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Esther Chapter
Nine
Esther 9
Chapter Contents
The success of the Jews. (1-19) The feast of Purim in
remembrance of this. (20-32)
Commentary on Esther 9:1-19
(Read Esther 9:1-19)
The enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them by
the former edict. If they had attempted nothing against the people of God, they
would not themselves have suffered. The Jews, acting together, strengthened one
another. Let us learn to stand fast in one spirit, and with one mind, striving
together against the enemies of our souls, who endeavour to rob us of our
faith, which is more precious than our lives. The Jews, to the honour of their
religion, showed contempt of wordly wealth, that they might make it appear they
desired nothing except their own preservation. In every case the people of God
should manifest humanity and disinterestedness, frequently refusing advantages
which might lawfully be obtained. The Jews celebrated their festival the day
after they had finished their work. When we have received great mercies from
God, we ought to be speedy in making thankful returns to him.
Commentary on Esther 9:20-32
(Read Esther 9:20-32)
The observance of the Jewish feasts, is a public
declaration of the truth of the Old Testament Scriptures. And as the Old
Testament Scriptures are true, the Messiah expected by the Jews is come long
ago; and none but Jesus of Nazareth can be that Messiah. The festival was
appointed by authority, yet under the direction of the Spirit of God. It was
called the feast of Purim, from a Persian word, which signifies a lot. The name
of this festival would remind them of the almighty power of the God of Israel,
who served his own purposes by the superstitions of the heathen. In reviewing
our mercies, we should advert to former fears and distresses. When our mercies
are personal, we should not by forgetfulness lose the comfort of them, or
withhold from the Lord the glory due to his name. May the Lord teach us to
rejoice, with that holy joy which anticipates and prepares for the blessedness
of heaven. Every instance of Divine goodness to ourselves, is a new obligation
laid on us to do good, to those especially who most need our bounty. Above all,
redemption by Christ binds us to be merciful, 2 Corinthians 8:9.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Esther》
Esther 9
Verse 2
[2] The
Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces
of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man
could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people.
No man —
Their enemies, though they did take up arms against them, yet were easily
conquered and destroyed by them.
Verse 6
[6] And in Shushan the palace the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men.
Shushan — In
the city so called.
Slew —
Whom they knew to be such as would watch all opportunities to destroy them;
which also they might possibly now attempt to do.
Verse 10
[10] The
ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, slew they; but
on the spoil laid they not their hand.
But, … —
Because they would leave it to their children, that it might appear what they
did was not done out of malice, or covetousness, but out of mere necessity, and
by that great law of self-preservation.
Verse 12
[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 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.
What — In
which doubtless many more were slain. So that I have fully granted thy
petition. And yet, if thou hast any thing farther to ask, I am ready to grant
it.
Verse 13
[13] Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews
which 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.
Let it, … — To
kill their implacable enemies. For it is not improbable that the greatest and
worst of them had hidden themselves for that day; after which, the commission
granted to the Jews being expired, they confidently returned to their homes.
Hanged —
They were slain before; now let their bodies be hanged on their father's
gallows, for their greater infamy, and the terror of all others who shall
presume to abuse the king in like manner, or to persuade him to execute such
cruelties upon his subjects.
Verse 26
[26]
Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all
the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this
matter, and which had come unto them,
Pur —
This Persian word signifies a lot, because Haman had by lot determined this
time to be the time of the Jews destruction.
Verse 27
[27] The
Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as
joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep
these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed
time every year;
As joined —
Gentile Proselytes; who were obliged to submit to other of the Jewish laws, and
therefore to this also; the rather because they enjoyed the benefit of this
day's deliverance; without which the Jewish nation and religion had been in a
great measure, if not wholly, extinct.
According —
According to that writing which was drawn up by Mordecai, and afterwards
confirmed by the consent of the Jews.
Verse 29
[29] Then
Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all
authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim.
Wrote —
The former letter, verse 20, did only recommend but this enjoins the
observation of this solemnity: because this was not only Mordecai's act, but
the act of all the Jews, binding themselves and posterity.
Verse 30
[30] And
he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven
provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,
Peace —
With peace, friendship and kindness to his brethren, and truth, sincerity.
Verse 31
[31] To
confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed, according as Mordecai the
Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for
themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry.
