On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews’ enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he [was] unto her.
Give the house of Haman – Confiscation of goods accompanied public execution in Persia as in other Oriental countries.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Est 8:1-2
On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews enemy unto Esther the queen.
Right use of wealth
I. We see how, in the providence of God, the wealth which worldly men would use in opposition to the interests of Gods cause and people may be wrested from them, and made available for the advancement of these interests. The conclusion which we draw from all this is, that the best and happiest arrangement which a man can make with respect to the good things which have been bestowed upon him is that in his lifetime he seek to be personally the dispenser of good to others. If he lives and acts in this spirit, then he will have the less anxiety as to the disposal of what he may be able to leave behind him.
II. The peculiar providence which we see exercised in the case of Mordecai teaches us that men may be well content to wait, while they are in the way of well-doing, until they receive their recompense. Worth and faithfulness and humility, after they have been long neglected, are brought into the light, and are honoured in proportion to the neglect which they formerly experienced.
III. from Esthers love for her people we take a lesson. Then should not this be an example to those among us, who themselves have had their souls gladdened by the grace of God, to be mindful of others who have not been visited so graciously?
IV. The lesson which is to be drawn from the conduct of the king as it is here exhibited. If one man, for example, has injured another, and knows it, but is too proud to acknowledge it, then he is destitute of the true spirit of Christianity. If a man is engaged in a wrong course of action, and is sensible of it, but will put his soul in peril rather than yield to the remonstrances of his friends, then his pride will certainly prove the ruin of his soul. There is, perhaps, more real heroism in confessing and correcting errors and weaknesses than there is in boldly contending for truth, when we are conscious that we have it on our side. Many voices will cheer us onward in the defence of principles which we defend at some risk. The courage that suffers in a good cause will always get applause. But when I have done wrong, and make confession of the wrong, the men of the world do not sympathise. (A. B. Davidson, D. D.)
And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai.
The end in peace
But success to faithfulness, even in the narrowest sphere and with the feeblest powers, is uniform and certain, and, as an example, blessed and wholesome. This is the great principle which Mordecai illustrates.
1. In his case we first see this fidelity for a period exceedingly tried and hopeless.
2. We see this faithfulness in duty brought to extreme danger. Not only was Mordecai unrewarded, but he was condemned to an appointed destruction.
3. We see this fidelity in duty completely rescued and delivered.
4. We see this fidelity in duty proportionably exalted.
5. We see this fidelity in duty abundantly rewarded in outward, earthly things.
6. We see this fidelity in duty not only rewarded in itself, and in the person and condition of the man who is distinguished by it, but crowned with eminent usefulness to others. (S. H. Tyng, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER VIII
Ahasuerus invests Mordecai with the offices and dignities
possessed by Haman, 1, 2.
Esther begs that the decree of destruction gone out against the
Jews may be reversed, 3-6.
He informs her that the acts that had once passed the kings seal
cannot be reversed; but he instructs her and Mordecai to write
other letters in his name, and seal them with his seal, and
send them to all the provinces in the empire, giving the Jews
full liberty to defend themselves; which is accordingly done;
and the letters are sent off with the utmost speed to all the
provinces: in consequence, the Jews prepare for their own
defence, 8-14.
Mordecai appears publicly in the dress of his high office, 15.
The Jews rejoice in every place; and many of the people become
Jews, because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them,
16, 17.
NOTES ON CHAP. VIII
Verse 1. The king – give the house of Haman] As Haman was found guilty of treasonable practices against the peace and prosperity of the king and his empire, his life was forfeited and his goods confiscated. And as Mordecai had been the means of preserving the king’s life, and was the principal object of Haman’s malice, it was but just to confer his property upon him, as well as his dignity and office, as Mordecai was found deserving of the former, and fit to discharge the duties of the latter.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The house of Haman, with all his goods and estate, which being justly forfeited to the king, he no less justly bestows it upon the queen, to compensate the danger to which Haman had exposed her.
Mordecai came before the king, i.e. was by the queens desire admitted into the kings presence, and favour, and family, and, as it seems, made one of the seven princes.
What he was unto her, i.e. how nearly he was related to her; which till this time she had wisely concealed, this being the fit season to declare it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. On that day did the kingAhasuerus give the house of Haman . . . unto EstherHisproperty was confiscated, and everything belonging to him, as somecompensation for the peril to which she had been exposed.
Mordecai came before thekingthat is, was introduced at court and appointed one of theseven counsellors. Esther displayed great prudence and address inacknowledging Mordecai’s relation to her at the moment most fitted tobe of eminent service to him.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
On that day did the King, Ahasuerus, give the house of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, unto Esther the queen,…. That, and all the goods in it, and estate belonging to it; which being confiscated to the king, he gave to Esther, who would have been the sufferer, had his scheme taken place; so the Targum adds,
“and the men of his house, and all his treasures, and all his riches:”
and Mordecai came before the king; was introduced into his presence, became one of his privy counsellors, one of those that saw the king’s face, and sat first in the kingdom, Es 1:14
for Esther had told what he was unto her; what relation he stood in to her; her uncle, according to the Vulgate Latin version, and so Aben Ezra and Josephus, but wrongly, for she was his uncle’s daughter; so that they were brother’s children, or own cousins, see Es 2:7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
By the execution of Haman, his property was confiscated, and the king decreed that the house of the Jews’ enemy should be given to Esther. The “house of Haman” undoubtedly means the house with all that pertained to it. “And Mordochai came before the king, for Esther had told him what he was to her,” viz., her kinsman and foster-father, Est 2:7. This information effected Mordochai’s appearance before the king, i.e., his reception into the number of the high dignitaries who beheld the face of the king, i.e., were allowed personal access to him; comp. Est 1:10, Est 1:14; Est 7:9.
Est 8:2 And the king took off his seal-ring which he had taken from Haman (comp. Est 3:10), and gave it to Mordochai. , to cause to go from some one, i.e., to take away. By this act Mordochai was advanced to the post of first minister of the king; comp. Gen 41:42, 1 Macc. 6:15. The king’s seal gave the force of law to royal edicts, the seal taking the place of the signature. See rem. on Est 8:8 and Est 3:10.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Esther and Mordecai Enriched. | B. C. 510. |
1 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews’ enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her. 2 And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
It was but lately that we had Esther and Mordecai in tears and in fears, but fasting and praying; now let us see how to them there arose light in darkness. Here is, 1. Esther enriched. Haman was hanged as a traitor, therefore his estate was forfeited to the crown, and the king gave it all to Esther, in recompence for the fright that wicked man had put her into and the vexation he had created her, v. 1. His houses and lands, good sand chattels, and all the money he had heaped up which he was prime-minister of state (which, we may suppose, was no little), are given to Esther; they are all her own, added to the allowance she already had. Thus is the wealth of the sinner laid up for the just, and the innocent divides the silver,Pro 13:22; Job 27:17; Job 27:18. What Haman would have done mischief with Esther will do good with; and estates are to be valued as they are used. 2. Mordecai advanced. His pompous procession, this morning, through the streets of the city, was but a sudden flash or blaze of honour; but here we have the more durable and gainful preferments to which he was raised, which yet the other happily made way for. (1.) He is now owned as the queen’s cousin, which till now, though Esther had been four years queen, for aught that appears, the king did not know. So humble, so modest, a man was Mordecai, and so far from being ambitious of a place at court, that he concealed his relation to the queen and her obligations to him as her guardian, and never made us of her interest for any advantage of his own. Who but Mordecai could have taken so little notice of so great an honour? But now he was brought before the king, introduced, as we say, to kiss his hand; for now, at length, Esther had told what he was to her, not only near a-kin to her, but the best friend she had in the world, who took care of her when she was an orphan, and one whom she still respected as a father. Now the king finds himself, for his wife’s sake, more obliged than he thought he had been to delight in doing honour to Mordecai. How great were the merits of that man to whom both king and queen did in effect owe their lives! Being brought before the king, to him no doubt he bowed, and did reverence, though he would not to Haman an Amalekite. (2.) The king makes his lord privy-seal in the room of Haman. All the trust he had reposed in Haman, and all the power he had given him, are here transferred to Mordecai; for the ring which he had taken from Haman he gave to Mordecai, and made this trusty humble man as much his favourite, his confidant, and his agent, as ever that proud perfidious wretch was; a happy change he made of his bosom-friends, and so, no doubt, he and his people soon found it. (3.) The queen makes him here steward, for the management of Haman’s estate, and for getting and keeping possession of it: She set Mordecai over the house of Haman. See the vanity of laying up treasure upon earth; he that heapeth up riches knoweth not who shall gather them (Ps. xxxix. 6), not only whether he shall be a wise man or a fool (Eccl. ii. 19), but whether he shall be a friend or an enemy. With what little pleasure, nay, with what constant vexation, would Haman have looked upon his estate if he could have foreseen that Mordecai, the man he hated above all men in the world, should have rule over all that wherein he had laboured, and thought that he showed himself wise! It is our interest, therefore, to make sure those riches which will not be left behind, but will go with us to another world.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Esther – Chapter 8
Esther Intercedes, verses 1-6
The fall of Haman was complete. His property was confiscated and his house given to Esther. Zeresh and her friends who had promoted Haman were now destitute of supporters and prestige. Sin affects those one loves. Mordecai was brought before the king, the first time so far as the record goes that the two had come face to face. At last the relationship of the Jew and the queen was made known. Mordecai was already a proven valuable friend of the king, and now that he has become known as the foster father of Esther his standing is even greater. Ahasuerus gave Mordecai the position held by Haman, taking his signet ring and placing it on the Jew’s hand. This one so shortly before only a frequenter of the king’s gate is now elevated to become the chief counselor of the king.
But the battle was still not won. Vengeance had been wrought on Haman the perpetrator of the Jews’ trouble, but the law he had made still stood, to slaughter the Jews through the entire realm on the thirteenth day of the last month of the year. There doubtless remained thousands of Jew-haters ready to carry it out. So Esther must approach the king uninvited again. She fell at his feet and tearfully begged him to do something to counteract Haman’s “device he had devised against the Jews.”
Again the Lord moved on the king to look favorably on Esther, though naturally he might have tired at her continual coming to him uninvited. He held out the golden sceptre to her and bade her rise to her feet. Esther was very solicitous in her request, using a series of phrases to elicit a favorable response, “if it please the king, if I have found favor in your sight,” if it seems right to you, if I be pleasing in your eyes. They all mean about the same thing, but coming one on the other stressed the extreme importance Esther placed on the granting of the request.
The law against the Jews was, of course, irrevocable, but Esther wished the king to do something which would reverse the force of the decree: Otherwise the Jews of the provinces would be destroyed. Esther projected herself into the plea to. Ahasuerus, that his feelings of love for her might be used on behalf of the Jews’ salvation from extermination. “How could I stand by and see my people murdered?” she asks. “And how could my life continue if my people were destroyed?” Indeed her life might be terminated if she failed after all to save the Jews from so terrible a fate.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Est. 8:1.] The Targums understand by house all the people in it, and the entire property belonging thereto.Lange. The confiscation of the property of one publicly executed followed as a matter of course. And to whom could the goods of the Jews enemy be more appropriately transferred than to Esther the queen?Whedon. Came before the king] Was made one of his officers.
Est. 8:2. Took off his ring] (See Est. 3:10). By this act Mordecai was advanced to the post of first minister of the king. The kings seal gave the force of law to royal edicts.Keil. A pleasure-seeking Persian king, like Xerxes, was glad to be relieved of the toil of governing, and willingly committed to one favourite after another the task of issuing and sealing with the royal signet the decrees by which the government was administered.Rawlinson.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH. Est. 8:1-2
SUDDEN BUT WISE CHANGES
In affairs of conscience first thoughts are best. In affairs of prudence second thoughts are best. But even in affairs of conscience deliberation may be necessary, because we do not always know how far conscience may be properly enlightened. We have to see to it that what we think is the voice of conscience be not some other voice. Sudden movement, then, is very often dangerous and misleading. Make haste slowly is a wise exhortation for the management of human affairs. Many a man has taken a hurried step which has proved disastrous, and which no after movements have been able to remedy. Perhaps the English nation may be considered as moving too slowly. Certainly it takes a long time in this country to repair old abuses. But this very slowness may help to give us our national stability. In these two verses we have sudden changes; but they will be seen to be wise in every respect. There is no reason to suppose that Ahasuerus had any cause to repent of the steps which he now took so suddenly. Without any long parliamentary deliberations he made a prime minister, and most important changes in the court, and all tended to increase the national glory.
I. A sensible reversal. On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews enemy unto Esther the queen. Not only was Esther the kings favoured queen, but she showed herself a virtuous and sensible womanone likely to make a wise disposal of the blessings of wealth. Haman only thought of using wealth for selfish purposes. Esther thought of using her temporal advantages for the good of others. That she so thought we judge by her conduct. She did not talk great things only, but did them. How sadly often do we find in this world that the house is possessed by the selfish Haman! What a blessing to the community when the house becomes the possession of a benevolent and patriotic Esther! Take the house here as emblematical of Hamans wealth. When the eternal King gives a house it becomes us to feel that our responsibility is thereby increased. We must not close the house, but open its doors and its rooms for the benefit of others. Still be careful as to the guests. God has given to each and to all a soul-house. We are to be careful as to the mastership. Let not Satan rule; let Jesus rule, and then there will be light, and gladness, and joy, and honour in the house.
II. A grateful confession. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her. The confession was not forced from Esther. She did not utter it by reason of the terrors of the inquisitor; she did not own the relationship because she saw that Mordecai was about to make the declaration; she was impelled to it by a sweet sense of gratitude. Here is one of those omissions in the narrative that we could wish had not been made. A pleasant story was that which Esther had now to tell unto the king. We listen in pleasant fancy as Esther, inspired by gratitude, told the king what Mordecai was unto her. She would tell of the blood relationship, but surely she would tell much more. Certainly she told much more if she told all that Mordecai was unto her. Sometimes the words fail us, when inspired by gratitude, as we try to tell all that a true-hearted one has been to us. Some there are with whom we have no family connection who have been more to us than the nearest relatives. Esther confers honour on Mordecai by declaring all that he had been unto her. We confer honour by grateful confession of the services rendered to us by others. Let us not forget to acknowledge our indebtedness. And shall we not bring honour to Jesus by the confession of what he has been and is to us. Time will not suffice to tell the tale of the Saviours doings on our behalf. We have to tell what he is to us in the way of spiritual relationship; we have to tell what he is to us as prophet, priest, and king. The sweet tale will last through eternity.
III. A reasonable token of honour. And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. It was just and fair that this honour should be conferred upon Mordecai, for he had rendered important services to the king, and was evidently a man that might be safely trusted with the management of most important affairs. But it was not right that Mordecai had been compelled to wait so long before his services were acknowledged. Time is on the side of him who will but wait; but sometimes we have to wait so long that our time is over. We do not now live for centuries, and cannot afford to keep on waiting too long. Many a man has waited only for the grave. The only waiting which cannot end in disappointment is that of quietly and hopefully and earnestly doing the work of the Lord, and looking for the crown of glory that fadeth not away. Then the great Master will give his tokens of approval and of honour. Oh, to be sealed by heavens eternal King!
IV. A judicious arrangement. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. If Esther, having received the gift from the king, was not at liberty to transfer it to Mordecai, the next best thing was to make Mordecai steward of the property. She had received proof of Mordecais sagacity, and could therefore securely entrust to him the management of her property. He would turn it to the best possible account, both for individual and collective advantage. Having shown himself wise and faithful in small spheres, it was judicious to raise him now to fill a higher sphere. All his recorded after-course declares that he was not unfaithful to his many important trusts. If we want to rise, let it be by faithful service in that sphere where we find ourselves placed. Woe to the man who seeks to rise by trickery! The crash must come sooner or later. The deception must be found out. The blown bladder will receive a prick, and then there will be the humiliating collapse. Many instances of this in modern times. Better to remain always in obscurity than to rise by false methods, for such rising is sure to end in a most hideous down-fall. A high position is always perilousperilous in England with its stable institutions, as well as in the Persian empire with all its fickleness. But a high position reached by falsehood and deceit is especially perilous. He that is down needs fear no fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud. Haman thus had not reached the gallows. We can even suppose that Mordecai was happier at the kings gate than when ruling in the palace, and over Hamans house.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Est. 8:1-2
We are taught by Mordecais example that even pious men sometimes come to the head of affairs, and are safely entrusted with the reins of government; and that God adorns with this glory on earth those whom he will afterwards crown in heaven likewise. They are promoted, however not so much for their own sake as that they may aid and promote the Church and people of God, and may free and console those in affliction.Feuardent.
Be not solicitous about treasuring up the riches of this world. What you can gain is to-day yours, to-morrow you know not whose it shall be. Should it fall into the hands of your children after you, you know not whether they will be wise men or fools, whether they will be losers or gainers by the possession of it. But you know not whether it may not fall into the hands of your most abhorred enemies. This is often the fate of ill-gotten riches. The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. With what vexation would Haman have thought of that wealth in which he gloried, if he had foreseen that it was to be possessed by a Jewess. Would he not rather have chosen to live a beggar all his days than leave his wealth to persons whom he so mortally hated?
The queen was enriched beyond her expectations and wishes; yet the wealth bestowed upon her would enable her to perform important services to her beloved nation. The donation of it by the king, to whom it was forfeited, was a testimony of his affection, to which she still must have recourse, with new petitions for her people. Above all, this donation was a remarkable testimony of the kindness and justice of the Divine providence, which put into her hands that immense wealth of the enemy of her nation, by which he would have bribed the king, if a bribe had been necessary, to procure their destruction. The Lord had already not only wrought deliverance for her, but had given her an accession of riches out of the snares that had been laid for her kinsman; and she was thereby encouraged to hope that he would bring to a happy conclusion that great work that occupied her mind.
Her kinsman, too, was highly advanced, both on her account and his own. The king had formerly caused his favour for Mordecai to be proclaimed through the city of Shushan; but now he loaded him with real and substantial honours, which could put him into a proper condition for protecting his nation, exposed to danger for his sake.
It was now the fifth year since the adopted daughter of Mordecai was seated on an imperial throne, and hitherto it was not known that he stood in any relation to the queen, or had showed to her the kindness of a father.
The king must surely at least have condemned his own thoughtlessness in inquiring so little after Esthers friends. He now discerned, that, besides his unrequited obligations to Mordecai for saving his life, he owed to him likewise the graces and accomplishments of his queen, and almost her life; for he had been to her a second father, without whose kind care none knows what might have befallen her in her tender years.
It would be likewise a powerful recommendation of Mordecai, that he had hitherto lived quietly in a low station, without so much as mentioning his claims to preferment. It appeared plainly that he was more careful to deserve the kings favour than to enjoy it, and that greatness had no charms but the opportunities it might give him of doing good, or preventing evil. Those are fittest for high stations that are best satisfied with any station in which Providence is pleased to put them.
The king put Mordecai into Hamans place; and the queen, who now thought it highly expedient to inform the king of Mordecais kindness and relation to her, did likewise make him her steward. To her dying day she forgot not the kindness showed to her in the days of her youth, and behaved as the best of daughters to the best of fathers.
Gratitude to benefactors is essential to a virtuous character. If you call a man ungrateful you need say nothing more of him, you have already said everything that is bad; nor will the highest elevation excuse forgetfulness of benefits received in a lower condition. The blessed Jesus, exalted above men and angels, forgets none of the kindnesses showed to him in the persons of his brethren in a low condition upon earth; but what is done to the least of them is rewarded as if it had been done to him-self. We need not envy those women who ministered to him of their substance in the days of his humiliation the glorious rewards bestowed upon them in his state of exaltation. We still have it in our power to feed him when he is hungry, to give him drink when he is thirsty, to clothe him when he is naked; and he will not be unrighteous to forget our works and labours of love to his name. Did Esther in her royal condition retain such a kind remembrance of the friends of her low estate, and shall we doubt of the infinitely superior virtues of him who is the fairest among the children of men, to the operation of whose Spirit we owe everything that is lovely in our temper and conduct?
