Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Esther 3:12
Then were the king’s scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors that [were] over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and [to] every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king’s ring.
12. scribes ] secretaries, such as attended Xerxes in his expedition against Greece. [70]
[70] Herodotus says that “seated beneath a golden awning [in a Sidonian galley] he sailed along the prows of all his vessels while he made enquiries again, as he had done when he reviewed the land-force, and caused the answers to be recorded by his scribes” (Herod. vii. 100). Again, “During the whole time of the battle [of Salamis] Xerxes sat at the base of the hill called Aegaleos, over against Salamis, and whenever he saw any of his own captains perform any worthy exploit, he enquired concerning him, and the man’s name was taken down by his scribes, together with the names of his father and his city” (viii. 90).
in the first month, on the thirteenth day thereof ] The thirteenth having been found to be a lucky day for the massacre itself, Haman may have thought it advisable to choose the same day of the first month for entering upon the preparation for it.
satraps ] A.V. lieutenants. The original word is aashdarpan, a Hebraised form of the word khshatrapava, which occurs in Persian inscriptions in the sense of governor. Our word satrap comes through the Grcised form ( ) of the Persian word.
governors ] Heb. pakhoth, plural of pekhah. The satrap held sway over a province, the pekhah over a smaller district or petty kingdom. The latter is a loan word from the Assyrian pakhti, lord of a district. Nehemiah was a pekhah (Neh 5:14).
the princes ] A.V. the rulers. These were the chiefs of the conquered peoples. The Persians in this respect followed the same course which we have adopted in India, and placed a good deal of power in the hands of the existing native rulers.
in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written ] See on Est 3:10.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
On the thirteenth day – Haman had, apparently (compare Est 3:7 with Est 3:13), obtained by his use of the lot the 13th day of Adar as the lucky day for destroying the Jews. This may have caused him to fix on the 13th day of another month for the commencement of his enterprise. So, the Jews throughout the empire had from 9 to 11 months of warning of the peril which threatened them.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Est 3:12-15
Then were the kings scribes called on the thirteenth day.
Fruitless preparations
I. Here is unseemly haste.
II. Here are inconsistent precursory measures. Wickedness renders a man inconsistent. Revenge impelled to action, but conscience still spoke in reproving tones. All must be done according to law. Obedience to the eternal law of right is the only method by which human lives can be rendered consistent and harmonious.
III. Here is a low estimate of human life, shown–
1. In the unmethodical nature of the slaughter designed.
2. In the indiscriminate nature of the slaughter designed.
3. In the rapacity after property. Life versus property. This decree is one of the unwritten decrees of modern civilisation.
IV. Here is wickedness bolstered up by human authority. Learn–
1. Great men should try to get a true idea of the importance of human life.
2. Statesmen should remember that the true wealth of a community is its men.
3. All ought to remember that life is ignoble when passion is allowed to rule. (W. Burrows, B. A.)
Persian postal facilities
The postal service for that age was exceedingly good, but only the king could take advantage of it. Indeed, it was one of the means used by him for the government of the empire, and was very largely, according to Herodotus, the device of this same Xerxes. Along the chief lines of travel he established, at intervals of fourteen miles, post-houses, at each of which relays of horses and couriers were always in readiness. One of these messengers, receiving an official document, rode with it at his utmost speed to the next post-house, where it was taken onward by another courier with another horse, and in this way a proclamation like that here described would reach the farthest limits of the empire in five or six weeks. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 12. Unto the king’s lieutenants] achashdarpeney. This is in all probability another Persian word, for there is nothing like it in the Hebrew language, nor can it be fairly deduced from any roots in that tongue. The Vulgate translates ad omnes satrapas regis, to all the satraps of the king. It is very likely that this is the true sense of the word, and that the achsadrapani, as it may be pronounced, is the Chaldee or Hebrew corruption of the Persian word [Persian] satraban, the plural of [Persian] satrab, a Persian peer, though the word is now nearly obsolete in the Persian language; for since the conquest of Persia by Mohammedanism, the names of officers are materially changed, as something of Islamism is generally connected with the titles of officers both civil and military, as well as religious.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Then were the kings scribes called: this he did so speedily, though it was a year before the intended execution, lest the king should change his mind, either by his own clemency, or by the persuasion of others.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12-15. Then were the king’s scribescalled . . . and there was writtenThe government secretarieswere employed in making out the proclamation authorizing a universalmassacre of the Jews on one day. It was translated into the dialectsof all the people throughout the vast empire, and swift messengerswere sent to carry it into all the provinces. On the day appointed,all Jews were to be put to death and their property confiscated;doubtless, the means by which Haman hoped to pay his stipulatedtribute into the royal treasury. To us it appears unaccountable howany sane monarch could have given his consent to the extirpation of anumerous class of his subjects. But such acts of frenzied barbarityhave, alas! been not rarely authorized by careless and voluptuousdespots, who have allowed their ears to be engrossed and their policydirected by haughty and selfish minions, who had their own passionsto gratify, their own ends to serve.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then were the king’s scribes called, on the thirteenth day of the first month,…. The month Nisan, Es 3:7, after Haman had leave and power from the king to destroy the Jews, and his ring given him in token of it; the king’s scribes or secretaries of state were called together on that day, to write the letters for that purpose:
and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded; whatever he would have done; he had an unlimited power to do what he pleased, and he made use of it, and directed the scribes what they should write:
unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province; the deputy governors of the one hundred and twenty seven provinces, Es 1:1
and to the rulers of every people of every province; it seems there were different people in every province, which had their rulers; and these were sent to:
according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; and letters were written in the language, and character of the language, each people spoke, that they might be understood by them:
in the name of King Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king’s ring. All this Haman took care to have done so early as the thirteenth of Nisan, though the execution was not to be until the thirteenth of Adar, eleven months after; partly that there might be time enough to send the letters everywhere, even to the most distant parts; and chiefly lest Ahasuerus should change his mind, and be prevailed upon to revoke his grant; and, it may be, either to keep the Jews in continual dread, or cause them to flee.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Haman, without delay, causes the necessary writings to be prepared, and sent into all the provinces of the kingdom. Est 3:12. “Then were called the king’s scribes in the first month, on the thirteenth day of it ( , in it, in the said month); and there was written according to all that Haman commanded, to the satraps of the king, and to the governors who (were placed) over every province, and to the rulers of every people, to each several province according to its writing, and to each different people according to their language (comp. rem. on Est 1:22); in the name of King Ahashverosh was it written, and sealed with the king’s seal.” and placed in juxtaposition, as in Ezr 8:36, are the imperial officials. Beside these are also named the of every people, the native princes of the different races. The writing was finished on the thirteenth day of the month, because this day of the month had been fixed upon as propitious by the lot.
Est 3:13 And the letters were sent ( , infin. abs. Niph. instead of the verb. fin.) by posts. are the post-riders, the aggaroi, who were stationed on the high roads of the realm, generally four parasangs apart, to transmit with the more speed the royal letters and messages. Herod. 5.14, 8.98 (Berth.), comp. Brisson, de reg. Pers. princ. i. c. 238f. , to destroy, to kill, and cause to perish all Jews from the youth to the old man, children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, and to deprive them of their spoil. The three verbs are combined to give strength to the expression. is their property, which is called spoil because it was delivered up to plunder. Haman having held out the prospect of a large sum as the result of exterminating the Jews, and the king having bestowed this upon Haman, the plundering of the Jews, thus permitted to all the inhabitants of the kingdom who should assist in exterminating them, must be understood as implying, that they would have to deliver a portion of the booty thus obtained to Haman.
Est 3:14 The copy of the writing, that the law might be given in every province, was opened to all people, that they might be ready by this day. This verse does not announce a copy of the royal decree that had been prepared and sent by the posts, which would in that case be replaced by a mere allusion to its contents (Bertheau). The words contain no trace of an announcement such as we find in Ezr 4:11; Ezr 7:11, but the historical notice, that the copy of the writing which was sent as a law into the provinces was , opened, i.e., sent unclosed or unsealed to all people. is the predicate to the subject (comp. on this word the note to Ezr 4:14), and between the subject and predicate is inserted the infinitive clause for the purpose of once more briefly mentioning the contents and destination of the : that a law might be given in every province. To attain this object the more certainly, the copy of the decree, which was brought into every province by the posts, was open or unsealed, that all people might read its contents, and keep themselves in readiness for the execution of what was therein commanded on the appointed day. is the thirteenth day of the twelfth month named in the letter.
Est 3:15 The posts went forth hastening ( like 2Ch 26:20) at the king’s commandment, and the decree was given (promulgated) in the citadel of Susa, – an explanatory clause; and the king and Haman sat down to drink while the messengers went forth with the decree, but the city of Susa, in which it was first published, was in perplexity (on comp. Exo 14:3; Joe 1:18). The cruel measure could not but fill all peace-loving citizens with horror and anxiety. – Here the question is forced upon us, why the decree should have been so prematurely published. The scribes were summoned to prepare it on the thirteenth day of the first month. For this purpose, even though many copies had to be made in different languages, no very long time would be required in a well-appointed government office. As soon as the scribes had finished their work, the decree was sent out by the posts into all quarters of the realm, and would arrive in even the most distant provinces in three weeks at furthest. This would place almost eleven, and in the remotest parts about ten months between the publication and execution of the decree. What then was the motive for such an interval? Certainly so long a time could not be required for preparing to carry it out, nor is this hinted at in the text, as Bertheau supposes. Nor could it be intended that the Jews should suffer a long period of anxiety. On the contrary, the motive seems to have been, as Clericus and others have already conjectured, to cause many Jews to leave their property and escape to other lands, for the sake of preserving their lives. Thus Haman would attain his object. He would be relieved of the presence of the Jews, and be able to enrich himself by the appropriation of their possessions. On the other hand, the providence of God overruling the event in the interest of the Jews, is unmistakeably evident both in Haman’s haste to satisfy his desire for vengeance, and in the falling of the lot upon so distant a day. It was only because there was so long an interval between the publication of the decree and the day appointed by lot for its execution, that it was possible for the Jews to take means for averting the destruction with which they were threatened, as the further development of the history will show.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Est. 3:12.] The scribes of Xerxes are mentioned more than once by Herodotus. They appear to have been in constant attendance on the monarch, ready to indite his edicts, or to note down any occurrences which he desired to have recorded.Rawlinson. and are here placed together, the satraps of the larger provinces and the rulers among the separate peoples of the provinces. The are the native so-called born princes of the different people.
