I have been asked (in the Purim Torah Thread) to give something on the 6th Perek of the Megilla.
This is ?????? ???? ???? ?? ?????? ?”?
????? ???, ????, ??? ???? ???? ????? ???, ???? ????.
(And Haman said to Himself “To Whom would the king want to give honor more than me?”
The Sfas Emes asks “How could Haman have thought the King was referring to him? It was the middle of the night, and Haman already possessed great honor in the kingdom! Obviously someone else was on the king’s mind, and the idea to give honor to this person had just now occurred to the king! How could Haman not have thought that it was possible that the king wanted to honor anyone else?
Rather, it would seem that, in fact, Haman did know that the king had someone else in mind. The question then arises: Why would Haman have suggested an extravagant honor that he wanted for himself?
Haman said in his heart, “Even if the king does do this for someone else now, later, he will do it for me too! After all, he promoted me over all his other ministers, so why should he not give me this honor as well?
Another way of understanding Haman in this situation
R’ Shlomo Kluger notes that according to the rules of dikduk, the passuk should have ended differently. The passuk should conclude “???? ???? ??” meaning “more than to me”. Thus the word ???? which can mean “than me” or “from me” need to be explained.
Like the Sfas Emes, R’ Kluger says that Haman KNEW the king was not thinking of him.
Haman, the king’s top minister ALREADY had great honor, and he thought to himself “If the king sought to honor me, why did he not ask me?” “If the king wanted to honor a minister…” Haman also said to himself “The king knows that Queen Esther picked only me to be with them at the private party. What could be a better honor than that?” Based on these two points, Haman knew the king had someone else in mind.
If so, the obvious question remains. Why would Haman plan such a celebration for someone else? Did Haman not consider the possibility that it would be someone whom he despised?
Haman was so confident in his relationship with the king, that the latter question never crossed his mind. Haman, the king’s closest adviser, assumed that he and the king saw “eye-to-eye” on everything. Haman took it for granted that anyone he hated, the king also hated. Thus there was no chance the king wanted to honor an enemy of Haman.
Similarly, Haman felt that if the king felt very fond of somebody, than no matter who that person may be, Haman would certainly share those feelings!
This is why Haman used the word ????, which literally means “from me”. Thus Haman said “Is there anyone that would receive more honor from the king than from me? It’s impossible that the king likes an individual more than I do! If the king wants a great honor to go to somebody, then whoever that person is, I also want him to to have that great amount of honor, AND FROM ME!”
“If so” said the king, “and this is the honor you suggest, then YOU give the honor to this person and ??-??? ???, ??? ??? ????, do not omit even one detail.
How surprised Haman was when he found out the truth, that the king had Mordechai in mind!