Esther, on the throne, retained the kindness of her youth, not only to Mordecai, but to all her friends and all her people.Lawson.
1. In the first place, we see how, in the providence of God, the wealth which worldly men would use in opposition to the interests of Gods cause and people may be wrested from them, and made available for the advancement of these interests. It was painful enough to the proud spirit of Haman to be compelled to conduct Mordecai, whom he hated, through the city in triumph; but it would have been anguish intolerable to him if he had been told that this man was forthwith to be his heir, and to have all his wealth placed at his disposal. So not unfrequently it happens, that the riches which have been accumulated by those who would grudge the expenditure even of a small part for any purpose purely religious, pass into the hands of those who feel their responsibility as stewards of Gods bounties, and who gladly employ his gifts for the promotion of objects by which their fellow-men are really benefited. The conclusion which we draw from all this, and which, without further remark, we leave with you, is, that the best and happiest arrangement which a man can make with respect to the good things which have been bestowed upon him is, that in his lifetime he seek to be personally the dispenser of good to others. If he lives and acts in this spirit, then he will have the less anxiety as to the disposal of what he may be able to leave behind him.
2. In the second place, the peculiar providence which we see exercised in the case of Mordecai teaches us that men may be well content to wait, while they are in the way of well-doing, until they receive their recompense. It was with no view to temporal reward, we most fully believe, that Mordecai assumed the guardianship of his orphan cousin, and brought her up tenderly in the knowledge of the God of her fathers. But if he had any expectation of reward, when he discovered and made known the plot against the life of the king, and such expectation he might have reasonably enough cherished, he had long to wait for the realizing of it. But he waited patiently, and at length his reward came, in greater fulness than his most sanguine hope could have anticipated. Now even in worldly things, although not on the same large scale, we often can mark similar movements of providence. Worth and faithfulness and humility, after they have been long neglected, are brought into the light, and are honoured in proportion to the neglect which they formerly experienced.
But it is not with exclusive, or indeed with special, reference to the administration of providence in this world that we speak at present. History sets before us the examples of many, who were the excellent of the earth, persons of whom the world was not worthy, whose deeds of benevolence, and whose faithful services to the Lord and the men of their generation, were never openly acknowledged during their lifetime. Against reproach and obloquy, and opposition the most crushing, many have had to pursue their way, compelled to hear even their good evil spoken of. But this does not alter the fact, that the reward of all Christs faithful servants is certain. It is not for reward that they labour in his service; it is from love to him, and for the glory of God. Yet as Christ himself looked forward to the joy that was set before him, so his people are taught by his word and his example to have respect to the recompense of reward. Now as Mordecai had to wait for a season before he obtained what he was well entitled to receive, would it have been a matter of great consequence although he had to wait for a few years longer? If he had received at length, after a very protracted season of delay, what he waited for, while he had still full power left him to enjoy it, would it not have been well? Then may we not say, that although believers in Christ have to wait for their reward until death come to carry them away, or, as we may say, until this their last enemy come to lead them in triumph into the presence of the King, clad in the glorious robe of his righteousness, will it not be well, seeing that then they shall be in condition to enjoy fully and for ever the blessedness of being with him and rejoicing in his smile?Davidson.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 8
Est. 8:1-2. Advantage of change. As Gotthold was examining with delight some double pinks, which at the time were in full blossom, he was told by the gardener that the same plants had in former years borne only single flowers, but that they had been improved and beautified by repeated transplantations, and that in the same manner a change of soil increases the growth and accelerates the bearing of a young tree. This reminded Gotthold that the same happens to men. Many a man who at home would scarcely have borne single flowers, when transplanted by Divine Providence abroad, bears double ones; another, who, if rooted in his native soil, would never have been more than a puny twig, is removed to a foreign clime, and there spreads far and wide his luxuriant boughs, and bears fruit to the delight of all. We may also notice that, as the plant, so the man must have the capacity of bearing fruits and flowers. Esther and Mordecai were fruit-bearing in lowly spheres, and then being placed in high positions they brought forth more fruit Through them light and gladness came to all the Jews.
Est. 8:1-2. Prosperity not suitable for every man. Great skill is required to the governing of a plentiful and prosperous estate, so as it may be safe and comfortable to the owner, and beneficial to others. Every corporal may know how to order some few files, but to marshal many troops in a regiment in a whole body of an army requires the skill of an experienced general. As for prosperity, every man thinks himself wise and able enough to know how to govern it, and himself in it. A happy estate, we imagine, will easily manage itself, without too much care. Give me but sea-room, saith the confident mariner, and let me alone, whatever tempests arise. Surely the great Doctor of the Gentiles had never made this holy boast of his divine skill, I know how to abound, if it had been so easy a matter as the world conceives it. Mere ignorance and want of self-experience is guilty of this error.
Mordecai had shown himself possessed of great skill in the management of small affairs, therefore it was fitting that he should be promoted over the house of Haman, and to the principal position in the kingdom of Ahasuerus.
Signet rings. On the little finger of the right hand is worn a seal-ring, which is generally of silver, with a cornelian, or other stone, upon which is engraved the wearers name: the name is accompanied by the words, His servant (signifying, the servant, or worshipper, of God), and often by other words expressive of the persons trust in God, etc. The seal-ring is used for signing letters and other writings, and its impression is considered more valid than the sign-manual. (Therefore, giving the ring to another person is the utmost sign of confidence.) A little ink is dabbed upon it with one of the fingers, and it is pressed upon the paper; the person who uses it having first touched his tongue with another finger and moistened the place in the paper which is to be stamped. Almost every person who can afford it has a seal-ring, even though he be a servant.Biblical Museum.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
IX. Proclamation of Xerxes, Est. 8:1-17
A. Mordecais Reward
TEXT: Est. 8:1-2
1
On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her.
2
And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
Todays English Version, Est. 8:1-2
That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther all the property of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Esther told the king that Mordecai was related to her, and from then on Mordecai was allowed to enter the kings presence. The king took off his ring with his seal on it (which he had taken back from Haman) and gave it to Mordecai. Esther put Mordecai in charge of Hamans property.
COMMENTS
Est. 8:1 Endowed: When a criminal was executed, everything that belonged to him became the property of the royal treasury. His estate was either used by the king for his own personal pleasure or for the programs of his government. Sometimes the king would make such an estate a gift to those who had been wronged by the criminal. In this case the king gave Hamans fortune to Esther. As pointed out in Est. 3:9-11 Hamans fortune probably exceeded ten million dollars. This was an extraordinary thing to happen to a Jewish woman of the exiles. Some of the male exiles among the Jews became rich (e.g. Daniel), but for a woman to reach such heights of power and property was unheard of.
Haman is called the Jews enemy. Haman continued to be regarded as the prototype of the enemy of the Jews throughout the ages. It became customary to make loud noise in the synagogues to drown out his name whenever mentioned in the Purim reading of the book of Esther. A late 19th century Jewish work of art from Poland pictures Haman leading Mordecai through the streets of Susa. Hamans wife Zeresh, mistaking him for Mordecai, dumps slop on her husband from the window of her house.
From this day forward Mordecai became a high official (came before the king) and attended the kings court.
Est. 8:2 Empowered: The king had retrieved the very important signet ring which he had given to Haman (Est. 3:10). He took it off his own finger and gave it to Mordecai. Thus the power so greedily coveted and wickedly used by Haman was transferred to the man he had hated so vehemently. Mordecai could act in the kings name with the same power Haman formerly possessed. And Esther, although she would not want to insult the king by giving to Mordecai what had been given to her, did the next best thing and appointed him administrator of Hamans estate. Mordecai moved into the palatial dwellings formerly occupied by Haman and was thus provided a residence befitting his new position. No doubt, Mordecai ordered the removal of that gruesome gallows and the body of Haman before he moved in.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
VIII.
(1) Did . . . give the house of Haman.Confiscation of goods necessarily followed on a sentence of death in the East. So, with ourselves, a convicted felons property is forfeited to the Crown.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
MORDECAI’S PROMOTION, AND EDICT IN BEHALF OF THE JEWS, Est 8:1-17.
1. On that day The very day of Haman’s execution.
Give the house of Haman By “the house of Haman” we are to understand not merely his residence, but all his property, including servants, attendants, and the various paraphernalia that pertained to a Persian noble. The confiscation of the property of one publicly executed followed as a matter of course. This was a universal custom in the East. And to whom could the goods of the Jews’ enemy be more appropriately transferred than unto Esther the queen? As yet the king did not know her relationship to Mordecai, but we naturally suppose that upon his giving her the house of Haman she made known to him that Mordecai was her cousin, and doubtless received his consent to consign her gift to his charge. See next verse.
Mordecai came before the king He was summoned by the king himself, who at once resolved to advance him to Haman’s place in his court. Mordecai’s loyalty and past service were fresh in the king’s mind, and now when he learns his relationship to Esther, he feels that no better man can be found to stand in Haman’s place.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Mordecai Advanced
v. 1. On that day did the King Ahasuerus give the house of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, unto Esther, the queen; v. 2. And the king took off his ring, v. 3. And Esther spake yet again before the king and fell down at his feet, v. 4. Then the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther, v. 5. and said, If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, v. 6. for how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
HAMAN‘S HOUSE GIVEN TO ESTHER, AND THE KING‘S SIGNET MADE OVER.TO MORDECAI (Est 8:1, Est 8:2). Two consequences followed immediately on Haman’s execution. His property escheating to the crown, Ahasuerus made the whole of it over to Esther, either simply as a sign of favour, or in compensation of the alarm and suffering which Haman had caused her. Further, Haman’s office being vacant, and Mordecai’s close relationship to Esther having become known to the king, he transferred to Mordecai the confidence which he had been wont to repose in Haman, and gave him the custody of the royal signet. Under these circumstances Esther placed Mordecai in charge of the house which had been Haman’s, as a suitable abode for a minister.
Est 8:1
On that day did the king give the house of Haman. When a criminal was executed, everything that belonged to him became the property of the crown, and was disposed of according to the king’s pleasure. It pleased Ahasuerus to make over to Esther the house of Haman, with, no doubt, all its content, attendants, furniture, and treasure. The Jews’ enemy. This now becomes Haman’s ordinary designation (see Est 9:10, Est 9:24). Traditional practices have in many places kept up his memory as one of the most hated adversaries of the nation. And Mordecai came before the king. Mordecai became a high officialone of those in constant attendance on the king. For Esther had told what he was to her. i.e. had revealed his relationship, had told that he was her cousin. Mordecai having been recognised as a “king’s benefactor” (Est 6:3-11), and Esther having been forced to confess herself a Jewess in order to save her nation (Est 7:3, Est 7:4), there was no object in any further concealment.
Est 8:2
And the king took off his ring. The king’s signet would, as a matter of course, be taken from Haman before his execution and restored to Ahasuerus, who now once more wore it himself. Business, however, was irksome to him, and, having resolved to make Mordecai minister in Haman’s room, he very soon took the signet off again, and made it over to the new vizier. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. It would not have been seemly for Esther to give away what she had received as a gift from the king. She was therefore unable to make Mordecai a present of the house. But she did what was equivalentshe set him over it, made him practically its master. Thus he was provided with a residence suitable to his new dignity.
Est 8:3-14
AT ESTHER‘S REQUEST AHASUERUS ALLOWS THE ISSUE OF A SECOND EDICT, PERMITTING THE JEWS TO RESIST ANY WHO SHOULD ATTACK THEM, TO KILL THEM IN THEIR OWN DEFENCE, AND TO TAKE POSSESSION OF THEIR GOODS (Est 8:3-14). The execution of Haman, the confiscation of his property, the advancement of Mordecai into his place, though of favourable omen, as showing the present temper and inclination of Abasuerus, left the Jews in as great danger as before. In most countries there would neither have been delay nor difficulty. The edict which went forth on the 13th of Nisan (Est 3:12), and which could not be executed till the 13th of Adar, would have been cancelled, revoked, recalled. But in Persia this could not be done; or at any rate it could not be done without breaking one of the first principles of Persian law, the principle that “the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse” (Est 8:8). It was therefore necessary to devise a mode whereby the desired escape of the Jews might practically be obtained, and yet the edict remain unrevoked, and the king’s honour be saved. At first Mordecai and Esther do not appear to have seen this, and Esther asked openly for the reversal of the decree, only representing it as the writing of Haman, and not the writing of the king (verse 5). But Ahasuerus pointed out that this could not be done. Anything short of a reversal, any new decree, he would sanction; but he could do no morehe could not revoke his own word (verse 8). The course actually followed was then devised, probably by Mordecai. The old decree was allowed to stand; but a new decree was issued and signed in the usual way, whereby the Jews were allowed and encouraged to resist those who should attack them,to “gather themselves together, and to stand for their life; to destroy, slay, and cause to perish all the power of the people of the province that would assault them,”and were further permitted to “take the spoil of them for a prey,” or, in other words, to seize the property of all whom they should slay (verse 11). The royal posts carried out this decree (verse 14), as they had the former one; and it was publicly set forth and proclaimed in every province, that if the Jews were attacked under the terms of the one, they might defend themselves and retaliate on their foes under the terms of the other (verse 13). As the second decree was issued on the 23rd of Sivan, the third month (verse 9), and the day appointed for the attack was the 13th of Adar, the twelfth, there was ample time-above eight monthsfor the Jews to make preparations, to organise themselves, to collect arms, and to arrange an effective resistance.
Est 8:3
Esther spake yet again before the king. It might have seemed to be the business of Mordecai, as the king’s chief minister, to advise him in a matter of public policy, and one in which the interests of so many of his subjects were vitally concerned. But the new minister did not perhaps feel sure of his influence, or quite know what to recommend. Esther was therefore again put forward to address the king. Fell down at his feet. Compare 1Sa 25:24; 2Ki 4:37, etc. And besought him to put away the mischief of Haman. i.e. begged him, first of all, in a vague way, to “cause to pass”put away, or undothe mischief of Hamannot suggesting how it was to be done.
Est 8:4
Then the king held out the golden sceptre. Either Esther had again intruded on the king uninvited, or there was a double use of the golden sceptre.
1. In the pardon of those who so intruded; and,
2. In the ordinary granting of requests. It was perhaps held out on this occasion simply to express a readiness to do as Esther desired.
Est 8:5
If it please the king, etc. The long preface of four clauses, winding up with “If I be pleasing,” is indicative of Esther’s doubt how the king will receive her suggestion that it should be written to reverse the letters (comp. Est 3:13) devised by Haman. To ask the king to unsay his own words was impossible. By representing the letters as devised by Haman, and written by Haman, Esther avoids doing so. But she thereby blinks the truth. In excuse she adds the striking distich contained in the next verse”For how could I endure to see the evil that is coming on my people? or how could I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?”
Est 8:7, Est 8:8
Then the king said unto Esther the queen and unto Mordecai. The king, it would seem, took time to give his answer; and when he gave it, addressed himself to Mordecai, his minister, rather than to Esther, his wife. “See now,” he said, “I have done what I couldI have given Esther Haman’s house; I have had Haman himself executed because he put forth his hand against the Jews. What yet remains? I am asked to save your countrymen by revoking my late edict. That may not be. The writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s seal, may no man reverse. But, short of this, I give you full liberty of action. Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring. Surely you can devise something which will save your people without calling on me to retract my own words, and at the same time break a great principle of Persian law.”
Est 8:9
Then were the king’s scribes called. The king had said enough. Mordecai saw a means of reconciling the king’s scruple with the safetyor if not with the absolute safety, yet with the escape and triumphof his people. The Jews should be allowed to stand on their defence, should be encouraged to do so, when the time came should be supported in their resistance by the whole power of the government (Est 9:3). A new decree must issue at once giving the requisite permission, and copies must be at once distributed, that there might be no mistake or misunderstanding. So the “king’s scribes” were summoned and set to work. In the third month, the month Sivan. This is another Babylonian name. The month was sacred to the moon-god, Sin, and its name may be connected with his. It corresponded with the latter part of our May and the early part of June. To the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers. Compare Est 3:12, where the same three classes of rulers are mentioned. An hundred twenty and seven. See the comment on Est 1:1. And to the Jews. Copies of the former edict had not been sent especially to the Jews. They had been left to learn their danger indirectly from the people among whom they dwelt; but Mordecai took care that they should be informed directly of their right of defence.
Est 8:10
He wrote in the king’s name. As Haman had done (Est 2:12). And riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries. There is no “and” before “riders” in the original, and the clause is clearly exegetical of the preceding, Neither “mules,” nor “camels,” nor “young dromedaries” are mentioned in it, and the best translation would seem to be“the riders on coursers of the royal stud, the offspring of thoroughbreds.” It is noticeable that both Herodotus (8:98) and Xenophon (‘Cyrop.,’ Est 8:6, 17) speak of horses as alone employed in carrying the Persian despatches.
Est 8:11
Wherein the king granted. Rather, “that the king granted.” Mordecai sent “letters,” which said “that the king granted to the Jews to gather themselves together,” etc. To gather themselves together. Union is strength. If all the Jews of a province were allowed to collect and band themselves together, they would at once be a formidable body. Scattered in the various towns and villages, they might easily have been overpowered. To stand for their life. The Jews have sometimes been spoken of as the aggressors on the actual 13th of Adar, but there is no evidence to support this view. The edict clearly only allowed them to stand on the defensive. Of course, when fighting once began, both sides did their worst. In repelling attack the Jews had the same liberty to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish as their adversaries (Est 3:13). Little ones. Rather, “families.” Take the spoil of them for a prey. i.e. “seize their property.” The earlier edict had given the same permission to the Jews’ enemies (Est 3:13).
Est 8:13
This verse reproduces Est 3:14; with a slight modification of the last clause. It is probable that a copy of the decree was originally inserted at the end of the verse.
Est 8:14
The posts that rode upon mules and camels. Rather, “that rode on coursers of the stud royal” (see the comment on Est 8:10). The verse repeats Est 3:15, with small additions. It appears that the later posts were urged to haste still more strongly than the earlier onesnot that time really pressed, but from superabundant cautionthat there might be an opportunity for further communications between the provinces and the court, if doubt was anywhere entertained as to the king’s intentions.
Est 8:15-17
MORDECAI‘S HONOUR AND THE JEWS‘ JOY (Est 8:15-17). Ahasuerus was not content even now with what he had done for Mordecai. Before his minister quitted the presence, the king presented him with a crown of gold, and a robe and vest of honour; and thus arrayed he proceeded into the city of Susa, where the new edict was already known, and had been received with satisfaction (Est 8:15). The Persians, who formed the predominant element in the population of the town, sympathised with the Jews, and rejoiced in the king’s favour towards them; while the Jews of Susa, having passed from despair to confident hope, were full of gladness and thankfulness. In the provinces the decree had a still warmer welcome. Its arrival was celebrated with “a feast” (Est 8:17) and “a good day.” It led also to many of the heathen becoming proselytes to the Jewish religionsome perhaps from conviction, but others because they thought it safer to place themselves manifestly on the Jews’ side before the day of the struggle:
Est 8:15
Royal apparel of blue and white. The Persian monarch himself wore a purple robe and an inner vest of purple striped with white. The robes of honour which he gave away were of many different colours, but generally of a single tint throughout (Xen; ‘Cyrop.,’ 8.3, 3); but the one given to Mordecai seems to have been blue with white stripes. These were the colours of the royal diadem (Q. Curt; ‘Vit. Alex.,’ 3.3). A great crown of gold. Not a tall crown, like that of the monarch, which is called in Hebrew kether (Greek ), but ‘atarah, a crown of an inferior kind, frequently worn by nobles. And with a garment of fine linen and purple. The “fine linen” was of course white. The real meaning of the word thakrik, translated “garment,” is doubtful. Gesenius understands an outer garment’ ‘the long and flowing robe of an Oriental monarch;” in which case the “apparel” previously mentioned must be the inner vest. Others, as Patrick, make the thakrik to be the inner, and the “apparel” (l’bush) the outer garment. The Septuagint, however, translates thakrik by , and its conjunction with the “crown” favours this rendering. The diadem proper of a Persian monarch was a band or fillet encircling the lower part of his crown, and was of blue, spotted or striped with white. Ahasuerus seems to have allowed Mordecai to wear a diadem of white and purple. The city of Shushan rejoiced. As the Susanchites had been “perplexed” at the first edict (Est 3:15), so were they “rejoiced” at the second. Such of them as were Persians would naturally sympathise with the Jews. Even the others may have disliked Haman’s edict, and have been glad to see it, practically, reversed.
