Ester 9: 1 – 32
The Lord Has Defended Me
1 Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, the time came for the king’s command and his decree to be executed. On the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, the opposite occurred, in that the Jews themselves overpowered those who hated them. 2 The Jews gathered together in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could withstand them, because fear of them fell upon all people. 3 And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and all those doing the king’s work, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. 4 For Mordecai was great in the king’s palace and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for this man Mordecai became increasingly prominent. 5 Thus the Jews defeated all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, with slaughter and destruction, and did what they pleased with those who hated them. 6 And in Shushan the citadel the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. 7 Also Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vajezatha— 10 the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews—they killed; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder. 11 On that day the number of those who were killed in Shushan the citadel was brought to the king. 12 And the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the citadel, and the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It shall be granted to you. Or what is your further request? It shall be done.” 13 Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do again tomorrow according to today’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.” 14 So the king commanded this to be done; the decree was issued in Shushan, and they hanged Haman’s ten sons. 15 And the Jews who were in Shushan gathered together again on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed three hundred men at Shushan; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder. 16 The remainder of the Jews in the king’s provinces gathered together and protected their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of their enemies; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder. 17 This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. And on the fourteenth of the month they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness. 18 But the Jews who were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day, as well as on the fourteenth; and on the fifteenth of the month they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. 19 Therefore the Jews of the villages who dwelt in the unwalled towns celebrated the fourteenth day of the month of Adar with gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and for sending presents to one another. 20 And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, 21 to establish among them that they should celebrate yearly the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, 22 as the days on which the Jews had rest from their enemies, as the month which was turned from sorrow to joy for them, and from mourning to a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, of sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor. 23 So the Jews accepted the custom which they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them, 24 because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to annihilate them, and had cast Pur (that is, the lot), to consume them and destroy them; 25 but when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letter that this wicked plot which Haman had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. 26 So they called these days Purim, after the name Pur. Therefore, because of all the words of this letter, what they had seen concerning this matter, and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews established and imposed it upon themselves and their descendants and all who would join them, that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year, according to the written instructions and according to the prescribed time, 28 that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants. 29 Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter about Purim. 30 And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews, to the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth, 31 to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had prescribed for them, and as they had decreed for themselves and their descendants concerning matters of their fasting and lamenting. 32 So the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim, and it was written in the book.
Has there ever been someone who has done horrible things against your or your family? There are a few bible passages that keep us in check from taking matters into our own hands. Two that quickly come to mind are;
Romans 12; 7, “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men”
Romans 12: 19, “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.’
Sometimes it is discouraging to see evil people seeming to get away with their atrocities. In our minds we know that someday they will have to pay but it is comforting and encouraging to see these sons of Satan dealt with here on earth.
Today we see such a condition that the Lord takes care of immediately. Those who had schemed and relished the thought of killing every Jew on the earth receive on themselves the consequences of their evil plans.
9.1-2 ‘Now in the twelfth moon period, which is the moon period Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, on the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have rule over them, (whereas it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them), the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt, and no man could withstand them, for the fear of them was fallen upon all the peoples.’
The day when the king’s commandment and his decree were to be put into execution drew near. But it was no longer a day of fear for the Jews but of preparation. Instead of facing the whole might of the Persian Empire, they were facing only those who hated them, and they were comparatively few. And what was more, they had the king’s authority to gather themselves together in their cities with their arms, something which prior to the second decree would have been seen as sedition, and would have brought the wrath of the authorities down on them even earlier. Furthermore they now knew that the rulers and governors, and equally importantly the Persian army, would be on their side. The empire was no longer determined to destroy them. The second decree, and Mordecai’s rise to power, had transformed the situation.
