Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Esther 9:16

But the other Jews that [were] in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,

Seventy and five thousand – The Septuagint gives the number as 15,000; and this amount seems more in proportion to the 800 slain in Susa.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

But the other Jews that were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together,…. In a body, in their respective provinces and cities:

and stood for their lives; defended themselves against those that attacked them:

and had rest from their enemies; that selfsame day; all being destroyed by them, and none daring to appear against them:

and slew of their foes 75,000 men; that is, in all the provinces put together:

but they laid not their hands on the prey; [See comments on Es 9:7].

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

C. Peace

TEXT: Est. 9:16-19

16

And the other Jews that were in the kings provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of them that hated them seventy and five thousand; but on the spoil they laid not their hand.

17

This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

18

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

19

Therefore do the Jews of the villages, that dwell in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.

Todays English Version, Est. 9:16-19

The Jews in the provinces also organized and defended themselves. They rid themselves of their enemies by killing seventy-five thousand people who hated them. But they did no looting. This was on the thirteenth day of Adar. On the next day, the fourteenth, there was no more killing, and they made it a joyful day of feasting. The Jews of Susa, however, made the fifteenth a holiday, since they had slaughtered their enemies on the thirteenth and fourteenth and then stopped on the fifteenth. This is why Jews who live in small towns observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a joyous holiday, a time for feasting and giving gifts of food to one another.

COMMENTS

Est. 9:16-17 Cessation: Out in the provinces (which included the entire Persian empirefrom Asia Minor to India) the Jews organized and mobilized themselves. With the help of the Persian officials who had Persian and provincial troops at their command, the Jews killed 75,000 people who had attacked them on the 13th day of Adar. The LXX has the number 15,000 here rather than 75,000 and some critics have declared the Hebrew text to be incredible. Rawlinson says that the number 75,000 is believable. When one considers the vastness of the empire, the wide dispersion of the Jewish communities within that empire, the fact that the Persian officials throughout the empire gave aid to the Jews (probably with their troops), and the fact that the Persian officials were not all that careful to preserve the lives of provincials, one must admit that the number 75,000 is more credible than 15,000. The Jews killed 800 in the city of Susa alone. Multiply that number by 94 cities and you have slightly over 75,000. Do not forget there were 127 provinces in the empire (Est. 8:9). The author repeats the fact that the Jews did not plunder the properties of their dead enemies.

They needed only one day out in the provinces to kill all those who hated them; that was all done on the 13th of Adar (February-March). On the day following (while the Jews in the capital city of Susa were still fighting) these Jews of the provinces rested and declared a holiday. The Hebrew word nucha is translated rest. Nucha is more generic than shavat (Sabbath). Nucha connotes physical repose and tranquility while shavat denotes the legislative, ceremonial, spiritual rest.

Est. 9:18-19 Celebration: The circumstances of the struggle within the city of Susa (two days duration) resulted in a difference regarding the date of the day of rejoicing between the Jews of the capital city Susa, and the Jews of the provinces. The Jews of Susa could not rest until the third day which was the 15th of Adar; the provincial Jews rested on the 14th of Adar. When Esther and Mordecai attempted to set up a national celebration for this great deliverance some difficulty arose as to which day would be set aside for all Jews to commemorate it. It was diplomatically decided that both days would be kept (Est. 9:21).

We may learn the following lessons from this chapter:

1.

When justice and truth is on the side of a people, they command the respect of reasonable men.

2.

The forces of human government are ordained of God as tools for preservation of ordered society.

3.

The consequences of a mans evil is often suffered by his offspring.

4.

While it may be ethical to preserve the sanctity of human life by force, it is not ethical to take by force anothers property.

5.

Memorializing great victories of justice with holidays has didactic benefit for future generations.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(16) Seventy and five thousand.The number as given in the LXX. is fifteen thousand, perhaps a more probable number. On the whole history, Bishop Wordsworth well remarks, It shows the recklessness of human life, even of their own subjects, which then prevailed among the sovereigns of the most celebrated nations of the Eastern world; and it displays the ruinous consequences which would have resulted to human civilisation if Ahasuerus (Xerxes) had been victorious at Salamis. If Greece had not triumphed in that struggle with Asia, Oriental ruthlessness and Oriental polygamy might have become dominant in the West, and greater difficulties would have obstructed the progress of civilisation and Christianity. The Book of Esther reveals to us that the hand of God wrought for the deliverance of mankind at the Straits of Salamis, and on the banks of the Asopus at Plata, as well as for the preservation of the Jews in the provinces of Persia.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

16. And had rest from their enemies The position of these words in the middle of the verse is noticeably strange. There maybe here some disarrangement of the text, or it may be, as Keil suggests, “that the narrator desired at once to point out how the matter ended.” Such apparent disorder of the text is not always to be regarded as evidence of corruption by transcribers. The Hebrew writers are not always the best models of accuracy and perfection of literary style.

Seventy and five thousand “The slaughter of these seventy-five thousand shows,” says Wordsworth, “that a very large number of their heathen enemies, who had been exasperated against the Jews, had prepared themselves for an attack upon them; and that, presuming upon their own numbers and forces, as compared with the Jews, they assaulted them in order to destroy and despoil them, and to enrich themselves with their property; and that the Jews made a vigorous resistance, and, by the help of God, routed their assailants with a great discomfiture. The slaughter was not the consequence of a vindictive spirit in the Jews, but of the bitter animosity of their enemies; and it proves that the Jews would have been extinguished, (as Haman’s decree intended that they should be,) if God had not interfered to rescue them from destruction.”