Est. 3:13.] By the runners, by whom they were sent, are meant the posts, the angari or preasmen, who were posted on the main roads of the empire at definite distances from each other, from four to seven parasangs, and who rapidly expedited the royal (mails) letters or commands. The three verbsto destroy, to kill, and cause to perishare combined to give strength to the expression. is their property, which is called spoil because it was delivered up to plunder.
Est. 3:14.] By the issue of the decree at this time (the first month) the Jews throughout the empire had from nine to eleven months warning of the peril which threatened them. So long a notice is thought to be incredible, and the question is asked, Why did they not then quit the kingdom? In reply we may say,
(1) That many of them may have quitted the kingdom; and,
(2) That those who remained may have believed, with Mordecai, that enlargement and deliverance would arise from some quarter or other. As to its being improbable that Haman should give such long notice, we may remark that Haman only wished to be quit of Mordecai, and that the flight of the Jews would hare served his purpose quite as well as their massacre.Rawlinson.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH. Est. 3:12-14
FRUITLESS PREPARATIONS
Haman had no regard to the contingency of human affairs. He was blind to the fact that it is not in mans power to control events, and arrange for the future. He had not learnt the wise mans lessonBoast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. To-morrow is a humiliating term often to those who have far-reaching designs. To-morrow never comes when we work under the guidance of human arrogance. It never comes exactly as we purposed. The seed may flourish to-morrow, but the sower has perished; or the seed which he has sown flourishes to his destruction. Enjoy thyself, Haman, to-day, call forth thy scribes, send forth thy bloody edicts, for to-morrow is coming with crushing doom! We all need to look into the future in order to read the lesson of our weakness.
I. Here is unseemly haste. No sooner had Haman received the kings permission than he goes forth to his work of revenge. He is in a hurry to set in operation the plans which should work to the destruction of the despised race. There would have been propriety in Haman pausing and considering well before sending forth the orders which were intended to work such vast mischief. Better still if Haman had said, This scheme is an unworthy one. I am compromising my dignity and my manhood. I will go back to the king, and undo the evil I have sought to accomplish. Better think twice before committing ourselves to an unworthy action.
II. Here are inconsistent precursory measures. The bad are always inconsistent. Their lives are not harmonious. Wickedness renders a man inconsistent. The good in man, or at least the voice of conscience, works against or speaks against the evil. There would be times when Haman would feel the dreadful nature of the enterprise upon which he had set his heart. Revenge impelled to action, but conscience still spoke in reproving tones. We have pictured Haman as the revengeful man, being willing to wait in order that there might be the more signal display of his malicious power; but here we find him proceeding in regular method, as if to justify his deeds. It may be, however, that Haman was afraid of his own position. If we have given him credit for too much conscientiousness, we cannot easily charge him with too much selfishness. All must be done according to law, that Hamans enemies may not in the future have the power of charging him with open-handed crime. Obedience to the eternal law of right is the only method by which human lives can be rendered consistent and harmonious.
III. Here is a low estimate of human life. This is one of the strange anomalies, that great men, as the world accounts greatness, think so little of human life. Is ambition to be fed?human lives must be slaughtered. Is revenge to have its way?human lives must be sacrificed. Kings, conquerors, and statesmen have regarded no life as precious which stood in the way of their ambitious schemes. Haman was bad, but there are more Hamans than we think of in the historical records. The low estimate of life is here shown(a) In the unmethodical nature of the slaughter designed. The three termsto destroy, to kill, and to cause to perishmay be employed to give intensity to the barbarous decree. But they also set forth the dreadful fact that the poor people were to be killed anyhow. Let the servants of revenge do their work after any fashion, so that it is done effectually, and the hated race are removed from the face of the earth. (b) In the indiscriminate nature of the slaughter designed. All Jews, both young and old, little children and women. Revenge would glut itself. The young and the fair, the beautiful and the innocent, the wise and the virtuous, must be slain, These bleating lambs, what have they done that the light of life must be quenched in its very dawn? (c) In the rapacity after property. The spoil of the slaughtered is to be taken for a prey. Life versus property. This decree is one of the unwritten decrees of modern civilization. Let the spoil of the slaughtered be taken for a prey. Men and women, fair maids, and even little children are slaughtered in order to increase property.
IV. Here is wickedness bolstered up by human authority. The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day. Wickedness wears a mask; it shrinks from the exposure of its own deformity. State policy requires the enormous sacrifice. Capital must have its due return. Business is business. The law of supply and demand must have its way, though that may be through human blood. These are some of the flimsy and false excuses with which sin dresses up itself in order to make a respectable appearance.
