Monday 21 March 2011

HHH - Esther 9:14 Hanging b'nei Haman

Originally published 3/21/11, 8:33 pm.
It seems odd [to some] that -
In 9:11, Haman's 10 sons were already dead
So
Q: if the sons were already dead then why bother to hang them in 14?
A: In reality, the 10 sons had already been executed by the sword. The subsequent hanging was not an execution - rather it was for publicity purposes as a form of "pirsum."
See E.G. Ki Teitzei 21:22 where those executed by Beth Din were subsequently hanged - even though hanging was not one of the 4 mitot Beit Din.

Shalom,
RRW

1 comment:

micha berger said...

The question first bugged me this year. My guess wasn't too far off. Esther asked that they be hanged (or is it "hung up", because this isn't an execution?) in the same request as asking for another day of fighting for Shushan. I guessed, therefore, that they were put on display in order to demoralize the opposition.