Commentary on Esther Part 2 (No. F017ii)

Esther Chs. 4-10 (RSV)

Chapter 4

¹When Mor'decai learned all that had been done, Mor'decai rent his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, wailing with a loud and bitter cry; ²he went up to the entrance of the king's gate, for no one might enter the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. ³And in every province, wherever the king's command and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and most of them lay in sackcloth and ashes. ⁴When Esther's maids and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed; she sent garments to clothe Mor'decai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. ⁵Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mor'decai to learn what this was and why it was. ⁶Hathach went out to Mor'decai in the open square of the city in front of the king's gate, ⁷and Mor'decai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. ⁸Mor'decai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and charge her to go to the king to make supplication to him and entreat him for her people. ⁹And Hathach went and told Esther what Mor'decai had said. ¹⁰Then Esther spoke to Hathac and gave him a message for Mor'decai, saying, ¹¹"All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law; all alike are to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter that he may live. And I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days." ¹²And they told Mor'decai what Esther had said. ¹³Then Mor'decai told them to return answer to Esther, "Think not that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. ¹⁴For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" ¹⁵Then Esther told them to reply to Mor'decai, ¹⁶"Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish." ¹⁷Mor'decai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

Intent of Chapter 4

4:1-17 The Appeal to Esther

Commentary on Esther (No. 063)

vv. 1-2 “One cannot go into the king's gate in sackcloth. Mordecai stood for the elect and he humbled himself. He put on the clothing of a human being. He became a man and humbled himself even unto death. This is the story of Messiah. Nobody can go before the king's gate. Nobody can go before God as a human being. It is impossible to see Him, or go anywhere near Him because the apparel, the sin and mortality, renders us incapable. God is spirit and can't be seen as Paul says at 1Timothy 6:16: Only God is immortal. No man has seen or ever can see God. John 1:18 also says that: No man has ever seen God.

v. 1 The traditional oriental manifestations of grief and mourning render one ritually unclean, so Mordecai could not enter the king's gate, but symbolically it refers to Messiah and symbolised by the High Priest not entering the Holy of Holies but once a year (Pss. 45; 110; Heb. 1:8-9).

vv. 3-7 Remember that Christ said to Peter that Satan had asked for him that he might sift him. Satan had the capacity to deal with the elect. Christ is telling Peter that Satan has asked God that he be given Peter in order that he might sift him and refine and deal with him, thus showing him to be inadequate. That will tell us that Satan is not simply a nonentity. He has access to God and is the accuser of the brethren and Christ stands for us. He says these people God has given him will do this task and he can get these people there. Satan is saying no he can't, these people are unfit to rule and be part of the system. That is what the argument is all about. They are diverse and they should not be part of the system. God is mistaken. That was what the rebellion was all about in the first place.

v. 8 That is the role of the Church. The elect are to prepare themselves to go before the throne of grace with boldness. The twenty-four Elders from Revelation 4 and 5 are given responsibility for monitoring their prayers. It is they that place the prayers in the golden bowls. They place them before God and it is the elect who intercede for our people. When the elect stop interceding for our people they will be destroyed.

vv. 9-11 This concept is the calling of the elect. They cannot enter into the holy of holies unless they are called and if they go into the holy of holies without being called they will die. That was the punishment inflicted on Israel. Only the High Priest could go in and only once a year and he atoned for the people of Israel. We have been called and chosen and nominated and prepared and we can enter the holy of holies on a daily basis to intercede for the people. However, we have to prepare ourselves and if our garments are not right and if we are not spiritually correct and we go before God we will die. Those who take the Passover unworthily without discerning the Body will die, sometimes literally (1Cor. 11:28-32). So also interdiction to enter without being summoned is a security precaution in simple physical terms.

v. 12 The thirty-day periods we find throughout the texts are not without significance. There was the thirty days mourning for Moses, which related to the Last Days (see also No. 141D_2).

Christ was not fit to come in to prepare the word of God and to proclaim the message until he was thirty. He preached three years, that is he was a year during the ministry of John the Baptist and two years in his own ministry (cf. the paper Timing of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection (No. 159)).

v. 13 There is no place of safety (see the paper The Place of Safety (No. 194)). One is not going to escape in the king's house more than any of the other people. That is what Christ (Mordecai) is saying to the elect (Queen Esther): You are not going to get away with this. You are not going to be there while these people die. You are going to have to work and pray and fast to save your people. That is why the message that came out of sects teaching a place of safety or rapture was heresy (see also The Millennium and the Rapture (No. 095)). Such teaching failed to prepare our people and we didn't do our job and we didn't save our people. We have to work.

v. 14 God will raise up somebody else. The stones of that street will cry out if we do not. If we do not do our job God will simply destroy us and raise something else up as He will do and is doing now. How do we know that we were not called to do just this: that we came to our royal kingdom; that we were made kings and priests; that we are part of the Melchisedek priesthood for this time?

From another quarter probably refers to divine providence.

Modern scholarship holds that the apocryphal Additions to the Book of Esther insert here the prayers of Esther and Mordecai (see OARSV n.).

vv. 15-16 So there is a process which is set up such that to the structure of this planet and contrary to the will of the world, we have to go into God in order to deal with the problems. If I perish, I perish - is a simple way of saying so be the will of God.

v. 17 This is not that the word here is commanded, but the concept is that Christ is there working daily, according to the requests of the prayers of the saints. As we work and ask and seek and direct each other and request of Christ, so the angelic Host assist us. It places a power in our hands that has hitherto not been understood. This is why Christ said we could pick up mountains and throw them in the sea if we have the faith. We did not put the mountains there, but we can throw them in the sea if we have the faith. So it means we can change the established order of things through faith.”