The same writer also records the two following inferences from the history of this terrible slaughter: 1) “It shows the recklessness of human life, even of their own subjects, which then prevailed among the sovereigns of most celebrated nations of the Eastern world, and it displays the ruinous consequences which would have resulted to human civilization if Ahasuerus (Xerxes) had been victorious at Salamis. If Greece had not triumphed in that struggle with Asia, Oriental ruthlessness and Oriental polygamy might have become dominant in the West, and greater difficulties would have obstructed the progress of civilization and Christianity. The Book of Esther reveals to us that the hand of God wrought for the deliverance of mankind at the straits of Salamis, and on the banks of the Asopus, at Plataea, as well as for the preservation of the Jews in the provinces of Persia.” 2) “It also displays the unhappy consequences of that proud assumption of infallibility which was implied in the Medo-Persian maxim, that laws once enacted may never be repealed. Such a claim to the divine attribute of infallibility, whether it be made by Eastern potentates or Western pontiffs, shuts the door against repentance, and involves them in a perpetual necessity of erring, and is fraught with the most disastrous consequences to all who are under their sway.”

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Est 9:16 But the other Jews that [were] in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,

Ver. 16. But the other Jews that were, &c. ] Though they were but a nation, scattered and peeled, a contemptible and feeble folk, lately destined to destruction; yet by faith they subdue kingdoms, escape the edge of the sword, out of weakness become strong, wax valiant in fight, turn to flight whole armies of the aliens, Heb 11:33-34 , prevail and prosper against all the malignant power of Persia: thus were they helped with a little help (as it is, Dan 11:34 ), that God might have a great deal of glory, as indeed he had.

Gathered themselves together ] United their forces, as Est 9:2 , which while our ancestors (the old Britons) did not against the Romans who invaded them, they were easily and quickly conquered. Et dum pugnabant singuli vincebantur universi, And while they fought by themselves, they were all conquored. saith Tacitus, who was here, with his father-in-law, Agricola, an eye-witness of what he writeth.

And stood for their lives ] Not one whereof was lost in this hot encounter, in this sharp revenge they took off their avowed enemies. This was even a miracle of God’smercy: “Who would not fear thee, O King of nations,” &c.

And had rest from their enemies ] Or, That they might have rest from their enemies; who would not otherwise be quieted, but by the letting out of their life-blood; but would make an assault upon the harmless Jews, though it were to die for it; so that upon the matter they were their own deathsmen, besides the wilful loss of their immortal souls, which our Saviour showeth, Mat 16:26 , to be a loss, 1. Incomparable, 2. Irreparable.

And slew of their foes seventy and five thousand ] Neither was it any dishonour to them to be God Almighty’s slaughtermen. Even the good angels are executioners of God’s righteous judgments, as they were at Sodom, in Sennacherib’s army, and oft in the Revelation. There cannot be a better or more noble act than to do justice upon obstinate malefactors.

But they laid not their hands on the prey ] They would not once foul their fingers therewith. No godly man in Scripture is taxed for covetousness, that sordid sin. See Trapp on “ Est 9:10 “

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Est 9:16-17

16 Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces assembled, to defend their lives and rid themselves of their enemies, and kill 75, 000 of those who hated them; but they did not lay their hands on the plunder. 17This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.

Est 9:16-18 There is a cluster of seven INFINITIVE ABSOLUTES in these verses.

Est 9:16 seventy-five thousand Although the Septuagint changes this number to fifteen thousand, the MT, Josephus, and the Peshitta have the larger number. This large number is possible in a country as large as Persia (cf. Est 1:1; Est 8:9). However, this large number, like so many numbers in Esther, may be exaggerated for literary effect (e.g., Est 1:4; Est 2:12; Est 3:6; Est 3:9; Est 5:14; Est 8:10).

Est 9:17 This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing. This seems to be the purpose of the book of Esther, which is to document the origin of the Feast of Purim (cf. Est 9:23-28; Josephus Antiq. 11.6.13). Est 9:18-19 explains the two-day feast which later developed into a one day fast (usually the 13th of Adar) followed by a two-day feast. In later Judaism most walled cities observed Purim on the fourteenth of Adar, but in Jerusalem on the fifteenth.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

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

had rest from. Dr. Ginsburg thinks the Hebrew should read “to avenge themselves upon”. Compare Est 8:13.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

gathered themselves: Est 9:2, Est 8:11

stood: Est 8:11, Lev 26:7, Lev 26:8

Reciprocal: Gen 14:23 – That I Gen 34:27 – spoiled Est 9:10 – but on the spoil Est 9:15 – but on the prey

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Est 9:16. And had rest from their enemies Who could not stand before them, and therefore ceased to molest them. But they laid not their hands on the prey It is probable Mordecai, in his letters, had charged them not to make use of the liberty the king had given them to take the spoil, inasmuch as it appears they universally avoided it.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

9:16 But the other Jews that [were] in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for {g} their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their {h} foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,

(g) Read Ezr 8:11.

(h) Meaning, that they laid hands on no one that was not the enemy of God.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes