והמן עמד לבקש על נפשו מאסתר המלכה
“And Haman remained to beg Queen Esther for his life.” (Esther 7:7)
Everything in the Megillah illustrates the workings of Divine Providence. How does this principle apply to the episode in which Haman pleads with the Queen for his life?
As explained above, Esther was a descendant of Shaul HaMelech, who erred when he did not follow instructions to kill Agag the King of Amalek. Therefore, by bringing about the downfall of Haman, she was in a sense rectifying her ancestor’s iniquity.
According to the Rambam (Hilchos Teshuvah 2:1) ultimate teshuvah is accomplished when all the details of the situation in which the iniquity occurred are repeated and one does not succumb to the temptation. Since Shaul let Agag live out of pity for him (Shmuel 1, 15:9), Esther was therefore now put through the same test. When she had no pity on Haman and was unyielding to his pleas, her ancestor Shaul received his forgiveness and: וחמת המלך שככה - “the anger of the King — Hashem, King of the universe — abated” (7:10). (R’ Moshe Bogomilsky, quoting the Zer Zahav)
