverbs 28:18 and the prophetic pattern of inevitable downfall seen in Genesis 40:19.
Why it lands — The text records a factual prediction of Haman’s defeat, demanding the reader acknowledge that human counsel cannot reverse a trajectory set by divine purpose.
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 told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thing that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 28:18 He who walks with integrity will be kept safe, but whoever is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall.
- Hosea 14:9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them.
- Genesis 40:19 Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh of your body.”
- Genesis 41:8 In the morning his spirit was troubled, so he summoned all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.
- Daniel 2:12 This response made the king so angry and furious that he gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
- Daniel 5:26 And this is the interpretation of the message: MENE means that God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
- 1 Samuel 28:19 Moreover, the LORD will deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. And the LORD will deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”
- Esther 5:10 Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. And calling for his friends and his wife Zeresh,
- Job 16:2 “I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all.
- Job 15:24 Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.