Chapter 5

¹On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace, opposite the king's hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne inside the palace opposite the entrance to the palace; ²and when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she found favor in his sight and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter. ³And the king said to her, "What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom." ⁴And Esther said, "If it please the king, let the king and Haman come this day to a dinner that I have prepared for the king." ⁵Then said the king, "Bring Haman quickly, that we may do as Esther desires." So the king and Haman came to the dinner that Esther had prepared. ⁶And as they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, "What is your petition? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled." ⁷But Esther said, "My petition and my request is: ⁸If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition and fulfil my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the dinner which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said." ⁹And Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mor'decai in the king's gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mor'decai. ¹⁰Nevertheless Haman restrained himself, and went home; and he sent and fetched his friends and his wife Zeresh. ¹¹And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and the servants of the king. ¹²And Haman added, "Even Queen Esther let no one come with the king to the banquet she prepared but myself. And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king. ¹³Yet all this does me no good, so long as I see Mor'decai the Jew sitting at the king's gate." ¹⁴Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, "Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mor'decai hanged upon it; then go merrily with the king to the dinner." This counsel pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made.

Intent of Chapter 5

5:1-8 Esther before the King.

Commentary on Esther (No. 063)

v. 1 “These concepts are of the establishment also of the Sign of Jonah where we see the three days of Messiah's ministry as the concept of the Church being prepared. Also in the Last Days there is another period during the Witnesses, upon which the salvation of this planet depends. The first, second and third angels’ messages set up a sequence of activity of the Last Days (cf. the papers The Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 013); Completion of the Sign of Jonah (No. 013B); The Witnesses (including the Two Witnesses) (No. 135); The Messages of Revelation 14 (No. 270) and The Last Pope: Examining Nostradamus and Malachy (No. 288)).

The Church is not going to be sitting back in the Last Days while the Witnesses are speaking in Jerusalem. They are going to be on their knees in sackcloth and ashes fasting and praying and getting this planet ready so we are not destroyed. It is hard work. It is not much fun and it will not be fun. The point is that it is not a one-man band. Christ did not do it on his own and the Witnesses will not do the work on their own. The future of the churches depends on the elect and not just the ministry. The nation depends on us, and our prayer and fasting and study. There is precious little being done of it (see No. 141D_2).

v. 2 It was through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we became able to enter and touch the golden sceptre. We entered the holy of holies and touched the golden sceptre. Up until that time, that had not been allowed to be done.

v. 3 This is taken as being a point of largess, a grandiose complementary gesture not intended to be taken seriously according to the Soncino and the rabbinical commentaries. However, that is not what it means at all. Half of the kingdom had been removed through the rebellion. Twelve of the senior elohim had fallen and it was half of the kingdom that was going to be given to the elect. The Church was to inherit that part of the kingdom that the fallen Host had obviated. So a third of the kingdom had fallen under the elohim, but at the highest positions it was even to the half of the council. The additional point is that the human race makes up an additional amount to the angelic Host, so that it is not an idle statement. We do not know what the numbers are; we don't know what the census is because we have not taken it. We are not privileged to know, but this comment even to the half of the kingdom indicates the size involved. The physical creation will be superimposed on the spiritual creation as explained in the paper The City of God (No. 180).

vv. 4-8 So we have two functions. They come the first day to a banquet of wine, and there is another banquet the second day. So we are looking at two days involved in the invitation. This process over two days, the Marriage Supper into two banquets, covers the concepts again of the resurrections. It also covers the concept of the judgments. At the second banquet, the second phase, we are dealing with the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of the angels and the judgment of the entire Host. The Church then has the process ready and Satan is being summoned under the direction of God. This is explained in the papers The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143); Heaven, Hell or the First Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143A); The Second Resurrection and the Great White Throne Judgment (No. 143B); The Judgment of the Demons (No. 080); The Fallacy of the Third Resurrection (No. 166); The Soul (No. 092) and Lost Sheep and the Prodigal Son (No. 199).

vv. 9-11 The ten sons are probably only the sons of Zeresh, according to the rabbinical commentaries. He probably had a multiplicity of children through concubines as well.

v. 12-14 These comments are to build the story of what is happening to Haman. The significance is that this sequence is being developed so that the Church will deal with these people on demand. Know thee not that ye shall judge angels (1Cor. 6:3). This is a concept that those people will come under direction of us (cf. also paper The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243)).”

Chapter 6

¹On that night the king could not sleep; and he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. ²And it was found written how Mor'decai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands upon King Ahasu-e'rus. ³And the king said, "What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mor'decai for this?" The king's servants who attended him said, "Nothing has been done for him." ⁴And the king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to speak to the king about having Mor'decai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him. ⁵So the king's servants told him, "Haman is there, standing in the court." And the king said, "Let him come in." ⁶So Haman came in, and the king said to him, "What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?" And Haman said to himself, "Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?" ⁷and Haman said to the king, "For the man whom the king delights to honor, ⁸let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse which the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set; ⁹and let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble princes; let him array the man whom the king delights to honor, and let him conduct the man on horseback through the open square of the city, proclaiming before him: 'Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.'" ¹⁰Then the king said to Haman, "Make haste, take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mor'decai the Jew who sits at the king's gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned." ¹¹So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he arrayed Mor'decai and made him ride through the open square of the city, proclaiming, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor." ¹²Then Mor'decai returned to the king's gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. ¹³And Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had befallen him. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, "If Mor'decai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him." ¹⁴While they were yet talking with him, the king's eunuchs arrived and brought Haman in haste to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Intent of Chapter 6

