Esther 9:23-28

B. Perpetuated

TEXT: Esther 9:23-28

23

And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;

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;

25

but when the matter came before 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,

26

Wherefore they called these days of Purim, after the name of 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 unto them,

27

the Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so that it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to the writing thereof, and according to the appointed time thereof, every year;

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.

Today's English Version, Esther 9:23-28

So the Jews followed Mordecai's instructions, and the celebration became an annual custom.
Haman son of Hammedathathe descendant of Agag and the enemy of the Jewish peoplehad cast lots (purim, they were called) to determine the day for destroying the Jews; he had planned to wipe them out. But Esther went to the king, and the king issued written orders with the result that Haman suffered the fate he had planned for the Jewshe and his sons were hanged from the gallows. That is why the holidays are called Purim, the word for lots. Because of Mordecai's letter and because of all that had happened to them, the Jews made it a rule for themselves, their descendants, and anyone who might become a Jew, that at the proper time each year these two days would be regularly observed according to Mordecai's instructions. It was resolved that every Jewish family of every future generation in every province and every city should remember and observe the days of Purim for all time to come.

COMMENTS

Esther 9:23-26 a Symbolism: Among the more esoteric and mystical Jews (known as the Kabbalists) and the modern hassidim, much is made of Purim as the celebration of God at work, as it were behind the scenes, unlike Passover which celebrates God's more direct intervention. The lots of Purim are compared with the lots cast on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:8), so what men call fate or luck is, in reality, a manifestation of Jehovah's providential care.

It does appear from the text (Esther 9:26) that the reason the festival is named Pur (lots) is because Hainan's lots turned out to be his undoing. On the basis of God's redemptive deliverance documented in the past, it would be logical for any believing Jew to think that the massacre planned through the casting of lots by Haman was reversed by the providence of God as He worked behind the scenes.

Esther 9:26 b - Esther 9:28 Solemnity: This feast was not commanded by the Law and was, in fact, legislated by a Jew who had chosen to remain among the Diaspora. It is interesting that the feast was accepted and perpetuated among the more rigidly conservative Jews who returned to Judea after the captivities. But apparently Joiakim, High Priest at that time (Nehemiah 12:10-12), must have given his approval to the feast and adopted it into the ritual of the nation, or it would not have become so universally accepted and perpetuated.

Mordecai must have taken special care to impress on all Jews through the whole world of that day the solemnity of the reason for the holiday and the imperative need for its perpetuation for all succeeding generations or it would have long since fallen into disuse. It is still observed by most Jews today. The Adloyada carnival in Tel Aviv has been a prominent feature of Purim observance in modern Israel. The words ad de-lo yada mean, Until one no longer knows the difference between Blessed be Mordecai and Cursed be Haman.