Midrasch zu Esther 7:10

“The king was very angry and his fury burned within him.” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: At that moment, The Holy One blessed be He said to the angel appointed over fury: Descend and blow wind into his belly, and fan his embers, and cast sulfur into his furnace. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: All those years, from the moment that Vashti was killed until Esther entered, the fury of Aḥashverosh did not abate. They raised an objection – but isn’t it written: “When the fury of King Aḥashverosh had abated [keshokh]” (Esther 2:1)? He said to them: With the abating of [beshokh] the fury of the king is not written here, but rather, like the abating [keshokh] the fury of the king; abating that is not abating.²⁴The midrash is reading the prepositional prefix ke- to mean “like” rather than “when,” indicating that the king’s fury only abated somewhat. When did his fury abate? When Haman was impaled; that is what is written: “They hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordekhai, and the king's fury abated” (Esther 7:10) – the fury of the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, abated.

(Gen. 28:12:) THEN HE DREAMED THAT HERE WAS A LADDER…. Let our master instruct us: What is the difference between the death of the righteous and the death of the wicked? R. Justa bar Shunem said in the name of R. Joshua of Sikhnin: The death of the wicked is neither on the earth nor in the heavens. For it is so written of Ahithophel (in II Sam. 17:23): THEN HE {GAVE INSTRUCTIONS UNTO HIS CHILDREN} [SET HIS HOUSE IN ORDER] AND HANGED HIMSELF. And likewise in the case of Haman, < his death was > neither on the earth nor in the heavens. It is so stated (in Esth. 7:10): THEN THEY HANGED HAMAN; and his children as well (according to Esth. 9:25): SO THAT HE AND HIS CHILDREN WOULD BE HANGED. But the death of the righteous is < both > in the heavens and on the earth, as stated (in I Sam. 25:29): YET THE LIFE OF MY LORD (David) SHALL BE FOUND IN THE BUNDLE OF THE LIVING < WITH THE LORD YOUR GOD >. Where is it shown < that the death of the righteous > is on the earth? (II Chron. 32:33:) SO THEY TOOK HIM (Hezekiah) UP AND BURIED HIM IN THE ASCENT OF THE TOMBS OF THE HOUSE OF DAVID. THUS < ALL JUDAH AND THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM > PAID HIM HONOR AT HIS DEATH.

“After these matters, King Aḥashverosh promoted Haman son of Hamedata the Agagite, and he raised him up and set his seat above all the princes who were with him” (Esther 3:1).
“After these matters, King Aḥashverosh promoted Haman son of Hamedata” – that is what is written: “But the wicked will perish, and the enemies of the Lord will be like the fat of rams” (Psalms 37:20). They are not fattened for their own good, but for slaughter; so was Haman only made great for his downfall. This is analogous to a person who had a filly, a donkey [the mother of the filly], and a sow. He would feed the sow without limit, and the filly and the donkey measured amounts. The filly said to the donkey: ‘What is this fool doing? We, who perform the owner’s labor, he feeds us measured amounts, and the sow that is idle, without limit.’ She [the donkey] said to her [the filly]: ‘The time will come and you will witness its downfall, as they are not feeding it more for its benefit, but rather, to its detriment.’ When the calends¹The first day of the Roman month, which was often a feast day. arrived, they immediately took the sow and slaughtered it. They began placing barley before the daughter of the donkey, and she blew on it and wouldn’t eat. Her mother said to her: ‘My daughter, it is not the food that causes it, but rather the idleness causes it,’ as it is written: “He set his seat above all the princes who were with him” – therefore, “they hanged Haman” (Esther 7:10).