Est 8:16
The Jews had light. A metaphor for “happiness” (comp. Isa 58:8).
Est 8:17
A feast and a good day. The provincial Jews made the whole day on which they heard the news into a holiday, and not only rejoiced, but feasted. Many of the people of the land became Jews. Applied for and obtained admission into the Jewish nation as full proselytes (comp. Ezr 6:21, with the comment). The fear of the Jews fell upon them. There was about to be in each great city where there were Jews a day of straggle and bloodshed. The Jews would have authority on their side (Est 9:3), and might be expected to be victorious. Persons feared lest, when victorious, they might revenge themselves on all who had not taken their part, and thought it safer to become Jews than remain neutral. But it can only have been a small minority of the population in each city that took this view. There was no sudden great increase in the numbers of the Jewish nation.
HOMILETICS
Est 8:1, Est 8:2
The lowly exalted.
In the East, where monarchs are absolute, and where king’s favourites are ministers of state, changes of fortune are familiar and proverbial. When one of our statesmen quits office he usually does so in an honourable way, and loses little of consideration by the change. But a vizier when deposed is disgraced, his property is often forfeited, and he himself is often put to a violent death. So was it with Haman. When the king’s wrath turned against him he was slain, and his palace and establishment given to the queen, and his office and authority to Mordecai.
I. IN GOD‘S PROVIDENCE THE RIGHTEOUS AND LOWLY ARE, EVEN IN THIS WORLD, OFTEN EXALTED TO HONOUR. “The Lord bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dung-hill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory.” History records many striking instances of the elevation to high positions in Church and State of those born in poverty, but qualified by natural gifts, by high character, by faithful service, for exalted station. It is a Divine law, and no artificial regulations should interfere with its working. In Scripture we often meet with instances of the younger, the weaker, the despised being raised to honour and power.
II. UNDER GOD‘S RIGHTEOUS GOVERNMENT THE LOWLY AND FAITHFUL ON EARTH SHALL BE RAISED TO HONOUR AND HIGH SERVICE HEREAFTER. If it be asked why so many pure and gentle characters are allowed by Providence to remain through life in positions of obscurity, the true answer is this: They are training for positions of authority and honour in the future life. Those who here are faithful over a few things shall there be made rulers over many things, shall enter into the joy of their Lord. There are mansions for them there to inhabit; there is authority for them there to exercise; there is favour for them there consciously and eternally to enjoy.
Est 8:3
Putting away mischief.
There was great wisdom in Esther’s application to the king. In appearing before him unbidden she did so, as before, at the risk of her life. But her confidence in the power of her charms over the king was not unwarranted. She was too prudent to ask Ahasuerus to revoke his own decree for the destruction of the Jews. She treated it as the decree of the wicked Haman, and implored him to “put away the mischief of Haman, and the device that he had devised against the Jews.” This expression, “putting away mischief,” is striking and suggestive.
I. THERE IS SOME MISCHIEF WHICH, ONCE DONE, CANNOT BE UNDONE. Set a huge stone rolling down a mountain’s side, and you cannot stop its descent until it reach the lake below the precipice. Open the sluice, or make a breach in the dyke, and you cannot keep out the flood of waters. So if in anger you slay a man, if in lust you ruin a woman, if in wanton wickedness you corrupt and mislead a child, the evil is largely irretrievable. A bad book, once issued, does its deadly work; a false report, once spread, creates misery and distress.
II. THERE ARE CASES IN WHICH MISCHIEF MAY, TO A CERTAIN EXTENT, BE PUT AWAY. A misstatement may be corrected; a calumny may be retracted; an alarm may be contradicted. Restitution may be made for theft; reparation for injury. Governments which have done harm by unjust and unwise enactments may undo something of the harm by repealing bad laws, and replacing them by laws that are righteous. Amendment and reversal are permissible, and are indeed morally obligatory, where evil has been wrought or intended.
III. THE WISDOM OF GOD HAS DEVISED A WAY FOR PUTTING AWAY THE MISCHIEF OF SIN IN THE WORLD. A God who is just, and the Justifier of the ungodly who repents and believes in Jesus, is a Being who demands our grateful and lowly adoration. In Christ Jesus he “reconciles the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.”
Practical lessons:
1. The consideration of the difficulty there is in undoing mischief should make us cautious, and watchful, and prayerful that no evil in society may originate in us.
2. Yet this difficulty should not deter us from making strenuous effort to repair mischief when mischief has been done. Esther and Mordecai were, with God’s blessing, successful in their efforts, partially at all events, to undo Haman’s mischief. Let their example stimulate and encourage us in every benevolent task and undertaking.
Est 8:6
Patriotism.
Esther’s life was now safe, and probably her cousin’s too. But that was not enough. Her nation was still in danger. The royal decree had delivered the Jews throughout the empire into the hands of their enemies. In a few months, unless measures were meantime taken to check and hinder the malice of their foes, thousands of Israelites might be exposed to violence, pillage, and massacre. The thought was to Esther cruel beyond bearing. “How,” said she, “can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people, the destruction of my kindred?” This was patriotism indeed.
I. PATRIOTISM IMPLIES A SENTIMENT OF SYMPATHY. Esther felt for her people, her kindred. Every lover of his country will not only rejoice in its prosperity, cherish a glow of pride and satisfaction in any great deeds of his countrymen, but will grieve over national calamities and mourn over national sins; will “sigh and cry for the abominations that are done in the land.”
II. PATRIOTISM DETERS MEN FROM DOING ANYTHING THAT CAN INJURE THEIR COUNTRY. If personal advantage can be secured by any harm to his country, the patriot will spurn the thought of so profiting himself at the expense of the nation. As a citizen, whose life must have some influence, he will refrain from conduct by which his countrymen might suffer.
III. TRUE PATRIOTISM WILL LEAD MEN TO SEEK NOT ONLY THE MATERIAL PROSPERITY, BUT THE REAL AND MORAL GREATNESS OF THEIR COMMON COUNTRY. They cannot contemplate uninterested, unmoved, a state of society
“Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.”
The progress of knowledge, of virtue, of true religion amongst their kindred will be sought with ardour and zeal.
IV. PATRIOTISM WILL LEAD TO PRACTICAL EFFORT TO AVOID THREATENING DANGERS. The patriot is unwilling to contemplate, to anticipate evil. But mere sentiment is insufficient, and he will exert himself to avert the evil he dreads. Especially will he use any influence he possesses with those who have the means, the power, the opportunity of assisting to secure the safety and welfare of the country. The examples of Ezra and of Nehemiah, among the children of the captivity, show us what true patriotism will lead men to undertake and do and bear. But the supreme example, alike of patriotism and of philanthropy, is to be beheld in Jesus Christ, who wept over Jerusalem as well as over the world, and who would fain have averted ruin from the city he favoured with his teaching and ministry, and in which he shed his precious blood.
Est 8:7-14
Self-defence.
The permission of Ahasuerus appears to us singular almost to madness. Indeed, it could only have been such a character as we know Xerxes to have been that could have coolly contemplated plunging every province and every city of his empire into the horrors of civil war. However, it seemed better to him to grant permission to the Jews to arm and to defend themselves than to reverse formally the decree he bad already issued for their destruction. So first the despot commands the enemies to arm against the Jews, and then commands the Jews to arm themselves against their enemies.
I. SELF–DEFENCE IS, WITHIN LIMITS, A NATURAL RIGHT. What is the alternative? In the case of an individual it may be a violent death; in the case of a nation it may be either subjection or annihilation. Thus, civilisation may be replaced by barbarism, and Christianity by idolatry or fetishism.
II. SELF–DEFENCE IS A LEGAL RIGHT. Here the Jews were expressly directed to defend and deliver themselves. And there are cases where the law justifies the putting forth of force in defence of life and property, and he who smites his assailant is held guiltless. Great defenders of their country are enshrined in a nation’s memory.
III. SELF–DEFENCE IS SOMETIMES PUT FORWARD AS A HYPOCRITICAL PRETENCE. It has often happened that an aggressive, ambitious nation has endeavoured to persuade itself, to impose upon its neighbours, to believe that its action is merely defensive in mustering armaments, enlisting warriors, and making war. All the while designs of empire, of spoliation, of subjugation may be before the nation’s mind.
IV. SELF–DEFENCE IS A SPIRITUAL LAW. If we are anxious to defend ourselves, our property, our families from violence and theft, how anxious should we be to secure ourselves against the assaults of the devil. Every Church should be a confederation for common protection against the inroads of error and of sin.
Est 8:15
A city’s joy.
It is observable that the inhabitants of Susa are represented, in more than one place in this book, as entering into the circumstances and sharing the emotions of their Hebrew neighbours. It is believed by eminent scholars that the educated Persians had strong sympathies with the religious beliefs and practices of the Jews. Thus they wept with them in their fears and griefs; they rejoiced with them in their deliverance and happiness.
I. THERE IS SUCH A THING AS CIVIC LIFE. Not only an individual, but a city, a nation, has a character, a unity, a life of its own. As in our own country Manchester and Birmingham have a distinctive life, as in France Paris has a remarkable individuality, as in the middle ages the Italian cities had each its own corporate, intellectual, and social individuality; so it is reasonable to look for the evidences of such civic life wherever a community has existed for several generations, and traditions, memories, sympathies have grown up and prevailed.
II. COMMUNITIES ARE CAPABLE OF IMPULSES AND MOVEMENTS DISTINCTIVE OF THEMSELVES. When London turned out to welcome Garibaldi, it was a remarkable instance of the way in which a population is moved as with the stirring of one mighty impulse. There is something terribly grand in the spectacle of a vast city moved with one mighty wave of emotion. Such a wave passed over London upon the occasion of the death and burial of the great Duke of Wellington.
III. THE SPONTANEOUS MANIFESTATION OF A POPULAR SENTIMENT IN A CITY HAS SOMETIMES GREAT MORAL SIGNIFICANCE. Indignation, grief, sympathy, relief, gladness, may all find a voice in the cry that rises from the bosom of a vast population. Often the popular instinct is unmistakably right. Vox populi, vox Dei. So in the case before us, when “the city of Shushan rejoiced, and was glad.”
Est 8:16, Est 8:17
A nation’s relief and gladness.
God often interposed on behalf of his chosen people the Jews, but never more signally than on this occasion. No wonder that far and wide throughout the Persian empire the Israelites put forth signs of salvation and of rejoicing.
I. WHY THE JEWS REJOICED.
1. In the downfall of their enemy. Haman was hated with an especial hatred. “Cursed be Haman!” was their cry, when, in Purim, they celebrated the day when the Lord delivered them out of the hand of the enemy.
2. In their patronage by a queen of their own blood and nation. A Jewess upon the throne was the agent in bringing to the Jews security and prosperity.
3. In their countryman Mordecai being exalted to be a chief minister of state. This happened often during the captivity. Daniel especially is an instance of a Jew exalted to high rank and power in a heathen empire.
4. In the favour towards them of the great king. From being their adversary and oppressor, Ahasuerus was turned to be their friend.
5. For permission to defend themselves. If the decree against them could not he reversed, it was matter for rejoicing that a decree of the same authority warranted them in standing upon their defence.
6. In their consequent delivery from the fear of massacre. “All that a man hath will he give for his life.” And now life was secure; and they rejoiced as those raised from the brink of death.
II. HOW THE JEWS REJOICED. We have in these verses a bright and vivid picture of the gladness that diffused itself throughout the empire on the occasion of the deliverance.
1. Light and gladness.
2. Feasting and a good day.
3. The adhesion of many to their religion and their fellowship.
4. The sympathy of many who respected and esteemed them, their character, and their religion.
Est 8:17
A good day.
This expression is probably figurative. The time of relief, and thanksgiving, and confidence, and hope is viewed as a day having a character of its own. And no wonder that, so viewed, it should be called here “a good day.”
I. IT WAS GOOD IN ITS RETROSPECT. A day of evil had been dreaded and looked forward to with justice, and it had been converted into a day of peace. A day of Divine interposition summoned all to admire the unexpected interposition of Divine providence which had taken place.
II. IT WAS GOOD IN ITS REALISATION. It was a good day for the rescued and saved, for the agents who had effected the deliverance, for the people among whom they dwelt, and even for the king, whose reign and reputation were saved from a stain both black and bloody.
III. IT WAS GOOD IN ITS ANTICIPATION. Some months were yet to elapse before all danger was past. Yet, in the changed prospect, how could the Jews do other than give thanks, rejoice, and triumph? Let this “good day” serve to us as an emblem of the day of Divine visitation and human privilege. “Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation.“
HOMILIES BY P.C. BARKER
Est 8:6
True patriotism.
Esther felt that her work was not yet done. An overconfident and sanguine disposition might have taken for granted, as we do in the mere retrospect, that all else which was requisite would follow as matter of course. She had met as yet no rebuff, had suffered no failure. Each move, well considered beforehand, had been crowned with success, surpassing the utmost that she or Mordecai had dared to imagine. In the flush of personal success, and of joy because of the safety and great promotion of Mordecai, she does not forget the larger family of her “people” and “kindred.” The fearful decree is not reversed. It still overhangs the heads of thousands upon thousands. Esther feels that her mission will not be fulfilled until she has obtained the abrogation of the decree, and secured the lives of her people. In all the methods she had employed hitherto a remarkable calmness and circumspection are observable. But now a change is visible in favour of a demonstrativeness which it must have required very strong effort to keep up to this time in such restraint. Esther “fell down at the feet of the king, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman, and his device that he had devised against the Jews (verse 3). This change is interesting to observe, as occurring at the time when thought and affection left self and home for the scattered kindred of a hundred and twenty-seven provinces. This verse is the irrepressible outcry of true patriotism. It is the expostulation of vivid and tender sympathy. It is the argument of a forcible principle of our nature, which oversteps the boundaries of the personal and the domestic in order to travel much farther, and to embrace the national. It mounts by the stepping-stones of self-love and sacred family love to the love of vast numbers of those never seen nor personally known, yet in some special sense related. The passage suggests, by a leading illustration, the general subject of patriotism; and we may notice
I. WHAT TRUE PATRIOTISM IS.
1. It is evidently an original and ultimate principle. As soon as ever it was possible it showed its existence The fact of its presence, and operative presence, has been visible in all ages, traceable in all kinds and degrees of civilisationamong the barbarous, and among the most advanced and elevated nationalities.
2. It is a principle of a high moral kind. A form of love above the sympathy which is between individual and individual, above that which lies between those born of the same parents, and, on the other hand, falling short of that universal love of man, as such, which is one of the very highest teachings of Christianity.
3. It is a somewhat quickened regard for those united to us by community of race. A stronger interest in their welfare and advantage is marked by it, while divested as far as possible of any conscious reflex action or benefit to self. This affection was no doubt exceedingly strong in the Jewish race, was at Esther’s time greatly intensified by adversity and persecution and natural causes, but owed its most determined hold to distinctly Divine purpose.
II. THE USE OF PATRIOTISM IN THE INDIVIDUAL CHARACTER.
1. It must be enlarging to the heart. It must expand the affections in their outlook, which then seek the various and the distant instead of ever keeping at home. It must give greater and freer exercise to the more important moral elements of our nature.
2. It must operate ever as a distinct corrective to some portion of the dangers of selfishness. There is much selfishness in our self-love; there is often not a little even in the family and domestic circle; sympathies may run round indeed, but in too narrow a circle. But the circle is immensely widened by this community of interest, while yet kept within a manageable area.
3. It is able to give enough natural motive to the awakening of moral energies, which without it would have found no sufficient appeal. In point of fact, some of the grandest displays of human force, and among them that of the present history, have been due to it.
III. ITS USEFULNESS TO PUBLIC SOCIETY. There will be a vast amount of this necessarily entailed indirectly and unconsciously, as arising from the previous considerations; but, in addition, manifest practical use on a large scale will also result.
1. It secures the prospect of bringing together to one point a great aggregate of force in emergency. It is like public opinion in action, seasoned by genuine affection.
2. It is equal also to the converse of this, spreading, as in Esther’s example, the willing benefit, the critical advantage of opportunity, of one loving, praying heart, over a vast area.
3. Pervading the whole mass of mankind, it so divides it up and so allots it, that in place of unwieldiness a well-knit-together organisation is found. Thus it offers a strong and very traceable analogy to the body with its members.
IV. THAT IN PATRIOTISM WE HAVE ANOTHER EVIDENCE OF DIVINE DESIGN IN THE STRUCTURE OF HUMAN SOCIETY. For
1. It cannot possibly be attributed to mere human arrangement or compact.
2. It does not at all really contravene either the descent of all from one head, or the fact that “God has made of one blood all nations of the earth.”
3. Its operation is not malevolent, setting “nation against nation.” It is beneficent, and is ever growing to show itself more and more so, leading up to mutual service, mutual dependence, and mutual love, to the attainment of which it were very hard to see any other way so compact, so sure.B.
Est 8:15-17
A type of universal joy.
This passage tells the tale of great joy. The question of the prophet Isaiah, “Shall a nation be born at once?” asked now nearly two centuries ago, is answered in an unexpected way, and in something superior to mere literal sense. New life is a great thing, and the sensations of young life have much joy in them. But in the same kind of sense in which the father rejoiced over the prodigal son on his return with livelier and more demonstrative joy than over the obedient son who never went astray, and in the same kind of sense in which it is said that “there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance,” is it true that there is more joy in life rescued from the doom of death than in life just fresh, though it be fresh from the Creator’s hand. Yes, there is more joy therein, both for those who are chiefly concerned, and for those who look on. And was it not thus in the best sense that a nation was now “born at once” when darkness, exceeding distress, and the anguish of apparent helplessness all dropped off in a moment, and “the Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour, and a feast and a good day in every province, and in every city”? Evidently some special stress is laid upon the description of the gladness of the Jews. We cannot for a moment wonder at their gladness, that is one thing. But the detailed and full announcement of it on an inspired page is another thing, and leads us to expect that there are some facts about it which should invite notice and will reward more careful thought.
I. IT WAS THE GLADNESS OF A VAST NUMBER OF PEOPLE. A great philosopher of British name and reputation has remarked two things, and very truly, on this subject. First, how much less disposed, comparatively speaking, men are to sympathise with the manifestations of joy than with those of genuine sorrow. To the best of human nature it is easier to weep with those who weep than to laugh with those who laugh. This is a just discernment, and gives the balance of goodness to the intrinsic quality of unfallen human nature, where it may get a possibility of betraying its native worth. Secondly, that this is especially true when it is the joy of an individual that is ostentatiously paraded. Here the case is the opposite. The joy is the joy of all and of each. Gratitude and thankfulness were the spring of it, and there was no need to moderate either itself or its expression, because it was general and universal. There were none (at all events none entitled to consideration) on whom it would jar, or whose finer susceptibilities would suffer. On the contrary, the only discordant element would be produced by him who made himself the exception or offered to stand aloof. Note, that such real general joy is a very rare phenomenon on earth.