Great men should try to get a true idea of the importance of life. Such an idea might save them from mad and wicked enterprises. God has crowned life with an excellent glory. To preserve life nature yields her million products, and pours into the lap of man her myriad fruits;to promote its welfare the sun bathes the world with his influences, and the component parts of the atmosphere are blended together in relative proportions;and to increase its pleasures the flowers give forth their fragrance and show their beauty, hills and mountains rise in grandeur, sweet dales rest in their encircling embrace; the birds make the air vocal with their songs of praise; and the stars gem the midnight sky, forming a glorious canopy for man. For the development of mans whole life time is not adequate, and eternity is the sphere in which an ever-expanding life shall work on to unknown heights of blessed perfection. Life is great, and high estimates ought to be formed of its worth. Statesmen should remember that the true wealth of a community is its men.
Ill fares the land, to hastning ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.
Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade;
A breath can make them, as a breath has made;
But a bold peasantry, their countrys pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied.
All ought to remember that life is ignoble when passion is allowed to rule. How many lives are thus rendered inglorious! Lives with fair opportunities for development are blasted by an overmastering passion. Lives with extensive prospects for usefulness are crushed by the influence of ignoble motives. What a position was that to which Haman was raised! How many might have blessed his memory! His name might have been lauded by the national orators, and sung by the national poets. But his name is scouted, and his memory is covered with opprobrium. The name of the wicked shall rot. The memory of the just only is blessed. Let passion then be subordinated to principle. Let the ambition be to be good and to do good. Let the honour that cometh from God be the supreme concern. And then, whether men bow or refuse to bow, the soul will be unruffled.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Est. 3:12-14
The very circumstance which is urged as an objection to the truth of the narrative is rather to be regarded as an evidence of its trustworthiness. The Book of Esther does not contain any record of miraculous events. There are no wonders and prodigies in it, at which infidelity might carp, and with reference to which it might say that the writer must have drawn so largely upon his fancy in some places as to render suspicious what appears to be the record of simple matters of fact. The whole tenor and style of the book indicate that the writer of it acted the part of a historian who was concerned only to relate what actually took place; and if he had been a deceiver he certainly would not have laid himself open to an objection so very palpable as that under review, when it was in his power, by the mere alterations of dates, to make the whole narrative so plausible that not a flaw could be found in it. In a word, I consider the difficulty before us as an argument for the truth of the history. But further, it must be kept in mind that though the kings scribes were called on the thirteenth day of the month to write the decree, it does not follow that the work was finished in a day. King Artaxerxes reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, as we read in the first chapter. Diverse languages and dialects were spoken in many of these provinces. The edict was given forth, we are told, to the rulers of every people of every province, according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language. The document had to be translated, then, into different languages, and a translation sent with the Persic original; and besides, there would, no doubt, be private communications dictated by Haman to the governors of the different provinces, containing directions as to the manner in which the bloody work was to be executed, and the spoils of the Jews disposed of; so that some considerable time would elapse before the royal decree could be sent out to the provinces. We learn, indeed, from the eighth chapter that it was the twentieth day of the third month before Mordecai obtained permission to counteract the design of Haman; and, making allowance for distance and modes of travelling, we may suppose that the sentence against the Jews had not even reached the more remote parts of the empire when the remission of it was resolved upon. But again, and more particularly, it is very obvious that we have to regard the whole transaction here as overruled in the providence of God for the good of his people and the confusion of their enemies. It is easy to say that there is an air of improbability in the whole story, because, even with a few months warning, the Jews would have had time to remove from the places where they were doomed to perish. But whither could they have gone? is one question. The Persian empire was so extensive that it would have been difficult for them to escape beyond its bounds and find a refuge elsewhere. Besides, how could they have fled, when no doubt there were orders issued to prevent their flight? We know that in persecuting times in France, and in our own country also, while the victims of persecution were warned that within a certain period no mercy would be shown to them, there were steps taken to prevent their escape; and even the attempt to escape was denounced as criminal. In the case which we have before us in the text the whole matter turns upon this pointthat Haman got what he considered the favourable day for his enterprise fixed by a superstitious practice which he revered and believed to be infallible. Then, after this, he felt as if all were secure; and with a recklessnessor, as we might call it, an infatuationsuch as there are many examples of in the perpetrators of heinous crimes, he proceeds to accomplish his purpose in a way which one would say was calculated to render it abortive, and to ruin himself.Davidson.
Multitudes may have been in such a state of bondage as to make it impossible for any great number of them to escape; and as for others, it may have been expected and desired that some of them would leave the kingdom. But such as Mordecai, whom Haman especially wished to destroy, could not leave the kingdom, any more than Nehemiah, without permission from the king. It was also in keeping with Hamans character to cause all the anguish and horror possible to the Jews in anticipation of the dreadful slaughter. Then we must remember that a wise Providence so overruled this whole procedure as to bring to nought the plans of the Jews enemy, and make his malignant hatred of the Jews the occasion of his ruin.Whedons Commentary.
If the chronicles of Persia thus record an intended massacre of the Jews which appals us in its extent and atrocity, the chronicles of Spain, Italy, and France contain records of massacres of Protestants which equal it in unmitigated barbarity. Let us thank God that our lot has been cast in times of comparative quiet, when the spirit of persecution and bloodshed is afraid to manifest itself; and when the exhortation of the apostle is not rendered hard by a reign of terrorFear God, honour the king.McEwan.
