Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Esther 3:7
In the first month, that [is], the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that [is], the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, [to] the twelfth [month], that [is], the month Adar.
7 15 . Haman’s scheme for the extermination of the Jews
7. In the first month, which is the month Nisan ] the Hebraised form of the Babylonian Nisannu. It is the later substitute for the older Israelite name for the first month of the year, viz. Abib (see on Est 2:16), and corresponds to the latter part of March and beginning of April. The meaning of the word Nisan is uncertain. Some make it denote fruitfulness, others, beginning or origin.
Attention has been drawn to the tragic significance of thus plotting the destruction of the Jews in the month of their memorable deliverance from Egypt (Exo 13:4).
they cast Pur, that is, the lot ] Pur is a word perhaps borrowed from the Persian pre, a piece, fragment, and may be connected with the Latin pars, portio, or with Assyr. puru, or buru, a stone. But see further in Additional Note I, p. 67.
The custom of deciding by lot, by means of dice, or pieces of wood, or strips of paper or parchment, prevailed widely in the East, and was considered as a lawful means of committing the decision to Divine agency. Soothsayers and astrologers, who employed this among their methods of determining difficult questions, played an important part in Oriental society. The use of the lot among the Persians is mentioned by Herodotus (iii. 128) and by Xenophon ( Cyrop. i. 6. 44, iv. 5. 55). For a parallel among the Jews see 1Sa 14:41 f. (cp. Pro 16:33). We may compare Act 1:26.
from day to day, and from month to month ] In order to ensure the success of the scheme Haman seems to have gone through the process of testing each day of the successive months until the twelfth month and its thirteenth day (see Est 3:13) were reached, and declared favourable.
to the twelfth month] It would appear that by an error not uncommon among the copyists of manuscripts, the writer’s eye, owing to the repetition of the Hebrew for ‘month,’ passed over a clause, and that the original reading stood thus, and the lot fell upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month. This correction is supported by the LXX., though it reads ‘fourteenth’ for thirteenth.
According to Jewish tradition ( Megillah, 13 b) Haman tried month after month till he reached Adar. Moses died in that month. Hence Haman chose it, forgetting that in the same month Moses had also been born, and therefore from his (or rather, the Jewish) point of view it was likely to be as unfavourable to his purposes as any of the preceding. It should be added that the identity of the day of the month on which Moses was born with that on which he died is inferred by the Jewish commentator Rashi (Rabbi Solomon, son of Isaac, a.d. 1040 1105) from the words ‘I am an hundred and twenty years old this day,’ Deu 31:2, all that follows to the end of Deu 34:5 being assumed as included in the same day.
Adar ] the Babylonian ad ( d) ru, the meaning, however, being doubtful. As the last month of the year, it was followed by Nisan, the first of the next.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
In the first month … – i. e. in March or April of 474 B.C.
Pur is supposed to be an old Persian word etymologically connected with the Latin pars, and signifying part or lot. The practice of casting lots to obtain a lucky day still obtains in the East, and is probably extremely ancient. A lot seems to have been cast, or a throw of some kind made, for each day of the month and each month of the year. The day and month which obtained the best throws were then selected. Assyrian calendars note lucky and unlucky days as early as the eighth century B.C. Lots were in use both among the Oriental and the Classical nations from a remote antiquity.
Adar, the twelfth month, corresponds nearly to our March. It seems to have derived its name from adar, splendor, because of the brightness of the sun and the flowers at that time.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Est 3:7
In the first month, they cast Pur, that is, the lot.
The time of the lot
The drawing of the lot took place in the month Nisan, or about March of our year, and the day fixed by it was the thirteenth day of Adar, or February–a period of nearly twelve months intervening. The patience of Haman would be sadly tried by this result, but his superstitious fears would prevent him from acting contrary to the decision of Pur. In tracing the deep lines of providence in the whole narrative, however, we cannot help seeing a higher and more beneficent wisdom than that of chance. Had an earlier day been decided upon, sufficient time might not have been given to Mordecai to use the means which he did to frustrate the conspiracy. If the suspense of the Jews was a trial of their faith, and an incentive to prayer, the interval was also a boon in so far as it gave Mordecai leisure for deliberate action in view of the kings subsequent decree. No doubt, in this instance, the disposing of the lot was of the Lord–a disposing of it very different from the intention of those who used it. So may the lot become in the hands of those who believe in its decisions the means for the accomplishment of the retributive purposes of God. (T. McEwan.)
The blind method of revenge
Revenge, when it becomes a master passion, is the worst madness.
I. Revenge is blind in its method. This is illustrated in the conduct of Haman. He caused the lot to be cast to find out the favourable day for the accomplishment of his purpose.
1. He was blind to the fact that there is no chance.
2. He was blind to the fact that so-called chance might as easily be against him as for him.
3. He was blind to the fact that the lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.
II. Haman persisted in his revengeful purpose. What a glorious revolution would soon take place, if the good were as persistent in the pursuit of merciful purposes as the bad are in revengeful projects. Every bad passion is injurious in its permanence.
III. Revenge is destructive in its patience. Haman was willing to wait twelve months in order that his revenge might be the more signally marked. But his very patience worked his ruin. Time is not on the side of revengeful waiters. (W. Burrows, B. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. The first month] That is, of the civil year of the Jews.
The month Nisan] Answering to a part of our March and April.
The twelfth year of king Ahasuerus] According to the chronology in our Bibles, about five hundred and ten years before Christ.
They cast Pur, that is, the lot] This appears to be the Hebrew corruption of the pure Persian word [Persian] pari, which signifies any thing that happens fortuitously. There is an addition here in the Greek text that was probably in the original, and which makes this place very plain. I shall set down the whole verse, and give the Greek in a parenthesis, that it may be read consecutively with what is in the Hebrew: “In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman, from day to day, and from month to month.” ( , , “that they might destroy in one day the people of Mordecai; and the lot fell on the fourteenth day of the month Adar.”)
We see plainly intimated by the Hebrew text that they cast lots, or used a species of divination, to find which of the twelve months would be the most favourable for the execution of Haman’s design; and, having found the desired month, then they cast lots, or used divination, to find out which day of the said month would be the lucky day for the accomplishment of the enterprise. But the Hebrew text does not tell us the result of this divination; we are left to guess it out; but the Greek supplies this deficiency, and makes all clear. From it we find that, when they cast for the month, the month Adar was taken; and when they cast for the day, the fourteenth (Heb. thirteenth) of that month was taken.
Some have questioned whether Pur may not have signified also some game of chance, which they played before or with Haman, from day to day, to divert him from his melancholy, till the lucky time came in which he was to have the gratification of slaying all the people who were objects of his enmity; or they cast lots, or played, who should get the property of such and such opulent families. Holinshed, one of our ancient historians, informs us that, previously to the battle of Agincourt, the English army, under Henry V., were so thinned and weakened by disease, and the French army so numerous, that “Frenchmen, in the mean while, as though they had been sure of victory, made great triumphe, for the captaines had determined before how to divide the spoil; and the souldiers, the night before, had plaied the Englishmen at dice.” To this the chorus of Shakspeare alludes: –
“Proud of their numbers, and secure of soul,
The confident and over-lusty French
Do the low-rated English play at dice.
_____________ The poor condemned English,
Like sacrifices by their watchful fires,
Sit patiently and inly ruminate
The morning’s danger; and their gestures sad,
Investing lank-lean cheeks, and war-worn coats,
Presenteth them unto the gazing moon
So many horrid ghosts. HEN. V.
Monstrelet, who is an impartial writer, does not mention this.
Did Haman and his flatterers intend to divide the spoils of the designed-to-be-massacred Jews in some such manner as this?
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The diviners cast lots, according to the custom of those ancient and eastern people, what day and what month would be most lucky, not for his success with the king, (of whose compliance with his request he made no doubt,) but for the most effectual and universal extirpation of the Jews; wherein appears both his implacable malice, and unwearied diligence in seeking vengeance of them with so much and so long trouble to himself; and Gods singular providence in disposing the lot to that time, that so the Jews might have sufficient space of time to get the decree reversed, as they did.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. In the first month . . . theycast Pur, that is, the lotIn resorting to this method ofascertaining the most auspicious day for putting his atrocious schemeinto execution, Haman acted as the kings and nobles of Persia havealways done, never engaging in any enterprise without consulting theastrologers, and being satisfied as to the lucky hour. Vowing revengebut scorning to lay hands on a single victim, he meditated theextirpation of the whole Jewish race, who, he knew, were swornenemies of his countrymen; and by artfully representing them as apeople who were aliens in manners and habits, and enemies to the restof his subjects, he procured the king’s sanction of the intendedmassacre. One motive which he used in urging his point was addressedto the king’s cupidity. Fearing lest his master might object that theextermination of a numerous body of his subjects would seriouslydepress the public revenue, Haman promised to make up the loss.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
In the first month, that is the month Nisan,…. Which was the first month of the sacred year of the Jews, by divine appointment,
Ex 12:2, and there called Abib, and answers to part of February and part of March; from hence it is clear this book was written by a Jew, and very probably by Mordecai:
in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus; four years and near two months after his marriage of Esther, Es 2:16,
they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman; being a Persian word, it is explained in Hebrew a lot, the word signifying “steel” in the Persian language. Reland p conjectures that this was that sort of lot called “sideromantia”. Who cast this lot is not said; whether Haman himself, or one of his servants: perhaps a diviner. The latter Targum calls him Shimshai the scribe:
from day today, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is the month Adar; which answers to part of January and part of February; so that the lot was cast for every month and every day of the month throughout the year, to find out which was the most lucky month, and which the most lucky day in that month, to destroy the Jews in and none could be found till they came to the last month, and the thirteenth day of that month, Es 3:13, the providence of God so overruling the lot, that there might be time enough for the Jews, through the mediation of Esther to the king, to prevent their destruction; so in other nations the Heathens had their lucky and unlucky days q.
p Antiqu. Heb. par. 4. c. 12. sect. 1. q Vid. Macrob. Saturnal l. 1. c. 16. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 4. c. 20.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
To ensure the success of this great undertaking, viz., the extermination of all the Jews in the kingdom, Haman had recourse to the lot, that he might thus fix on a propitious day for the execution of his project. Astrology plays an important part among all ancient nations, nothing of any magnitude being undertaken without first consulting its professors concerning a favourable time and opportunity; comp. rem. on Eze 21:26.
Est 3:7 “In the first month, i.e., Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahashverosh, they cast Pur, i.e., the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to the twelfth month, i.e., the month Adar.” The subject of is left indefinite, because it is self-evident that this was done by some astrologer or magician who was versed in such matters. Bertheau tries unnaturally to make Haman the subject, and to combine the subsequent with : ”Haman cast Pur, i.e., the lot, before Haman,” which makes Pur signify: the lot before Haman. means in the presence of Haman, so that he also might see how the lot fell. is an Old-Persian word meaning lot ( sors ); in modern Persian, bara signifies time, case ( fois , cas ), para or pare , piece ( morceau, pice ), and behr , behre , and behre , lot, share, fate; comp. Zenker, Turco-Arabic and Persian Lexicon, pp. 162 and 229. The words ”from day to day, from month to the twelfth month,” must not be understood to say, that lots were cast day by day and month by month till the twelfth; but that in the first month lots were at once cast, one after the other, for all the days and months of the year, that a favourable day might be obtained. We do not know the manner in which this was done, “the way of casting lots being unknown to us.” The words: from month to the twelfth month, are remarkable; we should expect from month to month till the twelfth month. Bertheau supposes that the words were omitted after through the eye of the transcriber passing on from the first to the second. The text of the lxx actually contains such words, and the possibility of such an oversight on the part of a transcriber must certainly be admitted. In the book of Esther, however, the lxx translation is no critical authority, and it is just as possible that the author of the Hebrew book here expresses himself briefly and indefinitively, because he was now only concerned to state the month determined by lot for the undertaking, and intended to mention the day subsequently.