There would, of course, inevitably still be many in the Persian empire who hated or envied the Jews, both because of their supposed peculiarities and because of their wealth, and would thus be determined to take advantage of the first decree in order decimate them or rob them but now their fangs had been withdrawn. They did not have the Persian Empire on their side. And furthermore they would not now be attacking Jews cowering in their houses in the face of the full power of the Persian Empire, but Jews who on the authority of the king had prepared themselves to fight back, had the backing of the authorities, and could openly make warlike preparations without fear of arrest, although (and it is important to notice this), only against those who sought their hurt. And so the situation had profoundly changed. On the day that the Jews’ enemies had hoped to triumph over them, it was to be the Jews who triumphed over their enemies. And in doing so they had God on their side - For He had put fear in the hearts of all the peoples
9.3 ‘And all the princes of the provinces, and the satraps, and the governors, and they who did the king’s business (looked after the king’s affairs), helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai was fallen on them.’
All those who held their authority directly from the king were now on the side of the Jews. They recognized that the king had in the second decree indicated his will, and that the real authority now lay with Mordecai (the Jew.
9.4 ‘For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai waxed greater and greater.’
The reason that they feared him was because Mordecai was the most important man in the king’s house, having been given great authority by the king. But not only so, it was because he was proving a very active minister. ‘His fame went throughout all the provinces’. In consequence he became greater and greater. The writer continually stresses how active Mordecai was
9.5 ‘And the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they would to those who hated them.’
This was not indiscriminate slaughter. It was to be confined to those who proved to be their enemies. But against these they were successful.
Look with me again at the threefold description of the Jews defense of their lives;
1, ‘with the stroke of the sword
2. ‘with slaughter’
3. ‘with destruction’.
Their success was total. Those who hated them were in their power, and they successfully dealt with them (‘did what they would’ indicates that the authorities did not interfere, not that they went wild). As we will see overall the number of the enemies that they slew was comparatively not very large, averaging less than 600 per province. Had the first decree stood the number slain would have been many more.
9.6 ‘And in Shushan the palace the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men.’
It is clear that in the citadel of Shushan (the part of the city that contained the palace) there would be a large number of Haman supporters who had been appointed to their positions by Haman and many who were related to him who would want to take any opportunity for blood revenge. If the ten sons of Haman were married and had their own households then 500 would simply indicate 50 people per household, which would include servants and slaves. These are not excessive figures, and they would all have suffered as a result of the downfall of Haman, and would feel honor bound to avenge his death. It may have been mainly these who took the opportunity (or were preparing to take the opportunity) of seeking blood vengeance for the death of Haman, egged on by the ten sons of Haman themselves. These sons would put responsibility for their father’s death, and their own comparative poverty, directly on the Jews, and on Esther and Mordecai particularly. Five hundred of these banded together led by the ten sons of Haman in order to take revenge on any Jews in that part of the city. But the Jews in the palace area, no doubt greatly increased since the rise of Mordecai, were also numerous, and able to deal with them satisfactorily. Indeed, some Jews might have been drafted in, in preparation for trouble which came from an obvious source. We are not told how many Jews died as a result. That was not seen by the author as important. What mattered was that the Jews were successful. ‘Five hundred’ is clearly a round number, but may have signified ‘five groups’ rather than literally 500, for ‘a hundred’ regularly signifies a unit of fighting men.
9.7-10 ‘And they slew Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha, and Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha, and Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vaizatha, the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jew’s enemy, but on the spoil they did not lay their hand.’
The slaying of the ten sons of Haman, who had clearly been spared up to now (in itself an act of mercy for it was common practice for sons to be executed along with their father in view of the trouble that they might cause), indicates that they participated along with the five hundred in seeking to avenge their father’s death. Thus for the Jews it was not a matter of bloodthirstiness, but of slaying or being slain.
It is clear already those only men have been slain, thus suggesting that no vindictiveness was shown against women and children, and this would appear to be in line with the stress on the fact that the Jews did not seek to despoil their enemies. It was while engaged in such an act as this that women and children would tend to come into play, for they would not have taken a part in the actual assault on the Jews. The author is intent on underlining this leniency for he repeats it three times (here, verse 15 and verse 16), and in the last case it applies throughout the empire. It would appear therefore to have been a settled policy, and may well have been insisted on by Mordecai. It is clear from this that, far from being vengeful, the Jews exercised great restraint. They only did what was necessary to save their own lives and those of their children.
9.11 ‘On that day the number of those who were slain in Shushan the palace was brought before the king.’