Where, one is ready to ask, will rulers find persons willing to execute such unreasonable and barbarous orders? Executioners have seldom been wanting. Many are accustomed to do blindly whatever their superiors require, without inquiring whether it be right or wrong. Others act under the influence of fear; while a thousand passionsselfishness, avarice, malice, envy, strife, hatred to godliness, and the innate love of crueltytake the opportunity of gratifying themselves under the covert of authority, and the pretext of executing its mandates.McCrie.
Est. 3:13. The malice of Haman could no more frustrate the ancient oracles relating to the Jews than it could pull the sun out of the firmament, and deprive the world of the light of day. The sceptre was not to depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, till Shiloh should come. The Shiloh was not yet come. Judah must, therefore, continue a distinct nation, under governors that proceeded from himself. Hamans malice will be so far from finding the means of extirpating Judah, that the glory of that people, though eclipsed, must again shine forth as the morning.
Est. 3:14. Haman caused the edict against the Jews to be published in the language of every people, that they might all be prepared to bear their part in the destruction of the Jews. But the enemies of Israel had one thing in view, and the God of Israel quite another. Haman intended to make the destruction of Judah as sure as possible, but God intended to make all nations attentive witnesses of his power and wisdom displayed in counteracting the designs of their enemies, and accomplishing their salvation. The effect of such an edict would be the fixing of all mens attention on the event; and the event was to make it evident that there was no God like the God of Israel, nor any people on the earth so much the care of heaven as that nation which was held in abhorrence by Haman.Lawson.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3
Est. 3:13. The deliverance of Hubert de Burgo. We read in our Chronicles, that when King Henry III. had given commandment for the apprehending of Hubert de Burgo, earl of Kent, he fled into a church in Essex. They to whom the business was committed, finding him upon his knees before the high altar, with the sacrament in one hand, and a cross in the other, carried him away, nevertheless, unto the Tower of London. The bishop, taking this to be a great violence and wrong to the Church, would never leave the king until he had caused the earl to be carried back to the place whence he was fetched. This was done; and although order was taken he should not escape thence, yet it gave the kings wrath a time to cool, and himself leisure to make proof of his innocency; by reason whereof he was afterwards restored to the kings favour, and former places of honour. And the like befell these Jews ere the thirteenth of Adar; but Haman, blinded with pride and superstition, could not foresee it.Trapp.
Est. 3:13. Soldiers, not butchers. At the famous Bartholomews massacre, when the King of France sent his orders to the commanders in the different provinces to massacre the Huguenots, one of them returned him this answer: In my district your Majesty has many brave soldiers, but no butchers. That virtuous governor never felt any effects of the royal resentment. It is to be feared that few of the Persian governors would have given such proofs of virtuous courage if the kings edict had not been reversed. We find none of all the governors of the provinces of the Babylonian empire that refused to bow their knees to the graven image which Nebuchadnezzar the king set up. The subjects of princes who rule with unlimited dominion are for the most part slaves both in body and in soul. They are taught from their earliest days, by the examples which they see around them, to consider their princes as gods on earth, whose will must not be disputed.Lawson.
Est. 3:14. Executioners. There is abundance of evidence that, in the middle ages, the office of public executioner was esteemed highly honourable all over Germany. It still is, in such parts of that country as retain the old custom of execution by stroke of sword, very far from being held discreditable to the extent to which we carry our feelings on the subject, and which exposed the magistrates of a Scotch town,I rather think no less a one than Glasgow,to a good deal of ridicule, when they advertised, some few years ago, on the occasion of the death of their hangman, that none but persons of respectable character need apply for the vacant situation. At this day, in China, in Persia, and probably in other Oriental kingdoms, the Chief Executioner is one of the great officers of state, and is as proud of the emblem of his fatal duty as any European Lord Chamberlain of his golden key.Note to Anne of Geierstein.
No doubt very many of the subjects of Ahasuerus would be willing to become executioners, in order to secure the favour of the monarch, and to get a share of the spoil. They would get themselves ready against that day of intended slaughter.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
C. Sentence of Xerxes
TEXT: Est. 3:12-15
12
Then were the kings scribes called in the first month, on the thirteenth day thereof; and there was written according to all that Haman commanded unto the kings satraps, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the princes of every people, to every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written and it was sealed with the kings ring.
13
And letters were sent by posts into all the kings provinces, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.
14
A copy of the writing, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published unto all the peoples, that they should be ready against that day.
15
The posts went forth in haste by the kings commandment, and the decree was given out in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Shushan was perplexed.
Todays English Version, Est. 3:12-15
So on the thirteenth day of the first month Haman called the kings secretaries and dictated a proclamation to be translated into every language and system of writing used in the empire and to be sent to all the rulers, governors, and officials. It was issued in the name of King Xerxes and stamped with his ring. Runners took this proclamation to every province of the empire. It contained the instructions that on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, all Jewsyoung and old, women and childrenwere to be killed. They were to be slaughtered without mercy and their belongings were to be taken. The contents of the proclamation were to be made public in every province, so that everyone would be prepared when that day came.
