The roles of a wife in the life of her husband cannot be over emphasized. Her advise as a wife can contribute to the success or downfall of her husband. As we have examples of women in the Bible that their counsels led to the success of their husbands, we also have examples of women that their wicked counsels led to the destruction not only of their husbands but their entire generations.
We have an example of such a woman in Zeresh, wife of Haman in the book of Esther. She compounded the problem of hatred, envy and bitterness that her husband had against Mordecai and the entire Jews in the kingdom of Persian by which he made the king to sign a decree to exterminate the Jews.
Sighting Mordecai in the palace entrance by Haman not standing or trembling before him did not give Haman joy despite the fact that he was the second in command to the king and Mordecai a gateman in the palace “Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate” (Esther 5:13).
One of the attributes of a good wife is to persuade and prevail through counsel on her husband not to give in to destructive anger. But Zeresh instead of rescuing her husband from be consumed by indignation; gave him advise that will make him carry out his rage. “Let a gallows be made, fifty cubits high, and in the morning suggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it; then go merrily with the king to the banquet “ (Esther 5:14).
The advise given by Zeresh pleased Haman that immediately he prepared the gallows as advised by her wife. But when the Haman’s plots backfired, Zeresh was in the forefront to declare the disastrous end of Haman her husband (Esther 6:12-13).
Haman was hanged on the gallows he prepared to hang Mordecai and his ten children were also hanged on the tree. Scripture is silent regarding the end of Zeresh’s life but tradition tell us that after Haman was hanged on the tree that he had prepared for Mordechai, Zeresh fled in disgrace. Shame is always the end of any woman who gives wrong and deadly advise to her husband.