Commentary on Esther (No. 063)

vv. 1-4 “So we are talking basically about the concepts here of the elect and the fact that Israel had become idolatrous. Satan was joyous that Israel had become idolatrous. There is also a long-term aspect of the invitation. The point is that Satan was continually undermining Israel and Israel had been sent into captivity. Israel was dispersed completely. Messiah was also part of the Loyal Host. Satan was one of the two leaders of the Fallen Host whom he caused to rebel and fall from Grace. We see Israel had been sent into captivity and then Judah again was sent into captivity for idolatry. The concept is that they had been invited in. Satan also had been invited in. Mordecai was placed then as Christ was placed. This is represented by the fact that Haman was going to destroy Mordecai. This is a parable about the destruction of Jesus Christ by Satan by hanging him on a stake.

vv. 5-6 This shows arrogance and a position of saying that there is no one around who is better than self. That was the position that Satan held as the covering cherub. He put himself above every other member of the council of the elohim. He was made the covering cherub, but he tried to ascend the mount of God. He tried to make himself equal with God. Christ did not do that. This is the concept of the arrogance involved (and is reflected in Phil. 2:6).

vv. 7-8 This horse that the king rides upon is the power of God, and Messiah comes on a white horse in the Last Days, symbolising the power of God through the Holy Spirit. All these people existed on crowns of God, thrones of God, and they were appointed by God.

vv. 9-11 We have a concept here that Messiah has qualified to replace Satan as the Morning Star. He has been honoured by the King above Satan and He has made Satan acknowledge the fact that Christ has qualified to replace him. There is no doubt that Satan now knows that Christ is going to be the new Morning Star and that his time is short. That is a function of the rebellion of the Host, and he has been made to acknowledge that fact. That angers the dragon.

v. 12 Christ went away to the house of the King.

This concept of Haman hastening to his house, mourning and having his head covered is a sign of mourning from 2Samuel 15:30. What is represented is that Haman, having his head covered, is being cut off. So Haman hastened to his house, had his head covered and was placed and bound as he is bound in the Millennium (Rev. 20:2).

v. 13 So if you are a son of God, if you are of the line of David, you can do X, Y and Z. Satan used those words against Christ in the desert.

v. 14 Things were hastening towards the coming crisis.”

Chapter 7

¹So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. ²And on 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 found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. ⁴For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king." ⁵Then King Ahasu-e'rus said to Queen Esther, "Who is he, and where is he, that would presume to do this?" ⁶And Esther said, "A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!" Then Haman was in terror before the king and the queen. ⁷And the 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 evil was determined against him by the king. ⁸And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was; 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 said Harbo'na, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, "Moreover, the gallows which Haman has prepared for Mor'decai, whose word saved the king, is standing in Haman's house, fifty cubits high." ¹⁰And the king said, "Hang him on that." So they hanged Haman on the gallows which he had prepared for Mor'decai. Then the anger of the king abated.

Intent of Chapter 7

7:1-10 Haman's Fall

Commentary on Esther (No. 063)

vv. 1-4 “This is a very difficult text. The rabbinical commentators say it is a very difficult text to interpret, because we are talking about the adversary here. We will examine the concepts. The petition here is that Esther is saying that we (the elect) are sold to be destroyed. If we had been sent in to be bondmen and bondwomen, to be servants, we (she, representing the Church) would have said nothing, because our role is to be servants to God. We are slaves of God. We, through the adoption, are being made sons of God, where Israel was simply a slave of God. Moses was a servant of God, where Christ was a son of God and, therefore, Christ had a higher rank than Moses in the structure. We are given sonship as is Moses on the resurrection. Now if the sonship was taken off us as the Church and we were simply put back to be bondservants, then who is to object? Why would we object to being put into the second resurrection because we would simply be bondservants of God? That is not a valid objection. However, the aim is not to put us in the second resurrection, but to destroy us as a spiritual force. That is why we battle with Satan. The adversary's aim is to destroy us as a force and to overthrow God and take command of the universe. That is the meaning of the text: I would have held my peace for the adversary is not worthy that the king be endangered. We do not hold our peace because the adversary is less than our God and we serve our God. The adversary is not worth that position and thus we fight him in order to protect the system and our God. So we go before and establish our relationship with God through Jesus Christ in order that the adversary is overthrown.

We have been sold is a reference to Haman's bribe.

vv. 5-7 In the end the demons make requests of us because we judge them. They are judged by what we do from 1Corinthians 6:3: know ye not that ye will judge angels. They will petition and plead clemency from Jesus Christ and us. That is what it is all about. The issue of clemency will be at our request.

Enemy refers to the ancient enmity between Agag and the Amalekites and Israel as the conflict between Satan and the Elohim of Israel of Psalm 45:6-7; Heb. 1:8-9 who is the Christ (see also 3:1-15 n; 1Cor. 10:1-4).

v. 8 Falling (as a supplicant) on couches is a significant point (see 8:3; 1Sam. 25:23,24; 2Kgs. 4:27; Mk. 7:25). Satan has taken the couch of Esther and become part of the couch and that is what Christ is saying in Revelation to the Thyatirans, that he will throw those of that Church on a couch with Jezebel. Hence we are dealing with a mixture of false religions. The view of Haman forcing Esther is that of forcing the Church, raping the Church. The covering of the face of the doomed is a Greco-Roman Custom and not Persian.

v. 9 The place of Harbonah as the Angel of the Lord charged with confining Satan is discussed in the paper Commentary on Esther Part III: Purim in the Last Days (F017iii).

v. 10 So, the fate sought for Christ and the Host is suffered by Haman, or Satan, the adversary.”