What was going on throughout the empire would take time to assess, but the approximate number who was slain in the palace area of Shushan could be arrived at fairly quickly. And this was reported to the king, who would clearly have a special interest in the situation as it so deeply affected his favorite wife. He would want to know that what he had promised Esther was being fulfilled.
9.12 ‘And the king said to Esther the queen, “The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your petition? and it will be granted to you, or what is your request further? and it will be done.”
The king thus went to Queen Esther with the information that he had obtained, wanting her to know that her fellow-Jews had not been slaughtered. Indeed, in the palace area itself, far from being slaughtered, they had slain ‘five hundred men’. What then must they have achieved throughout the empire? The king was not appalled at the slaughter. It was commonplace to him. He was concerned to let ‘Queen Esther’ know that her people were safe and had not been slaughtered, and had safely dealt with their enemies, and that she could be sure that the same applied throughout the empire. He then asked her what else she wanted done, and promised her that any wish would be fulfilled. It is an indication of the attitude of mind of such absolute monarchs as Ahasuerus, especially where they had a tendency to cruelty, which we know he had, that they are not appalled by slaughter, having engaged in a good deal of it themselves..
9.13 ‘Then Esther said, “If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according to this day’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons be impaled on stakes.”
Esther was clearly apprehensive that the wider family of Haman in the rest of the city would immediately want revenge for their losses, and that the next day might find them seeking to avenge themselves on the Jews. This would put the Jews in a difficult situation for they would no longer have the king’s authority to take up arms, whereas the followers of Haman might feel that they had little to lose. Recognizing this fact she asked for an extension of the decree to the following day and that Haman’s now deceased sons be impaled on stakes as a warning of what followed for those who displeased the king. These were reasonable suggestions in terms of that day, and were in fact intended to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. The exposure of the bodies at the king’s command would make any further retaliation treason. We should remember that had the enemies of the Jews taken warning from the second decree there would have been no bloodshed at all.
9.14 ‘And the king commanded it so to be done, and a decree was given out in Shushan, and they impaled Haman’s ten sons.’
The king responded to Esther’s request, and a decree was issued extending the previous decree by a day as far as Shushan was concerned, and at the same time the bodies of Haman’s ten sons were impaled for public view, much as the bodies of those who had been hung for committing crimes were regularly left open to public view in Europe in earlier centuries. This exposure of the bodies of the dead for shaming was common practice. It was intended to act as a warning to all. In Israel it indicated that they were accursed by God.
9.15 ‘And the Jews who were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the moon period Adar, and slew three hundred men in Shushan, but on the spoil they did not lay their hand.’
So the Jews in Shushan gathered themselves together for the purposes of defense on the 14th day of Adar, and slew three hundred men who came against them. But once again they did not seek to despoil their families, even though they had permission to do so. They were not seeking revenge. Again the ‘three hundred’ is either a round number, or descriptive of three distinct groups who come against them. The three also indicates the completeness of the victory. The numbers involved indicate the intensity of feeling among some who lived in Shushan, in spite of the fact that the majority supported the Jews. But this is almost entirely explicable in terms of the followers of Haman
9.16 ‘And the other Jews who were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of those who hated them seventy five thousand, but on the spoil they did not lay their hand.’
The same situation applied throughout all the king’s 127 provinces, and in each of the provinces the Jews gathered themselves together and stood to arms in order to defend themselves and their children. In all cases they were triumphant and successfully dealt with their enemies, finally obtaining ‘rest’ from them
The numbers slain in each province were clearly eventually submitted to the king, as the numbers slain in Shushan had been. And these numbered in total about seventy five thousand. At first this number might appear very large, but when we consider that there were 127 provinces, even if taken literally, it averages less than 600 per province. And even these would be spread over a number of cities and tribes. Thus it can hardly be seen in terms of a large uprising or of a large-scale massacre. And it consisted of those who had tried to take advantage of the king’s first decree in order to despoil the Jews. It is quite possible that an above average number were slain in Palestine, where according to the book of Ezra there was great enmity against the Jews and the Jews were in an impoverished state, and where the authorities were at their least sympathetic.