Est 3:8-9 Haman having by means of the lot fixed upon a favourable day for the execution of the massacre, betook himself to the king to obtain a royal decree for the purpose. He represented to the monarch: “There is a people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom, and their laws are different from all other people (i.e., from the laws of all other people), and they keep not the laws of the king, and it is not fitting for the king to leave them alone. Est 3:9. If it seem good to the king, let it be written (i.e., let a written decree be published) to destroy them; and I will weigh ten thousand talents of silver to those who do the business, that they may bring them into the treasuries of the king.” This proposal was very subtilly calculated. First Haman casts suspicion on the Jews as a nation scattered abroad and dwelling apart, and therefore unsociable, – as refractory, and therefore dangerous to the state; then he promises the king that their extermination will bring into the royal treasury a very considerable sum of money, viz., the property of the slaughtered. Ten thousand talents of silver, reckoned according to the Mosaic shekel, are 3,750,000, according to the civil shekel 1,875,000; see rem. on 1Ch 22:14. , those who execute a work, builders in 2Ki 12:12, are here and Est 9:3 the king’s men of business, who carry on the king’s business with respect to receipts and disbursements, the royal financiers.
Est 3:10 The king agreed to this proposal. He drew his signet ring from his hand, and delivered it to Haman, that he might prepare the edict in the king’s name, and give it by the impression of the royal seal the authority of an irrevocable decree; see rem. on Est 8:8. “To the enemy of the Jews” is added emphatically.
Est 3:11 Lest it should appear as though the king had been induced by the prospect held out of obtaining a sum of money, he awards this to Haman. “The silver be given to thee, and the people to do to them (let it be done to them) as seemeth good to thee.” precedes absolutely: as for the people of the Jews, etc.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Haman Obtains Leave to Slay the Jews. | B. C. 510. |
7 In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar. 8 And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them. 9 If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries. 10 And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy. 11 And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee. 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.
Haman values himself upon that bold and daring thought, which he fancied well became his great spirit, of destroying all the Jews–an undertaking worthy of its author, and which he promised himself would perpetuate his memory. He doubts not but to find desperate and bloody hands enough to cut all their throats if the king will but give him leave. How he obtained leave, and commission to do it, we are here told. He had the king’s ear, let him alone to manage him.
I. He makes a false and malicious representation of Jews, and their character, to the king, v. 8. The enemies of God’s people could not give them such bad treatment as they do if they did not first give them a bad name. He would have the king believe, 1. That the Jews were a despicable people, and that it was not for his credit to harbour them:”A certain people there is,” without name, as if nobody knew whence they came and what they were; “they are not incorporated, but scattered abroad and dispersed in all the provinces as fugitives and vagabonds on the earth, and inmates in all countries, the burden and scandal of the places where they live.” 2. That they were a dangerous people, and that it was not safe to harbour them. “They have laws and usages of their own, and conform not to the statutes of the kingdom and the customs of the country; and therefore they may be looked upon as disaffected to the government and likely to infect others with their singularities, which may end in a rebellion.” It is no new thing for the best of men to have such invidious characters as these given of them; if it be no sin to kill them, it is no sin to belie them.
II. He bids high for leave to destroy them all, v. 9. He knew there were many that hated the Jews, and would willingly fall upon them if they might but have a commission: Let it be written therefore that they may be destroyed. Give but orders for a general massacre of all the Jews, and Haman will undertake it shall be easily done. If the king will gratify him in this matter, he will make him a present of ten thousand talents, which shall be paid into the king’s treasuries. This, he thought, would be a powerful inducement to the king to consent, and would obviate the strongest objection against him, which was that the government must needs sustain loss in its revenues by the destruction of so many of its subjects; so great a sum, he hoped, would be equivalent for that. Proud and malicious men will not stick at the expenses of their revenge, nor spare any cost to gratify it. Yet no doubt Haman knew how to re-imburse himself out of the spoil of the Jews, which his janizaries were to seize for him (v. 13), and so to make them bear the charges of their own ruin; while he himself hoped to be not only a saver but a gainer by the bargain.
III. He obtains what he desired, a full commission to do what he would with the Jews, Est 3:10; Est 3:11. The king was so inattentive to business, and so bewitched with Haman, that he took no time to examine the truth of his allegations, but was as willing as Haman could wish to believe the worst concerning the Jews, and therefore he gave them up into his hands, as lambs to the lion: The people are thine, do with them as it seemeth good unto thee. He does not say, “Kill them, slay them” (hoping Haman’s own cooler thoughts would abate the rigour of that sentence and induce him to sell them for slaves); but “Do what thou wilt with them.” And so little did he consider how much he should lose in his tribute, and how much Haman would gain in the spoil, that he gave him withal the ten thousand talents: The silver is thine. Such an implicit confidence likewise he had in Haman, and so perfectly had he abandoned all care of his kingdom, that he gave Haman his ring, his privy-seal, or sign-manual, wherewith to confirm whatever edict he pleased to draw up for this purpose. Miserable is the kingdom that is at the disposal of such a head as this, which has one ear only, and a nose to be led by, but neither eyes nor brains, nor scarcely a tongue of its own.
IV. He then consults with his soothsayers to find out a lucky day for the designed massacre, v. 7. The resolve was taken up in the first month, in the twelfth year of the king, when Esther had been his wife about five years. Some day or other in that year must be pitched upon; and, as if he doubted not but that Heaven would favour his design and further it, he refers it to the lot, that is, to the divine Providence, to choose the day for him; but that, in the decision, proved a better friend to the Jews than to him, for the lot fell upon the twelfth month, so that Mordecai and Esther had eleven months to turn themselves in for the defeating of the design, or, if they could not defeat it, space would be left for the Jews to make their escape and shift for their safety. Haman, though eager to have the Jews cut off, yet will submit to the laws of his superstition, and not anticipate the supposed fortunate day, no, not to gratify his impatient revenge. Probably he was in some fear lest the Jews should prove too hard for their enemies, and therefore durst not venture on such a hazardous enterprise but under the smiles of a good omen. This may shame us, who often acquiesce not in the directions and disposals of Providence when they cross our desires and intentions. He that believeth the lot, much more that believeth the promise, will not make haste. But see how God’s wisdom serves its own purposes by men’s folly. Haman has appealed to the lot, and to the lot he shall go, which, by adjourning the execution, gives judgment against him and breaks the neck of the plot.
V. The bloody edict is hereupon drawn up, signed, and published, giving orders to the militia of every province to be ready against the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, and, on that day, to murder all the Jews, men, women, and children, and seize their effects, v. 12-14. Had the decree been to banish all the Jews and expel them out of the king’s dominions, it would have been severe enough; but surely never any act of cruelty appeared so barefaced as this, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all the Jews, appointing them as sheep for the slaughter without showing any cause for so doing. No crime is laid to their charge; it is not pretended that they were obnoxious to the public justice, nor is any condition offered, upon performance of which they might have their lives spared; but die they must, without mercy. Thus have the church’s enemies thirsted after blood, the blood of the saints and the martyrs of Jesus, and drunk of it till they have been perfectly intoxicated (Rev. xvii. 6); yet still, like the horse-leech, they cry, Give, give. This cruel offer is ratified with the king’s seal, directed to the king’s lieutenants, and drawn up in the king’s name, and yet the king knows not what he does. Posts are sent out, with all expedition, to carry copies of the decree to the respective provinces, v. 15. See how restless the malice of the church’s enemies is: it will spare no pains; it will lose no time.
VI. The different temper of the court and city hereupon. 1. The court was very merry upon it: The king and Haman sat down to drink, perhaps to drink “Confusion to all the Jews.” Haman was afraid lest the king’s conscience should smite him for what he had done and he should begin to wish it undone again, to prevent which he engrossed him to himself, and kept him drinking. This cursed method many take to drown their convictions, and harden their own hearts and the hearts of others in sin. 2. The city was very sad upon it (and the other cities of the kingdom, no doubt, when they had notice of it): The city Shushan was perplexed, not only the Jews themselves, but all their neighbours that had any principles of justice and compassion. It grieved them to see their king so abused, to see wickedness in the place of judgment (Eccl. iii. 16), to see men that lived peaceably treated so barbarously; and what would be the consequences of it to themselves they knew not. But the king and Haman cared for none of these things. Note, It is an absurd and impious thing to indulge ourselves in mirth and pleasure when the church is in distress and the public are perplexed.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Est. 3:7.] The first month Nisan corresponds nearly with our April. The twelfth month Adar with our March. An interval of eleven months. is an old Persian word meaning lot (sors). The words from day to day, from month to the twelfth month, must not be understood to say that lots were cast day by day, and month by month till the twelfth; but that in the first month lots were at once cast, one after the other, for all the days and months of the year, that a favourable day might be obtained. We do not know the manner in which this was done, the way of casting lots being unknown to us.Keil. But Rawlinson says Pur is supposed to be an old Persian word etymologically connected with the Latin pars, and signifying part or lot. In modern Persian parch has that meaning. The recovered fragments of the old language have not, however, yielded any similar root. may be regarded as an impersonal verb, and refers to some one whose office it was to cast lots.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH. Est. 3:7
THE BLIND METHOD OF REVENGE
This is curious, that there should be method in madness. Insanity is the result of mere mental confusion or distraction. Sometimes it arises from the preponderance of one idea, and that idea is pursued with marvellous persistence. It has its method, but by being narrow in its vision it becomes blind in its pursuit. Revenge when it becomes a master passion is the worst madness. It has its method, but no wonder that it is blind. It is persistent in seeking to carry out its revengeful project. It is patient until the time has arrived to strike the deadly blow.
I. Revenge is blind in its method. Let the conduct of Haman, as the embodiment of revenge, be our illustration. He caused the lot to be cast in order to find out the favourable day for the accomplishment of his fiendish purpose. We are astonished to find method in him who was full of wrath; but we are not astonished to find that he was blind in his proceeding. (a) He was blind to the fact that there is no chance. His course was self-contradictory. He consulted chance in order to make a definite arrangement. A kind of blindness men often display. (b) He was blind to the fact that so-called chance might as easily be against him as for him. He evidently thought himself all-important, and that the paper drawn out of the pitcher would most certainly have written on it the lucky day. Men that trust to chance will in the long run find that they have been fools for their pains. (c) He was blind to the fact that the lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. It was so here. The lot was disposed to the complete discomfiture and overthrow of revengeful Haman, and to the salvation of Mordecai and his people.
II. Revenge is injurious in its persistence. Haman persisted in his revengeful purpose. The pertinacity of the man is marvellous. What a glorious revolution would soon take place if the good were as persistent in the pursuit of merciful purposes as the bad are in revengeful projects. Every bad passion is injurious in its permanence. More injurious to its subject than to its object. Haman was doing himself more injury and rendering himself more miserable than he could have done or rendered Mordecai even if all his purpose had been accomplished. Let not the sun go down on your wrath is a wise lesson. The wise will let their anger cool, but in the bosom of a fool it burns till morning light.
III. Revenge is destructive in its patience. Haman was willing to wait twelve months in order that his revenge might be the more signally marked, and his triumph the greater. But his very patience worked his ruin. We sometimes say time is on the side of him who will but wait. But time asks what is the character of the waiter, and what is the purpose he has in view. Time is not on the side of revengeful waiters. Time holds in its hands no rewards to be presented in the distant future to the wicked. Every man must suffer either here or hereafter who pursues a course of seeking to avenge his wrongs.
Let Hamans followers ponder the telling proverbsCurses, like chickens, always come home to roost; they return, that is, to those from whom they went forth. Ashes always fly back in the face of him that throws them. Harm watch, harm catch. Who sows thorns, let him not walk barefoot. Hear the instructive voice of PaulDearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Est. 3:7
In the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus.When Esther had now been queen above four years, and, being greatly beloved, was in a capacity to do her people good. This was a sweet providence; the remedy was ready before the disease broke out. No country hath more venomous creatures than Egypt, none more antidotes. So godliness hath many troubles, and so many helps against trouble.Trapp.