Chapter 8

¹On that day King Ahasu-e'rus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mor'decai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her; ²and the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mor'decai. And Esther set Mor'decai over the house of Haman. ³Then Esther spoke again to the king; she fell at his feet and besought him with tears to avert the evil design of Haman the Ag'agite and the plot which he had devised against the Jews. ⁴And the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, ⁵and Esther rose and stood before the king. And she said, "If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Ag'agite, the son of Hammeda'tha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. ⁶For how can I endure to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?" ⁷Then King Ahasu-e'rus said to Queen Esther and to Mor'decai the Jew, "Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he would lay hands on the Jews. ⁸And you 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 Mor'decai commanded concerning the Jews to the satraps and the governors and the princes of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, a hundred and 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. ¹⁰The writing was in the name of King Ahasu-e'rus and sealed with the king's ring, and letters were sent by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king's service, bred from the royal stud. ¹¹By these the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to slay, 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, ¹²upon one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasu-e'rus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. ¹³A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, and by proclamation to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to avenge themselves upon their enemies. ¹⁴So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king's service, rode out in haste, urged by the king's command; and the decree was issued in Susa the capital. ¹⁵Then Mor'decai went out from the presence of the king in 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. ¹⁶The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. ¹⁷And in every province and in every city, wherever the king's command and his edict came, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.

Intent of Chapter 8

8:1-17 Rise of Mordecai and the Revocation of the Edict

Commentary on Esther (No. 063)

v. 1 “The whole house, the whole part of the Morning Star, the planet, is given away. It is taken from Satan – one Morning Star – and given to Christ and the Church and we share in the Morning Star and the rulership of the planet.

(see also Herodotus Hist. III, 129)

v. 2 Christ is set over the house and given the signet ring of the rulership of this planet for the elect. That is what Paul and John are both saying. The New Testament's whole purpose is that Christ is made Morning Star and he achieves position as the High Priest for the elect (Ps. 110 (F019_5i); Heb. Ch. 8 (F058).

vv. 3-8 This action issues from the Will of God. This is when Revelation says: those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, I will make them bow down and worship you. (Worship here is prostration in the sense of acknowledgment of authority.)

The actions will reveal the concept of what true Judaism is; what the true salvation and the position of Israel are. It is the circumcision of the heart and is through the Holy Spirit and the elect. (It is not through the Talmud.) Here the King rejects the subterfuge, accepts responsibility and negates the edict with new instructions.

v. 9 It is not an accident that this is in Sivan. The thing that falls in Sivan is generally Pentecost and this is a function of the Church after its preparation. Whether there are any other concepts which develop from Sivan is uncertain.

vv. 10-11 This is the concept of riders being despatched on horseback. We are dealing with the concept of this development up to the final destruction in Revelation.

Purim both then and in the Last Days

See F017, ii and iii.

vv. 12-14 We are getting ready; the situation has changed. The letters, which are the epistles of the New Testament and the Book of Revelation, have told the end from this position. After the Church is given its position and given the apostles and the prophets Revelation is developed as the last work. The whole structure is shown, as is how the plan of salvation is changed. Messiah is to come at the end of the heavenly signs and take over. The position is reversed. The day of the wrath of the Lord is a concept being developed here where the destruction sought to be inflicted on the elect is in fact used to deal with the planet (cf. also the paper The Day of the Lord and the Last Days (No. 192)). The apocryphal Additions to the Book of Esther insert the text of the king's letter.

A Feast and a Holiday contrast with the fasting and lamentations of 4:3. The improbability of many Persians becoming proselytes leads some to translate the verb as “Joined themselves to” i.e. took the part of the Jews (9:27) (see OARSV n.).

v. 15 Blue and white is not accidental. Blue and white symbolise truth and purity as royal apparel. Dressed humbly (sackcloth and ashes) symbolised by the linen of the Atonement sequence, Messiah humbled himself as the Messiah of Aaron and was killed. Whereas he sacrificed himself to be crucified, he now goes forth as the king Messiah with the sword of truth on the horse of the power of God. We are also dealing with the great crown of gold and the robe of fine linen and purple being the symbols of his kingship as the king Messiah.

vv. 16-17 We are dealing with the prophecies in Isaiah; we are dealing with the concepts of the Gentiles coming into Judah. All of Israel comes back to the problem where ten men grab hold of the robes of a Jew, saying: “We hear the Lord is with you”. These concepts were that they become Jews in their understanding; they become members of the elect.” The usual rendering is seen as referring to Mordecai appearing in his state robes. Crown is seen as the Vizieral turban (see OARSV n.).

The crown refers to that of the New High Priest Messiah.

