Haman

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For other uses, see Haman (disambiguation).
Haman Begging the Mercy of Esther, by Rembrandt

Haman (Hebrew: הָמָן‎ Hāmān; also known as Haman the Agagite or Haman the evil) is the main antagonist in the Book of Esther, who according to the Hebrew Bible was a vizier in the Persian empire under King Ahasuerus, commonly identified as Xerxes I (died 465 BCE) but traditionally equated with Artaxerxes I or Artaxerxes II.[1] As his epithet Agagite indicates, Haman was a descendant of Agag, the king of the Amalekites. Some commentators interpret this descent to be symbolic, due to his similar personality.[2][3]

Etymology and meaning of the name[]

The name has been equated with the Persian name Omanes[4] (Old Persian: