Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.
The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”
As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A gallows seventy-five feet high stands by Haman’s house. He had it made for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.”
The king said, “Hang him on it!”
10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.
When the king was moved by Esther’s plea, Esther dramatically exposed “vile” Haman, who was dumbstruck by the sudden turn of events. Haman knew the hot temper of the king all too well and realized that his only hope was to have Esther intercede for him. If we did not know better, we would think it was just terribly “bad luck” that Haman fell on the queen at the very moment in which the king returned to the banquet hall. But by now we recognize the ruling hand of God, who directs all things so they turn out for the good of his people.
The fatal fall sealed Haman’s doom. Covering his face apparently was a symbol of his condemnation to death, but we know little about Persian customs in this regard. When Haman was hanged on his own gallows, it was an example of the truth of the proverbs, “If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it; if a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him” (Proverbs 26:27).
The persecutor was cast down as quickly as he had risen, but God’s people were not yet free from danger.