Chapter 9

¹Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's command and edict were about to be executed, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to get the mastery over them, but which had been changed to a day when the Jews should get the mastery over their foes, ²the Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasu-e'rus to lay hands on such as sought their hurt. And no one could make a stand against them, for the fear of them had fallen upon all peoples. ³All the princes of the provinces and the satraps and the governors and the royal officials also helped the Jews, for the fear of Mor'decai had fallen upon them. ⁴For Mor'decai was great in the king's house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for the man Mor'decai grew more and more powerful. ⁵So the Jews smote all their enemies with the sword, slaughtering, and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them. ⁶In Susa the capital itself the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men, ⁷and also slew Par-shan-da'tha and Dalphon and Aspa'tha ⁸and Pora'tha and Ada'lia and Arida'tha ⁹and Parmash'ta and Ar'isai and Ar'idai and Vaiza'tha, ¹⁰the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammeda'tha, the enemy of the Jews; but they laid no hand on the plunder. ¹¹That very day the number of those slain in Susa the capital was reported to the king. ¹²And the king said to Queen Esther, "In Susa the capital the Jews have slain five hundred men and also the ten sons of Haman. What then 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." ¹³And Esther said, "If it please 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 slew three hundred men in Susa; but they laid no hands on the plunder. ¹⁶Now the other Jews who were in the king's provinces also gathered to defend their lives, and got relief from their enemies, and slew 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 and holiday-making, and a day on which they send choice portions to one another. ²⁰And Mor'decai recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasu-e'rus, 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, year by year, ²²as the days on which the Jews got 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 choice portions to one another and gifts to the poor. ²³So the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mor'decai had written to them. ²⁴For Haman the Ag'agite, the son of Hammeda'tha, 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 his wicked plot which 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 they called these days Purim, after the term Pur. And therefore, because of all that was written in this letter, and of what they had faced in this matter, and of what had befallen them, ²⁷the Jews ordained and took it upon themselves and their descendants and all who joined them, that without fail they would keep these two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year, ²⁸that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every family, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants. ²⁹Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Ab'ihail, and Mor'decai the Jew gave full written authority, confirming this second letter about Purim. ³⁰Letters were sent to all the Jews, to the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasu-e'rus, in words of peace and truth, ³¹that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mor'decai the Jew and Queen Esther enjoined upon the Jews, and as they had laid down for themselves and for their descendants, with regard to their fasts and their lamenting. ³²The command of Queen Esther fixed these practices of Purim, and it was recorded in writing.

Intent of Chapter 9

9:1-32 Destruction of the enemies and inauguration of the Feast of Purim

The important date is again given. (comp. 8:12).

Commentary on Esther (No. 063)

vv. 1-2 “They will be spread through the peoples and will emerge in the Last Days as young lions as the texts suggest. Judah will fight at Jerusalem (Zech. 14:14). Isaiah 66 shows how the restoration of the Last Days will occur in the world. Israel will be sought out and returned. The Sabbath and New Moons will be restored (Isa. 66:23), as will the Feasts be restored (Zech. 14:16-19).

vv. 3-4 So of Messiah's kingdom there shall be no end.

vv. 5-10 By tradition it is said all in one breath and it is listed in the Masoretic texts in this way. The Massorah prescribes the names of the ten sons of Haman be written in the perpendicular column on the right-hand side of the page with the vav i.e. the and on the left-hand side. This is probably derived from the tradition that ten sons were hanged from the tall gallows one above the other. It is also customary for the reading of the Megillah on Purim to read the names of the ten sons in one breath because they all died together according to the Targum. That is not accidental. The ten sons of Haman represent the concept of the empirical system of the Last Days. We are dealing with this system right through to the end.

The ten sons of Haman are all listed in one breath, because they form the union of the ten kings in the Last Days. That is why they are all together in the Massorah and why the whole structure holds together. They are all destroyed together as they received their power together at the Last Days in the empire of the Beast. That is what the text is about. That is why these people know at the end that the end result of the satanic system and the empirical structure set up from the Babylonians results, finally, in the Last Days in the union of the ten kings. The rabbinical commentaries quite clearly understand that these texts relate back to the image of the Beast in Daniel chapter 2. There is no question that the rabbis understand that it is that image that is being contemplated through the Book of Esther. So we have a continual process of the development of the empire under Nebuchadnezzar, being the head of gold, through into the silver of the Medes and Persians and on through, so that the Amalekites merely represent the military portion of this system, i.e. the satanic forces involved, occurring under each empire and developing through the empires. Certainly that these ten sons, being the end result of the satanic system, are destroyed in one breath in the Last Days is the understanding of the end destruction of the empire of the Beast and the ten toes of Daniel 2. These are the ten horns that we see in Revelation on the seven heads having ten horns. They both relate to the same thing. They are the last stages of the empire of the Beast, which is of the Babylonian system, which encompasses the entire time of the Gentiles. That is why these comments are made about the outer court. Haman comes into the outer court because he is allowed to come in. Jerusalem is given over to the Gentiles and the outer court is trampled for 42 months. That is another concept which arises out of this text (see F027ii, xi, xii, xiii).

The 500 men are traditionally listed as being the personal household of Haman, that is, the personal household of Satan. That relates back then to the recreation of another 500 under the elect who will take their place. These ordinations from Christ to the 12 and the 30, the 70 down through to 144,000 all have a specific relevance to portions of the Host, where they take over the responsibilities and the authority of the fallen Host. All are nominated and all are appointed and ordained as kings and priests within this order.

There is no spoil. None of the satanic system will be taken by the elect into the Millennium. No spoil will be touched. The commentaries said that of the spoil they laid not their hand. The Jews had but one thought, self-protection, and this piece of information stresses the fact (Eshkol Hakofer). That is relevant in that for the self-protection of the elect nothing of the satanic system is taken as spoil to go into the Messianic kingdom. It is all left behind.

vv. 11-15 “So on the second day we have another 300 slain and they still did not take the spoil. [The satanic systems appear to have been more entrenched in the cities.]

v. 16 “We are talking here of the sabbatical rest. Throughout the kingdom they killed 75,000 people.

vv. 17-18 So they came to the full moon. By the full moon of Adar they had achieved their aim.

v. 19 This concept of sending portions to one another and of unwalled towns has a relationship back to the settlement of Israel, because the determination of the walled and the unwalled towns is not done, as one would imagine, at the time of Xerxes in the Babylonian captivity. The rabbinical determination of the walled and unwalled towns under this Feast of Purim is determined from what cities were walled and unwalled at the time of Joshua. That is highly significant because it balances up the numbers. The numbers outside of Israel would be greater if it was later than beforehand, but it is not done according to that system. It is done as at the time of Joshua when Israel was first taken. So we are talking about the capture of the holy land in establishment in a secondary phase, using the first occupation of Israel to establish the concepts of the second occupation of Israel. This is an extended time-frame. The understanding of the religious authorities during this period was that it was placed back in the days of Joshua. That is extremely important (cf. also the paper The Fall of Jericho (No. 142) and also F006, ii, iii, iv, v).

