Esther 9:6-15

B. Progress

TEXT: Esther 9:6-15

6

And in Shushan the palace the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men.

7

And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,

8

and Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,

9

and Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vaizatha,

10

the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews-' enemy, slew they; but on the spoil they laid not their hand.

11

On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the palace was brought before the king.

12

And the king said unto 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 thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: or what is thy request further? and it shall be done.

13

Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews that are in Shushan to do to-morrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.

14

And the king commanded it so to be done: and a decree was given out in Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons,

15

And the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month of Adar, and slew three hundred men in Shushan; but on the spoil they laid not their hand.

Today's English Version, Esther 9:6-15

In Susa, the capital city itself, the Jews killed five hundred people. Among them were the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews: Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. However, there was no looting.
That same day the number of people killed in Susa was reported to the king. He then said to Queen Esther, In Susa alone the Jews have killed five hundred people, including Haman's ten sons. What must they have done out in the provinces! What do you want now? You shall have it. Tell me what else you want, and you shall have it.
Esther answered, If it please Your Majesty, let the Jews in Susa do again tomorrow what they were allowed to do today. And have the bodies of Haman's ten sons hung from the gallows. The king ordered this to be done, and the proclamation was issued in Susa. The bodies of Haman's ten sons were publicly displayed. On the fourteenth day of Adar the Jews of Susa got together again and killed three hundred more people in the city. But again, they did no looting.

COMMENTS

Esther 9:6-10 Names: The Masoretic text requires that the names of the ten sons of Haman be written in a perpendicular column on the right-hand side of the page, with the vav (and), on the left-hand side. The origin of this may be from the tradition that the ten sons were hanged on a tall stake, one above the other. It is also traditional that when the book of Esther is read at Purim celebration, the names of the ten sons plus the word ten are all to be read in one breath, because, as the Talmud states, they all died together.

All the names except Adalia have Persian meanings: Parshandatha means given to Persia; Dalphon means arrogant; Aspatha means horse; Poratha means having many chariots; Aridatha means liberal; Parmashta means greatest; Arisai means to conquer; Aridai means to give; and Vaizatha means strong as the wind. Since much of the book of Esther has as its source the royal chronicles, the author was probably impressed with the importance of these ten sons of the former prime-minister and decided such documentation would be beneficial for all subsequent readers. The listing of the names certainly fits in with the precise and exact character of the whole book of Esther.

In Esther 9:10 we are told that the Jews did not lay their hands on the property of those they killed. The edict given by Haman (Esther 3:13) was that the Jewish victims should have their property plundered. When Xerxes allowed Mordecai to give official permission to the Jews to resist the massacre, permission was also given (Esther 8:11) to plunder the property of their attackers. The fact that the Jews did not seize the property of those they killed in their resistance is mentioned a number of times (Esther 9:10; Esther 9:15-16) in order to emphasize that they were concerned only with defending themselves. They were not motivated by greed in the grizzly work of lethally defending their lives.

Esther 9:11-15 Numbers: The king received an official report of the number slain. It was customary even in ancient days to keep a body count. In the Babylonian transcript of the Behistun Inscription the numbers of those slain in battle are given with precise exactness (546, 2024, 4203, etc.). The king was careful to keep himself informed on the progress of the resistance. Because of this, the Jews knew they were not left to kill indiscriminately.

The area of the hill where the palace complex stood was more than 100 acres. Archaeologists have found the ruins of many houses in this area. It was probably densely populated. It is not at all improbable that 500 men (Esther 9:6) would be slain in their attempt to attack the Jews within the palace complex itself.

When the king heard the number slain within the walls of the acropolis (hill area), he immediately informed Esther (probably to prove to her that he most certainly had the best interests of his queen and her people at heart). He also knew this initial success of the Jewish resistance would not be all that was needed to wipe out the violence aimed at the Jews. So the king offers further assistance to whatever extent his queen has determined to be needful.
Perhaps Mordecai had information that a second day of purging the city of those plotting violence against the Jews would be necessary, Susa was, after all, the chief capital and would naturally be the center of anti-Jewish violence. Mordecai knew how matters really stood, and as prime-minister advised the queen of Persia, that another day would be necessary to rid the capital city of the avowed murderers. It is really doubtful that Esther would have made this request for another day without the prompting of Mordecai. The request for making the dead bodies of Haman's sons public spectacles was to provide a strong deterrent to any non-Jews who had not participated in the violence but might be contemplating it! Capital punishment of those convicted of capital crimes is both biblical and practical. Capital punishment serves not only as a deterrent but also produces a proper execution of justice (see our Special Study, The Christian and War, Isaiah, Vol. II, pg. 72, College Press).

Ancient cities usually consisted of a walled portion (sometimes with an acropolis or hill where the governmental complex stood) and an unwalled portion. Many people lived in houses outside the city walls and usually fled inside the walls when sufficiently warned in advance of an enemy's approach. The 300 slain (Esther 9:14) on the day following the slaying of the initial 500 were probably people residing outside the palace complex, perhaps outside the walls of Susa. The necessity of taking two days in the capital city of Susa to dispatch all those who would attack the Jews apparently resulted in a difference in days of celebrating the victory (cf. Esther 9:19). The Jews of Susa could not rest on the 14th of Adar with those in other places of the empire for they had to continue their struggle against their foes on that day.