Esther 9
Mordecai and Esther. Synagogue interior wood panel from Dura Europos, Syria. 245 CE.
BookBook of Esther
CategoryKetuvim
Christian Bible partOld Testament
Order in the Christian part17

Esther 9 is the ninth chapter of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible,[1] The author of the book is unknown and modern scholars have established that the final stage of the Hebrew text would have been formed by the second century BCE.[2] Chapters 9 to 10 contain the resolution of the stories in the book.[3] This chapter records the events on the thirteenth and fourteenth of Adar and the institution of the Purim festival after the Jews overcome their enemies.[4]

Text

This chapter was originally written in Hebrew language and since the 16th century is divided into 32 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes Codex Leningradensis (1008).[5][a]

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: S; 4th century), and Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century).[7]

The events on the thirteenth and fourteenth of Adar (9:1–19)

The opening verse of this section explicitly describes the power reversal on the very day that the enemies of the Jews were to have vanquished them, but the opposite happened: 'the Jews would gain power over their foes' (9:1). On the thirteenth of Adar the Jews struck down 75,000 in the provinces (9:16) and 500 in the citadel of Susa (9:6) of those who hated them (9:5), also on the fourteenth of Adar, by a special additional edict (provided directly by the king at Esther's behest), the Jews killed 300 remaining enemies in the city of Susa, while at the same time, in accord with that additional royal edict, they hang the bodies of the ten sons of Haman on the gallows. A parallel with 1 Samuel 15:1–9 is that Saul spared Agag, and therefore lost his kingship as well as his life, so this time Esther determined not to make the same mistake with Haman and his sons.[8] One important point is that they refrained from plundering (this is mentioned three times: 9:10, 15, 16), which indicates an echo in Esther 9 of 1 Samuel 15, resuming the parallel set up between Mordecai/Saul and Haman/Agag. After Saul defeated the Agagites (Amalek), he kept the best sheep and cattle as spoils in disobedience to God's command, thus earned divine disapproval and God regretting the choice of Saul as king. This time, unlike Saul, Mordecai and the Jews refrained from taking booty.[9] However, the narrative overall focuses more on the pacific results of the bloodletting, gaining the relief from hostile neighbors (9:1, 16) and the celebration thereafter as the day(s) of rejoicing after the triumphant self-defense (9:17-19).[4]

Verse 1

Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;)[10]

Verse 17

On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.'[12]'

The Jews in the Persian empire celebrate on the fourteenth, except those in Susa who celebrate on the fifteenth (verse 18).[13]

Verse 18

But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.[14]

The Jews in Susa has a different date of celebration that those outside the city, because there was still fights in Susa until the fourteenth, so the celebration in that city was on the fifteenth.[13]

Verse 19

Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.[15]

The institution of the Festival of Purim (9:20–32)

Esther and Mordechai writing the second letter of Purim. Aert de Gelder (1685).

This section, perhaps an addition to the coherent narrative of 1:1 through 9:19, recapitulates the core reversals: relief from persecution, turning 'sorrow into gladness' and 'mourning into a holiday' (9:22). For commemoration by future generations, a two-day holiday is newly instituted, reflecting the original feasting on the fourteenth of Adar in the provinces and a day later in Susa, with Haman's casting of lots (purim) providing an etymology for the festival.[16] Mordecai and Esther as officeholders in the Persian empire harnessing 'the resources of the chancellery and the imperial postal system' dispatched a set of letters to Jews in 'all the provinces' (verse 20; cf. verse 30) and thus using the same language as in the accounts of earlier royal edicts (1:22; 3:12—13; 8:9).[4] Together they wrote these official letters enjoining Jews to celebrate Purim (verses 29, 31), as well as a second letter (verse 29). Her royal authority in establishing Purim is reaffirmed at the end of this section, where she is the one said to have established the customs of the holiday (verse 32).[16]

Verse 29

Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim.[17]

The name of the festival calls the attention to "the day of reversal", when the day of determined defeat became a day of salvation.[13]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Since 1947 the current text of Aleppo Codex is missing the whole book of Esther.[6]

References

  1. ^ Halley 1965, p. 238.
  2. ^ Meyers 2007, p. 324.
  3. ^ Clines 1998, p. 387.
  4. ^ a b c Clines 1998, p. 393.
  5. ^ Würthwein 1995, pp. 36–37.
  6. ^ P. W. Skehan (2003), "BIBLE (TEXTS)", New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 2 (2nd ed.), Gale, pp. 355–362
  7. ^ Würthwein 1995, pp. 73–74.
  8. ^ Crawford 2003, p. 333.
  9. ^ Meyers 2007, p. 329.
  10. ^ Esther 9:1 KJV
  11. ^ Bechtel 1983, p. 78.
  12. ^ Esther 9:17 KJV
  13. ^ a b c d Bechtel 1983, p. 81.
  14. ^ Esther 9:18 KJV
  15. ^ Esther 9:19 KJV
  16. ^ a b Meyers 2007, p. 330.
  17. ^ Esther 9:29 KJV

Sources

Further reading

Category