Esther 9

Esther 9:1

On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the king’s command and edict were to be executed. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but their plan was overturned and the Jews overpowered those who hated them.

Esther 9:1 · BSB

am 3552 , bc 452

Esther 9:2

In each of the provinces of King Xerxes, the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who sought to harm them. No man could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen upon all peoples.

Esther 9:2 · BSB

Esther 9:3

And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.

Esther 9:3 · BSB

officers of the king Heb. those which did the business that belonged to the king

Esther 9:4

For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.

Esther 9:4 · BSB

Esther 9:5

The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did as they pleased to those who hated them.

Esther 9:5 · BSB

what they would Heb. according to their will , The Chaldee paraphrast says that none appeared against the Jews but Amalekites only , who were infatuated , and had their hearts hardened , as Pharaoh's against Israel , to take up arms to their own destruction. Some had such an inveterate , implacable malice against the Jews , that Haman's fall and Mordecai's advancement , instead of convincing , seemed only to exasperate them the more. How have the most dreadful scourges ravaged a country , and yet the inhabitants are unmindful of the Almighty Disposer of events , and that the cause of his righteous displeasure is their continual provocation! Forty years long was he grieved with one generation , who learned not his ways , although daily fed and clothed by a miracle.

Esther 9:6

In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men,

Esther 9:6 · BSB

Esther 9:7

including Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

Esther 9:7 · BSB

Esther 9:10

They killed these ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

Esther 9:10 · BSB

Esther 9:11

On that day the number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king,

Esther 9:11 · BSB

Esther 9:12

who said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Haman’s ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given to you. And what further do you request? It will be fulfilled.”

Esther 9:12 · BSB

Esther 9:13

Esther replied, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out today’s edict, and may the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”

Esther 9:13 · BSB

If it please the king Esther had probably been informed by Mordecai , that there were still many enemies of the Jews who sought their destruction , who had escaped the preceding day; and therefore begged that the second day might be added to the former permission; and that the sons of Haman , who had already been slain , might be suspended on gibbets , as a terror to those who sought the destruction of the Jews.

Esther 9:14

So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman.

Esther 9:14 · BSB

Esther 9:15

On the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, the Jews in Susa came together again and put to death three hundred men there, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

Esther 9:15 · BSB

Esther 9:16

The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces also assembled to defend themselves and rid themselves of their enemies. They killed 75,000 who hated them, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

Esther 9:16 · BSB

Esther 9:17

This was done on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested, making it a day of feasting and joy.

Esther 9:17 · BSB

Esther 9:18

The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth days of the month. So they rested on the fifteenth day, making it a day of feasting and joy.

Esther 9:18 · BSB

Esther 9:19

This is why the rural Jews, who live in the villages, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting. It is a holiday for sending gifts to one another.

Esther 9:19 · BSB

sending portions The eastern princes and people not only invite their friends to feasts , but it is their custom to send a portion of the banquet to those that cannot well attend , especially their relations , and those in a state of mourning. Thus , when the Grand Emir found that it incommoded M. D'Arvieux to eat with him , he desired him to take his own time for eating , and sent him from his kitchen what he liked best.

Esther 9:20

Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far,

Esther 9:20 · BSB

Mordecai That is , as the words imply , the history contained in this book; and not merely the letters afterwards mentioned , as some understand it.

Esther 9:21

to establish among them an annual celebration on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar

Esther 9:21 · BSB

Esther 9:22

as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to be days of feasting and joy, of sending gifts to one another and to the poor.

Esther 9:22 · BSB

Esther 9:24

For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the Pur (that is, the lot) to crush and destroy them.

Esther 9:24 · BSB

consume Heb. crush

Esther 9:25

But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

Esther 9:25 · BSB

Esther 9:26

Therefore these days are called Purim, from the word Pur. Because of all the instructions in this letter, and because of all they had seen and experienced,

Esther 9:26 · BSB

Pur that is , Lot

Esther 9:27

the Jews bound themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should not fail to celebrate these two days at the appointed time each and every year, according to their regulation.

Esther 9:27 · BSB

fail Heb. pass

Esther 9:28

These days should be remembered and celebrated by every generation, family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, nor should the memory of them fade from their descendants.

Esther 9:28 · BSB

fail Heb. pass

perish from their seed Heb. be ended from their seed

Esther 9:29

So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim.

Esther 9:29 · BSB

authority Heb. strength

Esther 9:30

And Mordecai sent letters with words of peace and truth to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes,

Esther 9:30 · BSB

Esther 9:31

in order to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them and had committed themselves and their descendants to the times of fasting and lamentation.

Esther 9:31 · BSB

themselves Heb. their souls