Esther 3:5-6

3:5 When Haman [an Amalekite (longtime enemies of Israel that started when Israel fought with them in the wilderness; cf. Ex. 17:8-16; Deut. 25:17-19); promoted to second highest rank in Ahasuerus’ kingdom] saw that Mordecai would not kneel down [when he passed by] or pay him honor [as commanded by the king (cf. 3:2); Mordecai refused to bow before anyone other than God], he was enraged.

3:6 Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people [the Jews] were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy [genocide] all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes [same person as Ahasuerus; reigned from 486-464 BC; son of Darius the Great and grandson of Cyrus the Great].