Cry —
For those great calamities which were decreed to all the Jews, and for the
removing of which, not only Esther, and the Jews in Shushan, but all other Jews
in all places, did doubtless fly to God by fasting, and strong cries.
Verse 32
[32] And
the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in
the book.
Either —
Who had received authority from the king.
The book — In
the records which the Jews kept of their most memorable passages.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on
Esther》
09 Chapter 9
Verses 1-4
Verse 1
Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.
Hope and foreboding
I. Hope blighted.
In the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them. The
human reasonableness of this hope may be shown--
1. From their own numbers.
2. From the insignificance of the Jews.
3. From the known unchangeableness of Persian law.
II. Foreboding
reproved. How often we look forward to a month Adar, and see it shrouded with
ominous darkness. But the month Adar may, after all, be the month of rejoicing.
III. True hope
rewarded. (W. Burrows, B. A.)
The method of providence
1. Although, then, as has been already said, the grand design of this
whole Book of Esther is an illustration of a retributive providence in working
out the deliverance of the chosen people, still it is better for us to note the
proofs of such a providence, as they occur, in detail.
2. We see here, as well, indeed, as also in other portions of sacred
history, and as the lessons of all history and of every-day life also
demonstrate, that God, in the exercise of His sovereignty, uses men of very
different characters as instruments for fulfilling His supreme purpose. Both
Esther and Ahasuerus, both Mordecai and Haman, were Divine agents for bringing
about the Hebrew deliverance.
3. These pictures show us that we are to construct men’s reputation
for character out of their whole life and principles, and not from any one
moment, nor from any word or act.
4. We are here taught to feel the deepest interest in the welfare of
our fellow-men, especially of those who may be associated with us, or be bound
to us by social ties, or by blood and nationality.
5. I am perfectly sure that in the lives of the men and women as
illustrated in the sacred writings we are taught the mind of God Himself, as to
the precepts and principles which are agreeable to Him; and that it is in the
teachings of the Word of God, and in it alone, that we can find the true
principles of all proper reforms. It is in the Bible, and in the Bible alone,
we have the principles of happiness--the only true principles of reformation.
6. We see here how great a blessing we enjoy in having mild,
equitable, salutary laws, and in having a written constitution, that provides
for its amendment, and points out the way for the repeal or alteration of any
laws that may be made in haste, or in ignorance, or through party zeal, that
are found to be unconstitutional and not for the good of the people.
7. The difficulties of the Persian monarch, growing out of his rash
decree, even after the author of it has been punished, are a warning to us to
beware of the consequences of our words and actions.
8. This history teaches us to trust in God for the vindication of His
own ways and the justification of His judgments against the wicked; as well as
in His faithfulness to His people, in remembering to keep and fulfil, at the
right time, all His promises to them.
9. The delay of judgment against evil-doers, instead, therefore, of
encouraging them to boldness in sin, should melt them to penitential sorrow.
Providence-as seen in the Book of Esther
From the narrative of the preceding chapters we learn--
I. That God places
His agents in fitting places for doing His work.
II. That the Lord
not only arranges His servants, but He restrains His enemies.
III. That God in His
providence tries His people.
IV. That the Lord’s
wisdom is seen in arranging the smallest events so as to produce great results.
V. That the Lord
in His providence calls His own servants to be active.
VI. That in the end
the Lord achieves the total defeat of His foes and the safety of His people.
Lessons--
1. It is clear that the Divine will is accomplished, and yet men are
perfectly free agents.
2. What wonders can be wrought without miracles! In the miracles of
Pharaoh we see the finger of God, but in the wonders of providence, without
miracle, we see the hand of God.
3. How safe the Church of God is!
4. The wicked will surely come to an ill end.
5. Let each child of God rejoice that we have a Guardian so near the
throne. Every Jew in Shushan must have felt hope when he remembered that the
queen weal a Jewess. To-day, let us be glad that Jesus is exalted. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
Verse 2-3
The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities.
The wise conduct of the Jews
The Jews acted--
1. Wisely. They acted in unison. “They gathered themselves together,
and stood for their lives.” Union is power: concentration of strength is mighty for
good and for evil. How awful the extent of the mischief perpetrated by the evil
spirits, because they act it, concert--unitedly: whereas disunion would cause even their
kingdom to fall. Union and co-operation are likewise powerful for the
production of good. Hence copies of the Divine writings are flying to all parts
of the world, and missionaries to unfold their precious contents to those who
are perishing for lack of knowledge. What would individual efforts do in eases
like these?
