Deeper Commentary
Esther 9:1 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the
thirteenth day of the month, when the king’s commandment and his decree drew
near to be put into effect, on the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to
conquer them, (but it was turned about so that the opposite happened- the
Jews conquered those who hated them)-
This theme of 'turning about so the opposite happens' is a major theme of
Esther. The fasting of Esther is contrasted with the feasting of Haman and
the king; and now it is the Jews who are feasting. Instead of the Jews being
destroyed by their enemies, they destroy their enemies.
Esther 9:2 The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout
all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, to lay hands on those who wanted to
harm them. No one could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen
on all the people- Their gathering together to help each other was
after the pattern of Esther not thinking only of her own salvation. Her
example would have been inspirational in the mending of so many
interpersonal relationship issues amongst the Jews, just as the Lord's
example of mediation and sacrifice to achieve it should likewise for us. For
"the fear..." see on :3.
Esther 9:3 All the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors,
and those who did the king’s business helped the Jews, because the fear of
Mordecai had fallen on them- The fear of Israel falling upon the
peoples (also in :2) uses the very same phrase used about the effect of
the Exodus miracles upon the Egyptians (Ex. 15:16; Ps. 105:38), with
Mordecai functioning as Moses. And yet the same effect as the visible
miracles was achieved by the invisible, non-miraculous hand of God working
in human and national lives. The implication was that this was all to
prepare the exiles for their intended exodus out of Persia and back to
their land- but they refused to make good on what was set up for them.
Esther 9:4 For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame went out
throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai grew greater and greater-
LXX "For the order of the king was in force, that he should be celebrated in
all the kingdom". The king was obviously deeply impressed by Esther and
Mordecai, and surely was being himself nudged towards accepting the God of
Israel by the transformation he witnessed in these secular Jews towards
truly spiritual, brave people of principle.
Esther 9:5 The Jews struck all their enemies with the stroke of the sword,
and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they wanted to those who
hated them- This suggests a primary fulfilment of the prophecy that
the exiles in Babylon / Persia would become God's weapons of war with
which to judge the nations where they had been taken captive (Jer. 51:20).
The intention was that they would judge their captors, return to the land
and be part of the reestablished Kingdom of God. But the exiles only
allowed a partial fulfilment of this, and remained with their wealth in
Persia; see on Esther 8:13-16.
Esther 9:6 In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five
hundred men- AV "In Shushan the palace". The extent of opposition to
the Jews was therefore significant (800 killed in all, :15), despite
Mordecai now being the prime minister, and the king clearly pro-Jewish.
The pre-existing anti-Jewish sentiment was significant in the palace, and
therefore Esther is revealed as the more brave for coming out as Jewish.
Haman knew that his plan was tapping in to widespread support. If indeed
Haman was the descendant of Agag the Amalekite (see on Esther 3:1) this
would mean that the people killed here by the Jews would likely have been
Amalekites. This would therefore have been a fulfilment of the prophecies
about Yahweh's unceasing war with Amalek (Ex. 17:16) and Israel's final
victory over them through Messiah (Num. 24:7 "higher than Agag"). No
Messiah figure was in view; but had they returned to the land in faith and
repentance, then the restoration prophecies stated that one would have
arisen. And so we find here a partial fulfilment of the prophecies about
Amalek and Agag, and not a complete one. See on :11.
Esther 9:7 They killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha- The "ten sons"
of Haman is a phrase stressed four times in :10-14, and although ten are
indeed listed here, the idea may mean "all his children" as in 1 Sam. 1:8.
The Jews interpret Haman as representative of the yetzer harah,
the evil inclination, which the New Testament at times understands as the
great satan / adversary to spiritual life. The Jews then see in the
meanings of the names of his sons the various characteristics of the
flesh.
Each of
the names of the sons apparently
contain the word “self” in the Persian language. Although the
meaning of these names is hard to define, the Jewish view is that these
first three names stand respectively for 'distance [from God]', 'door to
bad intentions', 'gathering of money'.
Esther 9:8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha- See on :7. The Jews define
these names as meaning respectively 'a woman's private parts' [if spelt
backwards]; 'pride' and 'preying like a lion to destroy others'.
Esther 9:9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha- See on :7. The
Jews define these names as meaning respectively 'ripping into
division', 'subjugation of the righteous' and 'bitterness', the end result
of all these various features of the fleshly life.
Esther 9:10 the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jew’s enemy;
but they didn’t lay their hand on the plunder- This is emphasized,
because they had been given the right to do this (Esther 8:11). They were
following the example of Abraham who refused to add to his wealth by
taking the spoil of his enemies (Gen. 14:23). This can be read as a
politically astute decision, so as not to give the impression they had
orchestrated all this for their benefit; but there was surely thereby a
nudge from God towards remembering that they were Abraham's seed, and
ought to return to the land promised them as his seed.
Esther 9:11 On that day, the number of those who were slain in the citadel
of Susa was brought before the king- A king would surely be concerned
about the outbreak of civil war. The fact he allowed the slaughter to
continue right on his doorstep in Susa would suggest that he perceived
that those killed were not his own people, but the supporters of Haman,
Amalekites. See on :6.