They cast Pur, that is, the lot.The Septuagint preserves a clause of this verse which assists to explain its meaning. It thus reads, They cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman, from day to day, and from month to month (that he might destroy in one day the race of Mordecai, and the lot fell for the fourteenth) of the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar. From this it appears that the lots were cast in order to determine the month and the day of the month which might be most propitious for this barbarous undertaking, or most calamitous for the Jews.Illustrated Commentary.
The method of procedure seems to have been this, that at the beginning of the first month Haman caused the diviners whom he kept about him to cast the lot to determine what day of the month, and what month of the year, would bring his design to a successful termination. In this manner he learnt that the thirteenth day of the twelfth month would be the propitious day. The interval was long, nearly a whole year; but this was brought about by a special providence, in order that the scheme might be defeated, and the projector of it visited with the punishment he merited. Under all systems of false religion, divination, or the attempt to pry into futurity so as to get light cast upon contingent affairs, has been largely practised. We find reference made to it in the Book of Genesis, as an Egyptian custom, when the cup which was put into Benjamins sack is called that by which Joseph divined. The Babylonians or Chaldans, however, seem to have been addicted to divination beyond all other nations, and were indeed proverbial for the use of it. There are several references made to this in the prophetic books. The Persians also were addicted to the same practices; and it is said that among that people even at the present day, no one commences a journey, or almost any work the most trifling, without consulting an almanac, or an astrologer, for a fortunate moment. It would seem, indeed, as if there were a natural tendency in the human mind to read futurity by certain devices of its own. We hear sometimes of individuals in our own day who are so weak as to suffer themselves to become the dupes of designing knaves, who for money pretend by certain signs and omens to foretell what will be the result of matters in which they are interested. One could afford to smile at the absurd credulity which thus allows itself to be imposed upon, if it were not that the cherishing the desire to know the future, and having recourse to any such means to have it gratified, is denounced in the Scripture as impiety. The Jewish people were solemnly warned against such procedure, that they might not by means of it degrade and pollute themselves as the heathen did. No rational man will suppose that by casting lots, or by observing the flight of birds, or by inspecting the entrails of an animal slain in sacrifice, or by astrology, or by any of the other methods which were employed to discover what day or hour would be suitable for an undertaking, or what would be the issue of it, a true result could be obtained. Yet, as all these things formed part of the instrumentality by which Satan kept up his dominion over the minds of men, we can conceive that sometimes in the Divine providence they might be permitted to take effect, to punish those who were given over to a blind and reprobate mind, and that, as in the case of Hamans lots, there might be an overruling of human sin and folly to work out the purposes of the Divine government.
It is natural for us to desire to lift up the veil; and sometimes, in pressing emergencies, we would give much to be enabled to do this. But since the word of God tells us that all events are under his control, and that his eye is ever on his people, and all that concerns them, for their good, we may well wait patiently for the evolution of his purposes.Davidson.
Superstition and imposture have always been ready to lend their aid to the worst and most diabolical deeds. It was customary among the ancients to divide their days into lucky and unlucky, and they were anxious to undertake any great work on a propitious day. Among the various ways to which they had recourse for ascertaining this was the lot, which was used on this occasion by Haman. It is of little importance to ascertain the particular mode of casting the lot, whether it was by means of dice, or other instruments cast into the urn, or by throwing arrows or other missiles, accompanied with certain magical actions.
Observe the overruling providence of God. During an interval of eleven months, Mordecai and Esther had time to use means for defeating the design, and if they proved unsuccessful, the Jews had time to shift for their lives. The hearts of all men are in the hand of the Lord, who can turn them as he pleaseth. Haman was the slave of superstition, which controlled his most violent passions, and by means of it his wrath was restrained, and its intentions brought to nought. The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth; the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Haman has appealed to the lot, and to the lot he shall go, which, by adjourning the execution, gives judgment against him, and breaks the neck of the plot.McCrie.
There is a proverb to the effect that the devil limps, and any who look thoughtfully into history or more private affairs will find it confirmed. That is to say, the god of this world betrays himself, and cannot help betraying himself, by leaving some point unguarded, by doing something unwise, even when much power and cunning have been brought into play. Or, to put the same truth in another aspect, when the enemies of God and man are most busy, and seem to be most successful, he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision. There were blunders in Hamans plot against the people of God which secured its failure. Why did he offer two millions sterling as compensation for the loss of revenue, at the same time that he was telling Ahasuerus it was not for the kings profit to suffer the Jews to live? If the king had taken time to think, he would have detected a selfish motive under the inconsistent offer. It did not escape Esther when her time came to speak.A. M. Symington, B.A.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3
Est. 3:7. Lot casting. The old interpreter addeth in urnam, into the pitcher. And the new annotations tell us that, about casting lots, there was a pitcher into which papers, with names of the several months written on them, and rolled up, were cast; yea, also papers with the name of every day and of every month were cast in; then one, blindfolded, put in his hand, and pulled out a paper, and according to the marks which they had set down, such a month proved lucky, and such a day in the month; and, by Gods providence, it so fell out that their supposed lucky day was on the twelfth month, whereby it came to pass that their plot was defeated before the time of accomplishing thereof.Trapp.
Est. 3:7. Deciding by lot. In nearly all cases where reason cannot decide, or where the right of several claimants to one article has to be settled, recourse is had to the lot, which causeth contentions to cease. In the East a young man is either so accomplished, or so rich, or so respectable, that many fathers aspire to the honour of calling him son-in-law. Their daughters are said to be beautiful, wealthy, and of a good family; what is he to do? The name of each young lady is written on a separate piece of olah, and then all are mixed together. The youth and his friends then go to the front of the temple; and being seated, a person who is passing by at the time is called, and requested to take one of the pieces of olah, on which a ladys name is inscribed, and place it near the anxious candidate. This being done, it is opened, and she whose name is written there becomes his wife.Oriental Illustrations.
Est. 3:7. The leech and surgeon. When a surgeon puts a leech upon a patient, his intention is to heal; the leech follows the instincts of its nature, and the two work together to produce the desired result. When Josephs brethren sold him into Egypt, their intention was to humiliate him and to be rid of him; but it was made to serve Gods intention, which was to exalt him. So Haman planned for the destruction of the Jewish people, and delayed his purpose; but it was Gods purpose to save. Hamans delay hastened the purpose of God. Should we not rather say that God made use of Hamans delay to bring about his gracious purpose of deliverance to Israel and destruction to their enemies?
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
B. Subterfuge of Haman
TEXT: Est. 3:7-11
7
In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
8
And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the kings laws: therefore it is not for the kings profit to suffer them.
9
If it please the king, let it be written that they be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those that have the charge of the kings business, to bring it into the kings treasuries.
10
And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews enemy.
11
And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.
Todays English Version, Est. 3:7-11
In the twelfth year of King Xerxes rule in the first month, the month of Nisan, Haman ordered the lots to be cast (purim they were called) to find out the right day and month to carry out his plot. The thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, was decided on.
So Haman told the king, There is a certain race of people scattered all over your empire and found in every province. They observe customs that are not like those of any other people. Moreover, they do not obey the laws of the empire, so it is not in your best interests to tolerate them. If it please Your Majesty, issue a decree that they are to be put to death. If you do, I guarantee that I will be able to put 375 tons of silver into the royal treasury for the administration of the empire.
The king took off his ring, which was used to stamp proclamations and make them official, and gave it to the enemy of the Jewish people, Haman son of Hammedatha, the descendant of Agag. The king told him, The people and their money are yours; do as you like with them.
COMMENTS
Est. 3:7-8 Perjury: In the first month which is called Nisan, Haman made his genocidal plans for the Jewish people. Nisan was the first month of the Jewish religious calendar. The word Nisan (meaning, the month of flowers) was the word the Jews of the Babylonian exile substituted for the old Mosaic name of the first month, Abib. Nisan is comparable to March-April of the Gregorian calendar. The twelfth year of Xerxes is 474 B.C. The word Pur in Hebrew is probably a word borrowed from the Assyrian word puru which means stone. It came to mean a lot for casting to determine an issue. The casting of lots was a familiar practice of ancient Eastern civilizations, even of the Hebrews (cf. Pro. 16:33; Num. 26:55; Eze. 48:29; Pro. 18:18; Jon. 1:7; Act. 1:26, etc.). Lots were drawn or thrown in various ways; sometimes by means of stone or ivory dice; sometimes by sets of intricately carved wooden sticks; by strips of parchment and other means. Hamans lots were probably some type of numbered or figured stones.
Haman cast lots to decide the day of the month and the month of the year. The lots fell upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (according to the Jewish calendar) Adar. Adar is the same as February-March (Est. 3:13). It appears that Haman tried the lot over and over until it finally signaled the above date. We are not to suppose that Haman took a whole year to cast the lots. In approximately 365 throws of the lots a decision would have to be reached. That would take no more than an hour or two. Casting the lots was, according to pagan superstition, leaving the decisive choice up to the gods of Fortune or Fate. This was to give divine sanction to the choice. Little did Haman know that the God of Mordecai and the Jews and of all menthe only real and true Godwas taking a divine hand in the affairs of the Persian-Jewish confrontation. Having religiously decided which day he should kill the Jews, Haman proceeds with the next phase of his planned mass murder. He will go to the emperor with his lies about the Jewish people.
Hamans casual statement, There is a certain people scattered abroad . . . does not immediately impress us with the enormity of what he is about to propose. He is about to call for the extermination of the whole world-wide Jewish community. All the provinces of thy kingdom would include the vast territory from India in the east, to Asia Minor in the west, Ethiopia in the south and the Caucasus Mountains (of southern Russia) in the north. It would include the Jews who had returned to Palestine a hundred years earlier. How many Jews would this include? We can only conjectureperhaps two or three million. The first captivity of the Jewish nation took place in 721 B.C. (at the hands of the Assyrians); the second captivity took place in 606586 B.C. (at the hands of the Babylonians.) Esther, Mordecai, and Haman are one hundred years and perhaps three generations later. This allows plenty of time for wide dispersion and extensive multiplication of the Jewish people. Josephus records that a million Jews were slain in the seige of Jerusalem alone in 6670 A.D. There may have been even more than 3,000,000 Jews dispersed throughout the Persian empire in Esthers day. The Sibylline Oracles (250 B.C.) said, Every land and every sea is full of thee. (see lSBE, art., Dispersion, Vol. II, pg. 855859 for detailed information on world-wide Judaism). The magnitude of the atrocity is almost incredible when it is realized that Haman is planning to eradicate a whole race of peopleall because his pride has been wounded by one man! Hamans first assault upon the Jewish people is that they are all over the place.
Next, he brings up their cultural peculiarities. Their laws are diverse from those of every people. That is a true statement but it should be qualified. Of course, the Jews had religious doctrines and practices quite different from the heathen peoples among whom they lived. Because the Jews worshipped the One, True God, and had His Divine revelation in human language, their ethics were much higher and their human relationships much more benevolent than that of the heathen. Their laws of diet and dress were directly connected to their religion. Sometimes the religious scruples of the Jews were in conflict with the political ideologies of pagan nations because pagan emperors claimed divinity and required worship from all subjects. When Jews were left free to worship according to the dictates of their torah, they were otherwise good and loyal citizens of any land in which they might dwell (e.g. Daniel, Nehemiah, Ezra, etc.). The Jewish Talmud represents Haman as saying, They do not eat with us, nor drink with us, nor intermarry with us. Since the Persians allowed all conquered nations to retain their own religious and cultural practices so long as they did not constitute sedition, Hamans information poses no real threat to the security of Xerxes empire. Hamans next accusation, They do not keep the kings laws is, if true, a serious threat to Xerxes and Persia. This was not true (except for cases mentioned earlier having to do with Jewish scruples against any form of idolatry). The Jews were law abiding citizens. Many Jews made great contributions in politics, science, the arts and finance in every country where they dwelt. Jeremiah the prophet instructed his countrymen who were about to be exiled into the Mesopotamian area, Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare (Jer. 29:5-7). Rabbinic principle was established from Jeremiahs instructions, The law of the country in which you live is binding. The Jews were faithful and loyal subjects of the Persian emperors from Cyrus the Great to Darius Codomannus.
