Many scholars consider the death of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, to be the climax of the Book of Esther. However, I don’t believe this could really be true. The reason behind my understanding is the fact that Haman’s death didn’t undo the conspiracy he contrived. The lives of every Jew in the Persian Empire were still in jeopardy from their enemies, because Haman was able to conspire to destroy them using the king’s signature, or his signet ring (cp. Esther 3:10). He asked the king to command that it be written down, saying the whole nation of the unnamed contrary people (cp. Esther 3:8) within the Persian Empire be destroyed (Esther 3:9, 12). This is important, because what the king writes down as his command may not be reversed (Esther 8:8; cp. Daniel 6:8, 12, 15). Therefore, the climax of the Book of Esther cannot be the death of Haman, but, instead, it must be the undoing of his wicked conspiracy, which results in the salvation of the Jews!
Therefore, Esther approached the king once more to plead with him for the sake of her people, the Jews (Esther 8:3). Haman may be dead, but his conspiracy to destroy the whole Jewish nation, scattered throughout the Persian Empire, was still a reality. If something wasn’t done about what he did in the king’s name, Haman antisemitic command to slay the Jews, according to the king’s decree, would be enforced from the grave.
This matter wasn’t as simple as it might seem to us from where we sit in the 21st century AD. By killing Haman, the king saved the life of his queen, and by her revelation of who Mordecai was to her, he saved the life of Mordecai and gave him his signet ring in the place of Haman. Nevertheless, the king hadn’t done anything to reverse Haman’s command in the king’s name to destroy the Jewish nation. Therefore, Esther once more took her life in her hands, when she approached the king a second time, without her having been summoned by him, but he held out his scepter, as he had done previously, and accepted her, bringing the queen in before his throne (Esther 8:3-4; cp. 4:11; 5:2).
The matter mentioned in verse-3 seems to be a preface to what occurred in Esther 8:5-6. Ahasuerus had to have extended his scepter to the queen prior to her making her request, which had to have been made before his throne. Esther was careful in her request not to blame the king for endangering the Jewish nation. Rather, she blamed Haman for the whole matter. Whether the king knew Haman meant to destroy the Jews, or was simply ignorant of the identity of the unruly people Haman had in mind (Esther 3:8) cannot be determined with complete accuracy, but the text never clearly states that Ahasuerus knew Haman meant the Jews. In any case, Esther risked her life a second time to plead for the lives of her people, living throughout the Persian Empire (Esther 8:5-6).
Therefore, the king, willing to express his favorable disposition toward the queen’s request, turned to Mordecai to have the matter corrected. At this time, it seems that, when Esther approached the king in the inner court for the second time, Mordecai accompanied her (Esther 8:3, cp. verse-7), showing both were risking their lives, when they approached the king. Then, Ahasuerus told Mordecai that Haman had been formally executed and all that was his was given to Esther. Then, he commanded Mordecai to have a command written up according to Mordecai’s desire and seal it with the king’s ring. Therefore, what Mordecai would write in the king’s name to counteract Haman’s command to destroy the Jews, would neutralize Haman’s wicked intention. Moreover, it would have the added impact that no one in the empire would be able to reverse the king’s written command to effectively neutralize his previous command that was written down in words that came from the antisemitic heart of Haman (Esther 8:7-8).
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