At the kings command the decree was made public in the capital city of Susa, and runners carried the news to the provinces. The king and Haman sat down and had a drink while the city of Susa was being thrown into confusion.
COMMENTS
Est. 3:12 Penned: Scribes were specially trained men who were held in great esteem by most ancient civilizations. They not only wrote the decrees of kings but also recorded histories and were often called upon to interpret past precedents and offer advice to kings in making immediate decisions inasmuch as their whole lives were devoted to recording and studying royal chronicles, Xerxes called for the royal scribes and on the thirteenth day of Nisan (first month, cf. Est. 3:7) and ordered that all Haman had suggested should be written in all the languages currently used by conquered peoples throughout the whole Persian empire. To each copy of the decree that was to be sent to governors and princes of provinces, the emperor affixed an impression of his signet ring in wax (sealed). Thus it became an official policy of the Persian empire that all Jews were to be slain.
Est. 3:13-15 Posted: The Hebrew word haratzim means literally, the runners. The documents were sent out into the provinces of the empire through the Persian postal system. This was one of the outstanding contributions of the Persian culture to the civilizations following theirsa fast and proficient postal system. The Persian emperor could expect to be in touch with the fartherest reaches of his vast empire within one weeks time (see Introduction, page 264). Persian mail-carriers were mounted on fast horses and had relay stations every 14 miles, much like the Pony Express in 19th century America.
What utter chaos and consternation such a decree would have. There is an ancient decree of Mithridates king of Pontus in Asia Minor (died 63 B.C.) sometimes cited as a parallel to this shocking decree of Xerxes: He sent secret order to all the satraps and the mayors of cities that they should within the space of thirty days fall upon the resident Romans and Italians, upon their wives and children and upon all the freemen of Italian origin, and kill them and take their goods as possessions. When the appointed day came, there was wailing and lamentation in the whole of Asia.
The Persian empire (including the Jews in all provinces) had from nine to eleven months warning of the massacre that was to come. Haman had decided action was to begin on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar (Feb./ Mar.). Modern Jews keep three days (13th, 14th and 15th of Adar) in connection with the feast of Purim; but they make the 13th a fast to commemorate the fast of Esther (Est. 4:16) and they keep the feast itself on the 14th and 15th. We shall discuss the feast of Purim in our comments on chapter nine.
Orders had been officially sent throughout the empire to massacre perhaps millions of people and the emperor and his prime minister sit down to feast and drink. How brutally callous! Well did the apostle Paul describe heathen civilizations in Romans, chapter one, who having refused to have God in their knowledge, become foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. The majority of the Persian populace (especially of the royal city, Susa) was perplexed. It was an ominous decree for any citizen to read. If Haman was capable of such ruthless rage against the Jews, he could vent the same rage on any other segment or people within the vast empire of Persia. Perhaps there were also many non-Jews feeling compassion and sympathy toward their Jewish neighbors.
We may learn the following lessons from this chapter:
1.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely!
2.
Racial or cultural distinctives are often used as rationalizations for the real motives (pride, greed etc.) behind hatred and persecution.
3.
Some people will compromise even the most fundamental standards of humaneness for a bribe.
4.
When people refuse to have the One True God in their knowledge and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator (Romans 1), they inevitably harden their own consciences so that they can order millions to be murdered and sit down and celebrate it.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(12) On the thirteenth day of the first month.From the next verse we see that the thirteenth of Adar was to be the lucky day for Hamans purpose, which may have suggested the thirteenth of Nisan as a suitable day for this preliminary step. Bishop Wordsworth reminds us that this day was the eve of the Passover, so that Hamans plot against the Jews strangely coincides in time with one five hundred years later, when the Jews themselves, aided by heathen hands and the powers of darkness, sought to vanquish the Saviour; and as the trembling Jews of Persia were delivered by Gods goodness, so too by His goodness Satan himself was overthrown and the Lamb that was slain did triumph.
Lieutenants.Literally, satraps. The Hebrew word here (akhashdarpan) is simply an attempt to transliterate the Persian khahatrapa, Whence the Greek satrapes, and so the English word. The word occurs several times in this book and in Ezra and Daniel.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. The king’s scribes See note on 2Sa 8:17.
The thirteenth day Having fixed on the thirteenth of Adar (Est 3:13) for the execution of his bloody design, he seems to have purposely selected the corresponding day of the first month for the beginning of his work.
Lieutenants Satraps. See note on Ezr 8:36.
Governors Or prefects. On this word, which is rendered deputies in Est 8:9; Est 9:3, see notes, Ezr 5:3 and 2Ki 18:24.
Rulers Or princes.
The writing their language See note on chap. Est 1:22.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
(12) Then were the king’s scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king’s ring. (13) And the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey. (14) The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day. (15) The posts went out, being hastened by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed.