Est. 3:9-11 Payoff: Hamans rage is so consuming he is willing to pay a tremendous bribe to the emperor. Hamans offer is ten thousand talents of silver. This is a sum equivalent to approximately $10,000,000 U.S. currency. Herodotus estimated the sum equal to the annual revenue in silver of the whole Persian empire. Hamans offer was probably tempting since Xerxes recent military fiasco in Greece had drained the Persian royal treasury. When Xerxes gave his signet ring to Haman he was allowing Haman to do what he asked with full sanction and authority of the emperial crown. The immediate response of Xerxes to the request of Haman, without any royal questions or investigations into the ethics or practicality of such genocide, reinforces the characterization of Xerxes as an immature, quick-tempered, vacillating despot.
Xerxes reply, The silver is given to thee . . ., makes it appear that he refused the offer of Hamans ten thousand talents. But Mordecais report of the incident to Hathach, Esthers attendant, implies that Xerxes did, after all, accept the money (cf. Est. 4:7). What is apparently meant by Xerxes reply is that Haman is authorized to destroy the Jews and plunder their possessions. The silver of Est. 3:11 is the silver of the Jews that shall belong to Haman. Hamans bribe of ten thousand talents may be nearly recouped in his royal mandate to pillage the property of the whole Jewish citizenry of Persia.
Massacre of an entire race shocks the modern western mind. However, the Persian emperor just before Xerxes, Darius Hystaspis, ordered the extermination of the Magi (a whole race of Medes who had rebelled under Cambyses). This great massacre was commemorated annually in Persia. About 100 years before that a massacre of the Scythians had occurred. Recent modern totalitarian tyrants have also attempted genocide on various races and cultures.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(7) In the first month . . . the twelfth year.In the March or April of 474 B.C.
Nisan.The later name of the month, known in the Pentateuch as Abib. In this month the Passover had been first instituted, when God smote the Egyptians with a terrible visitation, the death of the first-born, and bade the destroying angel spare the houses with the blood-besprinkled door-posts. It was in the same month that the Passover received its final fulfilment, when Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us, when no mere earthly Egypt was discomfited, but principalities and powers of evil.
Pur.This is evidently a Persian word for lot, for both here and in Est. 9:24 the usual Hebrew word is added. It is doubtless connected with the Latin pars, portio. and the English part. The people who cast Pur were seeking for a lucky day, as indicated by the lots, for the purpose in hand. A lot was cast for each day of the month, and for each month in the year, and in some way or other one day and one mouth were indicated as the most favourable. The notion of lucky and unlucky days seems to have been prevalent in the East in early times. and iudeed has, to a certain extent. found credence in the West.
The twelfth month.The lucky month is thus indicated, but not the day. The LXX. adds a clause saying that it was on the fourteenth day, doubtless an interpolation on the strength of Est. 3:13.
Adar.The lunar month ending at the new moon in March. It was the twelfth month, so that nearly a year would intervene between the throwing of the lot and the carrying out of the scheme. Thus in Gods providence ample time was allowed for redressing matters.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. The first month Nisan Corresponding nearly with our April. It was the first month of the Jewish year, the month of the passover.
Exo 12:2. It was called also Abib. Exo 13:4; Exo 34:18.
They cast Pur Pur is a Persian word, and, according to our author, signifies the lot. Haman’s diviners cast lots before him in order to determine a favourable or lucky day for carrying out his fierce design against the Jews. “The practice of casting lots,” says Rawlinson, “to obtain a lucky day, remains still in the East, and is probably extremely ancient. Assyrian calendars note lucky and unlucky days as early as the eighth century B.C. Lots were in use both among the oriental and the classical nations from a remote antiquity.
From day to day We are not to understand that they spent a whole year in casting lots. On the first month they cast lots for each day of the month, and for each month of the year, and then, comparing all together, decided which was the most lucky day for their purpose. They fixed upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month. Est 3:13; Est 8:12; Est 9:1.
To the twelfth month Literally, from month to month the twelfth. The twelfth month was called Adar, and corresponds nearly with our March. We should not fail to observe the providence that so disposed the lot in this case (Pro 16:33) as to defer the execution of Haman’s bloody design for nearly a year, thus affording time for Mordecai and Esther to secure its defeat.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
EXPOSITION
HAMAN CASTS LOTS TO OBTAIN A LUCKY DAY FOR HIS ENTERPRISE, AND OBTAINS A DAY IN THE MONTH ADAR, THE LAST MONTH OF THE YEAR (Est 3:7). Having determined on a general massacre of the Jews on a given day, as the best mode of ridding the empire of them, Haman thought it of supreme importance, to select for the massacre a propitious and fortunate day. Lucky and unlucky days are recognised generally throughout the East; and it is a wide-spread practice, when any affair of consequence is taken in hand, to obtain a determination of the time for commencing it, or carrying it into effect, by calling in the arbitrement of Chance. Haman had recourse to “the lot,” and by means of it obtained, as the fight day for his purpose, the 13th of Adar, which was more than ten months distant. The long delay was no doubt unpalateable, but he thought himself bound to submit to it, and took his further measures accordingly.
Est 3:7
In the first month, the month Nisan. See the comment on Neh 2:1. This name was first given to the month by the Jews after the return from the captivity. It was the Babylonian name of the first month of the year, and superseded the old Jewish name, Abib. The twelfth year of Ahasuerusb.c. 474, if Ahasuerus be Xerxes. They cast Pur, that is, the lot. The superstitious use of lots has always been prevalent in the East, and continues to the present day. Lots were drawn, or thrown, m various ways: sometimes by means of dice, sometimes by slips of wood, or strips of parchment or paper, and also in other manners. Even the Jews supposed a special Providence to preside over the casting of lots (Pro 16:33), and thought that matters decided in this way were decided by God. Haman appears to have cast lots, first, as to the day of the month which he should fix for the massacre, and secondly as to the month in which it should take place. Apparently the lot fell out for the thirteenth day (Neh 2:13), and for the twelfth month, the last month in the year. The word “Pur” is not Hebrew it is supposed to be Old Persian, and to be connected with Mod. Pers. pareh, Lat. pars, Greek . To the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar. Adar is, like Nisan, a Babylonian word, perhaps connected with edder, “splendour.” The month so named corresponded nearly with March, when the sun begins to have great power in Western Asia.
Est 3:8-15
HAMAN PERSUADES AHASUERUS TO PUBLISH A DECREE COMMANDING THE DESTRUCTION OF ALL THE JEWS IN HIS KINGDOM ON THE ENSUING THIRTEENTH DAY OF ADAR (Est 3:8-15). Having formed his own resolve, it remained for Haman to bring his proposal before Ahasuerus in such a shape as should secure his acquiescence in it. For this purpose he thought it best, first, to raise a prejudice against the Jews by representing them as bad subjects, causing trouble through the peculiarity of their own laws, and still more through their unwillingness to render obedience to the Persian laws (Est 3:8). In support of this last statement he would no doubt, if questioned, have adduced the conduct of Mordecai, who persisted in “transgressing the king’s commandment,” and gave as his only reason that he was a Jew, and therefore could not obey it (Est 3:4). As, however, he doubted the effect of this reasoning on his royal master, he held in reserve an argument of another kind, an appeal to the king’s cupidity, which constituted his main reliance. If the king gave his consent to the destruction of the Jewish nation, Haman undertook to pay into the royal treasuries, out of his private means, a sum which cannot be estimated at much less than two millions and a quarter of pounds sterling, and which may have amounted to a much higher figure (Est 3:9). The effect of this argument upon Ahasuerus was decisive; he at once took his signet-ring from his finger, and made it over to his minister (Est 3:10), thus enabling him to promulgate any decree that he pleased, and he openly declared that he gave over the Jewish nation, their lives and properties, into Haman’s hands (Est 3:11). Haman “struck while the iron was hot.” The king’s scribes were put in requisitiona decree was composed, numerous copies of it made, the royal seal am,ca to each (Est 3:12), and a copy despatched forthwith to each governor of a province by the royal post, ordering the complete destruction of the Jews within his province, young and old, men, women, and children, on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and the confiscation of their property (Est 3:13). The posts started off with all speed, “being hastened by the king’s commandment” (Est 3:15); and the two men who had plotted a nation’s extermination, as if they had done a good day’s work, and deserved refreshment, “sat down to drink.” But the Persians generally were less satisfied with the decree than their monarch and his minister; it surprised and startled them; “the city Shushan was perplexed.”
Est 3:8
There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed. It is not always borne in mind how large a part of the Jewish nation remained in the lands to which they had been carried away captive, after the permission had been given to return. Josephus notes that the richer and more influential of the Babylonian Jews were very little inclined to quit Babylon (‘Ant. Jud.,’ 11:1). There was evidently a large Jewish colony at Susa (infra, Est 9:12-15). The Book of Tobit shows that Israelites, scarcely to be distinguished from Jews, were settled in Rhages and Ecbatana. The present passage is important as showing the early wide dispersion of the Jewish people. Their laws are diverse. A true charge, but a weak argument for their destruction, more especially as the Persians allowed all the conquered nations to retain their own laws and usages. Neither keep they the king’s laws. Important, if true. But it was not true in any broad and general sense. There might be an occasional royal edict which a Jew could not obey; but the laws of the Medes and Persians were in the main righteous laws, and the Jews readily observed them. They were faithful and loyal subjects of the Achaemenian monarchs from first to last from Cyrus to Darius Codomannus. For the king’s profit. Rather, as in the margin, “meet” or “fitting for the king.” To suffer them. Or, “to let them alone.”
Est 3:9
If it please the king, lot it be written that they may be destroyed, and I will pay, etc. This startling proposition, to which the king might well have demurred, for even Xerxes could scarcely have regarded such a massacre as a light matter, is followed immediately, and before the king has time to reflect, by the tempting offer of such a bribe as even a king could not view with indifference. Xerxes had once, if we may trust Herodotus, declined to accept from a subject a gift of money equal to about four and a half million of pounds sterling (Herod; 7:28); but this was early in his reign, when his treasury was full, and he had not exhausted his resources by the Greek war. Now, in his comparative poverty, a gift of from two to three millions had attractions for him which proved irresistible. To the hands of those that have the charge of the business. Not the business of the slaughter, but the business of receiving money for the king, i.e. the royal treasurers. To bring it. i.e. “for them to bring it,” or pay it, “into the royal treasuries.” On the multiplicity of the royal treasuries see the comment on Ezr 7:20.
Est 3:10
The king took his ring from his hand. Rather, “took his signet from his hand.” This may have been a ring, for signet-rings were known to the Persians, but is perhaps more likely to have been a cylinder, like that of Darius, his father, which is now in the British Museum. And gave it unto Haman. Thus giving him the power of making whatsoever edicts he pleased, since nothing was requisite to give authority to an edict but the impression of the royal seal (see Herod; 3:128). For similar acts of confidence see Gen 41:42; Est 8:2. The Jews’ enemy. Rather, “persecutor.”
Est 3:11
The silver is given thee, the people also. Not “the silver which thou hast given me is given back to thee,” for the 10,000 talents had not been given, but only offered. Rather, “the silver of the people is given thee, together with the people themselves, to do with both as it pleases thee.” Confiscation always accompanies execution in the East, and the goods of those who are put to death naturally escheat to the crown, which either seizes them or makes a grant of them. Compare Est 8:11, where the property of those of the Jews’ enemies who should suffer death is granted to those who should slay them.