II. IT WAS THE GLADNESS OF EVERY CLASS AND KIND OF THE PEOPLE. Old men “little children and women” (Est 3:13), young men and maidens, rich and poor, strong and weak, all these could participate in it. Our human joys are often spoilt, are often much diminished to the best of persons, by the inevitable memory of those who are without what gladdens us. Think how a victorious army may rejoice, and generals and leaders be glad; but what of the hundreds of families of every class over the kingdom who have lost husbands, brothers, sons? Or think how the great body of a nation may rejoice because of the victories of its armies; but at what havoc of untold sorrow and misery of numberless others belonging to conquering or the conquered. Think how rare is the occasion of any national joy which really reaches and touches the heart of all kinds and ages of the people.
III. IT WAS A GLADNESS WHICH HAD SEVERAL ELEMENTS IN ITS COMPOSITION. The fourfold analysis of it cannot be condemned for mere surplusage of language as it lies on the page of Scripture. And these are the four elements”light,” “gladness,” deep “joy,” “honour.” Each of these elements is a good one. The first and last speak for themselves. Let us interpret the second as the gladness of the young hearts and of manifestation, and the third as the deeper-sinking joy of the old, and those who felt and thought more than they showed or spoke.
IV. IT WAS THE GLADNESS OF A REACTION. The reaction was just. It would have argued callousness, an insensate heart indeed, if it were not felt, and very powerfully felt. To have great mercies is a common thing, to respond to them far too uncommon. The contrast of “the horrible pit and the miry clay” with the “rock and the established going” of the pilgrim is one which should waken deepest joy. It is light, joy, honour all in one.
V. IT WAS GLADNESS IN ANSWER TO A DELIVERANCE WHICH WAS NOT ONLY VERY GREAT AND VERY UNEXPECTED, BUT WHICH WAS THE RESULT OF A MARVELLOUS INTERPOSITION OF PROVIDENCE, wrought by one feeble woman, and prepared for by a most extraordinary series of precisely-adapted events. And all this was “prepared for God’s people.” Through much tribulation, indeed, through darkness, cruel oppression, patient endurance on the very border of despair, they had been wonderfully brought out to the light, joy, honour of that time.
VI. IT WAS A GLADNESS WHICH MAKES US THINK OF ANOTHER. It makes us feel for another, long for another. That was of a nature that must be rare in occurrence, nor would we wish it other. And, after all, the duration of it could only be temporary. But it may well bear our thought onward and upward. The gladness of the people of God in heaven will fill out every part of the description of this gladness. It will fill out every part of it worthily. There all will be glad. There all varieties of purified spirits will be glad. There the light and gladness and joy and honour will all be to perfection. How glorious the reaction that will then be felt for us, with the doom, and the law’s decree, and the despair, and the sorrow, and the tear all and for ever gone. And when we shall all admit to what it is owingto the most marvellous interposition of all; and to whom it is owingto him who “with strong groaning and tears” pleaded for us and saved us.B.
HOMILIES BY F. HASTINGS
Est 8:5
Repairing mischief.
“Let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman.”
I. WHAT A LEGACY OF EVIL IS LEFT BY THE WICKED. e.g. By Voltaire, Paine, Napoleon I; and others.
II. WHAT EFFORTS ARE NECESSARY TO REPAIR EVIL ONCE WROUGHT. It is SO much easier to destroy than to build up.
III. GREAT EVILS MAY BE REMOVED, OR AT LEAST OVERRULED, BY PROVIDENCE. If this were not believed, the arm of the Christian would be paralysed. We have to beware of that phase of belief which would lead to the postponement of spiritual effort because Christ is to come again. We must not let it be supposed that the work of Christ, the word of God, and the gift of the Spirit are all failures. The mischief wrought by evil is to be repaired by Christ’s gospel and healed by his love.
1. What are we doing to repair the mischief others have wrought? What are we doing to undo our own wrong-doing?H.
Est 8:16, Est 8:17
Brightened life.
“And the Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour,” etc. ‘When the tide of evil turned, great advantages flowed to the Jews. So when a man forsakes his evil way he will find certain results follow.
I. LIGHT. He will see the meaning of God’s word and of life.
II. GLADNESS. He will not be afraid to rejoice, but will see that the Christian has the truest right to be glad, seeing he is delivered from the bondage of sin and death.
III. HONOUR. People respect a true Christian, bat they despise the hypocrite. Every man’s character is rendered of greater worth by his Christianity.
IV. USEFULNESS. Others will be won to the same good way. “Many of the people of the land became Jews.” Influence will constantly spread.
V. SAFETY. The former enemies of the Jews were afraid to touch them or speak against them. The evil powers that oppose man’s spiritual welfare will not be able to injure him, because God will protect, and the habit of watchfulness will be fixed.H.
HOMILIES BY P.C. BARKER
Est 8:3-14
Consecration, kindred, law, and folly.
In these words we have
I. THE MANIFOLDNESS OF HUMAN CONSECRATION. “And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears,” etc. (verse 3). Emboldened by her first success, Esther goes in again to the king, again endangering her own position, and, indeed, her own life, on behalf of her people. The former time she may have been influenced by Mordecai’s reminder that her own death was determined by the king’s decree. Now, however, she had no reason to be apprehensive on that ground. Her second act of intercession was purely unselfish. It is a beautiful instance of goodness. The lovely queen risking her dignity, her wealth, her happiness, her very life on behalf of others; pleading with the capricious and uncertain sovereign; shedding for others, as she had not for herself, tears of tender compassion; bringing her beauty and her charms wherewith to insure the safety of the people of God. In how many ways may we serve the cause of goodness and of God. What varied offerings may we lay on the altar of the Lord! Each man must consecrate his best: the learned man can bring his knowledge, the wise his sagacity, the rich his wealth, the titled his rank, the fearless his courage, the energetic his vigour; the engaging woman can bring her charms, the loving her affection, the beautiful her beauty. Our God “has commanded our strength” (Psa 68:28). It is true that he requires of us “according to that we have, not according to that we have not” (2Co 8:12); but he asks of each of us the best we have to bring, and of what he has given us freely to give him and his.
II. THE SPECIAL LOVE WE OWE TO OUR OWN PEOPLE. “How can I endure to see the evil that shall come upon my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?” (verse 6). Our Lord had on more than one occasion to teach that the affection of ordinary human friendship toward himself must give place to a purely spiritual attachment. In him we form and cultivate and magnify these spiritual affinities and relationships. Yet they are not inconsistent with special interest in those to whom the bonds of nature bind us. We know how intensely strong was the feeling of the Apostle Paul toward “his brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom 9:1-3). If we do not wish to endure the intolerable pain of witnessing the “evil” and destruction of our own kindred, but wish for the joy of seeing them “walking in the truth,” we must bring all our influence to bear on their hearts in the time when we can teach them, touch them, lead them.
III. THE FRAILITY OF HUMAN LAW, and, we might add, the presumption of human legislators. The decree which this great “king of kings” had just issued was no sooner published than he wanted to reverse it. He and his brother kings, indeed, professed that the law of the Medes and Persians altered not (Est 1:19), and when Esther came with her petition, Ahasuerus declared that what was “written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse” (verse 8). Technically and formally it was so; in part it was so truly. But in substance this was but a vain pretence. Measures were instantly taken to reduce the former decree to a nullity. Much of the most beneficent legislation of later years has been the undoing of what former acts had done, the repealing of old and evil laws. Solemnly and with all the forms of state we enact, and then, a few years on, with the same solemnity we repeal. Such are the laws of man.
IV. THE IRREPARABLENESS OF HUMAN FOLLY (verses 9-14). King Ahasuerus might hang Haman with great promptitude; a word from him, and the executioners were ready with willing hands; but he could not easily undo the evil work of his favourite. That bad man’s work left dark shadows behind. He himself was disposed of, but what of the decree he had been the means of passing? That could not be quickly reversed, or its effects removed. The custom, if not the constitution, admitted of no formal repeal. Consequently the most energetic measures had to be taken to prevent a general massacre. The king’s scribes had to be called together (verse 9); letters had to be written in every language and sent to every province in the empire (verse 9); horses had to be pressed into the service (verse 10); and then all that could be done was to sanction and encourage a stout resistance on the part of the Jews when they were attacked: they were “to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay,” etc. (verse 11). This, no doubt, led to severe and fatal strife in some, if not in many, places. In truth, the king could not wholly undo what his thoughtless folly and excessive confidence had done. We never can wholly wipe out the evil consequences of our folly and our sin. We may do much to counteract, but we cannot wholly remove. Godlessness, selfishness, worldliness, vice, error, in former years, these have left their traces on our hearts and lives, and on those of others also, and all the waters of all the seas cannot wash them out. Sin may be forgiven, folly may be pardoned, but their miserable consequences flow onwho shall say how far?in a polluting stream. It does not take a royal hand to do what is irreparable. The hand of a little child is strong enough for that.C.
Est 8:15-17
Sunshine.
We have in this passage
I. A FLASH OF HONOUR TO AN INDIVIDUAL (Est 8:15). Mordecai goes forth, grandly attired, coronet on head, the recipient of highest royal favour, receiving also the honour of the acclaiming populace. He would not have been human if he had not enjoyed his triumph. Perhaps Oriental human nature counted such a public ceremony dearer than English nature would. But this was only a flash of enjoyment, very soon gone. “What is wanted here?” said one proud spectator to another at a Roman triumph. “Permanence,” said the other. One hour, audit would be over. We learn that
(1) there is a place in our life for such brief enjoyments. We need not refuse them because they are of the world; coming to us in the course of faithful service, they may be regarded as sent of God to brighten and to cheer us. But we must remember that
(2) it is only a small place they must be allowed to occupy. They must be counted as the small dust of the balance, not the solid weight in the scale. Our strong temptation is to make far too much of them; to rate them far above their true value; to give to their acquisition a measure of time and energy which they do not deserve; to sacrifice more precious things, even sacred principles themselves, in order to obtain them. Then they break under our hand and bruise us, and we know how foolish and wrong we have been. But Mordecai had more reason to rejoice in
II. THE SATISFACTION OF THE CITY. “The city of Susa rejoiced and was glad” (Est 8:15). It is much for one man to give satisfaction to a whole metropolis, especially if, as here, the gladness is due to real patriotism, and is a tribute to substantial worth. Men may give lightness of heart to the populace by very questionable and even unworthy means: by indiscriminate bounty, by pretentious charlatanism, by empty oratory. But to do what Mordecai now did,to give joy to the city because all men felt that they were in the hands of an honest and capable administrator, who would seek their interest, and not his own at their expense,this is not unworthy the ambition of a Christian man. It may be that this is beyond our reach, but we may learn from it to indulge an honourable aspiration. We are filling some post in the world, and probably in the Church. We should aspire to be such workmen in the narrower sphere we thus occupy that, when the hour of promotion comes to us, that will give satisfaction to our fellows, and we shall receive their congratulations. Excellency may sometimes escape the notice it deserves; yet, as a rule, men mark the faithful and devoted servant, and they rejoice when he “goes up higher.” But Mordecai witnessed that which still more gladdened his heart
III. THE JOY OF AN ENTIRE PEOPLE. “The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour,” etc. (Est 8:16, Est 8:17). The keenest physical gratification (it is said) is found in the sudden cessation of acute pain, in the sense of great relief. All Jewry, throughout the whole of Persia, now felt the keen delight of being relieved from their terrible fears. It is to render the truest and most appreciated service to relieve men’s soul of great fear and dread. To give temporal, and, still more, spiritual, relief is to confer the most valuable boon. Happy is he who, like Mordecai, has the means of doing this on a large scale; he will earn the blessing, deep and fervent, of many souls. But, here again, if we cannot achieve the greater things we must attempt the smaller ones. There are anxious cares we can remove from some mind; there is a heavy spiritual burden we can help to lift from some heart. The blessing of one soul “ready to perish” is well worth our winning, cost what pains it may. The brightest feature in the whole scene is the
IV. CONVERSION TO THE TRUE FAITH. “Many of the people of the land became Jews,” etc. (Est 8:17). The “fear of the Jews” may have been in part the high regard felt for them, perhaps not unmixed with some hope and apprehension. So great was this regard that their Persian neighbours even adopted their faith and worshipped the true and living God. Thus the conquered became the conquerors; thus the captives led captive. We learn here
1. How God overrules, making his Church the stronger for the very designs which were intended to despoil and even to extinguish.
2. How we may prevail, even in humble positions winning to our side, and so to his cause, them that are “our masters according to the flesh.” The little maid in the Syrian general’s service caused the living God to be honoured in Damascus (2Ki 5:1-27.); the captive Jews in Persia led many around them to adopt their purer faith; those among us who are “in service,” who are “under authority,” may live lives of such attractive worth that they will win those who rule to the service of the Divine Master.C.
HOMILIES BY W. DINWIDDLE
Est 8:1-3
Hopeful changes.
I. THE CHANGES IN HUMAN LIFE ARE OFTEN WONDERFUL. They startle us
1. By their suddenness. An empire, a city, a house, a reputation, or a power which it has taken long to build up may fall in a day.
2. By their completeness. What may have seemed durable as time itself passes away and leaves no memorial. “Like the baseless fabric of a vision,” magnificent empires have perished, and left “not a wrack behind” (Psa 9:6).
3. By the rapid succession of events which lead up to them. Our narrative includes in the history of one day the king’s sleeplessness, the reading of the chronicle, the adoption of Haman’s device, the honouring of Mordecai, the humiliation of Haman, Esther’s banquet, the accusation, conviction, and death of Haman, the bestowal of Haman’s wealth on the queen, the promotion of Mordecai to Haman’s place, and the successful intercession on behalf of the Jews. God may bear long and patiently with the wicked, but when his time arrives, “then sudden destruction cometh upon them” (1Th 5:3).
II. IT IS PLEASANT TO BESTOW AND RECEIVE JUST REWARDS. When the king gave to Esther “the house,” or rather the possessions, of Haman, he expressed thereby his sense of the danger and anxiety to which his folly had exposed her; his sense too of the faithful and wise manner in which she had delivered himself from the toils of a guileful and presumptuous man. There was an evident stroke of justice in the awarding to Esther the wealth of the man who had promised to the king the wealth of the Jews as the price of their blood. Justice never sleeps.
III. GRATITUDE IS THE SIGN OF A TRUE HEART. Some easily forget benefits received. A change of position or a lapse of time will often cause the remembrance of past favours to fade. But Esther never forgot what she owed to Mordecai, and now she told the king “what he was to her;” how much he had been and still was to her! The very simplicity of these words gives them a peculiar depth and tenderness of meaning. The queen’s gratitude to Mordecai was shown
1. In explaining her own indebtedness to him.
2. In describing him as the real instrument of securing the exposure of Haman and the present felicity.
3. In winning for him favour and promotion.
4. In setting him, as her manager, over the house of Haman. She could not do too much for the man who had done so much for her. The gratitude which lives unfadingly in the heart, and is ever prompt to show itself in action, is a beautiful feature of character. What gratitude is due to God l How should we remember and esteem him who “loved us and gave himself for us!” “What shall we render unto the Lord for all his benefits?”(Psa 116:12-14).
IV. HOW SWEET THE FREEDOM WHICH PERMITS A TRUE HEART TO POUR ITS CONFIDENCES INTO THE EAR OF AFFECTION! Till now Esther feared the king, and dared not give him her confidence. She bad secrets in her breast which oppressed her, but which she could not divulge. But the removal of Haman, the enemy and obstacle, brought her near to the king, and she felt free to tell him all that was in her heart. The benefit and happiness of the marriage tie are sadly marred by the possession of secrets on either side, or by the want of a free, full, and loving confidence. The charm of friendship too is in proportion to the freedom it gives to the opening of the heart. There is no enemy on the part of our God and King to shut his heart against us. All enemies have been destroyed in Jesus Christ. It is because we will not, if we have not the freedom of intercourse with God which belong to children”the glorious liberty of the sons of God.”
V. THE PROMOTION OF THE WISE AND GOOD TO POWER IS A BLESSING TO THE WORLD. The king gave the seal which he had taken from Haman to Mordecai. Henceforth the sagacious and capable Jew was to occupy the place of grand vizier, or chief friend and counsellor. Here again justice notched a conspicuous mark. The humble and heroic man for whom Haman had erected a gallows was put in the wicked favourite’s placemade second to the king. From that time the monarch and his empire had some real ground of prosperity and peace. Mordecai’s influence grew and extended until it became a paramount power and blessing in all the hundred and twenty and seven provinces. Happy the monarch and nation that are under the guidance of a wisdom that is simple-hearted, clear-sighted, experienced, and godly. How many examples have we in the history of the world of the benefit conferred on nations by the promotion of the wise and good to offices of power, and of the misery and ruin effected by the promotion of the wicked!
VI. THE BENEFITS RECEIVED BY A TRUE HEART WILL ENLARGE ITS SYMPATHIES FOR OTHERS WHO ARE IN SUFFERING AND NEED. There is a joy over obtained good which is utterly selfish. It is self-absorbed, and has no consideration for the effect it may have on others. It may be natural enough, yet nothing is more hateful. The true godly soul will long to share its own joys with those whom it loves. Beyond that, its own sense of joy will quicken its sympathy with all the distressed, and its desire to bring the light of its joy into the regions of darkness and death. Hence Esther was not content with her own happiness. She could not feel happy until she had emancipated her people from the doom that threatened them. Her own deliverance from the enemy stimulated her to work out that of Israel. So long as the edict against the Jews was in force, the purpose for which she had ventured all was unaccomplished, It is only when our Lord shall have redeemed all his people and brought them to everlasting honour that he shall “see the travail of his soul and be satisfied“ (Isa 53:11).D.
Est 8:3-6
An effective advocate.
A second time Esther entered into the king’s presence unbidden. A second time the king’s sceptre was extended to her. Her own safety and queenly state had been secured, but her people were still exposed to the murderous decree which Haman had beguiled the king to seal and promulgate. She now appeared as an advocate for Israel. Learn here
I. THAT ADVOCACY SHOULD BE CLEAR AS TO ITS GROUNDS. The grounds on which Esther pleaded were such as the following:
1. That the edict of extermination was the device of the enemy Haman. The wicked man himself having been exposed and punished, his evil design should be countermanded.
2. That all her people throughout the empire were as innocent, and therefore as unworthy of death, as herself. Justice and mercy combined in calling for a reversal of the cruel edict.
3. That the destruction of a numerous people scattered through the empire would create universal alarm and confusion, and inflict irreparable loss on the king’s estate. Esther’s grounds of appeal were clear and strong. She had a good case.
II. THAT ADVOCACY SHOULD BE DISINTERESTED. The queen had gained much by the death of Haman and the restored affection of the king, but she was willing to sacrifice all on the altar of her people’s deliverance. Personal honour and wealth were as nothing to her so long as Israel was trembling under the uplifted sword. She presents us with a type of Christ, who “emptied himself of his glory” and offered up his life on the cross for the salvation of a condemned world. Advocacy, to be effective, must have no back-look on self.
III. THAT ADVOCACY SHOULD BE EARNEST AND PERSUASIVE. The body in all its expressions is responsive to the soul that animates it. Cold feeling will be content with cold words and impassive features; but when the heart is swayed by strong emotion the whole outward frame will yield itself to the power of the inward force. Words, looks, movements, gesticulations, tears will all unite in expressing a desire that commands the spirit. Thus Esther, when, against the law, she again entered uninvited into the king’s presence, “fell at his feet and besought him with tears.” Earnestness makes short work with restrictive formalities. A full heart when once unlocked cannot but be persuasive. The whole attitude of Esther was eloquent. Such advocacy could not fail to move even an Ahasuerus. We are reminded by it of Christ’s sweet, yearning, solemn prayer in behalf of his disciples as given in Joh 17:1-26.