It is impossible to conceive the different effects, which must have been called forth in the different minds of the people, throughout the whole empire, in consequence of this edict. What a mercy did the LORD manifest to his people in the midst, that the whole kingdom were to be apprised of it, before that the execution was to take place. So JESUS holds forth grace to his people, and even to the rebellious, a space for repentance. Having planned the ruin of the poor defenseless Jews, the king and Haman sit down to drunkenness. While GOD’S people are afflicted the enemy shouts. Here let us wait awhile, and see how the LORD will work. In every trial these sweet words should comfort daring the dark hour: For the oppression of the poor, and the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD. And when GOD ariseth, woe to the oppressor. Psa 12:5 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Est 3:12 Then were the king’s scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors that [were] over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and [to] every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king’s ring.
Ver. 12. Then were the king’s scribes called] Then, presently upon it, so soon as the word was out of the king’s mouth, licet quod libet, the scribes were called, and all things despatched with all possible haste, art, and industry. So Judas, what he did, did quickly; he was up and at it, when Peter and the rest of the apostles were found asleep. The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light; for why? they have the devil to help them, and to prick them on; and hence their restlessness.
On the thirteenth day of the first month
And there was written according to all that Haman had commanded
Iussa sequi, tam velle mihi, quam posse, necesse.
We are wholly at your devotion and dispose. We are only your clay and wax, &c. It is not for us to take upon us as counsellors, but only to write what is dictated unto us, &c. But this was no sufficient excuse for them before God; as neither was it for Doeg, that he was commanded to slay all the Lord’s priests, which Abner and others of Saul’s servants rightly and stoutly refused to do, 1Sa 22:18 . A warrant once came down under seal for Lady Elizabeth’s execution, while she was prisoner at Woodstock; Stephen Gardiner, like another Haman, being the chief engineer. But Mr. Bridges, her keeper, mistrusting false play, presently made haste to the queen, who renounced and reversed it. So might Ahasuerus haply have done this bloody edict, had his officers showed him the iniquity of it. But they took not this to be any part of their business; or if any one of them should be more conscientious, yet he might be surprised by a sudden onset, as the Lord Cromwell, when, by the instigation of Gardiner, he was commanded by King Henry VIII to read the sentence of death against Lambert the martyr, whereof he repented afterwards, sending for Lambert, and asking him forgiveness, as Mr Fox relateth.
And to every people after their language
In the name of the king Ahasuerus
And sealed with the king’s ring] Lest it should by any means be reversed, Dan 6:8 ; Dan 6:12-13 . Of the right antiquity, use, and matter of rings let them that will, read Plin. lib. 33, cap. 1; 37, 1; Macrob. lib. 1; Saturn. cap. 13; Alexand. ab Alex. lib. 2. genial dier.; Rhodig. lib. 6, cap. 12.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Est 3:12-15
12Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province and to the princes of each people, each province according to its script, each people according to its language, being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring. 13Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, to kill and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder. 14A copy of the edict to be issued as law in every province was published to all the peoples so that they should be ready for this day. 15The couriers went out impelled by the king’s command while the decree was issued at the citadel in Susa; and while the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in confusion.
Est 3:12 on the thirteenth day of the first month The IVP Bible Background Commentary, Old Testament, has a great comment about this date.
Passover, the greatest celebration of deliverance of the Israelites, was celebrated on the fourteenth of Nisan. The edict was written on the thirteenth of Nisan, so it began to be distributed on the fourteenth. Thus, just as the Jews were celebrating deliverance from their great enemy of the past, the Egyptians, they were learning of a new plot from a new enemy (p. 488).
satraps. . .governors. . .princes These are the three levels of Persian administration. The highest being the satraps, which numbered about thirty.
sealed with the king’s signet ring This phrase is parallel to being written in the name of King Ahasuerus. The ring was used as an official seal. It was pushed into a blob of hot wax, not to seal a document, but as a sign the document was from the king (cf. Est 8:8; Gen 41:42).
Est 3:13 to destroy, to kill and to annihilate The author of Esther regularly uses several VERBS in parallel (cf. Est 7:4):
1. to destroy (BDB 1029, KB 1552, Hiphil INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT)
2. to kill (BDB 246, KB 255, Qal INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT)
3. to annihilate (BDB 1, KB 2, Piel INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT)
The object of this attack is all Jews:
1. young and old
2. children and women
This legal terminology clearly spells out the extent of the slaughter!
Est 3:14 The interpretive question is, to whom is this decree addressed?
1. all citizens
2. the military
The answer probably lies in the compensation given to those who kill the Jews. Do they get part of their property? If so, then #1, but if not, then #2. If #2 Haman’s offer of money was to pay for the military operation.
for this day Literally in one day. The interpretive question is, does this mean
1. all Jews were to be killed on one day, or
2. that the attacks were to be coordinated through all the provinces on one day?
From Est 9:11-15, option #1 seems best.
Est 3:15 the city of Susa was in confusion The VERB was in confusion (BDB 100, KB 115, Niphal PERFECT) is used of Pharaoh thinking that evasive movement of the fleeing slaves was confusion (cf. Exo 14:3). There have been two theories related to this phrase: (1) had a higher moral sense than the king, which seems to be implied from Est 8:15 or (2) citizens of Susa were planning how and who to kill in order to get their property.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. Why did Mordecai not bow down to Haman?
