Context at a Glance
Author:Traditional Attribution
Topic:esther Chapter 9 Study
This chapter provides a foundational look at the theological themes of esther, analyzed across multiple historic translations for maximum scholarly depth.
Esther 9
New Revised Standard Version
1Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, when the king's command and edict were about to be executed, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain power over them, but which had been changed to a day when the Jews would gain power over their foes,
2the Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who had sought their ruin; and no one could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen upon all peoples.
3All the officials of the provinces, the satraps and the governors, and the royal officials were supporting the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.
4For Mordecai was powerful in the king's house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces as the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful.
5So the Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, slaughtering, and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them.
6In the citadel of Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred people.
7They killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,
8Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,
9Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, Vaizatha,
10the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews; but they did not touch the plunder.
11That very day the number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king.
12The king said to Queen Esther, "In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed five hundred people and also the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled."
13Esther said, "If it pleases the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed tomorrow also to do according to this day's edict, and let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows."
14So the king commanded this to be done; a decree was issued in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged.
15The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and they killed three hundred persons in Susa; but they did not touch the plunder.
16Now the other Jews who were in the king's provinces also gathered to defend their lives, and gained relief from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they laid no hands on the plunder.
17This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness.
18But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth, and rested on the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness.
19Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the open towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, a holiday on which they send gifts of food to one another. The inauguration of the feast of Purim
20Mordecai recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,
21enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year,
22as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.
23So the Jews adopted as a custom what they had begun to do, as Mordecai had written to them.
24Haman 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 crush and destroy them;
25but when Esther came before the king, he gave orders in writing that the wicked plot that he had devised against the Jews should come upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.
26Therefore these days are called Purim, from the word Pur. Thus because of all that was written in this letter, and of what they had faced in this matter, and of what had happened to them,
27the Jews established and accepted as a custom for themselves and their descendants and all who joined them, that without fail they would continue to observe these two days every year, as it was written and at the time appointed.
28These days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every family, province, and city; and these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants.
29Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with the Jew Mordecai, gave full written authority, confirming this second letter about Purim.
30Letters were sent wishing peace and security to all the Jews, to the one hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus,
31and giving orders that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as the Jew Mordecai and Queen Esther enjoined on the Jews, just as they had laid down for themselves and for their descendants regulations concerning their fasts and their lamentations.
32The command of Queen Esther fixed these practices of Purim, and it was recorded in writing.
1Now on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is Adar, the decree written by the king arrived.
2On that same day the enemies of the Jews perished; no one resisted, because they feared them.
3The chief provincial governors, the princes, and the royal secretaries were paying honor to the Jews, because fear of Mordecai weighed upon them.
4The king's decree required that Mordecai's name be held in honor throughout the kingdom.
6Now in the city of Susa the Jews killed five hundred people,
7including Pharsannestain, Delphon, Phasga,
8Pharadatha, Barea, Sarbacha,
9Marmasima, Aruphaeus, Arsaeus, Zabutheus,
10the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the Bougean, the enemy of the Jews — and they indulged themselves in plunder.
11That very day the number of those killed in Susa was reported to the king.
12The king said to Esther, "In Susa, the capital, the Jews have destroyed five hundred people. What do you suppose they have done in the surrounding countryside? Whatever more you ask will be done for you."
13And Esther said to the king, "Let the Jews be allowed to do the same tomorrow. Also, hang up the bodies of Haman's ten sons."
14So he permitted this to be done, and handed over to the Jews of the city the bodies of Haman's sons to hang up.
15The Jews who were in Susa gathered on the fourteenth and killed three hundred people, but took no plunder.
16Now the other Jews in the kingdom gathered to defend themselves, and got relief from their enemies. They destroyed fifteen thousand of them, but did not engage in plunder.
17On the fourteenth day they rested and made that same day a day of rest, celebrating it with joy and gladness.
18The Jews who were in Susa, the capital, came together also on the fourteenth, but did not rest. They celebrated the fifteenth with joy and gladness.
19On this account then the Jews who are scattered around the country outside Susa keep the fourteenth of Adar as a joyful holiday, and send presents of food to one another, while those who live in the large cities keep the fifteenth day of Adar as their joyful holiday, also sending presents to one another. The inauguration of the feast of Purim
20Mordecai recorded these things in a book, and sent it to the Jews in the kingdom of Artaxerxes both near and far,
21telling them that they should keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar,
22for on these days the Jews got relief from their enemies. The whole month (namely, Adar), in which their condition had been changed from sorrow into gladness and from a time of distress to a holiday, was to be celebrated as a time for feasting and gladness and for sending presents of food to their friends and to the poor.
23So the Jews accepted what Mordecai had written to them
24— how Haman son of Hammedatha, the Macedonian, fought against them, how he made a decree and cast lots to destroy them,
25and how he went in to the king, telling him to hang Mordecai; but the wicked plot he had devised against the Jews came back upon himself, and he and his sons were hanged.
26Therefore these days were called "Purim," because of the lots (for in their language this is the word that means "lots"). And so, because of what was written in this letter, and because of what they had experienced in this affair and what had befallen them, Mordecai established this festival,
27and the Jews took upon themselves, upon their descendants, and upon all who would join them, to observe it without fail. These days of Purim should be a memorial and kept from generation to generation, in every city, family, and country.
28These days of Purim were to be observed for all time, and the commemoration of them was never to cease among their descendants.
29Then Queen Esther daughter of Aminadab along with Mordecai the Jew wrote down what they had done, and gave full authority to the letter about Purim.
30Letters were sent to all the Jews, to the one hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth.
31And Mordecai and Queen Esther established this decision on their own responsibility, pledging their own well-being to the plan.
32Esther established it by a decree forever, and it was written for a memorial.