Est 3:12
Then were the king’s scribes called. “Scribes” (in the plural) are spoken of as attending on Xerxes throughout the Grecian expedition (Herod; 7.100; 8.90). Such persons were always near at hand in the palace, ready to draw up edicts. On the thirteenth day of the first month. It is conjectured that Haman cast his lots on the first day of the year (Berthcau), as an auspicious time for taking anything in hand, and having obtained a thirteenth day for the massacre, adopted the same number as probably auspicious for the necessary appeal to the king. Having gained the king s consent, he sent at once for the scribes. The king’s lieutenants. Literally, “the king’s satraps.“ The actual Persian word is used, slightly Hebraised. And to the governors. The word used has been compared with pasha (Stanley), and again with beg or bey, but is probably distinct from either. It designates a provincial governor of the second rank-one who .would have been called by the Greeks . The number of these subordinate officials was probably much greater than that of the satraps. And to the rulers of every people. i.e. the native authoritiesthe head men of the conquered peoples, to whom the Persian system allowed a considerable share of power. In the name of king Ahasuerus was it written. All edicts were in the king’s name, even when a subject had been allowed to issue them. See the story of Bagseus in Herodotus, where the edicts, of which he alone was the author, have the form of orders from the king. And sealed with the king’s ring. Or “signet” (see note on Est 3:10).
Est 3:13
And the letters were sent by posts. The Persian system of posts is thus described by Xenophon, who attributes its introduction to Cyrus:”Stables for horses are erected along the various lines of route, at such a distance one from another as a horse can accomplish in a day. All the stables are provided with a number of horses and grooms. There is a post-master to preside over each, who receives the despatches along with the tired men and horses, and sends them on by fresh horses and fresh riders. Sometimes there is no stoppage in the conveyance even at night; since a night courier takes up the work of the day courier, and continues it. It has been said that these posts outstrip the flight of birds, which is not altogether true; but beyond a doubt it is the most rapid of all methods of conveyance by land” (‘Cyrop.,’ 8.6, 17). To destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish. The writer quotes from the edict, which appears to have had as many surplus words as a modern English law paper. Young and old, little children and women. “To take the father’s life and spare the child’s” was thought to be an act of folly in ancient times. Wives and children of criminals were, as a matter of course, put to death with them. This was anciently even the Jewish practice (Jos 7:24, Jos 7:25; 2Ki 9:26; 2Ki 14:6), and was quite an established usage in Persia (Herod; 3.119). The thirteenth day. The Septuagint has “the fourteenth day” in its professed copy of the decree, but confirms the Hebrew text here by making the thirteenth the actual day of the struggle (Est 9:1). The fourteenth and fifteenth are the days now kept by the Jews; but it is suspected that an alteration has been made in order to assimilate the Purim to the passover feast, which began on the 14th of Nisan.
Est 3:14
The exact import of this verse is uncertain. Some suppose it to be a mere heading to a copy of the decree, which was originally inserted in the text between Est 3:14 and Est 3:15. In this case the translation should be”A copy of the writing for giving commandment to every province, published to all peoples, that they should be ready against that day.”
Est 3:15
The posts went out, being hastened. Though there was ample time, since the remotest part of the empire could be reached in a month, or two at the most, yet the posts were “hastened,” Haman being impatient, lest the king should change his mind, and decline to publish the edict. The king may himself also have wished to have the matter settled past recall. The king sat down with Haman to drink. This touch seems intended to mark their hardness of heart. As Nero “fiddled while Rome was burning,” so these two, having assigned a nation to destruction, proceeded to enjoy themselves at “a banquet of wine.” But the city of Susa was perplexed. The Jews had enemies in Susa (Est 9:12-15); but the bulk of the inhabitants being Persians, and so Zoroastrians, would be likely to sympathise with them. There might also be a widespread feeling among persons of other nationalities that the precedent now set was a dangerous one. Generally the people of the capital approved and applauded what. ever the great king did. Now they misdoubted the justice, and perhaps even the prudence, of what was resolved upon. The decree threw them into perplexity.
HOMILETICS
Est 3:8
A people scattered and apart.
This very remarkable language shows us that the Jews have been one and the same people for thousands of years. This description of the Jews is from the lips of an enemy; still, except in the last clause, it is just and true. In their captivity in the East, in their dispersion, in their present condition throughout Christendom, the Jews are a people by themselves, scattered and apart.
I. THE FACT OF ISRAEL‘S ISOLATION. The descendants of Jacob are like no other people, and wherever their lot is cast, they do not intermingle with the population.
1. They are distinguished by their peculiar physiognomy.
2. By their homelessness and dispersion.
3. By the national customs and observances practised among them.
II. THE TREATMENT OF WHICH THIS ISOLATION IS THE OCCASION.
1. They have been looked upon as opposed to the interests and welfare of states. How often have ministers of state and prelates of the Church aroused the hatred of princes against the Hebrew race. “It is not for the king’s profit to suffer them!”
2. They have consequently met with scorn, oppression, and persecution. What a disgraceful history is that of the Jews scattered throughout Christendom! That the nation has survived such persecutions is a proof of the inherent vitality of the race, and a proof of the superintending providence of the God of all the nations of the earth.
III. THE TRUE EXPLANATION AND PURPOSE OF THIS ISOLATION. It is an evidence of a special purpose of God. It is a fulfilment of prophecy. It is a witness to the truth of Christianity.
1. We should regard the Jewish people with deep interest.
2. We should use all feasible means to bring the Jews to the Messiah. “He that scattereth will gather them.”
Est 3:9
The price of blood.
Never was a more nefarious bargain proposed than this. That Haman not only plotted to destroy the Jews, but even offered to buy their lives, this is indeed a proof of the cruelty and baseness of his nature.
I. CRUELTY APPEALS TO AVARICE. Favourites always amass money; often by the most unscrupulous means. Tyrants always want money to spend on their pleasures and their ostentation. Haman offers to Ahasuerus a large sum to secure his assent to the destruction of the Jews.
II. A MEAN PRICE IS OFFERED FOR A NATION‘S DESTRUCTION. The blood of one man were purchased cheaply at such a price; what shall we say of the purchase of a nation?
III. We are reminded of THE PRICE WHICH WAS PAID TO THE BETRAYER OF THE SON OF MAN. “The price of him that was valued” was thirty pieces of silver. Fitly was the money employed to buy “the field of blood.”
IV. CONTRAST THE PRICE OF DESTRUCTION WITH THE PRICE OF SALVATION. When Christ purchased his people he paid a ransom the preciousness of which is not to be computed in terms of earthly treasure. “Ye were redeemed not with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.”
Est 3:10, Est 3:11
Power in bad hands.
How all the links in the chain of evil counsel were fastened together! The tyrannical king was willing enough, in order to please a favourite, to decree the slaughter of a whole people scattered through his dominions. The cruel minister of state was willing enough to take the king s signet, and to issue the decree of extermination. The scribes were willing enough to write the missives of destruction. The lieutenants, governors, and rulers were willing enough to receive and to issue orders for the slaughter of the exiles. And, when the time came, the soldiers and other officers of injustice would be willing enough to “destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews” upon whom they could lay their hands.
I. THE COUNSELLOR OF STATE ABUSES HIS INFLUENCE. It is a responsible thing to be the adviser of a throne; for such counsel, as may in such circumstances be given, may mould a nation’s character and determine its destinies. It is prostitution of such power to use it for selfish, far more for malicious, ends.
II. THE SOVEREIGN DELEGATES HIS POWER WITH INDIFFERENCE. It does not follow that because bad counsel is given, it must be followed. But this is likely enough to be the case when a monarch is careless, voluptuous, capricious, and arbitrary. Such was the character of Xerxes. How natural from his lips the language, “The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.” Scarcely less culpable was the king than his counsellor.
III. ALL MEN‘S EVIL DESIGNS MAY BE FRUSTRATED BY THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD. If the prime minister and the despotic king of Persia could not, with all their power, destroy the Jews, whowhatcould do so?
Practical lessons:
1. Rejoice in the blessings of constitutional government. In our country, happily, such a proceeding as this is impossible.
2. Sympathise with the cause of liberty, as opposed to tyranny, throughout the world. What vast populations are at the present day subject to the unjust authority, exactions, and oppressions of tyrannical governors. May the Lord deliver them from the yoke!
3. Pray for the frustration of cruel and tyrannical counsels, in many places Christians have been, and are, persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Let our prayer be, God deliver them from the hands of those that hate and oppress them.
Est 3:12-15
Heartless counsels of destruction.
History records many massacres, and the record is among the saddest and most sickening chapters of human annals. Most of these massacres have arisen from political fears and jealousies, or from religious hatred and bigotry. The proposed massacre of the Jews throughout the Persian empire took its origin from personal pique and pridea motive even more contemptible than the others. Happily, the proposal and purpose of Haman were defeated. Still it may be well to regard the nefarious proposal of the king’s favourite and counsellor as an illustration of the possible wickedness of the human heart.
I. The EXTENT Of the contemplated massacre. The Jews were scattered throughout all the provinces of the empire; and to all the provinces the letters commanding to slay them were transmitted by the posts, hastened by the king’s commandment.
II. The UNIVERSALITY Of the contemplated massacre. “Both young and old, little children and women,” were to be slain.
III. The SIMULTANEOUSNESS of the contemplated massacre. The bloody work was to be done in one daythe thirteenth day of the twelfth month.
IV. The GREED accompanying the massacre. The spoil of them was to be taken for a prey. The king had given to Haman beforehand the silver for himself. Admire the wisdom and mercy of God which discomfited these evil plans, and brought their authors to confusion.
Est 3:15
Festivity within; perplexity without.
The contrast here is striking in itself, and all the more so from the brevity and simplicity of the language in which it is depicted.
I. REMARK THE MIRTH AND FEASTING WITHIN THE PALACE. “The king and Haman sat down to drink.” This shows their indifference to human suffering. Nero fiddled, it is said, while Rome was burning. Herod feasted when he had cast the Baptist into prison. Paris and Rome were mad with mirth when the massacre of St. Bartholomew’s day had rid them of the leading Protestants of France. The wicked feast, undisturbed by the cries and lamentations of their victims. Yet it is possible that the king and Haman feasted and drank to drown the voice of conscience. They both knew the deed they authorised was foul; it would not bear thinking upon. How often have sinners striven to silence the voice of the monitory the accuser within; to overbear that voice with the shout, the laugh, the song of folly and of riot I
II. REMARK THE DISTRESS AND PERPLEXITY WHICH PREVAILED IN THE CITY SHUSHAN. The Jews themselves were naturally enough distressed at the prospect before them. Even those who believed that deliverance would come from some source knew not where to look for it. The alternative before them seemed to be flight and homelessness, or massacre. There were many citizens who sympathised with the Jews in their trouble. “Susa was now the capital of Persia, and the main residence of the Persians of high rank. These, being attached to the religion of Zoroaster, would naturally sympathise with the Jews, and be disturbed at their threatened destruction.” All thoughtful, prudent subjects would be perplexed at such conduct upon the part of their ruler. The land may well mourn whose princes slay, instead of protecting and pasturing, the flock. It is better to be perplexed under the infliction of wrong than to feast and rejoice over the miseries and injustice others may endure.
HOMILIES BY W. DINWIDDLE
Est 3:7-15
Superstition and cynicism.
Haman now proceeds to carry out the terrible plan of revenge on which he had resolved. Some important steps had to be taken before he could reach his end. These seem to us strange and incongruous. We may learn from them
I. THAT THE FREEDOM WHICH “NEITHER FEARS GOD NOR REGARDS MAN” MAY BE A SLAVE TO SUPERSTITION. Haman was a fatalist. He consulted Pur, or the lot, as to the day which would be favourable for his intended slaughter. Though it was only on the twelfth month that a propitious day was announced, yet he submitted to the long delay thus imposed. Fear of the fates curbed his impatience, even though it was spurred by an intense wrath. The first Napoleon, while willing to sacrifice millions of human lives at the shrine of a reckless ambition, was a victim, like Haman, to fatalistic ideas. Those who throw aside the restraints of virtue and religion come into other and more oppressive captivities.
