Chapter Nine

1–5. The bloody day throughout the empire. 6–11. The bloody day in Susa. 12–15. Continuation of the bloodshed in Susa on the following day. 16. The results of the killings in the provinces. 17–32. The establishment of the time and manner of celebrating Purim,

Esther 9:1. On the twelfth month, that is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of it, when the time came for the king’s command and his edict to be executed, on that day, when the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, but it turned out the opposite, for the Jews themselves gained power over their enemies,— “Gain power over them,” or rather “gain the upper hand,” to prevail, to overcome, to overcome them.

Esther 9:2. the Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Artaxerxes to lay hands on those who sought their harm; and no one could stand against them, because fear of them fell upon all the peoples. Esther 9:3. And all the princes in the provinces and the satraps and the governors and the officials of the king’s service supported the Jews, because fear of Mordecai fell upon them. “The Jews gathered in their cities”—that is, each united with other Jews in the city where he lived and which was “his own.” These were probably cities with a predominant Jewish population. This predominance, with the aid of the fear that fell upon all (especially princes, satraps and other officials) before Mordecai and the Jews in general, helped the latter to ward off their enemies so successfully.

Esther 9:4. For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, for this man Mordecai continued to grow in power. “His fame spread throughout all the provinces, for this man Mordecai continued to grow in power.” Another translation of this passage: throughout all the provinces spread the report that Mordecai was growing and becoming great.

Esther 9:5. And the Jews struck down all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, killing and destroying, and they did as they pleased with those who hated them. “They did as they pleased with those who hated them,” that is, as they wished.

Esther 9:13. And Esther said: if it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Susa to do tomorrow also as they did today, and let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the tree. Esther asks the king’s permission for the Jews in Susa to do on the 14th of Adar the same as they did on the 13th (that is, “to gather and defend their lives” (Esth 8:11))—probably because their enemies in Susa wanted to renew their attacks on the next day against those whom they hated not only for their nationality but also for their religion (which is why the text of the edict also prescribes leaving the Jews “to use their own laws” (Esth 8:12)). This considerably alleviates the accusation against the Jews of cruelty and vengefulness, if they were not the attacking side but only an energetically defending one and were protecting not only their lives but also their most sacred possession—their religion.

Esther 9:14. And the king commanded it to be done so; and an edict was given in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged. The ten sons of Haman who were killed were also hanged (at Esther’s request) as offenders against the king’s majesty. This was meant to justify the Jews in the eyes of the people and for all the rest, showing that their action was the action of someone dealing with the accomplices of the king’s enemies.

Esther 9:15. And the Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed three hundred people in Susa, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder. Esther 9:16. And the other Jews who were in the king’s provinces gathered to defend their lives and to be relieved of their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of their adversaries, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder. The number of those killed in Susa—over two days of slaughter—is 800 people, and throughout all the provinces—up to 75,000 people. Despite its horror, this number presents nothing incredible, for it is distributed across the vast expanse of the empire. The threefold remark about the Jews that they “did not lay their hands on the plunder” (Esth 9:10)—is meant to show that the Jews were guided by a higher idea than enrichment by the spoils of war. On the other hand, they wished to show their exceptional honesty toward the state, whose interests the possessions of the executed persons served.

Esther 9:17. This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same month they rested and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing. Esther 9:18. But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth day of it and on the fourteenth day of it, and on the fifteenth day of it they rested and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing. Esther 9:19. Therefore the Jews of the villages, those living in the open settlements, keep the fourteenth day of the month of Adar in joy and feasting, as a festival day, sending gifts to one another; [but those living in the capitals keep the fifteenth day of Adar in good cheer, sending gifts to their neighbors]. Esther 9:20. And Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews who were in the provinces of King Artaxerxes, both near and far, Esther 9:21. to enjoin them to keep the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and the fifteenth day of it, every year, Esther 9:22. as the days on which the Jews obtained relief from their enemies, and as the month which was turned for them from sorrow to joy and from mourning into a festival day,—so that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, sending gifts to one another and alms to the poor. Esther 9:23. And the Jews accepted and undertook to do as Mordecai had written to them, Esther 9:24. how Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, thought to destroy the Jews and cast the lot, that is the lot, for their destruction and annihilation, Esther 9:25. and how Esther came before the king, and how the king commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the tree. Esther 9:26. Therefore they called these days Purim, after the name: pur, that is the lot, for on their language the lots are called purim. Therefore, in accordance with all the words of this letter and with what they themselves saw and what came to pass among them, Esther 9:27. the Jews ordained and took upon themselves and upon their descendants and upon all who should join them, an unchangeable decree, to celebrate these two days according to their regulation and at their appointed time, every year; Esther 9:28. and these days shall be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation in every family, in every province and in every city; and these days of Purim shall not pass away from among the Jews, nor shall the memory of them cease among their descendants. Esther 9:29. Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter about Purim; Esther 9:30. and he sent letters to all the Jews to keep these days of Purim at their appointed time, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had decreed for themselves and their descendants, in the matter of their fasting and their lamentation. Esther 9:31. The command of Esther confirmed the word about Purim, and it was written in a book. The second half of Esth 9 speaks of the establishment of the festival of Purim in memory of the described event of the deliverance of the Jews from their enemies. This establishment was accomplished unanimously and simultaneously throughout all the provinces of the kingdom at the initiative of the Jews themselves, in the abundance of their natural feelings of joy, preceding the special instructions on this matter from Mordecai and Esther, who, in order to better perpetuate the celebrated event, also informed all the Jews in the one hundred twenty-seven provinces of Artaxerxes’ kingdom about it through special letters.