IV. THAT ADVOCACY SHOULD BE IN FULL SYMPATHY WITH THE CAUSE IN WHICH IT IS EMPLOYED. No advocate can be perfectly effective unless he can put himself in the place of those for whom he is pleading, and can plead for them as if he were pleading for himself. Listen to Esther:”How can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?” She thus identified herself with her people and kindred. If they suffered, she would suffer; if they were destroyed, how could she live? The queen took on herself the burden of her nation. Again we think of Christ, the Divine Advocate. He became “bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh,” “took on himself our likeness,” that he might enter into our experiences, and bear our burden before God, and become an effective and prevailing Advocate. Hence his sympathy, his “fellow-feeling,” his oneness, and his all-powerful intercession (Heb 2:17, Heb 2:18; Heb 4:15, Heb 4:16).
V. THAT ADVOCACY FOR THE SUFFERING AND PERISHING IS THE DUTY AND PRIVILEGE OF THE GODLY. History affords many examples of noble advocacy in behalf of the justly doomed and the unjustly oppressed. Such Bible instances as Abraham’s pleading for the cities of the plain, Moses’ intercession for rebellious Israel, and Paul’s willingness to lose himself for the sake of his unbelieving kindred, readily occur. In modern times the long and arduous advocacy of the emancipation of the slave has become memorable. To the Christian, as to his Master, Christ, “the field is the world.” Men are “perishing for lack of knowledge.” Multitudes everywhere are in bondage to sin and death. It should be our part to do what we can to bring “deliverance to the captives,” and to “save them who are appointed to die;” and with our labours we should unite the earnest prayer of the advocate. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (Jas 5:16-20).D.
HOMILIES BY D. ROWLANDS
Est 8:17
Religious prosperity.
Persecution always defeats its own object. Viewed as mere policy, it is the worst that can be employed. Persecute error, and it will spread tenfold; persecute truth, and it will spread a hundredfold. Unless, therefore, you wish the principles you hate to gain ground, persecute not at all. Haman, while he brought utter ruin upon himself by his cruel attempt to exterminate the Jews, raised the latter into an incomparably better position than they occupied before. The Jews in their triumph were likely to adopt the same persecuting policy as had been exercised against themselves. It would have been simply the natural result of the treatment they had received. The Romish persecution of Protestants in our own country led Protestants in their turn to persecute the Romanists. The people of the land were, therefore, not without reason, in mortal fear; and many of them through fear became proselytes to the Jewish religion. But a profession of faith made under such circumstances was about the most worthless that could be imagined. The Church of God has had a most chequered history. Sometimes, like the noonday sun, it has shone with unrivalled splendour; sometimes, like the cloud-wrapped moon, its light has been lost in darkness. In the captivity of Egypt it was trodden down by its oppressors; under the leadership of Moses it struggled again into freedom. In the reign of Solomon a temple was built to Jehovah; in the reign of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, the calves were worshipped at Bethel and Dan. And we may add that under the new dispensation, even as under the old, its fortunes have been variable to the last degree. The text contains a graphic description of THE CHURCH IN PROSPERITY. In times of religious depression it is customary with good people to pray for better thingsa revival of the religious spirit, an outpouring of the Holy Ghost, an increase of godly enthusiasm. But frequently, when this takes place, those who desire it most are greatly disappointed, just because the form it takes is contrary to their expectation. For ages the Jews longed for the advent of the Messiah, but when he came they put him to death. It is important, therefore, that in seeking religious prosperity our minds should be free from misconceptions. This leads us to notice
I. THE NATURE OF RELIGIOUS PROSPERITY. It implies
1. An increase of spirituality among professing Christians. Beware of supposing that the success of a Church is identical with increased membership. This is a fatal mistake, and has led to the most lamentable consequences. True religion consists in spiritual-mindedness. It is the result of a change of heart produced by the Spirit of God. “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” It follows that a Christian is separate from the world. He views everything in the light of the world to come. He rejoices to suffer affliction with the people of God, for he has respect unto the recompense of the reward. No genuine revival can take place apart from increased purity and unworldliness.
2. An increase of good works among professing Christians. Good works are the necessary concomitants of spiritual-mindedness. “Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit.” The first proof that a man is born again is the earnestness with which he inquires what he must do. Instancesthe multitude on the day of Pentecost, the jailer at Philippi, Saul of Tarsus. The Church is described as a vineyard, for which God hires labourers, whom he rewards according to their services. The absence of works is therefore a sure sign of the absence of spiritual life. What the Spirit said to each of the Churches of Asia was, “I know thy works.” No real prosperity can co-exist with indifference and indolence.
3. An increase of sinners saved. “Many of the people of the land became Jews.” A most conclusive evidence of their thriving condition. A spiritual, working Church exerts a power which attracts outsiders into its ranks. At the beginning of the apostolic age, when the disciples were in the fervour of their first love, it is recorded that “the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved.” It is the business of a Church to seek the lost. This duty it owes to itself no less than to the world. Without converts it must gradually decay, and ultimately die. It enjoys the highest success, therefore, only when multitudes of the perishing flock within its gates.
II. THE CAUSES OF RELIGIOUS PROSPERITY. When possessed, to what is it due? When lost, how can it be recovered?
1. It is in one sense the work of God. It was God who laid down the foundation of the Church. “Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.” And not a single stone has been subsequently placed in the spiritual edifice without his co-operation. “Without me ye can do nothing.” “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.” If we would have a revival, we must pray God to send down the Comforter to “reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”
2. It is in another sense the work of man. The grandest triumphs of the gospel have been achieved by means of human instrumentality. The Protestant reformation, the Methodist revival, the evangelisation of Madagascar. Many ask, “What have we to do?” The answer depends upon the special circumstances of the inquirers. Some are able to preach the word, some to teach the young, some to visit the poor. If your Church be languishing, seek the cause among yourselves. Are you slumbering, inactive, prayerless?
III. THE EFFECTS OF RELIGIOUS PROSPERITY. These are represented here as threefold.
1. Joy. “The Jews had joy and gladness.” This is invariably the case; and what more natural? The released captive is glad, the victorious army is jubilant, the flourishing city is full of glee, and shall the Church be different? “When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing.” It is said of the first disciples, after they had witnessed our Lord’s ascension, which was to them an earnest of the coming of his kingdom, that they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.”
2. Contentment. “A feast and a good day.” With the luxuries they enjoyed they were abundantly satisfied. In religious revivals the means of grace, the services of the sanctuary, the ordinances of religion, are thoroughly appreciated. Duties which in stagnant seasons are a burden become a pleasure. Of the man who is “like a tree planted by the rivers of water,” the Psalmist saith, “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” The prevalence of bitterness, strife, and unrest is a sign of spiritual poverty. Cattle bred in the fertile plains are generally in good condition; cattle bred on the barren hills are not only lean, but grow immense horns.
3. Influence. “The fear of the Jews fell upon them.” The power of the Jews was felt in the land, and they were respected accordingly. The world admires power; it is the weak, the puny, the pretentious that are held in contempt. When religion is despised, and its professors treated with scorn, it is time to inquire into the reason. May it not be due to the sentimental, emasculated caricature of godliness that is too frequently set up for the reality? Strong, robust Christian manliness commands the homage even of opponents. When the Church appears in her proper charactera pure, living, active Churchan astonished world asks, “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?”R.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
SECOND SECTION
The Deliverance of the Jews
Esther 8, 9
A.ESTHER AND MORDECAI PROCURE PERMISSION FOR THEIR PEOPLE TO STAND ON THEIR OWN DEFENCE
Est 8:1-17
I. Esther and Mordecai receive authority to order all things needful for the deliverance of the Jews. Est 8:1-8
1ON that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman, the Jews enemy, unto Esther the queen: and Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her. 2And the king took [removed] off his ring [signet], which he had taken [caused to pass] from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. 3And Esther spake yet again [added and spoke] before the king, and fell down at [before] his feet, and besought him with tears [wept and supplicated to him] to put away [cause to pass] the mischief [evil] of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews. 4Then [And] the king held out the golden sceptre toward [to] Esther. So [And] Esther arose, and stood before the king, 5And said, If it please [be good upon] the king, and if I have found, favor in his sight [before him], and the thing [word] seem right before the king, and I be pleasing [good] in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters [books] devised by [of the devising of] Haman the son of Hammedatha [the Medatha] the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which[who] are in all the kings provinces: 6For how can I endure to see [and (i.e., when) I see (i.e., look) on] the evil that shall come unto my people [my people shall find]? or [and] how can I endure to see [and (i.e., when) I see (i.e., look) on] the destruction 7of my kindred? Then [And] the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen, and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows [tree], because [upon that] he laid [sent forth] his hand upon the Jews. 8Write ye also [And write ye] for [upon] the Jews, as it liketh you [is the good in your eyes], in the kings name, and seal it with the kings ring [signet]: for the writing which is written in the kings name, and sealed with the kings ring [signet], may no man [there is no one to] reverse.
II. Mordecai authorizes the Jews to make preparations for a common defence. Est 8:9-14
9Then [And] were the kings scribes called at that time in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth [twenty] day thereof [in it]: and it was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded, unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants [satraps], and the deputies [pashas], and [the] rulers [princes] of the provinces which are from India [Hodu], [and] unto Ethiopia [Cush], a hundred [and] twenty and seven provinces, unto every province [province and (i.e., by) province], according to the writing thereof, and unto every people [people and (i.e., by) people] after [according to] their language [tongue], and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language [tongue]. 10And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus name, and sealed it with the kings ring [signet]; and sent letters [books] by posts [the hand of the runners] on horseback [the horses], and riders on [of] mules [the steed], camels [the mules], and young dromedaries [sons of the 11mares]: Wherein [Which] the king granted [gave to] the Jews which [who] were in every city [and (i.e., by) city] to gather [congregate] themselves together, and to stand for [upon] their life [soul], to destroy, to slay [smite], and to cause to perish, all [every] the power of the people and province that would assault them, both 12little ones and women, and to take [he gave] the spoil of them for a prey. Upon one day, in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth [thirteen] 13day of [to] the twelfth [twelve] month, which [that] is the month Adar. The copy of the writing, for a commandment [law] to be given in every province [and (i.e., by) province] was published [revealed] unto all people [the peoples], and that the Jews should [for the Jews to] be ready against [to] that day to avenge themselves on [from] their enemies. 14So the posts [runners] that rode upon [riders of] mules and camels [the steed] went out, being hastened and pressed on by the kings commandment [word]. And the decree [law] was given at [in] Shushan the palace [citadel].
III. Mordecais honor and the joy of the Jews. Est 8:15-17
15And Mordecai went out from the presence of [before] the king in royal apparel of blue [violet] and white [linen], and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment [robe] of fine linen [byssus] and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced [shouted] and was glad. 16The Jews had [To the Jews was] light, and gladness, and joy, and honour. 17And in every province and in every city [and (i.e., by) city], whithersoever [which] the kings commandment [word] and his decree [law] came [was approaching], the Jews had [was to the Jews] joy [gladness] and gladness [joy], a feast and a good day. And many of [from] the people [peoples] of the land became Jews [Judaized themselves]; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
It seems almost self-evident after what occurred in chap. 7 that now, next to Esther, Mordecai should also come to great distinction. Whether, however, they would be able fully to reverse the fate that threatened the Jews, remained uncertain in view of the difficulty of the situation. Even after Mordecai had taken his own protective measures, up to the very hour when success was assured, uncertainty continued. In chap. 8 it is to be shown first what authority he received and what measures of policy he adopted.
Est 8:1-8. First, Mordecais authority. On the very day in which Haman fell the king presented the queen with his house. Justly enough the Targums understand by the term house, also the people in it, and the entire possessions belonging thereto. It was usual for Persian kings to possess themselves of the property of those who had been punished with death (Josephus, Antiq.XI. 1, 3; 4, 6). Mordecai came before the king,i.e. he was made one of the officers who saw the face of the king (comp. Est 1:10; Est 1:4; Est 7:9). He owed his position, not merely to his merit, as having himself been of service to the king, and now meriting the title benefactor of the king (Herod. VIII. 85), but because of his relation to Esther (Est 2:7). Indeed the king took off his ring (Est 8:2, , as in Est 3:10), his seal-ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. , as in Jon 3:6; he made him prime minister (Gen 41:42; 1Ma 6:15; comp. Est 3:10).1 In addition Esther placed him over the house of Haman, i.e. left to him the honorable and lucrative management of the large estate thus reverting to her, in fact made him her governor of the house. Both henceforth enjoyed a brilliant position; but they were not misled thereby into evil. The remarks with reference to the present prosperity of Esther and Mordecai are evidently made with regard to what followed. They did not take their ease at the expense of the needed care over their people; these were not forgotten. On the contrary they believed it incumbent upon them to do all in their power to make their people happy and prosperous. The mourning of Esther was still great; it did not cease until full deliverance came to them.
Est 8:3. And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears.2She thus caused him to understand distinctly that she was by no means satisfied with what had been done. In so far as Esther had implored him in a general manner to cause to be put away, to neutralize, to annul () the mischief of Haman (which he expected to inflict upon the Jews), and his device that he had devised against the Jews (comp. Jer 18:11; Eze 38:10), the king showed his willingness to comply, and as in Est 4:11; Est 5:2, he again stretched forth the golden sceptre toward her, so that she could take courage to arise and stand before him. Still it was necessary to find out the ways and means how the thing should be begun.
Est 8:5. Esther suggested: If it please the king (comp. Est 1:19; Est 5:4; Est 5:8; Est 7:3); and further on feeling the doubtful character of her proposition, she added: and the thing seem right, advisable to him. = to succeed, to accomplish, and in this sense has reference to seed which has sprouted well (Ecc 11:6, in the Hiphil, Ecc 10:10); it is a later word of which elsewhere we only find the noun (Ecc 2:21; Ecc 4:4; Ecc 5:10). Let it be written, or commanded by an edict, as in Est 3:9, to reverse the letters (, to cause to change from the state of being to non-existence) devised by Haman.As is often the case, here the substance of a letter is indicated by an apposition, (comp. Est 3:8 sq. and 12 sqq.). But in order the more certainly to carry through this doubtful proposal, she adds in Est 8:6 : For how can I endure to see evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?With reference to the connection of , we may indicate that one of the verbs, instead of being in the Infin. (with ) is subordinate to the other as a finite verb (with ), comp. Ewald, 285 c. Still itself means: I cannot endure, it, or I will not be able to stand it (comp. Isa 1:13), and the term is equal to when I shall have seen. with indicates to look upon some one with interest, be it that of pleasure, as is usual, or of pain or sorrow, as is the case here; comp. in this relation Gen 12:1.
Est 8:7-8. In order to indicate in advance that his good will abounds towards Esther and Mordecai, and that he would grant them all that the law would sanction in favor of the Jews, the king here reminds them of what he had so far done for Esther and Mordecai. Since, however, he could not directly annul his first decrees, but could simply make them powerless in effect, he commands them not to send new orders to the governorsin this manner a suspension or recall of the first edict could not be accomplished but to send an edict to the Jews themselves, commanding them to prepare for their defence. The sentence: For the writing which is written in the kings name, and sealed with the kings ring, may no man reverse, may have the sense, and so it is generally held, that the simple recall of the first edicts was not possible. may indicate a reflection upon in Esthers petition in Est 8:5.3 But since these words so nearly correspond to what precedes: Let it be written in the name of the king, and seal it with the kings ring, it is clearer and more natural to understand him to say: The new edict to the Jews will be just as authoritative and irreversible as was the former one to the governors. This must equally be obeyed with that. Of course the confirmation belongs still to the words of the king. The phraseology speaks only in an objective sense of the king, because it refers to a general rule. The infin. absol. Niph. is used instead of the perfect [by an ellipsis of the substantive verb].
Est 8:9-14. These contain the measures of Mordecai.4 In the same manner as did Haman (Est 3:12-15) on the 13th of the first month, so Mordecai wrote to and commanded the Jews and the rulers of the provinces, on the 23d of the third month, i. e. Sivan. This was fully two months later, although Hamans fall must have occurred soon after the edict of extermination was published. No doubt Mordecai thought it expedient first to establish himself in his new position before taking such steps and proposing such measures. He wrote to the Jews, but so that the governors became acquainted with the nature of this order, and were obliged to forward it in their extensive provinces to every single Jewish community (comp. Est 1:1).
The subject of in Est 8:10 is the one transmitting or originating the writing, i. e. Mordecai. In order to speedily make known the edict so as to free the Jews from their anxiety, and avert the evil in time, he dispatched the messengers with the greatest speed. , i.e. couriers, , i.e. on horses, by posts on horseback, and riders on mules, and young dromedaries., in distinction from , is the saddle-horse (dromedary), the race-horse (1Ki 5:8), and is here used in a collective sense. (Est 8:10-14) are not asses, according to the modern Persian estar, which in the Sanscrit = acvatara, and hence may have been acpatara in old Persian; but they were princely, royal horses, hence belonging to the court, from kshatra, royal, king, according to Haug, in Ewalds Bibl. Jahrb. V., p. 154. = the Syriac ramco, herd, particularly a herd of horses, with which we may also compare the word ramakat, stud, in the Arabic.
Est 8:11. Mordecai wrote that the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life,i.e. to defend themselves (comp. Dan 12:1), to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish all the power, which like an army would raise itself against them (), of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.This too was to take place on the day already designated in Est 3:13, viz. the thirteenth day of the twelfth month. The reduplication of the expression to destroy, etc., refers to Est 3:13. The same should be granted the Jews which, according to Hamans edict, was allowed the heathen. The Jews were permitted to apply the jus talionis. The case then stood that the governors and other authorities were by no means obligated to assist in the preparation for the destruction of the Jews, nor yet to obstruct or hinder the resistance which the Jews would offer to their assailants, as might seem to be implied in the first edict. For then the second edict, which was equally authoritative, would have been little respected; but they could leave the case to the people, whether they would attack the Jews and risk a conflict, and they need not afterward punish such Jews as had slain their enemies. But still more. It was permitted the Jews to assemble and prepare and arm for their common defence in advance, so that they might act as one man against all the assaults and reverses, which in case of their standing disunited would surely have befallen them. (to collect), placed in advance here, was especially important (comp. its prominence in Est 9:2; Est 9:15-16; Est 9:18). Without this the Jews would not have possessed more than the simple right of self-defence, which, under any circumstances, they would have availed themselves of. Besides, even in the Persian empire the larger portion of the inhabitants seem to have possessed humanity enough to feel the disreputableness of an attack upon the Jews for the purpose of rapine, and they were little inclined to participate therein. On Est 8:13 comp. Est 3:14 b, and on Est 8:14, Est 3:15.
Est 8:15-17. The effect of this new measure was to produce great and general joy, and to bring great honor to Mordecai. He went forth from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white (comp. Est 1:6), and with a great crown of gold,[5] and with a garment of fine linen and purple[6] (. ., in Aramaic ). He was thus adorned doubtless to show what honor had been shown him by the king, but more particularly to make it manifest how he had succeeded in the matter of the Jews, and at the same time to publish his joyous feelings thereat. Importance attaches here not to the royal garment, which had already been given him in Est 6:8 sq., but to the State robes of the first minister at court, which, it appears, Mordecai had not put on at the time of his elevation (Est 8:1-2), but which he put on after his care for his people was removed. Then the city of Shushan, i.e., its inhabitants one and all, and not the Jews alone, of whom there is separate mention made in Est 8:16, rejoiced ( is not exactly to cry aloud, comp. Isa 24:14) and was glad.Hence they had deprecated the massacre awaiting the Jews, and perhaps apprehended with fear the great disorders and dangers that would ensue. But the Jews, Est 8:16i.e., those living in Shushanfor the others are mentioned in Est 8:17, had light and joy in contrast to the darkening of their future fate (, found in the fem. in Psa 39:12; in Isa 26:19, pl. ), and gladness, and joy, and honor.