II. THAT SUPERSTITIOUS FEARS MISLEAD THOSE WHO ARE GUIDED BY THEM. The ten or eleven months which Pur placed between the conceiving and executing of Haman’s vengeance were the means of wrecking it. They gave time to Mordecai and Esther to counterplot, and to work the wicked favourite’s downfall. But Haman was so confident in his power over the king, and in the pronounced favour of destiny, that he submitted to the delay. All false gods, all idols of man’s fashioning, only get possession of the soul to deceive and destroy it.
III. THAT A WICKED PURPOSE IS NOT SCRUPULOUS AS TO THE MEANS IT ADOPTS. In illustration of this observe
1. Haman’s lying report to the king concerning the Jews (verse 8). There was some plausibility in the report, yet it was essentially a lie. It was so framed as to make the weak king falsely believe that it was not to his profit that the Jews should exist in his empire. It was true that the Israelites had their own law, and honoured it; but their loyalty to Moses, and the God of Moses, did not prevent them from being good citizens in the countries in which their scattered tribes had found a home. It is easy to clothe falsehood in the garb of truth.
2. Haman’s offer of a bribe to the king. It was an immense sum, over two millions sterling of our money. Whence was it to be drawn? Not from Haman’s own treasures, but from the devoted Jews. They were rich, and after being killed all their wealth was granted to Haman to be his own. In connection with this proposal there was evidently no consciousness of offering insult on the one side, or of receiving insult on the other. Bribery was as common in the East then as it is now. Would that we could describe it as a sin confined to the East. It enters so largely into the commercial and political life even of such a country as our own, that many touch and are tainted by it without suspecting the wrong they have received and done. The sensitiveness created by a living fellowship with Christ is required to deliver us wholly from its multiform and insidious temptations (see Isa 33:15, Isa 33:16).
IV. THAT THE THOUGHTLESS AND SELF–INDULGENT BECOME AN EASY PREY TO THE TEMPTATIONS OF THE WICKED. The king of Persia fell at once into the trap of Haman. He accepted his report without investigation, and delivered over to his will the Jews and their possessions. His proclamation, ordering the destruction of all the men, women, and children belonging to the Jewish race, was soon on its way to the authorities of every province in the empire.
V. THAT THOUGHTLESSNESS, OR A FOOLISH CONFIDENCE, DOES NOT RELIEVE MEN OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR ACTIONS. There is, perhaps, more misery caused in the world by want of thought than by evil intention. We are bound to consider the quality and issues of our conduct, and to examine carefully the counsel of others before committing ourselves to it. It will not diminish our responsibility to say that we acted without thought, or from an inconsiderate trust in designing men. The royal seal appropriated to the king the terrible iniquity of Haman.
VI. THAT EVIL CAN MAKE MERRY IN PRESENCE OF THE MISERY IT CREATES. Nero, after he had set fire to Rome, fiddled as he sat and looked at the blaze. So, while Shushan was agitated by fear, the king and his favourite “sat down to drink.” The contrast here is most striking; it was evidently designed to impress the imagination and heart. We think of the fearfulness that entered into every household of the city; and then we turn to the two revellers, who, having issued the terrible edict, betook themselves to the wine-cup, that they might drown thought and care. Human nature may become so wanton in its allegiance to evil as to laugh at the suffering it works.
VII.. THAT COMMUNITIES OF PEOPLE ARE OFTEN BETTER THAN THEIR RULERS. The citizens of Shushan had sympathy with the innocent multitudes whose blood was to be so needlessly shed. They knew their peaceful virtues. They were united with them in many interests. They grew afraid of a licentious power which could without reason decree the massacre of an unoffending race. It is rather in the common heart of a people than in the will of selfish potentates that we look for a recognition of what is sound and good in feeling or action.D.
HOMILIES BY P.C. BARKER
Est 3:8
The true Church described by untruthful lips.
Infant lips sometimes utter greatest truths. Shallowest brain sometimes originates most politic scheming. Swine root out and tread underfoot pearls of unpriced value. Bad men often preach good doctrine, Now “the Jews’ enemy” (Est 3:10) volunteers the highest description, the most complimentary characterisation, of the Jew. And this passage proffers for notice a contrast not only full as remarkable in the depth of it as any of these, but far more remarkable when its subject matter is also taken into account. It might be stated thus: A PEOPLE‘S RELIGION RIGHTLY DESCRIBED, WRONGLY CONSTRUED, by one who was “none of them,” and who had none of it. The case is that of a man bearing witness against a people and their religion; he is at the same time a willing and an unwilling witness; his words are true; the meaning he wishes to be drawn out of them is untrue. His indictment is verbally correct; the charge he launches out by means of it has no foundation of fact. His description is good for what it says, bad for what it means. And by chance it happens to be so good for what it says that it tempts the thoughtful reader to pause, to ask whether he cannot learn a lesson of value from it. Haman dares a description of the nominal people of God; is he not in truth unconsciously throwing off a telling description of the real people of God, of God’s real Church in the world? For this plain, brief description of the people to whom Mordecai belonged, which Haman now offers to the credulity of Ahasuerus, happens to seize three leading facts distinctive of the Church of God. Nor is it altogether to be assigned to the realm of chance. The fact was that, shaded though their race was now, dimmed though their glorious history, the people of Mordecai were the separate people of God, and that Haman had noticed and scrutinised their essential peculiarities. These peculiarities, false as is the gloss he puts upon them, he has in some degree correctly caught. These are the shadows of answering realities in the economy of the Church, the kingdom of God. They remind us of
I. THE FOOTHOLD THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS IN THE WORLD. For whatever may be its exact position at any given hour of the world’s clock
1. Its genius is towards ubiquity. “There is a certain, people in all, the provinces of thy kingdom.”
2. Its genius is towards being “scattered abroad,” “dispersed,” intermingled “among the people.” Once for a short time, and for the special need of preparatory education, it is true that God’s elect people were locally as well as morally separate from others, i.e. when they sojourned in the wilderness. But this was only a phase, and a transient one, of their national existence. Again, for a longer time, and with fender prospect, they dwelt in comparative seclusion in their own land. But this also was quite as transient a phase of their national life, taking into consideration the settlement there. What a business it was! And the true place of the people of God is not merely to find a settlement and found a colony everywhere, but to mix among men, and to seek health of every sort in work and fidelity, rather than in retirement and the infolding of self. And this actual contact with all the varieties of human character, position, life, is in order to two ends: .first, for the proof and the growth of individual goodness; secondly, for the gradual leavening with a little leaven of the whole lump.
3. Its genius is towards working its way among men, day and night, and growing into their affection and confidence, rather than summoning them to capitulate either to fear or to admiration.
II. THE OUTSIDE APPEAL WHICH THE SUBJECTS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD EVER CLAIM AND EVER HOLD IN RESERVE. Their special laws are, and are to be, “diverse from all people” who are not of themselves. And when these clash with any other, they are not to “keep the king’s laws,” but to keep their own distinguishing and esoteric laws (Act 4:19; Act 5:29). To know well, to do well, these “diverse laws” is the sustained aspiration of the Church of God. There is such a thing as unity in variety, and there is, and is to be, on the part of the Church of God, the close union of all its own members, by one common fellowship, by obedience to one common code of laws, by acknowledgment of one standard Bible authority, amid all their intermixture, in every conceivable relationship, with all the rest of the world and “the kingdoms of the world.” The genuine, hearty, living obedience of a thousand, of a hundred persons to “laws diverse from all people” is an enormously strong link of connection among themselves, and an enormously significant testimony to the outside world of something special at work. If we as Christian people rose to this conception, to the eager veneration of it, to the hearty practice of it, what a witness ours would be! Meantime Haman’s allegation against the certain people scattered abroad that while their own laws were diverse from all people, they did not keep the king’s laws”was untrue. Mordecai had indeed withheld obedience to the law which “the king had commanded” (Est 3:2), that “all the king’s servants in the king’s gate should bow and reverence Haman,” and his non-obedience was no doubt covered, by his fealty to the “diverse laws;” but this was by no means enough to cover a charge against all the Jews, or even against Mordecai in his general conduct and life. The kingdom of God then does glory to follow the lead and command of “laws diverse from all people,” to claim the ultimate appeal as lying always to these; and in any conceivable case of option to decide in one moment for obedience to God rather than to men.
III. THE FORESEEN DESTINY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD, Haman’s apprehension was perhaps not very genuine, and any way was premature, but his instinct in the real matter at issue was only too unerring and correct. The Church of God”that certain people scattered abroad among the people,” with their diverse laws, and their first heed given to thembeyond a doubt has its eye on all other kingdoms, is not what those other kingdoms would now think “for their profit,” is destined to absorb them, gives evidence of that destiny as a very intention in those same manifestations of its genius, and in its appeal to the unseen, and in its first obedience thereto. Oh for the time when the chorus shall indeed open, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.”B.
HOMILIES BY F. HASTINGS
Est 3:7
Consulting omens.
“They cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day.” “Pur” is an old Persian word said to signify “part” or “lot.” Haman resorted to the practice of casting a lot to find out what he believed would be a lucky day for his design. He had a blind faith in the unseen, and in the overruling of supernatural powers. He inquired of his idols, and acted according to received superstitions. His object was an evil one, but he supposed that his god would be on his side.
I. WE MUST LEARN TO SUBMIT TO THE OVERRULING OF PROVIDENCE. Haman was consistent with his superstition. We are ofttimes inconsistent in our acts. We profess to believe that God will overrule all for the best, and then we become doubtful and fretful because things turn not out as we expected.
II. WE MUST IMITATE THE PERSISTENT WAITING OF HAMAN. He must have found it wearying work to inquire so frequently, casting lots for one day after another, and having no favourable reply. The lot was cast for all the days of eleven months ere he had a period fixed which promised to be fortunate for him. He that believeth shall not make haste.
III. WE SHOULD SEEK NOT LUCKY PERIODS, BUT FITTING OPPORTUNITIES OF SERVICE. There are many foolish ideas as to periods, as those among sailors about Friday, and sailing on that day.
IV. THAT WHICH APPEARS MOST PROMISING FOR THE PLOTTER MAY BE THE WORST. The delay had given Mordecai and Esther time to act. God’s hand may have been in this. “The lot was cast into the lap, but the whole disposal was of the Lord” (Pro 16:33). Haman was misled by his inquiries, but God’s people saved by Haman’s delay through his superstition. Providence never misleads men; it leads to the best issues.H.
Est 3:11
A greedy grand vizier.
“The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.” One man alone was instrumental in placing the Jews in danger of complete extermination. This happened during the period of their subjection. To supply the record of their wondrous deliverance the Book of Esther, primarily, was written. The man who wrought this danger was Haman, the grand vizier to the king of Persia. He was second only to the king. Through flattering he had attained the coveted position. He was an astute politician, and apparently as unscrupulous as he was cunning. The king heaped riches upon his favourite. He would have Haman’s means adequate to his position. Many houses and much land confiscated, often on the slightest excuse, would be handed over to him. The post of grand vizier would afford ample opportunities of self-enrichment. We read of the conspiracy of Bigthan and Teresh against the king, and of its discovery. To whom would fall the large possessions of these hitherto influential men? What more probable than that the next favourite should receive a great share of their forfeited property?
