The sons of Haman were ten men mentioned by name in the biblical book of Esther who were killed on the 13th of Adar and hanged the following day, the 14th of Adar. The names of

Haman Haman ( ; also known as Haman the Agagite) is the main antagonist in the Book of Esther, who according to the Hebrew Bible was an official in the court of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian empire under King Ahasuerus#Book of Esther, Ahasuerus, comm ...

's ten sons have been variously interpreted in terms of their possible Iranian forms. Some of the names can reasonably be considered to be Iranian, but it is difficult to notice a clear pattern of Iranian forms in them. The names given in the biblical text are: * Parshandata: first son of Haman to be mentioned. This name, which includes the Iranian root *''dāta'', is documented on a

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

from the late

Achaemenid period The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...

. In the 12th century, the name gained a literary meaning. It was then separated into the words "parsan" (= "interpreter") and "data" (= "law"), and was used with reference to Rashi, who has since been cited by that name. * Dalphon: the second of Haman's ten sons. His name appears to be of Semitic origin, rather than Iranian. Tricia Miller suggests that it derives from the Babylonian name ''Dallupu''. It is also attested in the

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

as Δελφών. * Aspatha: third son to be mentioned, whose name in Hebrew is אַסְפָּֽתָא. The name is probably a hypocoristicon representing *''Aspata'', from the

Median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...

word *''aspa'' ("horse") suffixed with -''āta''. * Poratha: the fourth son of Haman to be mentioned. Its name in Hebrew is פּוֹרָתָא, probably derived from a Persian name which may be *''Puru-bāta'' ("having much wine"). * Adalia: the name in Hebrew is אֲדַלְיָ֖א. Its etymology remains uncertain. * Aridatha: The Iranian form of the name is probably *''Ariya-dāta'' ("who has/follows the law of the Aryans"). * Parmashta: The etymology of this name remains uncertain. Tricia Miller suggests that it derives from the

Old Persian Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as (I ...

*''fara-ma-istha''. * Arisai: This may be a two-rooted name composed with *''ariya'' ("Aryan"), although the interpretation of the second half of the name remains uncertain. It might be derived from a two-rooted nickname *''Ariya-s-aya'', although it remains unclear which full name this refers to. It is also possible that the full two-rooted original form was *''Ariya-sravah'' ("Aryan fame, having the fame of the Aryans"). * Aridai: This name, which is also attested on a Phoenician seal from the late-5th century BC, is possibly derived from *''Ariya-d-aya'' (having the element *''ariya'', "Aryan" as with Aridatha and Arisai). * Vaizatha: The name clearly appears to derive from ancient Iranian *''Vahya-zāta''- “born of the best”. According to the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

, Haman had many other sons. Talmudic scholars disagreed on the number of Haman's sons; according to one account, there were thirty: ten died, ten were hanged, and ten became beggars. According to the rabbis, the beggars numbered seventy; according to Rami bar Abi, there were a total of two hundred and eight sons in all.

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; ; 13 July 1105) was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. He is commonly known by the List of rabbis known by acronyms, Rabbinic acronym Rashi (). Born in Troyes, Rashi stud ...

explains that those ten who were killed and hanged are the ones who wrote hateful words about the

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. The Hebrew text displays peculiarities. It can be noted that the names of Haman's ten sons are written vertically, one below the other, in a column; according to Jewish tradition, this indicates that they were hanged one above the other on an extremely tall gallows. R. Mordechai Sasson explains that Haman symbolizes the Yetzer Harah (evil inclination), and his ten sons allude to his ten traits of bad character. Their deaths represent the elimination of these evil traits when defeated by the Yetzer Tov (good inclination). He explains the meaning of each name and how each corresponds to a type of evil.

References

{{Reflist Book of Esther people People executed by hanging