Bible Commentaries

The Jews Avenged of Their Enemies. The Feast of Purim Instituted - Esther 9

On the day appointed by both edicts, the Jews assembled in the townsand provinces of the kingdom to slay all who sought their hurt, and beingsupported by the royal officials, inflicted a great defeat upon their enemies(Esther 9:1-10). At the queen's desire, the king granted permission to the Jewsin Susa to fight against their enemies on the following day also (Esther 9:11-15),while in the other towns and districts of the kingdom they fought for theirlives only on the 13th of Adar; so that in these places they rested on the14th, but in Susa not till the 15th, and consequently kept in the latter theone day, in the former the other, as a day of feasting and rejoicing (Esther 9:16-19). The observance of this day of resting as a festival, under the name ofPurim, by all the Jews in the Persian monarchy, was then instituted byEsther and Mordochai (Esther 9:20-32).

The Jews avenged of their enemies. - Esther 9:1. In the twelfthmonth, on the thirteenth day of the same - the Jews gathered themselvestogether in their cities, etc. Several parenthetical clauses succeed thisdefinition of time, so that the statement of what then took place does notfollow till נקהלוּ, Esther 9:2. These parenthetical clauses state notonly the meaning of the day just named, but also give a general notice ofthe conflict between the Jews and their enemies. The first runs: “when theword of the king drew nigh and his decree to be done,” i.e., when theexecution of the royal decree approached. The second is: “on the day thatthe enemies of the Jews hoped to have the mastery of them, and it waschanged (i.e., the contrary occurred), that the Jews had the mastery overthem that hated them.” בּ שׁלט, to rule, to have the masteryover. נהפוך is infin. abs., used instead of the imperf. הוּא is referred by Bertheau to יום: the day was changed froma day of misfortune to a day of prosperity for the Jews, alluding to Esther 9:22;but it is not a change of the day which is here spoken of, but a change ofthe hope of the enemies into its opposite; hence we must regard הוּא as neuter: it was changed, i.e., the contrary occurred. The pronounהמּה serves to emphasize the subject; comp. Ewald, §314, a,who in this and similar cases takes הוּא המּה in thesense of ipse, ipsi.

Esther 9:2-3

בּעריהם, in their cities, i.e., the cities in which theydwelt in all the dominions of the king. יד לשׁלח, tostretch out the hand (as also in Esther 2:21; Esther 3:6, for the purpose of killing)against those who sought their hurt, i.e., sought to destroy them. “And noone stood before them (בּפני עמד, like Joshua 10:8; Joshua 21:42, and elsewhere), because the fear of them fell upon all people (seerem. on Esther 8:17). And all the rulers of the provinces, and the satraps andgovernors (comp. Esther 8:9), and those that did the king's business (המּלאכה עשׁי, see rem. on Esther 3:9), supported the Jews (נשּׂא like Ezra 1:4), because the fear of Mordochai fell upon them.”

Esther 9:4

“For Mordochai was great in the king's house (was muchesteemed by the king), and his fame went through all the provinces(שׁמעו as in Joshua 6:27; Joshua 9:9; Jeremiah 6:24); for this man Mordochaibecame continually greater;” comp. 2 Chronicles 17:12, where the partic. גּדל stands instead of the inf. abs. גּדול.

Esther 9:5

Thus supported, the Jews inflicted defeat upon their enemieswith the sword, and with slaughter and destruction. הכּה with בּ,to deal a blow upon or against some one, to cause or bring about uponenemies a defeat; comp. e.g., 2 Samuel 23:10; 2 Samuel 24:17; Numbers 22:6. The notion isstrengthened by וגו מכּת־חרב, literally, to strike a stroke of thesword, and of slaughter, and of destruction, in accordance with the decree,Esther 8:11. “And did according to their will to those that hated them,” i.e.,retaliated upon their enemies at their discretion.

Esther 9:6

In the citadel of Susa they destroyed (in round numbers) 500men.

Esther 9:7-10

Also they slew the ten sons of Haman, whose names aregiven, Esther 9:7-9;

(Note: The peculiar position of the names of the sons of Haman ineditions of the Bible, grounded as it is upon the ancient mode ofwriting, must originally have been intended merely to giveprominence to the names, and facilitate their computation. The laterRabbis, however, have endeavoured to discover therein some deepermeaning. This mode of writing the names has been said to be signum voti, ut a ruina sua nunquam amplius resurgant,or also a sign quod sicut hi decem filii in linea perpendiculari, unus supra alterum, suspensi fuerintComp. Buxtorf, Synagoga jud. pp. 157-159 of the Basle edit. 1580. What is indicated by the smaller forms of the letters ת, שׁ, and ז, in the first, seventh, and tenth names, is not known;the larger ו in the tenth may have been meant to give prominence,by the character employed, to this name as the last.)

but on the spoil they laid not their hand, though this was allowed to them,Esther 8:11, as it had been commanded to their enemies by Haman's edict,Esther 3:13, ut ostenderent, se non aliud quam vitae suae incolumitatem quaerere;hanc enim perdere volebant ii qui occidebantur. C. a Lapide.