I. IT IS TO THE MATERIAL REWARDS OF OFFICE THAT SUCH MEN AS HAMAN TURN AN EAGER EYE. He well understood the ways of court, so as to secure the tangible results of favouritism. Conceptions of higher honour expand in proportion to elevation. A thought enters his mind to which if he gave utterance his immediate deposition and death would ensue. This thought will leak out by and by. It only needs a fitting opportunity. Nay, it will seize and make an opportunity out of the flimsiest pretext. Meanwhile he is as contented as an ambitious man ever can be. Under an outward calm he is hiding a flame of impatient expectancy. See him going forth from Shushan the palace. The gates are scarcely high enough for the proud-hearted man. Mark that smile on his countenance. Haman is “exceedingly glad of heart.” Some further honour has been put upon him, and he goes to his home to reveal it to his friends. Why, may not a man of his calibre be proud? Can his honour ever be eclipsed? Can his glory ever be overshadowed? Can his name, handed down by his many children, ever die? Who can supplant him in the king’s favour, seeing that he knows so well the arts of courtiers, and exercises his office apparently only with respect to the pleasure of the king? Do not all the rest of the courtiers and place-seekers look to him for advancement? Is not his favour, in turn, the sun that “gilds the noble troops waiting upon his smile”? “If ever man may flatter himself in the greatness and security of his glory,” thinks Haman, “surely I may do so.” Ah, Haman! thy pride is dangerous; it is like a high-heeled shoe, fitting thee only for a fall. Take care, the least stone may cause thee to stumble. Be not over-sure of thy position. Pitfalls are around. Ambition and pride are like heavy, widely-spread canvas on a ship, and need much ballast. Great is thy risk. Thou art like one standing on the narrow apex of a mountain. One false step will set thee rolling to the very abyss.
II. WORLDLY POSSESSIONS OR POSITIONS CAN NEVER GIVE FULL SATISFACTION. If they could, the result would have been injurious to man’s moral nature. No thought of higher things entering man’s mind, he would soon be degraded to the level of the brute creation. True pleasure arises from the attainment of some possession or object, but not full satisfaction. It is pleasant to have wealth wherewith to gratify desire, to be able to confer benefits on others; but if we make these things the one aim in life we are sure to reap but little joy. The drawbacks and counter-balancings are great. Much wealth, much furniture, many servants, a large house, and great popularity are only extra anxieties. The pleasure soon passes, the possession soon palls. Still, a man without any passion or aim is simply like “a speaking stone.” Yet as a horse, too restive and fiery, puts his rider in danger, so do our passions. Ambition in moderation is an advantage, and few men become very useful who have none; but if give we the reins to our ambition we may be sure that such a fiery charger will dash-away over rocks or into floods to our great hazard. A man when at sea, cares neither for calm nor for a hurricane, but he enjoys a stiff breeze which helps the vessel along and braces his nerves. We suggest, therefore, not the banishment of all ambition, but its moderation; not the despising of all possessions, but that we should not be disappointed if we do not receive so much joy therefrom as we expected. Nay, we may thank God that we cannot live on stones, nor satisfy our hunger with husks; that in us has been cultivated the longing for those things which really afford satisfaction, viz; righteousness, peace, faith, and love.H.
Est 3:15
Swift couriers.
“And the posts went out, being hastened by the king’s commandment.” The Persians had good arrangements for interchange of thought and desires. A nation’s civilisation may be gauged by its facilities for intercommunication. Roads, canals, and railways, penny posts, and electric telegraphs are the present means of communication in this country. The ancient Romans sought to facilitate interchange. They were great road builders. The English have more than any nation helped to cover the world with a net-work of railways. Their couriers are in every land
I. PREACHERS SHOULD BE DILIGENT< AS HASTENED BY THE KING‘S COMMANDMENT. They carry good news to souls. They are to do what their hands find to do with all their might. If Christ was “straitened,” they should be.
II. PREACHERS ARE TO BE FAITHFUL, WHETHER THEIR MESSAGE BE A “SAVOUR OF LIFE UNTO LIFE OR OF DEATH UNTO DEATH.” The couriers of Ahasuerus faithfully delivered the despatches they carried. In the eighth chapter (verse 14) we see how extra means and greater pressure were used to overtake wrong.H.
HOMILIES BY P.C. BARKER
Est 3:15
Life contrasts.
“And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed.” Here is indeed a pair of pictures to look atthe subjects very different. They are not a pair of pastoral scenes, nor of family groups related, nor are they of sympathetic historical sort. But a pair they certainly are; as such they are hung, and they bear out the position, for one strictly and directly rises out of the other. The one shows two figures, as of men, sitting in a palace drinking. If we are to judge anything from their attitude and their occupation, their minds are perfectly at ease, and they are happy. The figures are life-size, and lifelike. The countenances, however; scarcely improve by dwelling upon. Very quickly the too plainly-marked impress of the Eastern aristocrat’s effeminacy, and excessive luxuriousness, and unrecking pride of heart dispel the faintest suggestion that their apparent ease and happiness have any of the higher elements in them. We recognise in the men types of self-indulgence, even if it should prove nothing worse. The other picture shows a city in miniature, in broken, disconnected sections, interiors and exteriors together. The eye that is sweeping it turns it into a moving panorama. Whatever it is that is seen, an oppressive, ominous stillness seems to brood over it. An unnatural stoppage of ordinary business is apparent. The market, the bazaars, the exchange, the heathen temple, the Jews’ meeting-place) and in fact every place where men do congregate, seems in a certain manner stricken with consternation. The faces and the gestures of the people agree therewith. These, at all events, betoken anything but peace and content and happiness. They give the impression of a “perplexity” rapidly inducing stupor, and a stupor ominous of paralysis itself. One malignant thought of Haman was answerable for all this. He had of late been obeying with completest self-surrender his worse genius; that was about the only self-surrender he practised or knew. His one malignant thought, the thought of “scorn,” had rapidly ripened into determination, shaped into place and method, been clothed in the dress of consummate policy, and sealed with the signet of royal ring (Est 3:10). That thought, so wrought up, was now sent forth, “hastened by the king’s commandment,” to a thousand cities and corners of the whole realm. Its publication made in Shushan the palace, and to the same hour “the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed.” We have here
I. SOME UTTERLY CONCLUSIVE FACTS OF HUMAN LIFE.
1. A leading instance of the glaring disproportions of human fortune and circumstance. In closest juxtaposition are found, on the one hand, two men, sated with ease and all they can ask. On the other, a city, a whole city, throbbing with all the most various life, butcondensed into this brief description”perplexed.”) These are, as matter of fact, the two experiences of human life found in the same place) on the same day, at the same hour; and they are the result of what we should be generally content to call human fortune. Is it such contrarieties as these, that can subsist side by side; and is it not the irresistible conclusion that either human life is the sport of the arbitrary and the mockery of the malign; or that human fortune is but an earthly phrase for a Providence, at present most inscrutable, but with which all is to be trustfully left, for that it will ere long give account and require account? Once satisfied of this, a heathen poet has taught us the words, Permitte coetera Deo.
2. A leading instance of the disproportion of human rights and powers. One might almost be tempted to call it a violent instance of an intolerable anomaly. But in various ways, in more subdued form, by removes far more numerous, and the contrasts accordingly far less striking, we can see this violent case to be but a plain case of what permeates the structure of human society. Yet ponder the facts here. There are thousands upon thousands whose life, humanly speaking, is not in their own hands; and there are two in whose hands those lives are! This disproportion must dwarf every other. Compared with it, that of possession, of education) of brain, of opportunity, of genius, of position and birth must seem small matters. For life holds all the rest. Like a vessel, for the time it contains all The aggregate of humanity is the history to a tremendous extent of an aggregate of vicariousness. The tangle human fingers cannot undo. Out of the labyrinth human wisdom cannot guide itself. One hand alone holds the thread, one eye alone commands the bird’s-eye position and view. But in all we must remember these two conclusions: first, that the vicariousness counts sometimes for unmeasured help, and advantage, and love; secondly) that it were better far to be of the “perplexed city” and the jeopardised Jews than to be either of those two men “who sat down to drink” after what they had done. Who would buy their position to pay the price of their responsibility? Who would accept all their possessions at the risk of using them as they did?
II. SOME UTTERLY CONDEMNING FACTS OF HUMAN NATURE.
1. A leading instance of the attitude in which a bad conscience will suffer a man to place himself; the exact opposite of that for which conscience was given, the exact opposite of that which a good conscience would tolerate. The very function of conscience may be impaired, may he a while ruined. See its glory departed now. Haman now is a leading instance of the satisfaction which a bad conscience shall have become able to yield, of the content a bad conscience will in the possibility of things provide. He has actually filled up the measure of his iniquities (as appears very plainly), and, worse by far than Judas, whose conscience sent him to hang himself, he “sits down to drink” with his king!
2. A leading instance of the destruction of the tenderest relic of perfect human nature. For in the last analysis we must read here, the extinction of sympathy! It is true there may have been left with the man who could do what Haman did sympathy with evil, and yet rather with the evil; sympathy with the gratuitous causing of woe and the causers of woe. But this is not what we dignify with the name sympathy. This sweet word, standing for a sweeter thing, has not two faces. Its face is one, and is aye turned to the light, to love, to the good. ‘Tis a damning fact indeed among the possibilities and the crises of human nature, and of the “deceitful and desperately wicked” human heart, when sympathy haunts it no more, has forsaken it as its habitat, hovers over it no longer, fans the air for it with its beneficent pinion for the last, last time! Oh for the Stygian murkiness, the sepulchral hollowness, the pestilent contagion that succeeds, and is thenceforward the lot of that heart! The point of supreme selfishness is reached when all sympathy has died away. For those whose terrible woe himself had caused, it is Haman who has less than the least pity, and no fellow-feeling with them whatever! The lowest point of loss which our nature can touch here is surely when it has lost the calm energy of sympathyto show it or to feel it. The proportion in which any one consciously, and as the highest achievement of his base skill and prostituted opportunity, either causes unnecessary woe or leaves it unpitied, unhelped, measures too faithfully the wounds and cruel injuries he has already inflicted on the tenderest of presences within him, the best friend to himself as well as to others. The wounds of sympathy are at any time of the deadly kind, and it only needs that they be one too many, when at last she will breathe out her long-suffering, stricken spirit! For him who is so forsaken it may well be that “he sits down to drink.” For the knell is already heard, and “to-morrow he dies.”B.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Est 3:7. They cast Pur, that is, the lot Haman, being determined to destroy Mordecai and the Jews, called together his diviners, to find out what day would be most lucky for his putting this design in execution. The way of divination then in use among the eastern people was, by casting lots; and therefore, having tried in this manner, first each month, and then each day in every month, they came to a determination at last, that the 13th day of the 12th month would be most fortunate for the bloody execution. It was in the first month of the year when Haman began to cast lots, and the time for the execution of the Jews was by these lots delayed till the last month in the year; which plainly shews, that, though the lot be cast into the lap, yet the whole disposing thereof is from the Lord; Pro 16:33 for hereby almost a whole year intervened between the design and its execution, which gave time for Mordecai to acquaint queen Esther with it, and for her to intercede with the king for the revoking or suspending of the decree, and thereby preventing the conspiracy. The reader will find this decree in Joseph. Antiq. lib. 11: cap. 6. Houbigant renders this verse, The lot, which is called Pur, was drawn before Haman from day to day, from month to month, for the twelfth month.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
(7) In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.
It should seem, that what is here said concerning the casting of the lot, means as if Haman was using some art or contrivance, by way of better forwarding his malicious designs. One thing, however, seems clear from it, that, as the lot did not turn up until the twelfth month, it gave a longer time for the LORD’S purposes, concerning the delivery of his people, to ripen. Solomon tells us, that the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD. Pro 16:33 . No doubt, while these diabolical designs of Haman were contriving, the LORD’S people were sharply exercised. And, no doubt, great opportunity was afforded for prayer. Reader! the delay of judgments and of mercies may be all sanctified, when they lead us the oftener to the throne of grace.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Est 3:7 In the first month, that [is], the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that [is], the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, [to] the twelfth [month], that [is], the month Adar.
