Arisai was one of Haman's ten sons. Haman, referred to as an Agagite, was the foremost enemy of the Jewish people in the Persian Empire during King Ahasuerus' reign. The conflict was triggered when Mordecai, the Jew, refused to bow down before Haman, and Haman sought to destroy the entire Jewish people in revenge. When the king's counter-decree gave the Jews the right to defend themselves against those who sought to annihilate them, Arisai was killed along with all his brothers on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. At Queen Esther's request, the bodies of the ten sons were publicly hanged as a sign of the final judgment upon Haman's house. Their downfall marked the turning point in the story of Esther and forms an essential part of the foundation for the annual festival of Purim, where Jews celebrate their deliverance from destruction. In a broader biblical context, the fall of Haman's house reflects the ancient enmity between Israel and Amalek.
1After these events King Ahasuerus promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, advancing him and setting his seat above all the officials who were with him.
2All the king's servants at the King's Gate knelt and bowed down to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel or bow down.
6Yet he thought it beneath him to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who Mordecai's people were. So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.
7In the first month, the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast the pur—that is, the lot—before Haman, from day to day and from month to month, and the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar.
8Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws differ from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so it is not in the king's interest to tolerate them.
9If it pleases the king, let an order be written that they be destroyed, and I will weigh out ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who administer the king's affairs, to be brought into the royal treasury."
2And again on this second day, as they drank their wine, the king said to Esther, "What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Up to half the kingdom, and it shall be done."
3Queen Esther answered, "If I have found favor in your eyes, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be granted me as my petition, and my people as my request.
4For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, killed, and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as slaves and servant girls, I would have kept silent, for such trouble would not be worth disturbing the king."
9Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, "Look, the gallows Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke up for the king's good, is standing at Haman's house, fifty cubits high."[fn] The king said, "Hang him on it."
Arisai was killed along with his nine brothers when the Jews defended themselves against their enemies on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar—the date originally set by Haman's decree for the destruction of the Jews. The ten sons of Haman are mentioned by name.
At Esther's request, King Ahasuerus ordered that the ten dead sons of Haman, including Arisai, be hanged on gallows as a public sign of judgment against the enemies of the Jews.
13Esther answered, "If it pleases the king, let the Jews in Susa be allowed to act tomorrow as well, according to today's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged on the gallows."