2. Manfully. “They laid hands on all such as sought their hurt, and
no man could withstand them.” They were acting legally: for the royal law permitted them to defend
themselves. Trust in God, in His power and faithfulness, is the only source of
true magnanimity. It is this alone that makes man undaunted on rational
grounds. St. Paul tells us of the ancient believers, that “out of weakness they
were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, and turned to flight the armies of
the aliens.” And this, he tells us, was the effect of relying on God.
3. Moreover, they acted forbearingly, or self-denyingly. They merely
defended themselves, and Seized not upon the spoils of their enemies: “On the spoil they
lay not their hand.” They wanted only their lives and their own possessions,
and not the riches of their neighbours. We find that great believer, Abraham,
acting thus self-denyingly in Genesis 14:1-24. The victory which the
Jews obtained on this occasion was a very signal one. “The Jews smote all their
enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter and destruction, and did
what they would unto those that hated them.” “In Shushan, the palace, the Jews
slew and destroyed five hundred men.” At the request of the queen, three
hundred more were slain in the royal city. And in the different provinces of
the empire they slew of their foes seventy and five thousand. Behold, how great
a matter a little fire kindleth! Behold the fruits of the wickedness of one
individual! (J. Hughes.)
Self-help brings help
I. Divine help. In
this narrative we see all along that the Jews were helped of God.
II. Divine help
fosters and succeeds self-help. Divine help must first work, and then there can
be successful self-help. These Jews helped themselves--
1. By cooperation.
2. By active agency.
3. By a name of power.
4. By aggressive measures.
III. Self-help
secures the help of others. (W. Burrows, B. A.)
Verse 10
But on the spoil laid they not their hand.
Leaving the spoilt
It is not always good to seize all the money to which one has a
legal right. There are many cases in which a regard to one’s own credit, and
there are others in which a sense of duty, should bind up our hands from
receiving what we might otherwise take without injustice. The king’s edict gave
the Jews the right to take the spoil of their enemies. If they had done so, the
tongue of slanderers might have alleged that they had slain innocent persons to
enrich themselves. (G. Lawson.)
Verse 12-13
On the thirteenth day of the month Adar.
A national memorial
This national memorial--
I. Was established
by supreme authority.
II. Was approved by
a grateful people.
III. Was sanctioned
by the marvellous nature of the events celebrated.
IV. Was hallowed by
the manner of its celebration.
V. Was preserved
by a wise method.
VI. Is perpetuated
with good result. (W. Burrows, B. A.)
The memorial
It would--
1. Keep in remembrance an interposition of the Almighty, without
which the Jewish nation and religion had been in a great measure, if not
wholly, extinct in the world.
2. Mark a striking fulfilment of prophecy in the destruction of the
Amalekites, who were the hereditary enemies of the Jews.
3. Stimulate confidence in God in the most critical circumstances,
and refusal to pay such homage to the creature as is due to God only.
4. Foster that recognition of God in history and providence which men
are ever liable to overlook and forget. In these respects it was an institution
which should prove as advantageous to after-generations, and even more so, than
to the people of God who were then living. “The Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”
(T. McEwan.)
Memorial days, their obligation and manner of observance
I. Take a view of
the reasons here assigned for the establishing the observation of the days
mentioned in the text.
1. They were delivered from the entire extirpation of themselves and
their religion out of the dominions of the Persian king.
2. The destruction with which they were threatened was in all human
appearance inevitable.
3. The Jews might plainly discern a special hand of God in the
deliverance which was granted them.
4. As this was a signal instance of God’s special favour towards
them, so it was but one instance among many others which they continually had
from one generation to another.
II. Consider the
manner in which the Jews are here commanded to observe their festival. It
includes three parts.
1. The natural. Feasting, rejoicing, etc.
2. The religious. Thanksgiving and praise.
3. The charitable. Sending portions one to another.
If our gratitude to God on memorial days be sincere, we shall go
on to express our sense of great deliverances.
1. By living as becomes those who have received such great favours
from the hands of God.
2. We shall be zealous to maintain and secure the inestimable
blessings hitherto continued to us. (Samuel Bradford.)
A national memorial
The feast instituted by Mordecai was designed to be--
I. A memorial of
rest.
II. A memorial of
joy.
III. A memorial of
triumph. (J. S. Van Dyke, D. D.)