When on the same day an account was given to the king of the result of theconflict, and the number of those slain in Susa reported, he announced toQueen Esther: the Jews have slain in the citadel of Susa 500 men and theten sons of Haman; “what have they done in the rest of the king'sprovinces?” i.e., if they have killed 500 men in Susa, how many may theynot have slain in other parts of the kingdom? and then asked her what elseshe wished or required. With respect to the words, comp. Esther 5:6, and Esther 7:2.

Esther requested: “let it be granted to the Jews which are in Susa to do to-morrow also according to the decree of to-day (i.e., exactly as to-day), andlet the ten sons of Haman be hanged upon the tree,” i.e., their dead bodiesnailed on crosses - majoris infamiae causa, according to Hebrew and Persiancustom; comp. Deuteronomy 21:22 and the explanation of Ezra 6:11. On themotive for this request, see above, p. 194.

The king commanded it so to be done. “Then was a decree given at Susa,and they hanged the ten sons of Haman.” The decree given in Susa doesnot refer to the hanging of the sons of Haman, but to the permission givento the Jews to fight against their enemies on the morrow also. This isrequired not only by a comparison of Esther 8:13, but also by the connectionof the present verse; for in consequence of this decree the Jews assembledon the 14th Adar (comp. ויּקּהלוּ, then they assembledthemselves, Esther 9:15), while the hanging of the sons of Haman, on thecontrary, is related in an accessory clause by a simple perfect, תּלוּ.

On this second day the Jews slew 300 more; comp. Esther 9:10. - Esther 9:16. The restof the Jews in the provinces, i.e., the Jews in the other parts of thekingdom, assembled themselves and stood for their lives, and had rest fromtheir enemies, and slew of their foes 75,000, but upon the spoil they laidnot their hand. על עמד like Esther 8:11. Theמאיביהם ונוח inserted between על נ ועמד and והרוג is striking; we should ratherhave expected the resting or having rest from their enemies after the deathof the latter, as in Esther 9:17 and Esther 9:18, where this is plainly stated to have takenplace on the day after the slaughter. The position of these words is onlyexplained by the consideration, that the narrator desired at once to pointout how the matter ended. The narrative continues in the infin. abs. insteadof expressing this clause by the infin. constr., and so causing it to begoverned by what precedes. Thus - as Ew. §351, c, remarks - all the possiblehues of the sentence fade into this grey and formless termination (viz., theuse of the infin. absol. instead of the verb. fin.). This inaccuracy of dictiondoes not justify us, however, in assuming that we have here aninterpolation or an alteration in the text. The statement of the day is givenin Esther 9:17, and then the clause following is again added in the inf. absol.: “andthey rested on the 14th day of the same (of Adar), and made it a day offeasting and gladness.”

The Jews in Susa, on the other hand, who were both on the 13th and 14thAdar still fighting against their enemies, and did not rest till the 15th, madethis latter their day of rejoicing. - In Esther 9:19 it is again stated that the Jews inthe country towns and villages made the 14th their day of gladness, andthis statement is appended by על־כּן to make this appear the result ofwhat precedes. The Chethiv הפּרוזים is perhaps an Aramaicexpression for פּרזים, Deuteronomy 3:5 and 1 Samuel 6:18. פּרוזי means the inhabitants of the open, i.e., unfortified, towns and villages ofthe plains in contrast to the fortified capital; see on Deuteronomy 3:5. Onפּרזות, compare Ezekiel 38:11; Zechariah 2:8. וגו מנות משׁלוח, and of mutual sending of gifts, i.e., portions of food;comp. Nehemiah 8:10, Nehemiah 8:12.

The feast of Purim instituted by letters from Mordochai and Esther. Esther 9:20. Mordochai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews, etc. האלּה הדּברים does not mean the contents of thepresent book but the events of the last days, especially the fact that theJews, after overcoming their enemies, rested in Susa on the 15th, in theother provinces on the 14th Adar, and kept these days as days ofrejoicing. This is obvious from the object of these letters, Esther 9:21: וגו עליהם לקיּם, to appoint among them “that theyshould keep the 14th day of the month Adar and the 15th day of the sameyearly, as the days on which the Jews rested from their enemies, and asthe month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and frommourning into a glad day, that they should keep them as days of feastingand joy, and of mutual sending of portions one to another, and gifts to thepoor.” יום עשׂה, to keep, to celebrate a day. Theעשׂים להיות, Esther 9:21, is after long parentheses taken upagain in אותם לעשׂות. קיּם, to establish amatter, to authorize it, comp. 4:7. Both the 14th and 15th Adarwere made festivals because the Jews on them had rest from their enemies,and celebrated this rest by feasting, some on the former, some on the latterday.

And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordochai hadwritten to them. They had begun, as Esther 9:22 tells us, by keeping both days,and Mordochai wrote to them that they should make this an annualcustom. This they agreed to do in consequence of Mordochai's letters. Thereason of their so doing is given in Esther 9:24 and Esther 9:25, and the name of thisfestival is explained, Esther 9:26, by a brief recapitulation of the events whichgave rise to it. Then follows, Esther 9:26 and Esther 9:27, another wordy statement ofthe fact, that it was by reason of this letter, and on account of what theyhad seen, i.e., experienced, that the annual celebration of this feast wasinstituted for a perpetual memorial to all Jews at all times (Esther 9:28 and Esther 9:29).