The plunder by Israel of Agag was symbolic of the pollution of Israel (1Sam. 15:9).

judgment As you seek to destroy the elect so you will be destroyed. This process extends over the period of the Last Days and is applied directly to the Two Witnesses in the period prior to the commencement of the Millennium.

vv. 26-28 That is a function of the Jews enjoined upon everyone who joins Judah. This tells us what is going to happen to the Feast of Purim when Messiah issues his decrees on the restoration.

vv. 29-32 Therefore, the Church will enjoin the Feast of Purim upon itself under Messiah. The Feast of Purim will be kept in its entirety during the Millennium, but it will be added during the Millennium.”

Chapter 10

¹King Ahasu-e'rus laid tribute on the land and on the coastlands of the sea. ²And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mor'decai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? ³For Mor'decai the Jew was next in rank to King Ahasu-e'rus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brethren, for he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.

Intent of Chapter 10

Commentary on Esther (No. 063)

vv. 1-3 “The end of the Book of Esther is highly significant. The king laid a tribute upon the land. The commentaries say that from verse 1. This chapter is an appendix or postscript to the book emphasising the power of Ahasuerus and the glory that was thereby reflected on Mordecai as his first minister. This is not extrapolated by either mainstream Christianity or the Jews, because it establishes the absolute subordination of Jesus Christ. The Christian commentators can not deal with it and the Jewish commentators can't deal with it because it establishes Christ as a prime minister on an equality and replacement of Satan. The thought is that Ahasuerus and Mordecai his prime minister succeed in conquering many provinces until he was able to accept tribute from the lands near his kingdom, as well as from the distant isles of the sea according to Malbim.

Tribute Since the Hebrew word everywhere else means forced labour a better translation is imposed forced labour (see Or Hachaim, Ex. 1:11).

According to the Targum it refers to the head tax (from Aruk). The Targum says it is the head tax. What is the head tax? It is the tax taken on the Day of Atonement as a temple tax. What happens is that the Church under Messiah issues the temple tax again on the Day of Atonement, on all people in all provinces of the empire. The system of the Atonement taxes means that every person is entered under the Kingdom of God and salvation is extended to all people under payment of the temple tax at Atonement. That tribute means that salvation goes not only to the Gentiles through the elect and the Church but becomes a mandatory levy on all nations when all nations come under the rulership of Jesus Christ in the end. That is the significance of the additional chapter of the book of Esther.

The final texts mirror the end Sequence of Isaiah that shows that the Messiah is sent to Jerusalem to rule the world and Israel and Judah are restored in the Holy Land under Messiah with the Law and the Testimony restored and the Temple Calendar enforced over the whole world (see Commentary on Isaiah Part XVI and XVII (F023xvi and F023xvii).

We see now that the Book of Esther is not a story about a woman who becomes the queen of Persia. Once we understand the Book of Esther we understand the sheer magnitude of the Book of Revelation as it develops in the Old Testament. The whole structure, built through Jesus Christ, emerges with the Church hand-in-hand in order to save the planet.”

Bullinger’s Notes on Chs 4-10 (for KJV)

Chapter 4

Verse 1

done = being done.

bitter cry. Not (we may be sure) without confession and prayer, as with Nehemiah (Esther 1:0 ), and Daniel 9:0 ).

Verse 2

even = as far as.

Verse 3

commandments word. See note on Esther 1:12 .

decree = Imperial decree. Hebrew. dath . See notes on Esther 1:8 ; Esther 2:8 .

and. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton ( App-6 ), to emphasize the greatness and universality of the mourning.

fasting, &c. These were the accompaniments of true repentance.

Verse 4

maids. See note on Esther 2:4 .

chamberlains = eunuchs.

Verse 5

commandment = charge. Hebrew. zavah. See Esther 3:2 .

Verse 7

the sum of the money = the exact sum of the money. Mordecai knew of this, but how we cannot tell. He evidently did not know that the king had made Harnan a present of it (Esther 3:11 ).

Verse 11

law = Imperial decree. Hebrew. dath . See note on Esther 1:8 .

Verse 13

commanded. Hebrew. 'amar. See note on Esther 1:10 .

thyself = thy soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .

Verse 14

enlargement = respite.

who knoweth . . . ? Note the Figure of speech Erotesis ( App-6 ), for emphasis. Used here of hope and trust in God and His overruling grace.

Verse 16

three days, night or day. The Jerusalem Talmud says "a day and night together make up a nulctke-meron, and that any part of such period is counted as a whole". Compare 1 Samuel 30:12 , 1 Samuel 30:13 . Jon 1:17 . Matthew 12:40 .

I perish. See note on Esther 3:13 .

Verse 17

went his wa which Shushan is built, to the Jewish quarter, to accomplish his part of the compact.

Chapter 5

Verse 1

the third day. The beginning of a new life for Israel. See App-10 .

inner court. All houses had courts; a palace had several.

over against = right opposite.

upon his royal throne. To transact business.

gate = porch, or entrance. Hebrew. pethah.

Verse 2

obtained = won. Compare Esther 4:11 .

Verse 3

kingdom. Put by Figure of speech Metonomy (of Adjunct), for a year's revenue. Compare Mark 6:23 .

Verse 4

LET THE KING AND HAMAN COME THIS DAY. This is the second of the five Acrostics ( App-6 ) of the Divine name ( App-4 .) in this book. See App-60 . The second pivot on which the history turns.