Est 8:17. So also the joy spread to those without, who were so exceedingly distressed through Hamans edict (Est 9:3). They indulged in feasts, and in a good, joyous day, i.e., a holiday (comp. Est 9:19; Est 9:22). But this was not all. Many of the people of the land became Jews (, derived from , and found only here), because the fear of the Jews, and doubtless also of the mighty and powerful God of the Jews, ruling over their destiny, and not so much the fear of Mordecai and Esther, had fallen upon them (comp. Exo 15:16; Deu 11:25).7
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
On Est 8:1 sqq. 1. If in the present case the danger that threatened the Jews had not been so imminent and the disposition of both Esther and Mordecai so patriotic, then they might possibly have become proud in view of the wealth and high life and station that they now enjoyed, or they might have grown indifferent or reserved with respect to the distress of their countrymen. It is too frequent an occurrence that upstarts fear to lose caste by paying regard to former relations. Hence they are quick to forget and neglect their previous friends. There is no question that the attainment of honor and wealth will bring a blessing only when these become an incentive to good works, especially in promoting Gods kingdom. There is connected with their enjoyment sufficient discontent, envy and misery, and also enough trouble and curses. In general, Christians who have come to power are more timid in taking care of their friends than worldly people are. Hence the latter can more safely count on the applause of the great mass of men. But the world will not thank the former for their timidity, and God will hold them to account.
Feuardent: We are taught by Mordecais example that even pious men sometimes come to the head of affairs, and are safely entrusted with the reins of government; and that God adorns with this glory on earth those whom He will afterwards crown in heaven likewise. They are promoted, however, not so much for their own sake as that they may aid and promote the church and people of God, and may free and console those in affliction.
Starke: We should have sympathy for oppressed brethren in the faith (1Pe 3:8; Col 3:12; Gal 6:10). The innocence of the guiltless should be protected (Sir 4:9; 1Sa 20:32). He who has no pity for the pious and innocent when they are in danger is not worthy of the name of a man, much less that of a Christian; for we are members of one body (1Co 12:12).
2. Although Haman had been removed and Mordecai raised to his present station, yet the people still stood in jeopardy of their lives. Since the edict issued against them was irrevocable, their case was still critical. There were not many perhaps who deemed it possible that any means could be found to avert the threatened calamity. Mordecai himself may have long been in doubt regarding the way to be pursued out of the difficulty. And even after it suggested itself to him, it may have seemed improbable that it should lead to success. All depended on the question whether the assailants would not be too numerous for the Jews to overpower. This could not be previously ascertained. It may afford us light to know that he waited two months after his elevation before he issued the new edict. The period until then was one of dark foreboding to the Jews. But the pious Jews doubtless knew how to comfort themselves. God often delays help, not because He will render none, but in order to exercise our faith, and to stimulate us the more to call upon Him. Then also the help granted will make the deliverance more sweet, and transform a great distress into a great joy (Berl. Bible).
Mordecai, for his part, doubtless held fast to the thought that one must not despair of the salvation of Gods people, and that though the danger be ever so great, God is infinitely greater, and that it is mans duty to do all in his power for himself. With respect to Esther, it was something extraordinary that she, although by descent nothing but a poor Jewess, should propose to the great king of the Persians, the mighty and proud Ahasuerus, that he would revoke in one way or another an edict whose irrevocable character as a Persian dogma was fixed. Really this was a demand to divest himself of that higher divine glory () which the faith of the people had surrounded him with. It was to run the risk of unsettling the faith of the people in himself, and to expose himself to State disturbances. The difficulties surrounding him may even remind us of the problem that presented itself to Christ, when He, in the face of the sentence of condemnation upon the sinner on the part of justice, still made provision for grace. Esther might have feared that though her power over Ahasuerus had become great, still he might resent such boldness, and indignantly turn her away, refuse her request, and, if possible, become still more embittered against the Jews. Whatever considerations, however, may have arisen in her heart at the time, still she was doubtlessly incited by the predominant thought that the higher position one holds, the greater are the responsibilities connected therewith; that the more influence one wields, the greater must also be the courage to sustain it, so that one must not hesitate to strive after the highest aims and to tread the most difficult paths in the line of duty. But this correct view, this beautiful conviction, could not have been possible unless she had been first in possession of a pure love for her work. As is the case with men, so it was also with her, as a woman, that a true and correct conviction depended upon the state of her heart. If, in the following chapter, she manifests a sharp contrast with the heathen according to the Jewish Old Testament view, which threatened to cause her to err in the Christian view, and to bring vengeance and hate into play, yet, on the other hand, she reveals toward her people a love so strong, so self-sacrificing, and so bold, that it seems as if she had heard and apprehended the great question: This I did for thee; what doest thou for me? She here shows that mercy which is appropriate to him who recognizes how great the mercy was that met him.
3. It is a great and precious word which Esther utters in justification of her large and bold request: How can I endure to see all the evil which will come upon my people, and how shall I bear to see the destruction of my friends? She here openly expresses the fact that, though she is now greatly elevated, yet she is not able to sever the bond that unites her to her kindred. But, still more, she asserts that her life, though embellished with all the glory that Ahasuerus could bestow, has no value to her if she cannot also know that the lives of her kindred are safe from harm. All this was so well expressed by her that her word is very appropriate in pointing for our comfort to that Prince who in reality makes this sentiment His ownwho, though in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but laid aside His glory, and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross. But it is also appropriate as an exhortation for us, which should impel us in our circumstances to more and more approach her in this duty. It would be little credit to us should we prefer only those who are alike spiritually-minded with ourselves, and should we neglect or ignore those who are related to us according to the body, and should we look upon the perdition of so many souls with indifference.
On Est 8:7-14. The great excitement which now took place in Shushan, beginning among the scribes of the king and spreading through all the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the great Persian empire, from India to Ethiopia, by means of the couriers who rode the best and fleetest horses of the kings stud, and which seized all satraps and governors, but particularly all Jewish communities, may, as a first effect, have provoked much inquiry respecting the meaning of the message, and then great astonishment at it. It is, however, hardly possible that any one already comprehended the significance of the event. What was visible was seemingly only a shell in which lay secreted a seed capable of infinite developments, a new universal law, or rather a new and glorious gospel which should henceforth rule over the worlds history and expand to ever increasing authority. The Jews were to have the right to arm themselves against the day of attack on the part of the heathen. This implied that though externally dependent, still among and in themselves they should have freedom and the right to observe their laws and religion. This again prophetically indicates that the kingdoms of the world, although outwardly powerful, should inwardly lay themselves more and more open to the power of the kingdom of God. The Jews should now be empowered to take their defence against their enemies into their own hands. Thus it was implied that, in spite of the restricted sphere to which they were consigned, they still had a right to self-exertion. This mode of action upon attack only left them in an externally insufficient position for successful defence. Yet even in this was contained the prophecy that the people of God are permitted, in an inward and higher sense, themselves to do the best for victory over their enemies, and this the more since the means of the worlds empires are here insufficient. Both the right to exist and to be active in the new sphere which they should enter, though as yet existing in embryo, was never sanctioned here. And if Judaism even today expects to find in the book of Esther that which will afford it joy, then we must go still further and apprehend its deeper and more glorious import for Christianity and the Christian church.
On Est 8:15-17. Mordecai, after having attained all his requests, went out from the king clothed in royal garments, adorned with a large golden crown upon his head. And in all the land and cities, wherever the new law was promulgated, joy and rejoicing arose among the Jews. A great festival day had come for them. We do not know in how far their joy was pure. If it only arose because they could now make the necessary preparations to defend themselves from the attacks of their assailants, then no one will begrudge them their joy. It was certainly a time of deliverance for them. It is just such times as these that have made great impressions not only upon the Jews, but likewise upon the heathen surrounding them. As in the case of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt (Exo 12:38; Num 10:29), so also here many of the people of the land joined themselves to the Jews, indeed were converted to Judaism. Prophecies such as Isa 14:1; Isa 44:5 began to be in part realized. Periods of deliverance are chiefly periods of the extension of Gods kingdom. Would that we might realize this in our times of trouble! Since the time of sorrow must of necessity have an end and make way for a time of deliverance, we may very properly rejoice in prospect of the future growth in the church, however threatening the outlook may be. It is on this account that our Lord exhorts us to raise the head when all these things are in process of fulfilment.
The points most important in our chapter are given in brief terms closely following each other. There is Gods watchful and energetic care for His instruments for good. Esther and Mordecai are in advance established in their influential position, so that they may the more effectually execute His will. Then comes His care for His people, from whom He averts the threatening danger, and lastly the world is cared for.
Brenz: What an example is here presented to us of the issue of the greatest dangers which may threaten Gods people or church. But what is said of the safety of the universal church, the same holds true of every private individual who is a member of the church. I pray not for them alone, says Christ, but for those who through their word shall believe in me.
Starke: It is a small thing for God to turn the seasons of sorrow of the pious into hours of joy (Psa 30:12; Joh 16:20). God helps His people (Luk 1:52) and causes them to rejoice over their enemies (Psa 92:12).
Footnotes:
[1][A pleasure-seeking Persian king, like Xerxes, was glad to be relieved of the toil of governing, and willingly committed to one favorite after another the task of issuing and signing with the royal signet the decrees by which the government was administered. That the official entrusted with these high powers might be a eunuch, appears from Diodorus (XVI. 50). Rawlinson.Tr.]
[2][From the statement of Est 8:4 that the king again held out to her the golden sceptre, we must understand that Esther had once more intruded on Ahasuerus unsummoned. Rawlinson.Tr.]
[3][The answer of Ahasuerus is a refusal, but one softened as much as possible. He first dwells on the proofs which he had just given of his friendly feeling towards the Jews (Est 8:7). He then suggests that something may be done to help them without revoking the decree (Est 8:8). Finally, he excuses himself by appealing to the well-known immutability of Persian law. Rawlinson.Tr.]
[4][ The suggestion of Ahasuerus quickened the inventive powers of Esther and Mordecai. The scribes were at once summoned, and a decree issued, not revoking the former one, but allowing the Jews to stand on their defence, and to kill all who attacked them. It has been pronounced incredible that any king would thus have sanctioned civil war in all the great cities of his empire; but some even of the more sceptical critics allow that Xerxes might not improbably have done so (De Wette, Einleitung, p. 198 a). Rawlinson.Tr.]
[5][Not a crown like the kings (), but a mere golden band or coronet (). Rawlinson.Tr.]
[6][The tunic or minor robe of the king was of purple, striped with white (Xenoph. Cyrop. VIII. 3, l3; Plutarch, Alex. 51; Q. Curt. III. 5). Rawlinson.Tr.]
[7][Mordecais power might by itself hare caused some fear, but the chief alarm felt probably was lest the Jews, when the day came for revenging themselves, should account the large class of indifferent persons among their enemies. Persons of this class avoided the danger by becoming Jews. Rawlinson.Tr.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
We have in this chapter, what might have been expected, as a sequel to the former; Haman’s whole house involved in his ruin: Mordecai advanced: and the Jews delivered from the ruin which had been long hanging over them.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
(1) On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews’ enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her. (2) And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
Reader! the history before us will lose much of the beauty of it unless we see how far, and in what sense, it teacheth us. And doth it not, sweetly teach that transition from mourning to joy, which the afflicted people of God are sometimes suddenly made to experience? Doth it not, moreover, show us how short-lived the triumphs of the wicked over God’s people are? And yet more: Are we not led to contemplate, from the advancement of Mordecai, how gracious the Lord deals by his people, when they who sow in tears are caused to reap in joy? But after all these, and the like improvements, what a faint shadow is the resemblance of what is here related, to the riches and honors Jesus bestows upon his people, when, from leading them to see their misery in themselves, they are made to inherit substance in him, and when he fills all their treasuries. Pro 8:21 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Reprisals
Esther 7-10
WE have seen Esther in the attitude of lifting the index finger; we have now to consider the attitude of Haman whilst that finger was being pointed at him. The statement is marked by great simplicity, but also by solemn suggestiveness,
“Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen” ( Est 7:6 ).
Why was he afraid? Nothing had been stated but simple fact: is it possible that a man can be terrified by being reminded of simple reality? We may go farther in this case, and by going farther may increase our wonder. Could not Haman defend himself? Was it not open to him to say to king Ahasuerus, That is certainly true, but nothing has been done without the king’s consent, and no writing has been sent forth that was not sealed with the royal signet: what the queen has said is perfectly true, but I must hide myself behind the king’s authority? Not a word did he say: he simply burned with shame; his cheeks were red with fire. How is this? The answer is plain enough. We do many things with the king’s signet which we have no business to do. We may be very careful about our little cordon of facts, but all this amounts to nothing so long as the heart accuses itself. No matter what writings you have, it is of no consequence that you point to conversations, and recall incidents, and remind your interlocutor of certain occurrences, if the thing itself is wrong. There is something in human nature that gives way at the weakest point. There are defences that are in reality accusations. To excuse is in very deed to accuse under such circumstances. Men know this, and yet play the contrary part with great skill and persistence; they say they have documentary evidence, but they do not tell us how they procured it; they can produce letters sealed and signed by high authority, but they never tell the wicked process through which these letters came to be facts. Men, therefore, soon give way under the pressure of incomplete evidence; the unwritten law swallows up all the inky documents. Haman had indeed gone to the king, and told him about a certain people, diverse from the people of Media and Persia, and had in very truth received the king’s orders to write letters of destruction; but when all came to all it was the unwritten law that made a coward of Haman. The letters ought not to have been written; being written, they simply amounted to so much evidence against the man; the very motive of the letter burned the letter, and thus made it non-existent; and we are perfectly well aware that we are doing many things, in statesmanship, in ecclesiastical relations, in personal references, that bear very distinctly upon this method of procedure. There are laws, there are facts, there are letters; but all these ought not to have been; they are not in accord with the eternal unwritten law of righteousness, truth, charity, pureness, godliness, and therefore when that is pointed out all the documents fall into the fire, crinkle, blacken, catch the flame, and evaporate in smoke. Thus was Haman afraid before the king and the queen. Cowardice is traceable to consciousness of wrong-doing. Haman said to himself, I got the letters, but I ought not to have got them; I could take off this ring and show it to his majesty, but the ring would take fire and burn me if I held it up under such circumstances; no, I am a murderer, and I am discovered. What then took place?
“The king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life” ( Est 7:7 ).
That was all! Let me live! Strip me, cast me off, banish me, but let the poor dog live! All mock royalties come to that, all false ambitions, all ill-conceived plans, all selfishness, all murder. Do not hang me! I care for this poor old neck; I will never speak more, I will only ask for bread and water; only let the dog live! He was a great man just now;
Haman “sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife. And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king” ( Est 5:10-11 ).
Now he says, Let the dog live! Let the bad man take care! Judas Iscariot, be on thy guard! Heaven is against thee, and thine own hell hates thee. “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” You are very clever, you only are asked to the king’s banquet, you are entrusted with the king’s seal, you are chancellor, premier, leader, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” The success of bad men is their failure. There is no heaven in their gold; it is not gold, it is gilt. How rich the table is! but Haman cannot eat; the wine is old, but the palate is dead. Walk in the garden and view the lovely flowers: there is no loveliness to eyes of greed, to eyes of ambition, to eyes of selfishness, every Eden is lost by the disobedient man. Do not let me die even in Eden, give me a skin of beast to my back, and let me out of the golden gate Let the dog live! There are many valiant men whose valour will one day be turned into pale cowardice. Only they are valiant who are right; only they are heroic who love God and keep his commandments; to them death is abolished, the grave a hole filled up with flowers, blossoming at the top. Who would be wicked prosperously wicked, dining with the king, but wicked; drinking wine with the queen with a murderer’s lips? We may be murderers without shedding blood. Every man who has broken a heart is a murderer, it matters not whether he be the highest prelate or supremest minister.
Whatever Ahasuerus did he did quickly. No one ever complained that he was dilatory. Let justice be done to Xerxes. He was a man of action. It was pointed out to him that the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, stood in the house of Haman. The moment Ahasuerus heard there was a gallows he said, Hang Haman. Circumstances happily coincide here is the victim, here is the gallows: a child may complete the syllogism. It is wonderful how men who have no knowledge of the true God have always discovered a point of almightiness somewhere. Men who had no God, as we understand that term, have always had a deific line in their policy, a black line which meant the end. The Oriental kings realised this ideal of almightiness. Their word was law. Hang him! and no man dare say, Spare him! How could Haman complain? The gallows was his own invention; it was made after his own imagination; it was the very height he liked best for a gallows not forty-nine cubits high, but the round fifty. How often he had hanged Mordecai on the preceding night! how he had seen the Jew dangle in the air, and almost seen birds of carrion come and alight on his shoulder to look him over with a view to banqueting! How could he complain? This is God’s law: “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” All this we ourselves must go through. Take care! How much deeper are you going to make that hole? Do you say you mean to make it about ten feet deeper? then be assured that you have ten feet farther to fall. Men dig holes for others, and fall into them themselves. Do not be grave-diggers. “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Our hands were never made for the forging and hurling of thunderbolts; they were made to clasp other human hands, to lead the blind, to help the helpless. Yet who does not rejoice in this law of retribution, worked out on a grand scale, without a sign or token of pettishness in all its evolution? The universe would not be secure without it. The wicked man must be stopped somewhere: and how can a man be more decorously hung than on his own gallows? Is there satire in heaven? Is there just a faint wreathing of sarcasm on the lips of Justice? Do the powers supreme wait until the plans of bad men are quite completed, and then make them cut down the harvest which they themselves sowed in such glee of heart? Bad man, thine end is the gallows-tree! thou shalt surely be hanged by the neck until thou be dead. We see thee at thy front door, well painted, well polished, opening upon museum and picture-gallery and treasure-house; we hear the horses pawing and snorting in their warm stables, and see the servants flitting about in panoramic activity and confusion; we speak to thee over thy bags of gold thou shalt be damned! Say ye to the wicked, It shall be ill with him: he shall vomit his own successes, and when he is most ashamed it will be when he most clearly sees his triumphs. Say ye to the righteous, It shall be well with thee: poor, desolate, and afflicted, carrying seven burdens when one is enough for thy poor strength; yet at the end, because thou hast loved thy Lord, it shall be well with thee. Do not attempt to explain God’s “well.” It is a better word than if it had been in the superlative degree. Grammatical increase would mean moral depletion. It is enough that God says, “Well done.” “Well” is better than “best” in such setting of words.
From what point did Haman proceed to the gallows? From a banquet of wine. Oh to think of it! from a banquet to the gallows! There is not such a distance between the two points as might at first appear. Nearly the worst things in all the world are banquets. How a man can live in a mansion-house and pray, is a problem which we can consider even if we cannot answer. It was the rich man in the parable who was called “fool.” We should have been sorry for him under that designation if we had not first heard his speech; but after hearing his speech we found that no other word precisely covered the occasion. The house of mourning is better than the house of feasting. There is a sadness which is to be preferred to laughter. There are funerals infinitely more desirable than weddings. But we are the victims of the senses; we like gold and silver, and satin and colour; we rub our skilled fingers over them and say, Behold the texture! see the lustre! admire the beauty! We are blind within. An awful irony, that a man should have eyes to see stones and trees, and no eyes wherewith to see spirits, angels, God! Men drink away their vision; men drown in their cups the divinity that stirs within them.
Is the matter then at an end here? No. Haman’s policy must be all reversed.
“On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews’ enemy unto Esther the queen” ( Est 8:1 ).
Esther had another request to make “She fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears.” Then it was all over! What did she beseech the king to do?
“To put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews. Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king. And said, If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes [Oh this eloquent tongue! She knew it was all settled before it began], let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king’s provinces: for how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?” ( Est 8:3-6 ).
Pathos will do more than logic. Would God all preachers knew that one simple, practical, eternal lesson! Tears conquer. It was all done. Ahasuerus made gracious reply; the king’s scribes were called at the time to write letters of reversal all over the empire
“To the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language “( Est 8:9 ).
It was the beginning of a gospel: Go ye into the provinces, and tell every Jew that he shall live. It was a great speech. There is a greater still made by the Jew whom we call the Son of. God, and worship as God the Son: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,” the gospel of pardon, acceptance, adoption, restoration, assured and immortal sonship.