For Haman, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews todestroy them (comp. Esther 3:1, Esther 3:6.), and had cast Pur, that is the lot (see onEsther 3:7), to consume them and to destroy them. המם, mostly usedof the discomfiture with which God destroys the enemies, Exodus 14:24; Deuteronomy 2:15, and elsewhere.

וּבבאהּ, and when it (the matter), not when she, Esther, camebefore the king, - for Esther is not named in the context, - he commanded byletters (Esther 8:8), i.e., he gave the written order: let the wicked device whichhe devised against the Jews return upon his own head; and they hangedhim and his sons upon the tree.

Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name Pur. This first על־כּן refers to what precedes and states the reason, resulting from what hasjust been mentioned, why this festival received the name of Purim. Withthe second על־כּן begins a new sentence which reaches to Esther 9:28, andexplains how it happened that these feast-days became a generalobservance with all Jews; namely, that because of all the words of thisletter (of Mordochai, Esther 9:20), and of what they had seen concerning thematter (על־כּכה, concerning so and so), and what had come upon them(therefore for two reasons: (1) because of the written injunction ofMordochai; and (2) because they had themselves experienced this event),the Jews established, and took upon themselves, their descendants, and allwho should join themselves unto them (proselytes), so that it should notfail (i.e., inviolably), to keep (to celebrate) these two days according to thewriting concerning them and the time appointed thereby year by year.

And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout everygeneration, every family, every province, and every city; and these days ofPurim are not to pass away among the Jews, nor their remembrance tocease among their seed. The participles ונעשׂים נזכּרים still depend on להיות, Esther 9:27. Not till the last clause doesthe construction change in להיות לא to the temp. finit. יעבור ולא is a periphrasis of the adverb: imperishably,inviolably. כּכתבם, secundum scriptum eorum, i.e., asMordochai had written concerning them (Esther 9:23). כּזמנּם, as hehad appointed their time. מן סוּף, to come to an endfrom, i.e., to cease among their descendants.

A second letter from Queen Esther and Mordochai to appoint fasting andlamentation on the days of Purim. Esther 9:29. And Esther the queen andMordochai the Jew wrote with all strength, that is very forcibly, toappoint this second letter concerning Purim, i.e., to give to the contents ofthis second letter the force of law. הזּאת refers to what follows, inwhich the contents of the letter are briefly intimated. The letter is calledהשּׁנית with reference to the first letter sent by Mordochai, Esther 9:20.

Esther 9:30-32

And he (Mordochai) sent letters, i.e., copies of the writingmentioned Esther 9:29, to all the Jews in the 127 provinces (which formed) thekingdom of Ahashverosh, words of peace and truth, i.e., letters containingwords of peace and truth (Esther 9:31), to appoint these days of Purim in theirportions of time according as Mordochai the Jew and Esther the queen hadappointed, and as they (the Jews) had appointed for themselves and fortheir descendants, the things (or words = precepts) of the fastings andtheir lamentations. בּזמנּיהם, in their appointed times; as thesuffix relates to the days of Purim, the זמנּים can mean only portionsof time in these days. The sense of Esther 9:29-31 is as follows: According tothe injunctions of Esther and Mordochai, the Jews appointed forthemselves and their descendants times also of fasting and lamentation inthe days of Purim. To make this appointment binding upon all the Jews inall provinces of the Persian monarchy, Esther and Mordochai published asecond letter, which was sent by Mordochai throughout the whole realmof King Ahashverosh. To this is added, Esther 9:32, that the decree of Estherappointed these matters of Purim, i.e., the injunction mentioned vv. 29-31,also to fast and weep during these days, and it was written in the book. הסּפר, the book in which this decree was written, cannot meanthe writing of Esther mentioned. Esther 9:29, but some written documentconcerning Purim which has not come down to us, though used as anauthority by the author of the present book. The times when the fastingand lamentation were to take place in the days of Purim, are not stated inthis verse; this could, however, only be on the day which Haman hadappointed for the extermination of the Jews, viz., the 13th Adar. This dayis kept by the Jews as אסתּר תּענית, Esther's fast.

(Note: According to 2 Macc. 15:36, the victory over Nicanor was tobe celebrated on the 13th Adar, but, according to a note of Dr. Casselin Grimm's kurzgef. exeget. Handb. zu den Apokryphen, on 2 Macc. 15:36, the festival of Nicanor is mentioned in Jewish writings, asMegillat Taanit, c. 12, in the Babylonian Talmud, tr. Taanit, f. 18b,in Massechet Sofrim 17, 4, but has been by no means observed for atleast the last thousand years. The book Scheiltot of R. Acha (in the9th century) speaks of the 13th Adar as a fast-day in memory of thefast of Esther, while even at the time of the Talmud the “Fast ofEsther” is spoken of as a three days fast, kept, however, after thefeast of Purim. From all this it is obvious, that a diversity of opinionsprevailed among the Rabbis concerning the time of this fast ofEsther.)