2. Are we certain that Haman is a relative of Agag, a king of the Amalekites?
3. How were lots cast and what was their purpose? Are there other examples in the OT?
4. How large a sum of money is ten thousand talents of silver and how does it relate to the economy of the day?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
the thirteenth day. Ominous number. See App-10. Note the three thirteens: Est 3:12, Est 3:13; Est 8:12.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Est 3:12-15
Est 3:12-15
THE DAY WAS SET;
THE DECREE WAS SIGNED;
THE MASSACRE WAS ANNOUNCED
“Then were the king’s scribes called, in the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month; and there was written according to all that Haman commanded unto the king’s satraps, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the princes of every people, to every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, in the name of king Ahashuerus was it written, and it was sealed with the king’s ring. And the letters were sent by posts, into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey. A copy of the writing, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published unto all the peoples, that they should be ready against that day. The posts went forth in haste by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given out in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Shushan was perplexed.”
God’s people never faced a more terribile threat than this one. The egomaniac Haman had engineered that which might easily have destroyed the entire race of the chosen people; but there was no way that God would have allowed such a thing to happen; because all of the glorious promises of Messiah to redeem men from their sins were contingent upon the preservation of the Israel of God until that Messiah was born in Bethlehem. God had foreseen this threat. He had foreseen it when king Saul was ordered to destroy the Amalekites. Saul failed to do so; but God did not abandon his people.
God used the drunken request of Xerxes to degrade Vashti the queen; he elevated an orphan Jewish girl to take her place; he planted the name of Mordecai in the chronicles of the king; and he would remind Xerxes of that fact at precisely the proper instant. Oh yes, for all of his power and hatred, Haman had undertaken to do that which was impossible.
“And the king and Haman sat down to drink” (Est 3:15). A little later in this narrative, we shall read of the execution of Haman by what amounted to his crucifixion; but, sad as a thing like that surely is, it should be remembered that Haman was the kind of man who could condemn unnumbered thousands, perhaps even as many as a million people, to murder by wholesale massacre, and then sit down to drink liquor and enjoy himself. The fate encountered by this servant of the devil was fully deserved.
E.M. Zerr:
Est 3:12. Having consented to the request of Haman, preparations were made to publish the edict. The work was to be done in a formal manner, and for that purpose the king’s scribes or secretaries were called to “take dictation.” The work was done on the 13th day of the first month, and was to be executed or completed the same day of the twelfth month. Lieutenants; governors; rulers. These were the various men that represented the king’s authority in the provinces throughout the vast empire. They differed slightly in rank according as the importance of their individual charges differed. According to the writing thereof means that the edict was written in the languages of the different people of the several provinces. The genuineness of the letters was made sure by being sealed with the king’s ring. I will quote a little more about the ring from Smith’s Bible Dictionary: “We may conclude from Exo 28:11 that the rings contained a stone engraven with a device or with the owner’s name. The ring was used as a stamp to impress the name of Ahasuerus on the documents.
Est 3:13. A post is defined in the lexicon as .a runner; today he is called a postman. The terrible edict was so worded that the complete destruction of the Jewish race was to be accomplished, as far as it existed in the realm of Persia.
Est 3:14. The official document was sent out 11 months before the time of execution. The reason for the general scattering of the edict was that they should be ready by the time the day came for the carrying out of the slaying and pillage.
Est 3:15. .The posts or runners were urged to publish the information as swiftly as possible. After they had been sent on their mission the king and Haman sat down to drink. We may be sure these two men had different motives for engaging in a round of imbibing. The king thought he was celebrating a fortunate escape from some national disaster at the hands of a gang of evil men. Haman thought he was regaling himself over a fiendish revenge for his wounded pride. There must have been something unusual in the whole proceeding, for the people of the capital city were perplexed. They could not have been aware of any visible reason for the harsh decree. In all of the years that the Jews had been interspersed throughout the empire, there had been no indication of trouble from them. Now to know of such a sudden and drastic decree was very confusing. Of course, the reader will not forget that the king was wholly unaware of the identity of the people against whom he had signed the edict.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Then were: Est 8:9-17
scribes: or, secretaries
according: Est 1:22, Est 8:9, Est 9:27
in the name: 1Ki 21:8, Dan 6:8, Dan 6:12, Dan 6:15
sealed: Est 8:2, Est 8:8, Est 8:10
Reciprocal: Gen 41:42 – his ring 2Ch 30:5 – established Est 4:3 – in every province Est 8:5 – letters Est 9:3 – the rulers Est 9:17 – of the same Est 9:20 – in all the provinces Est 9:22 – the days Psa 124:3 – Then they Dan 2:13 – the decree Dan 3:3 – the princes Dan 3:10 – hast made Dan 4:1 – unto all Dan 6:25 – king Col 2:14 – the handwriting
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Est 3:12-13. Then were the kings scribes called This he did so speedily, though it was a year before the intended execution, lest the king should change his mind, either through his own clemency, or the persuasion of others. It was, however, not wisely judged to let his design be known so long before it was to take effect; for the Jews might find some way to deliver themselves, or might steal out of the kingdom: but undoubtedly this was so ordered by the overruling providence of God. And to take the spoil of them for a prey Which was to induce the people to use the greater severity and readiness to execute this edict for their own advantage.