CHAPTER IX _On the thirteenth of the month Adar the Jews destroy their_ _enemies, and the governors of the provinces assist them_, 1-5. _They slay_ five hundred _in Shushan, and kill the_ ten _sons of_ _Haman, but take no spoil_, 6-10. _The king is informed of the slaughter in Shushan_, 11. _H... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 9:3. _AND ALL THE RULERS OF THE PROVINCES_] Mordecai being raised to the highest confidence of the king, and to have authority over the whole realm, these officers assisted the Jews, no doubt, with the troops under their command, to overthrow those who availed themselves of the former d... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 9:6. _AND IN SHUSHAN_] It is strange that in this city, where the king's mind must have been so well known, there should be found _five hundred_ persons to rise up in hostility against those whom they knew the king befriended!... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 9:10. _THE TEN SONS OF HAMAN_] Their names are given above. And it is remarked here, and in Esther 9:16, where the account is given of the number slain in the provinces, that the Jews _laid no_ _hands on the spoil_. They stood for their lives, and gave full proof that they sought their... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 9:13. _LET HAMAN'S TEN SONS BE HANGED_] They had been slain the preceding day, and now she requests that they may be exposed on posts or gibbets, as a terror to those who sought the destruction of the Jews.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 9:15. _AND SLEW THREE HUNDRED MEN_] 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, begs that this _second_ day be added to the former permission. This being acc... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 9:18. _THE JEWS - ASSEMBLED - ON THE THIRTEENTH - AND ON THE_ _FOURTEENTH_] These _two_ days they were employed in slaying their enemies; and they rested on the _fifteenth_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 9:19. _THE JEWS OF THE VILLAGES_] They joined that to the preceding day, and made it a day of festivity, and _of sending_ _portions to each other_; that is, the _rich_ sent portions of the sacrifices slain on this occasion to the _poor_, that they also might be enabled to make the day a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 9:20. _MORDECAI WROTE THESE THINGS_] It has been supposed that thus far that part of the book of Esther, which was written by _Mordecai_ extends: what follows to the end, was probably added either by _Ezra_, or the _men of the Great Synagogue_; though what is said here may refer only to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 9:23. _THE JEWS UNDERTOOK TO DO AS THEY HAD BEGUN_] They had already kept the _fifteenth_ day, and some of them in the country the _fourteenth_ also, as a day of rejoicing: Mordecai wrote to them to bind themselves and their successors, and all their proselytes, to celebrate this as an... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 9:26. _THEY CALLED THESE DAYS PURIM_] That is from [Persian] _pari, the lot_; because, as we have seen, Haman cast lots to find what month, and what day of the month, would be the most favourable for the accomplishment of his bloody designs against the Jews. See on Esther 3:7. _AND_ OF... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 9:29. _ESTHER - WROTE WITH ALL AUTHORITY_] Esther and Mordecai had the king's license so to do: and their own authority was great and extensive.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 9:31. _AS THEY HAD DECREED FOR THEMSELVES AND FOR THEIR SEED_] There is no mention of their receiving the approbation of any _high_ _priest_, nor of any authority beyond that of Mordecai and Esther; the king could not join in such a business, as he had nothing to do with the Jewish reli... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Esther 9:32. _THE DECREE OF ESTHER CONFIRMED THESE MATTERS_] It was received by the Jews universally with all respect, and they bound themselves to abide by it. The _Vulgate_ gives a strange turn to this verse: _Et omnia quae_ _libri hujus, qui vocatur Esther, historia continentur_; "And all... [ Continue Reading ]