It is stressed again that the Jews did not seek to take vengeance or obtain gain from what happened. They were content to defend themselves. The universality of this approach suggests Mordecai’s influence, possibly affected by Abraham’s attitude in Genesis 14.23. It was very much the opposite of the general attitude. Had they been roused to vengeance they would almost certainly have taken spoil, and the numbers slain would have been far more. The author’s threefold emphasis on this (verses 10, 15 and 16) brings out that he had a point to make. Unlike their enemies the Jews showed compassion and mercy. It would tie in with the idea that he was writing in order to convince the Persians that the Jews were law-abiding and compassionate members of the community who were at one with their fellowmen and had no desire to gain at their expense
One of the important lessons that arise from the chiastic structure of the book is the stress laid by the author on the failure of the sacred lot (Pur) to accomplish its purpose. Pur had been cast (3.7). Fate (the will of the gods) had declared itself to be against the Jews. But the living God overruled Pur, bringing deliverance to the Jews. As a consequence the feast of Purim was established celebrating God’s continual overruling of Fate (the will of the gods). Purim was a triumph over all sacred lots (purim). It emphasizes that God’s people were not tools in the hands of fate. This, rather than the establishment of the feast, is the main purpose of the author.
9.17 ‘(This was done) on the thirteenth day of the moon period Adar, and on the fourteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.’
All that is described, apart from the extra day required in Shushan itself, occurred on the 13th day of Adar (the twelfth moon period) in accordance with the decrees of Ahasuerus. The Jews throughout the empire defended themselves, and slew the enemies who came against them, and on the 14th day they ‘rested’, just as Israel had been ‘given rest’ at the completion of the Conquest (Joshua 23.1). God had given them rest from their enemies. Consequently they made it ‘a day of feasting and gladness’. It would be a mistake, however, to suggest that there were no religious connotations involved. The slaughter of beasts for the feast would necessarily involve religious rites (Deuteronomy 12.21-25), whilst in the surrounds of Jerusalem such beasts would be taken and specifically offered up as thanksgiving offerings to God, at the altar in the Temple, and they would be accompanied by the usual daily offerings. Furthermore prayers of thanksgiving would also certainly be offered up wherever Jews were found. The author was, however, seeking to portray it in terms that would not make the Jews distinctive and cause offence to outsiders.
9.18 ‘But the Jews who were in Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day of it, and on the fourteenth of it, and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.’
For the Jews in Shushan, however, the 14th brought no relief. They once again had to assemble in defense of their lives. For them therefore it was the 15th day of Adar that was the day of feasting and gladness.
9.19 ‘Therefore do the Jews of the villages, who dwell in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the moon period Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.’
The author then explains that this was why in his own day the Jews outside the large walled cities made the 14th day of Adar a day of ‘gladness and feasting’. It was seen as a ‘good day’ (a day for rejoicing and not mourning), and a day for ‘sending portions one to another’. These last had especially in mind those who were portion less because unable to afford meat
9.20-22 ‘And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and far, to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the moon period Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day, that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.’
Mordecai then determined to make the feast a permanent feature. He wrote these things and sent letters throughout the empire to enjoin them to observe the 14th and 15th days of Adar as days when the Jews had rest from their enemies, and because in that moon period the situation was turned for them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning to celebration. They were to be days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions to one another and gifts to the poor. It was a feast especially designed to be appropriate to Jews outside the land, with its concentration on feasting and gladness, and generosity towards one another and especially to the poor. His authority was seen as sufficient to be acted on.
9.23-24 ‘And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written to them, because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them,’
The Jews who received Mordecai’s letters undertook to continue annually what they had begun, in accordance with what Mordecai had written to them, that is the observance of days of feasting and gladness on the 14th and 15th of Adar. Even today the Jew celebrates both days, although with the emphasis on the 14th. And all this was in recognition of how Haman had plotted against them to destroy them, and with the fact that he had cast the sacred lot (Pur) in order to ensure their destruction. Note the emphasis on Pur. It is clear that the Jews recognized the significance of the casting of Pur as a call on the gods, a call on Fate. And they recognized that God had graciously intervened, overruling Fate. As we have seen in the introduction Pur has been witnessed to archaeologically. It was seen as no light matter. It determined the course of nations.