The Feast of Purim
Looking at the establishment of Purim, we are struck--
I. With the
historical value of a feast of this sort.
II. There is also
an educational value in such a feast. All the education of a child is not
comprised in what he receives at school. He learns much in the home. He is
greatly affected by what he sees on the streets. Dr. Andrew Reid tells us how
profoundly he was moved by the sight of the statue of John Howard in St. Paul’s
Cathedral, and traces to that the benevolent purpose of his life, which ended
in the establishment of so many asylums for orphans and imbeciles. So we ought
to be careful what sort of men those are whom we allow to be honoured in that
way. For every one who looks upon a statue is moved to ask, “Whose is it? what
was his character? what was his history? and why has he been honoured thus?”
And the answers will be a part of the education of those who put the questions,
stirring their ambition or firing their enthusiasm. It is the same with
national holidays. The Passover, etc. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Different means of commemorating great events
Different means have been employed by different nations and in
different ages to perpetuate the memory of great events. We are told (Genesis 31:45): “Jacob took a stone and set it up for a
pillar.” Again (Genesis 35:14). Achan and his family. The
king of Ai. Absalom. Alexander the Great caused a tumulus to be erected over
the grave of his friend Hephaestion, costing million and a half of dollars.
Virgil makes mention of memorial stones, as does also Homer. Standing-stones,
or “menhirs,” were also erected in memorial of particular events; and stone
circles, constructed with the same design most probably, were so numerous that
they may be found even yet in almost every country--in the Orkneys, in Russia,
in Hindustan, in Africa, in Greenland, in America, in all parts of Europe. The
most remarkable are Stonehenge and Abury, in England. As a means of
transmitting events to succeeding generations, a simple ceremony committed to
those who sympathise with the cause in which the observance originated is far
more effective than even the most imposing monumental structure which art has
devised, strength erected, or wealth adorned. The latter is dumb; the former
has loving hearts and living tongues to perpetuate the memory of deeds that
once stirred human souls and distilled blessings upon the world. The
celebration of the 4th of July is likely to prove more satisfactory, as a
memorial of a national birthday, than any other monument which the energy and
liberality of the American people could have reared. In the rites connected
with the Feast of Purim, Mordecai and Esther have a more enduring monument than
the Egyptian monarch who erected the pyramid of Gizeh, or the Pharaoh who
constructed the marvellous labyrinth. In confirmation of the theory that ceremony
is more effective as a memorial than dolmens, cromlechs, etc., I have only to
remind you that the touching incidents connected with the life and death of
Christ have been conveyed to the human family in a most remarkable way by the
Eucharist. (J. S. Van Dyke, D. D.)
And that these days should
be remembered.
Days to be remembered
I. Our birthdays.
II. Days of
awakening and conversion.
III. Days of
darkness.
1. Days of bereavement.
2. Days of mental depression.
3. Days of perplexity.
IV. Days of deliverance.
V. Times of
refreshing and seasons of communion with God.
VI. The day of
death and the day of judgment. (J. Bolton, B. A.)
A memorial day
In these words we have an account of the founding of the
Jewish national memorial day. It was not so much a religious as a national
memorial day. It celebrated a day of victory and triumph; and they made it
memorable by annual observance.
I. Let us think of
it as a memory day. There are those who think it unkind to recall the memory of
the dead, or even to speak to the bereaved of their losses. There are some who
think that the only way to console is by diverting the thoughts from all memory
of that which occasioned pain. There is no more mistaken treatment for the
human heart than to prescribe oblivion for its cure. The very memory of the
loved one blesses us and makes us more gentle and tender toward the living. It
is neither manly nor womanly nor human to be either hard-hearted or forgetful.
Then, do you think that the heart of our nation is softened, and that sympathy,
sensibility, and true greatness are promoted by our observance of a national
memorial day?
II. That our
memorial day is a day with very important lessons.
1. It teaches Christian patriotism. Love of country is not only a
natural sentiment in every true heart, but it is right in the sight of God. No
man can ignore his relation to his country and not sin against God.
2. Again, our memorial day teaches the value of peace. Memorial day
is a constant reminder of the terrible price paid.
3. The day also brings lessons of gratitude and hope. Memory is the
mother of gratitude. So when we recall our national blessings how much cause we
have for gratitude to God! “The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we
are glad.” (Southern Pulpit.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》