Verse 6

What is thy petition? He must have seen that there was something behind the mere banquet.

Petition = question.

request = wish.

Verse 8

do to morrow. She still keeps back her petition, showing the king that he had rightly divined that there was something important behind it.

Verse 9

stood not up. Notwithstanding the crisis reached; and well knowing the cause of it.

moved = stirred. Only here, and Ecclesiastes 12:3 .

Zeresh his wife. By Gematria = 507 (13- x 3). See note on Esther 9:10 , also App-10 .

Verse 11

told = recounted.

children = sons. He had ten sons. See Esther 9:10 .

Verse 13

THIS AVAILETH ME NOTHING. This is the third of the five Acrostics of this book, exhibiting the Divine names ( App-4 .) to the eye. See App-60 .

Mordecai. The enmity was not merely personal, but religious; which is the worst form enmity can take.

Verse 14

gallows = tree: i.e. a stake to which a criminal was fastened till he died. The same word for cross. Compare Esther 2:23 ; Esther 7:9 ; and see Acts 5:30 ; Acts 10:39 ; Acts 13:29 . 1 Peter 2:24 .

to morrow. There was no delay; but, quick as the action was, it was none too soon for its real usefulness.

Chapter 6

Verse 1

On that night. The time for Divine action had come. See App-23 .

could not the king sleep. God uses small things to accomplish His purposes. See note on Judges 3:21 . We know not what He used here. But the time had come for Him to work.

commanded. Hebrew. 'amar.

they . . . read. The very portion which God ruled for the working out of His plan.

Verse 2

Mordecai had told. See Esther 2:21 , Esther 2:22 .

door = threshold. Hebrew saph.

Verse 4

Now Haman was come. This was the next step. The Figure of speech Parenthesis is used to emphasize the importance of it.

gallows = tree. See note on Esther 5:14 .

Verse 5

standeth in the court. As explained in the Parenthesis, Esther 6:4 .

come in. Note the Figure of speech Anaaiplosis ; Esther 6:5 ending with the same verb which begins the next sentence.

Verse 6

came in. See note on Esther 6:5 .

thought = said.

Verse 8

and. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton ( App-6 ) in verses: Esther 6:8 , Esther 6:9 , to emphasize the eagerness with which Haman enumerated the honours his heart desired.

Verse 9

one = a man. Hebrew. 'ish. App-14 .

Verse 10

Make haste = be expeditious. Hebrew. mahar, as in Esther 5:5 ; not dahaph (to urge oneself), as in Esther 6:12 ; Esther 3:15 ; or bahal (to hurry away), as in Esther 6:14 ; Esther 8:14 .

as = according as.

Verse 12

hasted. Hebrew. dahaph. See note on Esther 6:10 .

and. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton in verses: Esther 6:12 , Esther 6:13 , emphasizing the excitement which had seized him.

Verse 13

Zeresh. See note on Esther 5:14 .

Verse 14

while. Everything was hastening to the approaching crisis.

Chapter 7

Verse 2

petition . . . request. See note on Esther 5:6 .

kingdom. See note on Esther 5:3 .

Verse 3

my life = my soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 . Life put before petition, and her People put before her request.

Verse 4

are = have been.

sold. Implying that a bargain had been made.

destroyed . . . slain . . . perish. Note the Figure of speech Synonymia ( App-6 ), to emphasize the urgency of her petition. Compare Esther 3:13 .

perish. See note on Esther 3:13 .

countervail = make good, or compensate.

Verse 5

answered and said. Note the idiom = threatened and said. See note on Deuteronomy 1:41 .

WHO IS HE, AND WHERE IS HE . . . ? This is the fifth Acrostic, which gives (not Jehovah but) the Divine Name "I AM" of Exodus 3:14 . See App-60 .

HE. Note the emphatic repetition of this pronoun.

Verse 7

life = soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .

THAT THERE WAS EVIL DETERMINED AGAINST HIM. This is the fourth, and last, of the four acrostics exhibiting the name Jehovah in this book. See App-60 .

the king. Note the Figure of speech Epanadiplosis , the verse beginning and ending with the same word, marking and emphasizing its importance.

Verse 8

bed = couch.

Will he force . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis.

Verse 9

gallows. See note on Esther 5:14 .

Verse 10

they hanged Hainan. See note on "Benjamite" (Esther 2:5 ).

Chapter 8

Verse 1

On that day. Contrast "On that night", Esther 6:1 .

the Jews' enemy. See note on Esther 3:10 .

Verse 2

gave it unto Mordecai. Compare Esther 3:10 . Note how God honoured godly Jews in foreign courts: Joseph next to Pharaoh; Moses the heir to the throne of Egypt; Daniel next to Darius in Babylon; Mordecai next to Astyages in Shushan.

over the house of Hainan. Wonderful retribution.

Verse 3

mischief. Hebrew. ra'a'. App-44 . Same word as "evil", Esther 7:7 .

Haman the Agagite. See notes on Esther 2:5 with Esther 3:1 .

Verse 5

If it please the king. Note the Alternation in this verse: The king. "If it please the king. "Esther. "And if I have found favour. "The king. "And . . . before the king. "Esther. "And I be pleasing in his eyes. "

the Jews. Some codices, with Aram, and Syriac, read "all the Jews".

Verse 6

evil. Same word as "mischief", Esther 8:3 .

Verse 7

gallows. See note on Esther 5:14 .

Verse 8

liketh = pleaseth. Compare Esther 3:11 .

may no man reverse. But Compare Esther 3:12 , and see App-23 .

Verse 9

commanded unto = charged. Hebrew. zavah. See note on "law", Esther 3:2 .