Esther 9:12 The king said to Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and
destroyed five hundred men in the citadel of Susa, including the ten sons
of Haman; what then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces!
Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your further
request? It shall be done- Her first intercession had brought her to
a position where now the king came to her, guessing what she would like
and offering it. She doesn't come to him, he perceives what she wants and
offers it to her. We possibly see here some insight into the nature of the
Lord's relationship with the Father after He interceded for us on the
cross. Rom. 8 describes all this as the intercession of the spirit, as if
the Father and Son have a meeting of minds / spirit, and the Father knows
and automatically grants what He knows His Son wants for His people.
Esther 9:13 Then Esther said, If it pleases 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 hanged on the gallows- We see
here how circumstances repeat. Esther had previously come to the king with
a request to come to a banquet, and then repeated that same request, to
come "tomorrow". The Esther story shows clearly how things work according
to a Divine plan which is multidimensional and yet has internal
consistencies and similarities. See on :12.
Esther 9:14 The king commanded this to be done. A decree was given out in
Shushan; and they hanged Haman’s ten sons- We have just read in :10
of the murder of his sons. Perhaps the LXX is therefore to be preferred
here: "And he permitted it to be so done; and he gave up to the Jews of
the city the bodies of the sons of Aman to hang".
Esther 9:15 The Jews who were in Shushan gathered themselves together on
the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and killed three hundred men in
Shushan; but they didn’t lay their hand on the spoil- This makes a
total of 800 killed over the two days. See on :6 for the significance of
this anti-Jewish sentiment in Shushan. For "spoil", see on :10. For
"gathered themselves together" see on :16. Their refusal to take the spoil
is mentioned three times (:10,15,16), and stands in contrast to the
intention of taking their property as spoil under Haman's plan (Esther
3:13).
Esther 9:16 The other Jews who were in the king’s provinces gathered
themselves together, defended their lives, had rest from their enemies,
and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they didn’t
lay their hand on the plunder- LXX renders "gathered themselves
together" as "and helped one another". They were learning the lesson from
the nervous teenager Esther, who didn't just seek her own salvation, but
risked her life in order to bring about the salvation of all God's people.
We see here how good spiritual attitudes can spread quickly and
effectively.
Esther 9:17 This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on
the fourteenth day of that month they rested and made it a day of feasting
and gladness- Israel being given "rest" from their enemies was the
sign that they should now inherit the promised land (s.w. Dt. 12:10); rest
from their enemies meant that they were to blot out the name of Amalek
(s.w. Dt. 25:19). Clearly these things were coming about, seeing that
Haman was an Amalekite and those they were killing were likely Amalekites
(see on Esther 3:1). But they failed to go further with these Divine
possibilities, just as we can fail to; see on Esther 8:13-16. Being given
rest meant they could inherit the land (Josh. 1:13 s.w.) but they
preferred to remain in Persia. Tellingly, the same word is used in Neh.
9:28, addressed to the exiles: "But after they had rest, they did evil
again before You; therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies".
Esther 9:18 But the Jews who were in Shushan assembled together on the
thirteenth and on the fourteenth days of the month; and on the fifteenth
day of that month, they rested, and made it a day of feasting and
gladness- The subtext to this otherwise positive picture of good
triumphing over evil is that their day of feasting and gladness was
prophetically intended to be in Zion (Is. 25:6 s.w.). They went into exile
exactly because they had days of 'feasting' and didn't respond to the
prophetic message (s.w. Is. 5:12). It was in Zion that they were to
experience "gladness" (Is. 35:10) when they returned (Is. 51:11). They
were to leave the lands of their captivity in "gladness" and thus come to
Zion (Is. 55:12 s.w.). But they didn't return. They were to have eternal
"gladness... in their land" (s.w. Is. 61:7), the day of Jer. 31:7
(s.w.). The "day of gladness" was to be accompanied by the blowing of
trumpets (s.w. Num. 10:10), summoning them to Zion. But there is no
mention of this; because they didn't want to return there, but to remain
in prosperous Persia. See on :21.
Esther 9:19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, who lived in the unwalled
towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and
feasting, a good day- The existence of Jews even in villages and
remote settlements of the Persian empire reflects the degree of their
scattering, in fulfilment of the prophecies about this.
And a day of sending presents of food to one another- Generosity to others was a reflection of their personal experience of grace. We are to be generous to others and concern ourselves with their salvation, as God did to us. "Grace" literally means a gift, and the giving of gifts ought to reflect that. As noted on :16, they were learning the lesson from the nervous teenager Esther, who didn't just seek her own salvation, but risked her life in order to bring about the salvation of all God's people.
Esther 9:20 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-
LXX "wrote these things in a book". Perhaps here we have the origin of the
book of Esther; it was an account by Mordecai of how he, a secular and not
very religious Jew, had seen his weaknesses used by God in order to
save others; it was written as a testament to grace. But on :29 I will
note that the book could equally have been written by Esther.
Esther 9:21 To enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth and
fifteenth days of the month Adar yearly- Whilst this was
understandable it could be argued that the subtext of the history is
negative; there is no mention of them keeping the Mosaic feasts, but
instead they created a new one to celebrate in the lands of exile.
