Esther 9 details the day when the Jews, empowered by a royal decree, defended themselves against their enemies throughout King Ahasuerus's provinces, slaying many, including Haman's ten sons. In Shushan, the conflict extended to a second day at Esther's request, with further slayings and the public hanging of Haman's sons. Following their victory and rest, Mordecai and Esther established the annual observance of these days, the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar, as the Feast of Purim, commemorating their deliverance and reversal of fortune.
Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the month, when the king’s commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, on the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to conquer them, (but it was turned out the opposite happened, that the Jews conquered those who hated them),
the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, to lay hands on those who wanted to harm them. No one could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen on all the people.
All the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who did the king’s business helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.
The king said to Esther the queen, “The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in the citadel of Susa, including 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. What is your further request? It shall be done.”
Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according to this day’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”
The Jews who were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and killed three hundred men in Shushan; but they didn’t lay their hand on the plunder.
The other Jews who were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together, defended their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they didn’t lay their hand on the plunder.
This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of that month they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
But the Jews who were in Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth days of the month; and on the fifteenth day of that month, they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
Therefore the Judeans of the villages, who live in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, a good day, and a day of sending presents of food to one another.
as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending presents of food to one another, and gifts to the needy.
because Haman the 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 consume them, and to destroy them;
but when this became known to the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he had devised against the Jews, should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.
Therefore they called these days “Purim”, from the word “Pur.” Therefore because of all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and that which had come to them,
the Jews established, and imposed on themselves, and on their descendants, and on all those who joined themselves to them, so that it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to what was written, and according to its appointed time, every year;
and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor their memory perish from their seed.
to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had decreed, and as they had imposed upon themselves and their descendants, in the matter of the fastings and their cry.
The commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.
Study Notes for Esther 9
Verse 1
This verse highlights the dramatic reversal of fortune authorized by the king’s counter-decree (Esther 8:11), turning a day of expected destruction into a day of Jewish self-defense and victory.
Verse 3
The support of the Persian bureaucracy demonstrates the complete shift in power, attributed directly to the rising authority and fame of Mordecai (v. 4) throughout the entire kingdom.
Verse 10
The crucial detail that the Jews took no spoil (repeated in v. 15 and v. 16) confirms that the action was purely punitive self-defense mandated by the decree, not an act of opportunistic looting or rebellion.
Verse 13
Esther’s request for the public display of Haman’s already slain sons served as a powerful symbolic deterrent and a permanent public declaration of the ultimate defeat of the Amalekite line.
Verse 16
The large number of casualties (75,000) across the provinces underscores the widespread nature of the hatred and the severity of the threat the Jews faced throughout the empire.
Verse 17
The establishment of the 14th of Adar as the day of rest for the Jews in the provinces distinguishes their observance from Shushan, setting the stage for the two-day festival of Purim.
Verse 20
Mordecai takes the definitive step of institutionalizing the celebration, moving the spontaneous local observances into a formal, annual festival binding upon all Jews in the diaspora.
Verse 22
This verse encapsulates the theological significance of Purim: remembrance of divine deliverance that turned a time of deep 'sorrow to joy,' emphasizing feasting, celebration, and charity (gifts to the poor).
Verse 26
The name of the festival, Purim, is derived from the 'Pur' (lot) Haman cast (v. 24) to determine the day of destruction, turning the symbol of intended doom into the title of celebration.
Verse 27
The ordinance was adopted not only by the Jews and their descendants but also by 'all such as joined themselves unto them,' suggesting that the celebration was embraced by Gentile converts and proselytes.
Verse 29
Esther’s written confirmation, utilizing her royal authority, reinforces Mordecai’s letter and ensures the observance would be recognized and enforced throughout the Persian Empire.
Verse 31
The reference to 'the fastings and their cry' suggests that the joyous celebration of Purim was historically linked to earlier days of penitence and prayer that preceded the miraculous deliverance.
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