Verse 10

posts on horseback = couriers on horseback. Haman's "posts" were runners on foot (Esther 3:13 , Esther 3:15), hut speed was now essential. See Esther 9:1 .

Verse 11

their life = themselves. Hebrew. nephesh.

destroy . . . slay . . . perish. Figure of speech Synonymia , for emphasis. See note on Esther 3:13 .

power = force. Hebrew. hayil, as in Esther 1:3 . Not shalat = mastery, as in Esther 9:1 ; or tokeph = authority, as in Esther 9:29 .

little ones. These were spared, notwithstanding. Compare Esther 9:6 .

Verse 12

thirteenth. See note on Esther 3:12 .

Verse 13

a commandment = an imperial decree.

people = the peoples.

Verse 14

hastened. Hebrew. bahal. See note on Esther 6:10 .

commandment = word. Hebrew. dabar. See note on Esther 1:12 .

decree. See note on Esther 2:8 .

Verse 16

light. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), for joy.

Verse 17

became Jews = made common cause with the Jews.

Chapter 9

Verse 1

thirteenth. See note on Esther 3:12 .

commandment. Hebrew. dabar. See note on Esther 1:12 .

decree. Hebrew. dath . See note on Esther 2:8 .

power = mastery. See note on Esther 8:11 .

though, &c. Note the Parenthesis.

the Jews = the Jews themselves.

Verse 2

withstand = stand before.

people = the peoples.

Verse 4

Mordecai = the man (Hebrew. 'ish. App-14 .) Mordecai, greatly emphasizing the person. Compare Numbers 12:3 . 1 Kings 11:28 . Daniel 9:21 .

Verse 5

sword . . . slaughter . . . destruction. Note the Figure of speech Synonymia , for emphasis.

and. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton. App-6 .

Verse 6

destroyed, &c. Note that they took no advantage of the permission given in Esther 8:11 .

Verse 7

And. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton in verses: Esther 9:7-9 , particularizing each one of Haman's ten sons.

Verse 10

The ten sons. In all Hebrew manuscripts and printed editions these ten names are written with the word veeth, being the demonstrative pronoun = self, or this same, or himself, thus: veeth Parshandatha, veeth Dalphon, veeth Aspatha, veeth Poratha, veeth Adalia, veeth Aridatha, veth Parmashta, veeth Arisai, veeth Aridai, veeth Vajezatha. It has been suggested that it is because they were hanged one above another. But, as each Hebrew character is a number as well as a letter, the numerical value of these names (regarded as an addition sum) amounts to 10,244, or 13 x 788; while Haman the Agagite = 117 (13x9), and Zeresh = 507 (13x39), and the whole family = 10,868 (13x836). See App-10 for the significance of this. On the other hand, 'Eth - Hadassah hi ' (Esther 2:7 ) adds up 1,152 = 8x122, and "Mordecai", son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjarnite (Esther 2:5 ), adds up 1,912 = (8 x 239). See App-10 .

the enemy of the Jews. See note on Esther 3:10 .

Slew they. See note on "Benjamite" (Esther 2:5 ).

laid they not their hand. Compare note on "take the spoil" (Esther 3:13 ). They probably remembered taking the spoil instead of obeying in 1 Samuel 15:0 . Hence the emphasis on this in verses: Esther 9:10 , Esther 9:15 , Esther 9:16 .

Verse 13

let Hainan's ten sons be hanged. One of the ten deaths occasioned or obtained by women. See note on Judges 4:21 .

be hanged Not alive, but hanged up after death. They were slain in conflict first. See verses: Esther 9:6 , Esther 9:7 .

Verse 14

commanded. Hebrew. 'amar. See note on Esther 1:10 .

Verse 16

their lives = themselves Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .

had rest from. Dr. Ginsburg thinks the Hebrew should read "to avenge themselves upon". Compare Esther 8:13 .

Verse 21

stablish = ordain. Hebrew. kum, as in verses: Esther 9:29 , Esther 9:31 .

Verse 25

device, which he devised = his great device. Figure of speech Polyptoton.

Verse 26

Purim = lots. The name of the feast to this day.

Pur. See note on Esther 3:7 .

Verse 27

ordained. Hebrew. kum, as in verses: Esther 9:21 , Esther 9:31 .

Verse 28

should not fail. This sounds like a prophecy, and sets a seal on the inspiration of the book.

perish = come to an end. See note on Esther 3:13 .

Verse 29

the daughter of Abihail. See Esther 2:15 .

confirm. Hebrew. kum, as in verses: Esther 9:21 , Esther 9:31 .

Verse 30

hundred, &c. See note on Esther 1:1 .

Verse 31

enjoined = ordained. Hebrew. kum.

as = according as.

decreed = ordained. Hebrew. kum, as in verses: Esther 9:27 , Esther 9:29 , Esther 9:31 .

Verse 32

decree = command. Hebrew. ma'amar. Occurs only in Esther (Esther 1:15 ).

Chapter 10

Verse 1

isles = coasts.

Verse 2

power. Hebrew. tokeph. See note on Esther 8:11 .

Verse 3

next = the second = the Grand Vizier. Compare Esther 8:2 .

speaking peace = maintaining peace.

his seed: i.e. the People of Israel. N. B. in Persia, not Judea. Thus was prepared the way for the emancipation of the Jews, which, not long after, was proclaimed by Cyrus (Ezra 1:1 ), the son of Astyages and Esther (see App-57 ), and is further proof that this book comes, chronologically, before the book Ezra-Nehemiah. N.B. the year 461 is the midway year of the Babylonian Servitude (496-426). See special note on 2 Chronicles 36:21 .