Instead, they ought to have returned from those lands and not remained
there; see on :18.
Esther 9:22 as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and
the month which was turned to 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 presents of food to one another, and gifts to the
needy- LXX "a change was made for them, from mourning to joy, and
from sorrow to a good day". This change from mourning to joy connects with
the prophecies of the restored kingdom, when mourning would be turned to
joy for Zion (Is. 51:11; 60:20; 61:3). But Judah hadn't repented nor
returned to the land as intended. And yet it is as if God so eagerly tries
to by all means achieve at least a partial fulfilment of those prophecies.
They were intended, of course, to see the similarities and return both to
their God and His land. But they were content with the very partial
fulfilment of what was at that time potentially possible. See on Esther
8:13. For "turned...", see on :1.
Esther 9:23 The Jews accepted the custom that they had begun, as Mordecai
had written to them- What is specifically in view is the command to
keep the 15th day as well.
Esther 9:24 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- LXX has
"the Macedonian" for "Agagite", as if to encourage the reading of the whole
story as applicable to the abuse of the Jews by Alexander of Macedon.
Esther 9:25 but when this became known to the king, he commanded by
letters that his wicked device, which he had devised against the Jews,
should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged
on the gallows- "Wicked device" is literally wicked thoughts (s.w.
Gen. 6:5; Is. 59:7); perhaps some of the Proverbs which use the phrase to
speak of wicked plans have Haman in view (Prov. 6:18; 15:26). Again we see
the theme continued that it was for his thoughts that Haman was condemned;
for the state of the heart is of paramount importance to God. But the
phrase is used in Jer. 18:11 of how a "wicked device" against God's people
was intended to elicit their repentance. It didn't, and so they went into
captivity in Babylon / Persia; and now again, repentance was not elicited
as intended.
Esther 9:26 Therefore they called these days Purim, from the word ‘Pur’.
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- They
wanted to especially remember how the lots ["pur"] drawn by Haman were
overruled by God to fall in nearly a year's time, so that there was time
for Esther's mediation and their preparation. The Divine overruling of the
lots was therefore felt to be the parade example of Divine providence in
their salvation. But again, this seems rather a case of mistaken focus;
the Divine grace of it all and the brave mediation of Esther were not the
focus. It could be argued that it was more of a celebration of Jewish good
luck than of Divine grace. The root meaning of pur, "lots", is 'a
thing of nothing' (s.w. Ps. 33:10). Drawing lots was based upon astrology,
and the fact the drawing of lots was to the Jews' favour hardly seems an
appropriate thing to celebrate. And we are left with the impression that
the Jews in Persia would now celebrate Purim religiously; whilst no
mention is made of keeping Yahweh's feasts. Again, there is a subtext here
that we have to read. But as ever with the book of Esther, it is below the
surface.
Esther 9:27 The Jews established and imposed on themselves and on their
descendants, and on all those who joined themselves to them, so that it
should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to what was
written, and according to its appointed time, every year- Note the reference to the Gentiles who "joined themselves to them".
Esther 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 their memory
perish from their seed- This sadly presupposes that Judah were to
remain in the lands of their exile. The Divine intention was that they
should be provoked by what had happened to return to Judah; see on :18,21.
Esther 9:29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai
the Jew, wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim-
LXX "wrote all that they had done". Perhaps here we have the origin of the
book of Esther; it was an account by Esther of how she, a secular and not
very religious Jewess, had seen her weaknesses used by God in order to
save others; it was written as a testament to grace. But on :20 I will
note that the book could equally have been written by Mordecai. See on
:32.
Esther 9:30 He sent letters to all the Jews, to the hundred and
twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace
and truth- This sadly presupposes that Judah were to remain in the
lands of their exile. The Divine intention was that they should be
provoked by what had happened to return to Judah; see on :18,21. "Peace
and truth" is the language of the restored kingdom of God (Jer. 33:6); and
it is the same term used by Hezekiah when he failed to grasp the potential
of the Kingdom being reestablished in his times; he was content with peace
and truth in his times alone (Is. 39:8). Likewise the Jews of Esther's
time were content with "peace and truth" in their times, rather than
seeing that what had happened was to lead them towards the eternal peace
and truth with God of His Kingdom and not their own (see on Esther
8:13-16; 9:30). And this is the abiding temptation for all believers; to
be satisfied with some degree of "peace and truth" emotionally and
intellectually in their lives now, but resign the far greater realities of
the Kingdom to come when "peace and truth" shall be in eternal reality.
Esther 9:31 to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, as
Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had decreed, and as they had imposed
upon themselves and their descendants, in the matter of the fastings and
their cry- LXX suggests differently, to the effect that Mordecai and
Esther fasted at the time of Purim, perhaps in recognition of their own
weaknesses at the time, asking forgiveness for how they had lived as
secular believers before they were forced to give their whole lives to
their God and their people: "And Mardochaeus and Esther the queen
appointed a fast for themselves privately".
Esther 9:32 The commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and
it was written in the book- Confirming my suggestion on :29 that Esther
was the author of the book.
Previous Chapter