Now will the Jews be merciful? Will they remember that
“Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them” ( Est 9:5 ).
That is human, but not the less awful. Who can be so bad as man? What beast can be so cruel as an unnatural parent? We have no excuse to offer for these men. If we had been reading a story rather than a history we should have had a different conclusion; we should have made the Jews almost divine: but the Jews were human, and therefore resentful and unforgiving. There is but one Man who can forgive sins.
A wonderful book is this book of Esther! We are told that the name of God does not once occur in it. How fond people are of counting times in which names appear! Observe, it is the name of God that is not in it: God himself is in every line of it. This distinction should be carefully marked by all men who are verbal statisticians, who take note of how many times the name of Christ appears in a sermon. The name of Christ may never be mentioned, and yet Christ may be in the sermon from end to end, the inspiration of its power, the secret of its pathos, the charm of its earnestness. It is but frivolous work to be counting the number of times in which the name of God occurs in this book or that, or the name of Christ occurs in this sermon or in that: is the Spirit Divine there? Is the thought from eternity or from time? Is it a mighty rushing sound from heaven, or is it but a whirlwind carrying nothing with it but thick dust? Men can answer the question well. There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding If God be for us, who can be against us?
“Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed” ( Est 10:3 ).
What narrow escapes we have in life! How near being hanged was even Mordecai one night! Who can tell what will happen tomorrow? Blessed is that servant who when his Lord cometh shall be found waiting. The faithful servant shall be called up into friendship and honour and coronation. You are in great straits to-day to-morrow you may have great riches. “Hope springs eternal in the human breast.” There is a sentimental hope which is never to be trusted; there is a hope which is the blossom of righteousness or the music of reason. Every Christian has the spirit of hope given to him as part of his divine estate: quench not the Spirit. We are not delivered in order that we may crush our enemies; we are not Christians in order that we may slay the heathen; we have not been adopted into God’s family that we may go out with a naked sword to cut down every infidel, sceptic, atheist, and unbeliever: we are saved that we may save; we have this honour given to us that we may call others to the same great joy. Let us, if we are delivered men let us, if we are saved from peril, strait, and sore extremity let us show our gratitude by our benevolence.
So we part with the brilliant queen, in some respects the Lady Macbeth of her day. The oldest blood of history warmed her veins, and the light of generations of heroes shone in her glorious eyes. She was developed by circumstances. Now she is timid, calculating, half afraid, half ashamed: her courage comes and goes like the blood-tide on fair cheeks, and anon she is as an unquenchable fire. How carefully she laid her finger on the king’s pulse! How well she kept the neck of Haman within reach of her crushing heel! She saw wonders, too, in her dreams! Countless hosts of murdered Jews; women begging for pity, and so doubling the very agony they hoped to abate; children speared, and hurled into depths like refuse too vile to waste fire upon: then Mordecai, grey with grief, bowed down with sorrow’s invisible burden, and sad with woe never to be all known; his quivering old life now yielding to despair, and now rising to an impossible hope, herself, killed, and buried amid oaths and jeers and Haman, his breast a hell, rejoicing with infernal joy as the last Jew gasped and died. Then the dream changed: a king was approached, interested, mollified; a fair woman grasped a moral sceptre, addressed a heart-speech to a willing ear, transfixed with eloquent finger the prince of villains, and on a morning cool and bright the enemy who plotted the murder of others swung from a gallows fifty cubits high! Thus life hints itself in dreams. Thus in the night we see outlines invisible in the glare of day. Thus, and thus, and thus, the great Spirit comes to establish his infinite purpose. We do not strain the moral of the story by calling for an Esther to stand up in modest courage in the presence of devastating forces drunkenness, lust, selfishness, oppression, slavery, and all wrong. The Woman must deliver us. She knows the availing method: her tongue is the instrument of eloquence; her eyes see the path that lies through all the darkness; she can mark the time, estimate the forces that are foremost, and strike violently without violence, and mightily without exaggeration. We want no dramatic attitude, no public display, no vaunting ostentation or self-assertion; we want the might of light, the stratagem of love, the courage of faith, the word of deliverance. Are not women themselves beaten, starved, dishonoured? Are not children cast out, neglected, left to die? Are not lies triumphant, are not honour and truth thrown down in the streets? The true propriety is to be unselfishly sincere, high-minded, fearless, O that women would take up the sad world’s cause and live and die for Christ. When did Jesus discourage the ministry of women? When did he order them home with gruff disdain? Did he not need them all, and make them rich with his blessing?
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XXV
THE STORY OF ESTHER
Esther
Our subject for this discussion is “The Story of Esther.” First, a few words by way of general introduction to the book. The book of Esther belongs to what is called The Haggiographa, that is, the writings. The books of the Old Testament are divided into three groups: The Law, The Prophets, and The Writings. This book belongs to the third group. The time of this book is during the sixty years of silence between the dedication of the Temple and Ezra’s return. It should be located right between the sixth and seventh chapters of Ezra) perhaps about thirty-eight or thirty-nine years after the dedication, or 478 B.C.
The author is unknown, but unquestionably he was a Jew, possibly Ezra or Mordecai, but probably neither of them. The style is against Ezra as author, while the high praise of Mordecai is against Mordecai as author and, besides there are no first personal pronouns in the book referring to the author. It was evidently written by a Jew contemporary with Mordecai. Some say Joakim, the high priest, wrote it, but this is hardly probable, since he does not seem to have had a knowledge of the Persian court sufficient for such a task. The date is about 450 B.C.
There is a great deal of difference in the way the book of Esther is regarded by scholars and others. Many Gentiles have but little use for it, because it is such a Jewish book. Ewald, a great German critic, says that it is like coming down from heaven to earth to read Esther. Luther said he wished the book had never been written it is so Judaizing. So you see this book is variously estimated. The Jews value it highly. They maintain that the book of Esther will last when the prophets have perished. They always read it with great joy and say its place in the canon of the Holy Scriptures is unquestioned. But in many editions of the Bible it was not included; it was not considered worthy of a place. But by a large majority of the scholars it is included in the canon, as rightfully belonging to the Holy Scriptures.
The book was undoubtedly written to give a historical basis or ground for the Feast of Purim. This feast was observed for centuries before Christ in the month of March. The book was written by a Jewish patriot to give the occasion of this feast. This book has some peculiarities. The name of God is not once mentioned. There is no mention of prayer in it. There is not even a reference to Jerusalem nor the Temple. But it must be remembered that it is a national book; written for national purposes and from a national motive. It is intensely Jewish, referring to a tragic incident in their history, recounting the marvelous way in which they escaped from a great crisis. There are two allusions in the book to facts in previous Jewish history, viz: Mordecai’s captivity (Est 2:6 ) and the dispersion of the Jews in all the provinces (Est 3:8 ).
The book is real history. The arguments against the historicity of book are as follows:
1. According to the history of Herodotus, and that is our chief authority for the history of this period, especially Persian history, the queen of Ahasuerus at this time was Amastris, whom he married many years before the events found in the book of Esther could have happened, and she never was put away, but maintained a great influence over him and largely shaped the course of his life. She was a Persian woman of very bad personal traits: unscrupulous and crafty, controlling the king in many matters. She was entirely different from what Esther is pictured as being. Our reply to that argument will come up in a later reply to it.
2. The law of the land compelled the Persian monarchy to marry in the families of his own relatives, or five of the noblest Persian favorites. Thus it would have been impossible for a Jewish woman to have been made the queen.
3. Esther is regarded as the queen in this book. But she could only have been the chief favorite in the royal harem. This is probably the only position in which we can place her and be in harmony with the facts.
4. It is argued that the book clearly indicates that Haman knew the race of Mordecai, but not that of Esther. How could he be ignorant of the race?
5. The appalling massacre of their enemies by the Jews, seventy-five thousand at one time, seems incredible. It looks like the fancy picture of a novelist. The reasonable thing is to deny that seventy-five thousand citizens of the Persian Empire could be killed or butchered in such a way.
6. It is highly improbable that the massacre should have been deferred for eleven months after it was decreed. Lots were cast, and according to the lot Haman fixed the date of the decree which he had secured from the king. It is neither improbable nor by any means impossible, but perfectly true.
7. The story is so well knit together as to resemble a fairy tale. But cannot God arrange his providences as well as a writer could arrange them? Is God’s mind inferior to a novelist’s?
8. The religious element is in the background, and scarcely referred to either directly or indirectly. It is true that God is not directly referred to, nor is prayer mentioned, but God is implied, and there may be a reason for the silence in the matter of religion. The writer may have found it better to conceal the element of the Jewish religion than to reveal the power behind the throne.
9. Its moral tone is unworthy of Scripture. The best characters in the book are represented as ruthlessly demanding this massacre and then demanding its repetition, not satisfied with the butchery of five hundred people in one city alone, only satisfied when three hundred more were put to death. Such is at variance with the Scripture, and seems to be unworthy of a place in the canon, they say.
Now the arguments in favor of the historicity of the book are as follows:
1. It is true to the Persian manners and customs, even down to the minutest details. It is true to the life, times, and customs of the Persian people. No man could have written this book unless he was familiar with the Persian life in all of its details. So at once it is evident that it cannot be fiction.
2. The character of Xerxes, or Ahasuerus, is correctly pictured. Point by point this king can be matched with the picture and record of Herodotus, the great historian. The man who wrote this book must have known this king, or he never could have written the book as we have it.
3. The existence of the Feast of Purim itself must have some historical occasion and is a mighty argument for the historicity of the book. Critics have tried to account for this feast which has existed now for twenty-three or twenty-four hundred years in other ways, but have utterly failed. The only way to account for the feast is to accept the feast as actual history.
4. The great council in the third year in the reign of Ahasuerus mentioned in the first of the book of Esther, that is, the feast actually occurred and was called together to plan an expedition against Greece. That expedition he carried out as secular history plainly records. Then were fought the battles of Thermopylae and Marathon on the land, and the sea contest at Salamis, when the hosts of Persia were scattered like chaff before the Greek patriots. It is a historic fact that this great assembly came together in the third year of the reign of Ahasuerus.
5. There is no historical discrepancy in the book. The most critical of the German critics has failed to point out a single incident which contradicts history.
6. It makes its appeals to the chronicles of the kings of Persia, as found in the last chapter. The writer would not have dared to do that writing as he did in the land of Persia, if his record had not been true and he had not authority for what he wrote.
7. It tacitly, though not openly, recognizes a providence in history, and was written to record the divine providence in relation to God’s chosen people. Much scripture is written for the very purpose of recording God’s dealings with his people in their preservation, and the incidents of their natural existence. Why should not one book then be written with this great event as its real background?
8. The ruthless demand of Mordecai and Esther for the massacre of their enemies must be studied in the light of their age and the circumstances that had been forced upon them.
9. God’s providences may produce as good and as well knit a story as the imagination of a novelist. To deny that is really to deny the workings of divine providence, or to deny that God is as great as man.
The classic name of Ahasuerus is Xerxes, the boundaries of whose empire were India and Ethiopia. The places of the scenes of the book are Shushan, the palace of the Persian king, and the provinces.
We may now pursue our study of the book itself by taking up the story chapter by chapter as follows:
Chapter 1 : In the palace of Artaxerxes there is a great feast, lasting 180 days; his magnificence is displayed. A second great feast is made for the people of Shushan. There are revelling and drinking till the men are all drunken. The king is intoxicated. He commands to bring his wife, Vashti, for his drunken lords to look at, that he might display her beauty. The refusal of the queen to come and be insulted, the anger of the king, the advice of one of his counsellors, the issuing of the decree that all women, throughout the Persian Empire should ever after obey their husbands about as foolish a decree as any man ever made.
Chapter 2 : A new queen is sought. A bevy of beautiful girls is brought one by one before the king. Among them is Esther, a Jewess, brought up by Mordecai. She succeeds in pleasing the king and becomes queen. A great feast is made in honor of her. About that time a plot is discovered by Mordecai in which two of the king’s chamberlains plan to assassinate the king. Mordecai reveals the plot.
Chapter 3 : The promotion of Haman, the Agagite, to be prime minister. Mordecai, the Jew, refuses to bow down to him. Haman is angered and mortified. He will not be content with putting to death one Jew, but asks the king on promise of payment of a large sum of money for permission to put to death the entire Jewish nation, on the condition that he replace his loss out of the money of those he killed. The decree is granted. The lot is cast to decide the day. The edict goes forth that on that day eleven months hence all the Jews are to be put to death.
Chapter 4 : The grief of the Jews. Mordecai commands Esther to intercede on their behalf before the king. She asks him to fast three days on her behalf. The answer to Mordecai, “Do not think that thou thyself shall escape their massacre?”
Chapter 5 : Esther appears before the king, taking her life in her own hands, for it might mean death to appear before the king unbidden. She is accepted. This incident is to Esther like the experience of Nehemiah in the reign of Artaxerxes, the son of this same king. Everything seemed to depend upon the whim of this childish king. She invites him to a banquet. She knows how to get on the best side of him. She asks Haman to be with them also. Haman hears the news that he is to banquet with the king and his queen, and he is very much elated. He tells his wife about it, then complains about this man, Mordecai, who will not bow the knee to him. His wife says, “Get ready a gallows fifty cubits high and hang Mordecai on it.” He follows his wife’s advice and prepares the gallows.
Chapter 6 : Incidents leading up to the honoring of Mordecai. The state records are read. The story is told how the king’s life had been spared by a man named Mordecai. He asks the question, “Has this man been honored? He saved my life.” Answer, “No.” While he is thinking about this, Haman comes in. The king asks him, “What shall I do to the one I desire to highly honor?” Haman, thinking it is himself that the king desires to honor, gives this suggestion: “Put the king’s robe on him and a chain about his neck, and have the chief man in the kingdom lead his beast through the streets of the city.” He said that, thinking that he was to be thus honored himself. “All right,” said the king, “You go and do that to Mordecai,” and he had to do it. There was no escape from the king’s command. Then he went home like a sulky boy because he had been whipped. As soon as he reaches home, word comes that he is to go to the banquet.
Chapter 7 : The banquet passed off without incident. Persians were very fond of drinking and banquets. The king wanted to know what Esther demanded. She wanted time to get him in a good humor, so she asked that he come to another banquet. At this the king declared that he was ready to grant her request even to half of the kingdom. Now the time had come. She began to beg for her life and for the life of her people. We may imagine how the king felt when he learned that his favorite queen was to be killed. See how she works him up. Yes, she was to be killed, for the decree did not exclude even her. “Who is going to kill my very idol, my favorite queen?” “Why, this wicked Haman is going to do it.” This is another psychological moment. Haman begins to beg and to plead with Esther for his life; he even climbed up on the couch where she is reclining. The king thinks that he is even trying to add insult to injury, and so his rage knows no bounds. The servants say that he has made a gallows fifty cubits high on which to hang Mordecai. The king commands them to take the wretch and hang him on it.
Chapter 8 : Mordecai is promoted to Haman’s place and becomes chief minister. Esther begs that the decree against the Jews be revoked, but the law of the Medes and Persians changes not. The only thing that can be done is to issue another decree, so the king asks her what she will have. She and Mordecai have talked it over and she is ready for that request. She asks that the Jews have the privilege of slaying their enemies. There was no other way out of it. This shows Mordecai’s shrewdness and ability. There was great rejoicing among the Jews at this turn of affairs.
Chapter 9 : The day arrives. The Jews are prepared. The nobles help the Jews because a Jew is prime minister. The nobles knew on which side their bread was buttered. So they help the Jews and altogether, seventy-five thousand of the people are slain; five hundred in Shushan the palace alone. Esther and Mordecai make another request. Esther wants the massacre repeated. She wanted another day of butchery. I do not know why. The king grants it. There is great rejoicing among the Jews. This occurred on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, or our month of March. Mordecai and Esther fix this day in which all the Jews shall celebrate this great event. She has the edict issued under the seal of Mordecai the prime minister, and so the feast is established. That is how this feast originated. Every year on the fifteenth of March, all the Jews celebrate it. They do not celebrate it in a very religious fashion now. Still they regard it as a great day.
Chapter 10 : This chapter speaks of the greatness of Mordecai, as the prime minister of the Persian king.
Now let us look at the chief characters of the book, as follows:
1. Ahasuerus : There is no question but that this Ahasuerus is the Xerxes of history, and is an exemplification of despotism. He was an absolute monarch, a despot. In him we see the outworkings of despotism. Caligula of the Roman Empire was a despot, and his despotism drove him mad. It is despotism that made this king, Xerxes, ridiculous in the eyes of the world. He was the slave of his ministers and servants. He knew nothing but what they told him. He was absolutely dependent upon them, for all of his information. He was like a child in his silly notions. His servants and nobles deceived and tricked him, and he was so suspicious of them that he was a very slave to his slaves. He was afraid of them, and they knew that if he suspicioned them, he would kill them, and so he was afraid of them, and they were afraid of him. He was the slave also of his passions. He spent his time drinking, eating, banqueting and satisfying his gluttony and lust. He was not much above the beast. Because the Hellespont wrecked his ships, he ordered it to be flogged. He was the slave of his whims and fancies, the slave of his temper and his feelings. He knew no control but his own will, the tool and the plaything of the favorite of his harem, willing to ruthlessly murder thousands of his own subject to satisfy his favorite queen. We must, however, say for him that he recognized the services of Mordecai in saving his life, and honored him. But he did this because it was called to his attention, and not because he sought it out or remembered it.
2. Vashti : She has been honored above many women in history. She is recognized as one who would forfeit her position and crown rather than to sacrifice her honor and her pride. She refused to obey the king at the risk of her own life. But she maintained her dignity and self-respect. She was valorous and womanly. She was having a feast with the women, and it is thought by some that she may have refused to do the king’s bidding because she had taken a little too much wine, hence was not much disposed to be ordered, but I rather think this is not true. She was a rare gem in the midst of that corrupt Persian Court.
3. Haman : This man’s name is a synonym for vanity and fulsome pride, ruthlessness and savagery, deceit, cruelty, and all that is ignoble. He is the incarnation of insane conceit. Honors made a fool of him. Now pride in itself is not such a bad thing. A man may have pride of the right sort and really be helped by it. But a man with this kind of pride wants everything in the universe to be his slave. Even preachers may have this disease. They sometimes think that everybody and everything ought to bow down to them. Because Mordecai would not bow his knee to Haman his vanity was hurt. When a man thus allows his vanity to rule him, he sees everything out of proportion. Haman could not be satisfied with the murder of Mordecai, but he must do the big thing and kill the nation. Vanity is insatiable, and often causes wars. It was this man’s vanity that led to his downfall.
4. Mordecai : He is one of the great characters of the book. He was a Jew and a poor one, but he was loyal to the king, under whose government he lived. The Jews have become citizens of nearly every nation in the world. Here we have a Jew the prime minister of the empire. One of the greatest prime ministers that Great Britain ever had was a Jew. Mordecai was faithful to his king. He was elevated to be prime minister, but it did not give him the “big head.” When he was led through the streets he did not feel puffed up. He had sense enough to know that that sort of thing would not last long. Here is a man who waited and worked. We do well to learn that lesson working and waiting and doing your best will bring its reward, in due time. God always has a place ready for the man who works and waits and does his best.
5. Esther : She was brought up in the family of Mordecai and trained by him. She was trained well beyond any doubt. She was beautiful but not spoiled by her beauty. She was able to use her beauty in the right way. Though she was the favorite of the king and was successful with him, it did not spoil her. She remained loyal to her uncle and did not forget him. Neither did she lose her religion when she became a queen in the most wicked court of her times. There is no mention that there was prayer connected with the three days fast, but doubtless there was. She takes her life in her own hands for her people. She knew how to manage the king. She outwitted the cunning Haman. She was severe. She was one of the greatest heroines of history, and she has been called by many the saviour of her people. She was beautiful, talented, brave, shrewd, and a womanly woman, yea, one of the greatest of women.