Ver. 7. In the first month ] The time is thus noted, ad maiorem historiae fidem et lucern, to give more credit to the history, and to lend some light to it.
That is, the month Nisan
In the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus
They cast Pur, that is, the lot
From day to day, &c.
That is, the month Adar
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Est 3:7-11
7In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Pur, that is the lot, was cast before Haman from day to day and from month to month, until the twelfth month, that is the month Adar. 8Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people and they do not observe the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain. 9If it is pleasing to the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on the king’s business, to put into the king’s treasuries. 10Then the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11The king said to Haman, The silver is yours, and the people also, to do with them as you please.
Est 3:7 the first month, which is the month of Nisan See Special Topic: ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CALENDARS .
in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus Esther would have been queen now for approximately four years. This would be 474 B.C.
Pur, that is the lot, was cast before Haman from day to day and month to month This term Pur (BDB 807, KB 920) seems to be related to the Feast of Purim (BDB 807, cf. Est 9:32). It is now known that it is an Akkadian loan word which denoted a means by which one could know the best timing for future events (cf. Est 3:13). This was an ancient way to know the will of a deity. It is used in the OT for the dividing of the Promised Land in Joshua (i.e., the Urim and the Thummim of the High Priest); notice two uses in Nehemiah (cf. Neh 10:34; Neh 11:1) and in the NT for the filling of the place of Judas Iscariot (cf. Act 1:26). Apparently Haman had the magi or sorcerers (cf. Est 6:13; Herodotus 3.128) cast these stones in order to know the specific date on which he would (1) revenge himself on the Jewish nation or (2) approach the king about their destruction. He was obviously looking for divine sanction for his evil plans. The lot fell on a date about eleven months in the future.
In this verse both the Akkadian term (BDB 807) translated Pur and the parallel Hebrew term (BDB 174) translated the lot are used together as in Est 9:24.
Est 3:8 their laws are different from those of all other people Here is another example of different equals bad. This is also flagrant exaggeration and stereotyping. Haman takes Mordecai’s refusal to bow down to him because he was a Jew and extends his actions to all Jews in all provinces.
NASB, NKJVscattered and dispersed
NRSVscattered and separated
TEVscattered
NJBa certain unassimilated nation scattered
There are two Pual PARTICIPLES. They are parallel, but not synonymous. The first (BDB 808, KB 921) means distributed through the Persian empire (because of the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles). The second (BDB 825, KB 962) means self-imposed separateness or exclusiveness, Anchor Bible, vol. 7B, p. 39. This meaning is seen in the NJB translation. The next phrase characterizes one aspect (their laws are different) of this separateness. It is the very separateness that allowed the Jews to maintain their culture and tradition while in exile. The chief mechanism of the preservation of culture was the local synagogue.
Est 3:9 Let it be decreed This VERB (BDB 507, KB 503) is a Niphal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense (cf. Est 1:19).
and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on the king’s business, to put into the king’s treasuries This is a stupendous amount of money. We know from history that it equals two-thirds of the annual budget of the Persian empire (cf. Herodotus, Histories 3.95). Whether Haman was personally very wealthy or if he planned to use the plunder of the slain Jews is uncertain. Obviously the king was interested in this kind of arrangement since his coffers had been drained by the Greek war. The amount of money shows the intensity of the hatred of Haman.
Est 3:10 the king took his signet ring from his hand The signet ring was a sign of the king’s authority. It is amazing that the king checked Mordecai’s story in Est 2:23, but does not check Haman’s story!
Est 3:11 and the king said to Haman, ‘The silver is yours’ Literally this is the silver is given to you, which is a Qal PASSIVE PARTICIPLE. It seems from the context that this is the beginning of an Oriental bargaining section (similar to Genesis 23), not simply the king saying to Haman to keep all the money (i.e., silver) yourself (cf. Est 3:9; Est 4:7). The king was allowing him to pay those who would destroy the Jews and turn in their property to the crown.
The term silver was used in the sense of money, not always for literally weighing out the metal itself (e.g., 1Ki 20:39; Isa 55:2).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
they cast. From 1st Nisan 462 to 13th Adar 462.
Pur. Persian for “lot”. The reference is to “the monthly prognosticates” of Isa 47:13. This was to fix on a fortunate time. Compare Est 9:24.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Est 3:7-11
Est 3:7-11
HAMAN RECEIVES THE KING’S PERMISSION TO DESTROY ISRAEL
“In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahashuerus, they cast Put, that is, the lot, from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. And Haman said unto king Ahashuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from the laws of every people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them. If it please the king, let it be written that they be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those that have charge of the king’s business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries. And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy. And the king said unto Haman, the silver is given thee, and the people also, to do with them as seemeth good to thee.”
Critical enemies of the Bible, having no other grounds upon which they may deny or object to the text, sometimes must fall back upon their subjective imaginations that this or that Biblical statement is “unrealistic, unreasonable, or unlikely to have occurred.” One may find plenty of such subjective objections to what is written here.
Some ask, “Would any king have given blanket permission to anyone to destroy a considerable percentage of the people in his whole kingdom”? The answer to that is that, “Xerxes certainly did so.” And even that was not any more unreasonable or stupid than some other actions of that evil king as reported by Herodotus.
Others have pointed out that it was a terribly foolish thing for Haman to have published a whole year in advance his intention of exterminating the Jews. Archaeology, however, has uncovered dramatic information on how this happened. “Haman’s method for fixing the date for the destruction of the Jews has been revealed by excavations at Susa (Shushan) by M. Dieulafoy, who actually recovered one of those quadrangular prisms engraved with the Numbers 1, 2, 5, 6. The word `pur’ is derived from the Persian puru, that is, `lot’; and it is now known that `they cast Pur’ (Est 3:7) means that they cast lots.” This fully explains why almost a year elapsed between Haman’s decision to massacre the Jews, which he published at once, and the date set for the execution of his ruthless plan.
Significantly, Haman was so sure of receiving the king’s permission, that he actually cast lots for the day he would do it before mentioning the matter to the king. Also, that tremendous promise of ten thousand talents of silver, which was well over $10,000,000.00, which Haman promised to pay into the king’s treasury, was also most likely based upon the presumption by Haman that the king would not accept it.
E.M. Zerr:
Est 3:7. Having concluded on the fiendish plan for wholesale destruction of the Jews, he resorted to a superstition in settling on the day to select for the mass murder. Pur means “lot,” and he began in the first month to cast lots. This was done daily until the decision was indicated in some way by the sign that was connected with the superstitious practice. The lot fell on the 13th day of the twelfth month. That would give him plenty of time to prepare for the terrible event. Such preparation would include the edict of the king and its general proclamation throughout the provinces. Perhaps it would not have required all of that time for the plot of Haman, but the activities on the other side to counteract his wicked design would take some time also. This fact indicates that God took a hand in the lot when Haman resorted to it, and caused it to fall on that distant date in order to give his people opportunity for carrying out their role in this great drama. We know that God did use his enemies even to accomplish his will. He used Pharaoh (Exo 9:16), Balaam (Num 24:1) and the woman of Endor (1 Samuel 28). We are told also that he sometimes used the lot for disposing of questions. (Pro 16:33.)
Est 3:8. There is a certain people. This was as definite as Haman would make his accusation. He might have known the nationality of the queen, and if so, he would not dare risk the results of indirect threat to her life. At any rate, he felt that he would secure the king’s authority for his scheme were he kept in the dark about the whole truth. He contented himself with general but unfavorable reports about the conduct of this certain people. A part of his statement of their history was true, but did not show any disadvantage to the business of Ahasuerus. But one of his accusations was without foundation, for the history of the case shows the Jews to have been obedient to the laws of the realm.
Est 3:9. Haman then asked for a decree from the king, authorizing the destruction of this certain people. Such a task would require the service of many men and they would need financial support for their time and labor. Haman agreed to furnish this out of his private funds. To bring it into the king’s treasuries meant he would at once place this amount in the royal treasury, to be used in paying the servants for their time and activities in executing the decree.
Est 3:10. The ring was used as a symbol of authority. Smith’s Bible Dictionary says this about it: “The ring was regarded as an indispensable article of a Hebrew’s attire, inasmuch as it contained his signet. It was hence a symbol of authority.” The king expressed his approval of Haman’s proposal by giving him his royal ring.
Est 3:11. The silver is given to thee was the king’s way of telling Haman to keep his money, but that he was authorized to carry out his patriotic purpose of destroying the enemies of the kingdom. Certainly, such a laudable service should be paid for out of the funds of the nation that would be benefited thereby.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
first month i.e. April; Est 3:12
twelfth month i.e. March; Est 3:13
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
the first month: Neh 2:1
in the twelfth: Est 1:3, Est 2:16
they cast Pur: Est 9:24-26, Pro 16:33, Eze 21:21, Eze 21:22, Mat 27:35
Adar: Est 9:1, Est 9:5, Est 9:17-19, Est 9:21, Ezr 6:15
Reciprocal: Exo 12:2 – General Pro 24:2 – General Jon 1:7 – and let Mar 6:21 – when Act 12:4 – intending
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Est 3:7. They cast Pur, that is, the lot Haman, being determined to destroy Mordecai and the Jews, called together his diviners, to find out what day would be most lucky for his putting this design into execution. The way of divination, then in use among the eastern people, was by casting lots; and therefore having tried in this manner, first each month, and then each day in every month, they came to a determination at last, that the thirteenth day of the twelfth month would be most fortunate for the bloody execution. It was in the first month of the year when Haman began to cast lots, and the time for the execution of the Jews was by these lots delayed till the last month of the year; which plainly shows, that though the lot be cast into the lap, yet the whole disposing thereof is from the Lord, Pro 16:33. For hereby almost a whole year intervened between the design and its execution, which gave time for Mordecai to acquaint Queen Esther with it, and for her to intercede with the king for the revoking or suspending the decree, and thereby preventing the conspiracy. The reader will find this decree in Joseph. Antiq., lib. 11, cap. 6. Houbigant renders this verse, The lot, which is called Pur, was drawn before Haman from day to day, from month to month, for the twelfth month. See Poole and Dodd.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3:7 In the first month, that [is], the month {c} Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that [is], the lot, {d} before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, [to] the twelfth [month], that [is], the month {e} Adar.
(c) Which contains part of March and part of April.
(d) To know what month and day would be good to attempt this thing, that it might be successful: but God disappointed their lots and expectations.
(e) Containing part of February and part of March.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
B. Haman’s Proposal 3:7-15
His pride having been wounded, Haman set about to take revenge, not only on Mordecai, but also on all of Mordecai’s relatives.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
1. The casting of lots 3:7
Haman cast the lot-pur is the Persian word for "lot"-to determine the day most favorable to wipe out the Jews. In the pagan ancient Near East, it was unthinkable to make plans of this magnitude without astrological guidance. The lot supposedly revealed the day most propitious for this act. [Note: The New Bible Dictionary, 1962 ed., s.v. "Magic and Sorcery," by Kenneth A. Kitchen.] The official casting of lots happened during the first month of each year to determine the most opportune days for important events. [Note: W. W. Hallo, "The First Purim," Biblical Archaeologist 46:1 (1983):19-27.] This may explain why Haman cast lots in the first month and chose a date so much later to annihilate the Jews. However, God controlled the lot-casting (Pro 16:33) and gave the Jews almost a year to prepare for conflict with their enemies. Archaeologists have found quadrangular prism type dice at Susa, and perhaps it was this kind of device that Haman used to make his decision on this occasion. [Note: Wood, p. 409.]
"Though determined by lot, the day chosen seems maliciously ironical. The number 13 was considered unlucky by the Persians and the Babylonians, while the thirteenth day of the first month, the day on which the edict decreeing the Jews’ destruction was dispatched (Est 3:12), is the day preceding Passover, the commemoration of the deliverance from slavery in Egypt." [Note: Bush, p. 386.]