HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

6.6 In his eagerness for recognition Haman fails to note that the king has not named the one he wishes to honor; his inflated self-assurance leads to a fatal assumption.

  6.8 Cf. Gen 41.42–43. Haman is seeking royal honors. Horses with royal crowns are depicted in Persian reliefs.

  6.9, 11 Mordecai’s honor and Haman’s chagrin are witnessed by all in the open square.

  6.10 If the king really knows that Mordecai is a Jew, he seems not to connect him to the edict issued under his seal (3.12–15).

  6.11 The substance of any conversation between Haman and Mordecai and Haman’s own feelings are left to readers to supply.

  6.12–8.2 Haman’s downfall and Mordecai’s advancement.

  6.12–13 Haman’s covered head signals grief for indignities just suffered. Unintentionally it also signals the fate awaiting him, as is clear to his wife and friends, who prove wise after the fact (cf. 5.9–14).

  6.14 This escort is a sign of honor. Esther’s second banquet is Haman’s last hope to redeem a disastrous day.

  ESTHER 7

  1So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have won your favor, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me—that is my petition—and the lives of my people—that is my request. 4For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king.”a 5Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has presumed to do this?” 6Esther said, “A foe and enemy, this wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. 7The king rose from the feast in wrath and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that the king had determined to destroy him. 8When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman had thrown himself on the couch where Esther was reclining; and the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the words left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face. 9Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Look, the very gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” 10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated.

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  7.2 See 5.3, 6. Esther is repeatedly given her title “Queen,” aligning her with the king and against Haman.

  7.4 Their being sold refers to Haman’s bribe in 3.9. The last clause of Esther’s rationale for her request in v. 3 is not clear. Some follow the Greek to suggest that if they were merely sold as slaves the “problem would not have been worth bothering the king.”

  7.6 Esther’s demonstrative this in identifying Haman as the enemy is the narrative equivalent of pointing an accusing finger at him.

  7.7–8 The king’s exit allows Haman one last plea for his life, ironically to the one whom he unknowingly sought to destroy. His attempt seals his fate, as the king mistakes his posture of supplication before the reclining Esther as an assault upon the queen. The shame foreseen in 6.12–13 is complete, as now they covered Haman’s face.

  7.9–10 The eunuch appears at just the right moment; the ironic reversal of intent and result is complete.

  ESTHER 8

  Esther Saves the Jews

  1On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews; and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. 2Then the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. So Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

  3Then Esther spoke again to the king; she fell at his feet, weeping and pleading with him to avert the evil design of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. 4The king held out the golden scepter to Esther, 5and Esther rose and stood before the king. She said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have won his favor, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I have his approval, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote giving orders to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. 6For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming on my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?” 7Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to the Jew Mordecai, “See, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he plotted to lay hands on the Jews. 8You may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring; for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”

  9The king’s secretaries were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day; and an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews and to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia,b one hundred twenty-seven provinces, to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. 10He wrote letters in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed them with the king’s ring, and sent them by mounted couriers riding on fast steeds bred from the royal herd.c 11By these letters the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to assemble and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, with their children and women, and to plunder their goods 12on a single day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. 13A copy of the writ was to be issued as a decree in every province and published to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take revenge on their enemies. 14So the couriers, mounted on their swift royal steeds, hurried out, urged by the king’s command. The decree was issued in the citadel of Susa.

  15Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king, wearing royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a mantle of fine linen and purple, while the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. 16For the Jews there was light and gladness, joy and honor. 17In every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict came, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a festival and a holiday. Furthermore, many of the peoples of the country professed to be Jews, because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.

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  a Meaning of Heb uncertain

  b Or Nubia; Heb Cush

  c Meaning of Heb uncertain

  8.1–2 Esther indirectly secures Haman’s royal office and power for Mordecai, which he receives with the signet ring (see 3.10). She directly provides him the wealth commensurate with his new position by transferring to him Haman’s estate.

  8.3–17 Esther saves the Jews.

  8.3–6 It is not clear whether this is a second audience with the king or a continuation of that in 8.1–2. Esther’s dramatic obeisance and courtly language allow her to imply that Haman, not the king, is responsible for the edict ordering her people’s death. This helps win his encouragement to present her additional request, shown as he extends the golden scepter (see 5.2).

  8.8 See 1.19. 8.8–13 closely parallels 3.9–15, since the second decree cannot simply annul the first, but must allow action by the Jews to counter any who would now act on it even after Haman’s fall. The king continues his hands-off administrative style and trusts Esther and Mordecai just as he once trusted Haman.

  8.9 Recalling 1.1 and 3.12, this verse sets the stage for the final reversal of Haman’s designs, counterbalancing his edict commandi
ng the destruction of the Jews. Sivan is May-June.

  8.10 Couriers. See 1.22; 3.15.

  8.11–12 The wording recalls what Haman wrote (3.13) in an exact manner. The effect is to reverse in every detail what Haman planned for the Jews.

  8.12 The Greek supplies a copy of the letter (Addition E).

  8.13 The distribution is like that of the earlier decree (3.14).

  8.15 As the scene progresses, attention shifts from Esther to Mordecai, who appears in public arrayed in garb appropriate to his new position, a signal of the change in the fortunes of the Jews (cf. 4.1–2). That the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced contrasts with its confusion in 3.15.

  8.16 A reversal of 4.3, 16.

  8.17 Some interpret the professing to be Jews by the people of the country to mean they took sides with the Jews. Others suggest that they pretended to be Jews out of fear, while still others claim they converted to Judaism (the Greek version claims they were circumcised). This is a final reversal of Haman’s schemes: those he sought to set against the Jews now actually join them. The festival provides a final feast in this story punctuated with fateful feasting and drinking. The details for this annual celebration as a holiday, or “good day,” a term later used for religious celebrations, are given in ch. 9. One Greek version ends at this point, indicating that it is an earlier version of the story.

  ESTHER 9

  Destruction of the Enemies of the Jews

  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.

  The Feast of Purim Inaugurated

  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.

  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.

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  9.1–19 The destruction of the enemies of the Jews.

  9.1 The date determined in 3.7 and mentioned in 8.12 is described now as a day of reversed expectations.

  9.3 Cf. the attitude of Mordecai’s colleagues in 3.3–4.

  9.4 Mordecai now commands the respect that officials showed Haman (3.2); they act in unspecified ways to join him.

  9.5–6 That the Jews here would treat their enemies as they would have been treated by them is found to be understandable by some in the light of other pogroms Jewish communities have faced. Others, however, are troubled by this apparent descent to the level of the brutality of the enemy.

  9.7–10 This numbering of Haman’s many sons, an item in his earlier boasting (5.11), is written in Hebrew texts in a tabular form, one name beneath another and the sum totaled (cf. the list of slain kings in Josh 12.9–24).

  9.10 That the Jews did not touch the plunder (stressed in vv. 15–16 also), although they were allowed to do so (8.11), suggests they were fighting for survival and not increased wealth. This notice recalls difficulties earlier plunder taken from Agag and the Amalekites (3.1) caused Saul (1 Sam 15). Cf. also Abraham’s refusal of plunder in Gen 14.22–24.

  9.12 Sensing that Esther is not satisfied, the king gives her carte blanche once again.

  9.13–14 See 5.14. As Haman’s sons are already dead, this command entails exposure of their bodies, perhaps as a deterrent to others who might attack Jews.

  9.15 The second day of killing in Susa accounts for the difference between celebrations of Purim in city and country.

  9.16 The total of those killed is huge—seventy-five thousand.

  9.17–19 Different patterns in the
celebration of Purim are provided a historical basis.

  9.20–32 The feast of Purim is inaugurated.

  9.20–23 Mordecai, the most powerful official in the Persian government, authorizes the annual celebration on both the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar (cf. 9.17–19), including exchange of gifts of food and presents to the poor.

  9.24–25 This terse summary stresses the theme of retributive justice.

  9.26 The name Purim is expressly linked with the word Pur (see 3.7). This letter is presumably that sent by Mordecai in 9.20.

  9.27–28 The emphasis on keeping the feast annually through the years and generations and the stress on written records and instructions (see 9.20, 23, 29, 32) seem designed to secure a place in the Jewish calendar for a celebration not authorized in the Torah and whose legitimacy might therefore seem in doubt.

  9.29 Presumably this second letter is Mordecai’s in 9.20. Esther gives the royal sanction to the holiday.

  9.30 See 1.1.

  9.31 The phrase their fasts and their lamentations refers to other Jewish observances.

  ESTHER 10

  1King Ahasuerus laid tribute on the land and on the islands of the sea. 2All the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Media and Persia? 3For Mordecai the Jew was next in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was powerful among the Jews and popular with his many kindred, for he sought the good of his people and interceded for the welfare of all his descendants.

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  10.1–3 Mordecai and the king. The story ends as it began, with the focus on the greatness of the king. But now the king’s fortunes are firmly linked to those of Mordecai and the Jews.

  10.1 The tribute may show the extent of the realm (1.1), including now even the islands of the sea, or it may be an alternative and peaceable way to enrich the royal coffers, making up the loss of Haman’s ten thousand talents (3.9).