9.25 ‘But when the came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he had devised against the Jews, should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be impaled on the stakes.’
The aim of the author is to put the king in the best possible light. He describes the king as acting against Haman on his own initiative, and bringing justice on him and his sons because of his wickedness once he discovered what he had done. The truth is, of course, that he had shirked his responsibilities (put very nicely in chapter 3.15), and had allowed himself to be manipulated by Haman, and that it was only due to the involvement of Esther that he had determined to do anything about it. That has been made clear in the body of the book. But it would hardly have been politic to spell it out whilst the Jews were still under the Persian Empire. This makes clear that the author was writing while the Persian Empire still existed.
9.26 ‘For which reason they called these days Purim, after the name of Pur.’
Look at the first part of this verse again -‘For which reason --.’ That is, because of Haman’s casting of Pur against the Jews with its subsequent failure. That is why the feast was called Purim (Hebrew plural of Pur). It celebrated the overthrowing of the power of the sacred lot. We must never underestimate the superstitious dread under which people of those days in general lived.
As a consequence of Mordecai’s letter, and of what they had observed, and of what they had experienced, (note again the threefold description) the Jews ordained that they would observe these two days, the 14th and 15th of Adar, continually every year from then on perpetually, so that what they had gone through might never be forgotten. Such a consensus confirms the intercommunication that continually occurred among Jews in the empire.
9.26b-27 ‘Therefore because of all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and that which had come to them, the Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves to them, so that it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to the its writing, and according to its appointed time, every year,’
These leaders never wanted the Jews in the future to forget what they themselves had seen, the decree for their annihilation, the second decree which had brought hope, and their assembling themselves together so as to be able successfully to take on the forces who arrayed themselves against them. They realized that without God’s intervention it might have been far worse.
They took this on themselves, and on their seed, and on all who joined themselves to them as converts. This reference to converts is an incidental confirmation that many had recently converted and become Jews. Their seed had special reason to be grateful, for had God not intervened they would have had no seed.
9.28 ‘And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the remembrance of them perish from their seed.’
They ordained that these two days, ‘the days of Purim’ when the power of the sacred lot (Pur) had been overcome, should be remembered and observed through every generation by every family, every province, and every city. Observance was to be total by all Jews. They ordained that these days of Purim should never cease to be observed among the Jews, and that the remembrance of them should never perish from their seed. And these days of Purim are still remembered among Jews today, as days of joy and celebration, with the 13th being observed as a fast in remembrance of how the Jews fasted in order to be delivered.
9.29 ‘Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority to confirm (or ‘enjoin’) this second letter of Purim.’
Here the emphasis is on the fact that the authority of the Queen lies behind this second letter. She ‘wrote with all authority’ to confirm it as she appended her signature (or her seal).
9.30 ‘And he sent letters to all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,’
The letter having been written, Mordecai then arranged for copies of the letter to be sent out to all Jews throughout the empire. The mention of all one hundred and twenty seven provinces suggests that Jews were to be found in each province. And the words he sent were words of ‘peace and truth’. ‘Peace’ was a regular greeting with which letters commenced, and is therefore very appropriate here, especially as it now celebrated the peace which the Jews now enjoyed. ‘Truth’ is a more unusual word in the context. But it may well here indicate ‘security’.
9.31 ‘To confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined (confirmed upon) them, and as they had ordained for themselves and for their seed, in the matter of the fasting and their cry.’
The rejoicing of the 14th and 15th of Adar was the consequence of their fasting and their cry. They recognized that their deliverance was from God in response to their cry to Him.
9.32 ‘And the commandment of Esther confirmed (or ‘enjoined’) these matters of Purim, and it was written in the book.’
We need to take note of the stress on the fact here that ‘the commandment of Esther’ finally enjoined these matters of Purim. It is her authority which puts the final seal on the continual observance of Purim. The emphasis on Mordecai’s authority (verse 20), followed by the exercise of the Queen’s authority may indicate that there were reservations among some Jews about introducing a Feast that was not mentioned in the Torah.