QUESTIONS
1. At what point in the history of Israel does the book of Esther come in?
2. Who wrote the book and when?
3. What of the canonicity of the book?
4. What was the purpose of the book?
5. What are the peculiarities of the book?
6. What two allusions in the book to facts in previous Jewish history?
7. Is the book real history and what arguments prove and confirm?
8. What was the classic name of the Persian king who married Esther and what were the boundaries of his empire.
9. What was the place of the scenes of the book?
10. Give the story of the book, chapter by chapter.
11. Give a character sketch of Ahasuerus, Vashti, Haman, Mordecai, and Esther, respectively.
12. What great lessons of the book and at what points in the story is God’s hand most plainly seen?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Est 8:1 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews’ enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he [was] unto her.
Ver. 1. On that day ] This was a festival and a good day, as Est 8:17 , albo lapillo notandus, for the many signal mercies that thereon came in together, viz. Esther’s petition granted, Haman hanged, Mordecai advanced, the proscribed Jews relieved, &c. As crosses seldom come single ( Catenata piorum crux ), but trooping together commonly, and treading upon the heels of one another, like Job’s messengers, Jas 1:2 ; so do blessings from God: there is oft a continued series, a concatenation; there comes a troop, as she said, when her son Gad came, Gen 30:11 . God is rich in mercy, Rom 10:12 . Neither are we at any time constrained in him, but in our own heart.
Did the king Ahasuerus give
The house of Haman
The Jews’ enemy] It is ill being the Church’s enemy: she hath a champion that will stick to her, Isa 37:23 , so that her enemies shall all be found liars unto her, Deu 33:29 . Let them read their destiny in that cup of trembling, burdensome stone, hearth of fire, mentioned Zec 12:2-3 ; Zec 12:6 , and hear the Church’s motto, Nemo me impune lacessit; no one provokes me with impunity, there cannot be a greater folly than to be her enemy, for she conquereth even when conquered; as Christ overcame as well by patience as by power, Victa tamen vinces, eversaque Troia resurges.
Unto Esther the queen
And Mordecai came before the king
For Esther had told what he was unto her
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Esther Chapter 8
But this was not all. It is not only that God thus completely caught in his own toils the cruel adversary of His people, but God would care for the Jews throughout the whole dominions of the king, where they were still under sentence of death. The deliverance was not yet complete. The prime enemy was destroyed, but they were still in danger; and so Mordecai, it is said, came before the king (Est 8 .) “For Esther had told what he was unto her.” The king takes off his ring and gives it to Mordecai. The Jew accordingly comes now into the place of government in the earth. Their enemies are destroyed, but still they have to be vindicated and to be delivered completely throughout the empire. And Esther falls down at the feet of the king and beseeches him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman, and the king again holds out the golden sceptre, and Esther explains that the posts that had gone forth with the king’s letters were carrying destruction to the Jew throughout his provinces. The king answers, “Behold I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews. Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring; for the writing which is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse” (vers. 7, 8)
How then was the thing to be met? In this way – that throughout the whole empire by a fresh post are sent out letters “wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.” So it was done. “And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king,” now with every sign of real honour. And “the Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honour. And in every province, and in every city whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day.”
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Est 8:1-2
1On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had disclosed what he was to her. 2The king took off his signet ring which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
Est 8:1 On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews It was a common practice during the Persian period for the property of condemned people to revert to the crown (cf. Herodotus 3.128-129). The King gave Haman’s property to Esther because he was her enemy also.
for Esther had disclosed what he was to her This could refer to their racial connection (cf. Est 6:10; Est 7:3-4) or Esther may have shared more about Mordecai with the king (cf. Est 2:5-7). The context implies the second option.
Est 8:2 the king took off his signet ring. . .and gave it to Mordecai Mordecai assumed the role of the second-in-charge (like Joseph, cf. Est 10:3), which had once been assigned to Haman. This was symbolized by the king’s own signet ring. There is significant parallelism between Esther 3, 8.
Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman This refers to his property, which must have been extensive. The king gave it to Esther (cf. Est 8:1) and she makes Mordecai its administrator.
The VERB (BDB 962, KB 1321, Qal IMPERFECT) is used several times in Esther:
1. The king set the crown on Esther’s head, Est 2:17.
2. The king set Haman over all the princes, Est 3:1.
3. Esther set Mordecai over Haman’s house.
4. The king (apparently through Mordecai) assesses taxes on all the land (which may have made up for the tribute lost in Haman’s scheme).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
On that day. Contrast “On that night”, Est 6:1.
the Jews’ enemy. See note on Est 3:10.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 8
So on that day the king Ahasuerus did give the house of Haman the Jews’ enemy unto Esther the queen. [He gave the house to her.] And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was to her ( Est 8:1 ).
So Esther said, “Mordecai is my cousin.”
And the king took off his ring which he had taken from Haman, and he gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and the devices that he had devised against the Jews. And the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king, and said, If it pleases the king, if I have found favor in your sight, and the thing seems right, and I be pleasing in your eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedathah the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king’s provinces: For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come to my people? how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred? ( Est 8:2-6 )
Now, there is an interesting law of the Medes and the Persians, and that is once the king has made a decree he can’t change it. Once a decree has been made and sealed by the king, that decree stands. It was a law of the Medes and the Persians. You remember, Daniel got tripped up by this law of the Medes and the Persians when Darius was snookered by these guys who wanted to destroy Daniel, and they said, “Let the king make a decree that whoever prays to any other god or person for the period of thirty days will be put to death. So that the people might know how important and how wonderful you are.” So the king made this proclamation, signed it, and so then Daniel went to his home, and as was his custom, the windows open towards Jerusalem, he prayed three times daily, and these guys were outside in the bushes. They ran back to the king and said, “Hey, we’ve got a guy who violated your proclamation.” And so they brought Daniel in, and Darius and Daniel had a close relationship. And Darius sought all day some way to reverse it, but because the laws of the Medes and Persians cannot be reversed, they cannot be changed; they cannot be altered. Once it has been set you cannot reverse it.
Thus, Daniel had to be tossed into the lion’s den, but Darius assured him, “Daniel, the God you serve is able to deliver you, you know.” And so that same situation with the decree that Darius made, we’ll get that when we get to the book of Daniel.
Now, he can’t change the decree. However, he let Mordecai make another decree that on the thirteenth day of March the Jews would be able to defend themselves from against those that would seek to kill them. And so, they could also take vengeance on those who were seeking to destroy them. So he gave them the right to defend themselves and also the right to destroy any who would seek to destroy them. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Est 8:1-2
Introduction
THE PRACTICAL REVERSAL OF THAT IRREVOCABLE DECREE
This chapter deals with the danger that yet remained. Yes, Haman was dead, but that decree which he had devised was still in force, backed up by the power of that “Law of the Medes and Persians that altereth not.” This meant that all the Jews in the Persian empire were still subject to general slaughter and the confiscation of their property on the thirteenth of Adar. Something had to be done about that.
Est 8:1-2
CONSEQUENCES OF HAMAN’S EXECUTION
“On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king;for Esther had told what he was unto her. And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.”
“The house of Haman” (Est 8:1). “Confiscation of goods and properties of the condemned accompanied executions in Persia, as in other Oriental countries.” The house of Haman included not merely the castle and its furnishings but also the host of servants, retainers, and attendants that went along with it.
The king gave this vast estate to Esther; and she might well have desired to give it to Mordecai; but what she did was even better. She placed him in absolute control over it, thus providing him with a residence and dignity that were appropriate to his new office as Prime Minister.
Summarizing the consequences in evidence here: (1) Haman’s vast properties were conferred upon Esther; (2) Mordecai was given the management and control of them; (3) Ahasuerus bestowed the office of Prime Minister upon Mordecai when he gave him the ring that had been worn by Haman. (4) The ring gave Mordecai the power to seal documents and to convey with them the authority of law.
“It was perfectly natural for the king to confer this great authority upon Mordecai. The king had already delighted to honor him for exposing the plot against the king’s life.” Also, he had learned that Mordecai was the foster father of the queen.
E.M. Zerr:
Est 8:1. The word house is from an original with a various meaning. Its leading idea is household or family members. The verse means that Esther was given authority over the members of Haman’s family, both immediate and distant relatives. In the meantime she had acquainted the king with her relation to Mordecai. This brought him into the royal favor so that he was escorted into the king’s presence.
Est 8:2. The king had taken the ring from Haman, previously given him as a badge of honor, and now gave it unto Mordecai. That action was a signal of authority, and Esther availed herself of it by placing Mordecai in charge of the house of Haman.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
The deposition and death of Haman issued naturally in the promotion of Mordecai. However, the peril to his people was not yet averted. The royal proclamation had gone forth that on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month the Hebrew people should be exterminated. Under the constitution no royal proclamation could be reversed. Something else must be done to save the people. The king permitted Mordecai to write to his people, allowing them to arm and defend themselves.
It is a wonderful picture of the king’s own messengers hurrying through the country with letters, urging the people to be ready against what had been intended to be the fateful day of their slaughter. So strange a happening was it that the Jews were filled with gladness and joy, while a new fear of them fell on the native people, and many of the “people of the land became Jews.”
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Courage Rewarded
Est 8:1-17
The ring symbolized royal power and authority; by this sign Mordecai was suddenly raised to the position formerly held by Haman. He also managed for Esther the large estate which had come into her possession. Because of the fixity of the customs and laws of the Medes, it was impossible to reverse the royal proclamation, which had decreed that the Hebrew people should be exterminated. So the king granted Mordecai permission to send letters to his people, allowing them to arm and defend themselves. The speed with which the circulation of the royal decree was carried out is a rebuke to the Church of God which has been entrusted with the gospel of salvation. More than eighteen hundred years have passed, and still immense multitudes have never heard the name of Christ or the love of God. Let us at least strain every nerve to pass on the joyful news, overtaking the tidings of death.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Chapter 8
The Despised Man Exalted And The Decree Of Grace
It was not enough that Haman should be put to death. Some means must be devised whereby the people of the Jews could be saved and yet the unalterable laws of the Persians and the Medes remain unviolated. Of this the present chapter treats.
On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman, the Jews enemy, unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman (vers. 1, 2).
The power of the enemy is overthrown. Hamans house is presented to Esther and she appoints Mordecai over it. She tells at last what relation he bore to her, and there is nothing more to hide.
Her discipline, and his too, has been severe, but at last both reach a place where they can be used in blessing to their people. There must ever be a divine schooling ere there can be usefulness and enlargement. But although the circumstances are so remarkably altered, the decree condemning all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, to be slain on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month still stands unrevoked. Nor can it be revoked-for the laws of the kingdom once made were unchangeable. But strong in faith that some means would be found -whereby the evil might be averted, and yet the dignity of the laws remain untouched, we are told that Esther spake yet again before the king and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews (ver. 3). The position of her people was strikingly analogous to that of unsaved men and women in general; conscious of having richly deserved the judgment of God, the curse of the broken law hanging over their heads: Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them (Gal 3:10; Deu 27:26). So runs the unchangeable decree of a holy God. All are worthy of death; for all have sinned. None have continued in obedience to all the commandments of God. Therefore all are under the curse. It will not do to plead ignorance of the law, or sorrow for having failed. The soul that sinneth it shall die. The law knows no mercy for the violator of it. Neither will it do to promise to do better in days to come; to endeavor to obey the Word in the future. A better future, if that were to be, could not change the past-and God requireth that which is past (Ecc 3:15).
If saved at all, it cannot be at the expense of Gods character or by the violation of His word in any manner whatsoever.
But it is right here that the gospel comes in. God can say, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom (Job 33:24). The Lord Jesus has borne the sinners judgment. Yea God hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2Co 5:21). He, ever spotless and undefiled, was not under the curse. The sentence of condemnation did not hang over Him. But in infinite love and mercy He stooped vicariously beneath our load, and bare our sins in His own body on the tree (1Pe 2:24). He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed (Isa 53:5). A righteous basis has now been laid, upon which God can act according to the love of His heart, and yet in perfect holiness. A second decree goes forth, not contradicting or annulling the former one; but which, while in perfect harmony with it, will provide a means whereby all can be saved who avail themselves thereof. So we read Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree (Gal 3:13). The work that saves is finished. All can find deliverance from the judgment of God who in simple faith receive and act upon the message of grace.
And so, returning to our chapter, it is beautifully in keeping with this that the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. Grace is reigning and upon that ground alone can there be deliverance for her people. So Esther arose, and stood before the king, and said, If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the kings provinces: for how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred? (vers. 4-6.)
It is a touching plea that she gives utterance to. It hangs on this, If the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his sight. She does not attempt to plead the good works, the benevolence, or the loyalty of the Jews. She would have him deal with them according to his estimate of her. Like the great apostle of the Gentiles who, when entreating Philemon in behalf of Onesimus writes, If thou count me therefore a partner receive him as myself (Phm 1:17). And surely we have more than a hint, both there and here, of the great and wondrous truth expressed in the blessed words of inspiration, Pie hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Esther had risked her life for her people and would now have them dealt with according to the kings thoughts of herself. The Lord Jesus Christ gave His life a ransom for lost, guilty sinners, and now all who trust in Him are dealt with by God according to His thoughts of His Son. How tenderly this precious truth is expressed in the Lords great intercessory prayer! He says, I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them even as Thou hast loved Me (Joh 17:23).
Esthers touching plea avails, and the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen, and Mor- decai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews. Write ye also for the Jews as it liketh you, in the kings name, and seal it with the kings ring: for the writing which is written in the kings name, and sealed with the kings ring, may no man reverse (vers. 7, 8). He who had the power of death has been destroyed. The message of grace can now be sent out to deliver those who through fear of death had been subjected to so cruel a bondage.
Then were the kings scribes called at that time, in the third month, that is the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, a hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing and according to their language (ver. 9). Less than nine months remained ere the decree of Haman was due to be put into execution. Short enough time if the message of grace was to reach the farthest limits of the kingdom ere the day of slaughter appointed! The proclamation is as universal as the previous one, and is written in every language of the known world. Its text is given in the verses that follow.
And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus name, and sealed it with the kings ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries: wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the powder of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey, upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month which is the month Adar (vers. 10-12). It will be seen that this proclamation in no sense contradicted the one that had gone before. The other gave the people command to destroy the Jews. This one gave to the afflicted nation the privilege of defending themselves. In other words it provided a means of salvation which they could accept or reject as they chose. It is not otherwise with the glad tidings proclaimed in the gospel. A Saviour is provided. All who avail themselves of Gods gracious interference are saved. All who reject the means of His providing, do so at their own peril.
No time is lost in sending out the joyful tid- ings. Would that Christians were as much in earnest in making known to all people, far and near, the good news of eternal salvation through a crucified and risen Saviour! The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. So the posts that rode upon mules and camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the kings commandment. And the decree was given in Shushan the palace (vers. 13, 14). To every corner of the habitable earth the messengers go forth being hastened by the monarchs word, reminding us forcibly of another commission given by a greater than Ahasuerus. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach (Gk., disciple) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway even unto the end of the world. Amen (Mat 28:18-20). His commandment was urgent. Men were in danger of something far worse than temporal destruction-in danger of the eternal judgment of God against sin. Nothing was to hinder. Go ye, He says. And, commissioned by the Lord Himself, they went forth to make known to Jew and Gentile the exceeding riches of His grace.
But what lethargy has come in since those early days of devotion to His Name! What millions of heathen are unevangelized in this vaunted century of progress and enlightenment. Solemn indeed must be the reckoning with those by and by who are so indifferent to the Kings commandment. What would have been thought of one of the couriers of Ahasuerus who, forgetting the urgency and importance of his message, loitered among the leafy bowers of the wayside khans, or amused himself with the sights of the way; losing valuable time; forgetting that hundreds of lives depended upon his errand being fulfilled ere the thirteenth day of the month Adar. Would such an one not have justly deserved the severest censure, if not death itself? And what is to be thought of Christians who have heard the charge of the Lord Jesus, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Mar 16:15), but who, paying no attention to the appalling condition of lost souls on every side of them, think only of their own pleasure and comfort? If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain, if thou sayest, Behold we knew it not; doth not He that pondereth the heart consider it? And He that keepeth thy soul, doth He not know it? And shall not He render to every man according to his works? (Pro 24:11, 12). These are unspeakably solemn words and worthy of being carefully pondered in the presence of God by every converted reader of these lines. May grace be given to each one to weigh well their solemn import, and to seek day by clay to faithfully make known the only message which can deliver from the second death.
And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad (ver. 15). The condemnation past, Mordecai puts off the sackcloth, to be worn no more. Robed now as befits his exalted position he goes into the kings presence. His clothing of blue and white and purple may surely have a meaning for our hearts to enter into. Blue is the color of the heavens, and ever seems to speak, in Scripture, of that heavenly character which should be manifested by the redeemed soul. White is righteousness, and put on as a habit tells of the practical righteousness that should adorn the child of God. Of this too the fine linen reminds us for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints (Rev 19:8). The purple is the color of royalty; while the great crown of gold would tell of the divine glory, in harmony with which Mordecai has now been raised from the depths of woe to the heights of power and blessing: blessing not for himself alone, but for all who harken to his word. And so, from time to time, even in the broken condition of things in which we see the professing Church to-day, does God raise up men who will honor Him in honoring His Word, and who are thus made a means of untold blessing to others.
The kings message believed brought joy and gladness; even as the gospel, believed, brings the same to-day. The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honor. And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the kings commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them (vers. 16, 17). It is important to notice that it was the word of the king which brought all the grief and anguish of heart described in chapter four. The king had spoken. They believed his decree, and they were miserable. Now it is his word that gives them peace and happiness, and drives away their sorrow. Even so, Gods word as to mans lost estate and the judgment hanging over him brings the soul to cry, the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow (Psa. cxvi. 3). But the message of grace and truth which has come by Jesus Christ, truly believed, the gloom is banished, and the exultant heart cries with joy, Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling (Psa 116:3). It is in neither case a question of experience or wrought up feelings, but of faith in the message proclaimed.
And so God had turned the mourning of His people into rejoicing, and the result was that the fear of them fell on the people of the provinces, many of whom sought the God of Israel and became proselytes, taking their places as members of the chosen nation. There is nothing that so appeals to the world as a happy, holy company of saints, whose spirits have been refreshed by the goodness of the Lord.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
MORDECAIS EXALTATION AND THE SECOND PROCLAMATION
CHAPTER 8
1. Mordecais exaltation (Est 8:1-2)
2. Esthers second petition (Est 8:3-8)
3. The second proclamation (Est 8:9-14)
4. The joy of the Jews (Est 8:15-17)
Est 8:1-2. Esther the Queen receives from the king the possessions of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Then she revealed what Mordecai was to her, her uncle and foster-father. The king had taken the signet-ring of authority from the hand of Haman. The same ring Mordecai received. Esther honoured her uncle by placing him over the house of Haman.
Est 8:3-6. But while Mordecai had become the prime-minister of Persia, Haman the Agagite had been executed, and all his property given to the queen, the horrible decree still stood; the first proclamation was still in force. Something had to be done to complete the deliverance of her people. Her life and Mordecais life had been spared, but what about her beloved people? It is true the fateful day was still in the future, but the evil decreed and not yet recalled had to be met in some way. Once more she enters into the presence of the king. Once more the king holds out the golden sceptre, from which we learn that his decree was still in force and that, therefore, Esther once more risked her life. But she knew he loved her. Knowing this she cast herself at his feet and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman, and his devices he had devised against the Jews. Her pleading and her tears were not in vain. Her petition is that the letters of Haman, demanding the destruction of her people, should be reversed. For how can I endure to see the evil that will come upon my people? or how can I endure the destruction of my kindred? The king answers her. But the former decree cannot be revoked; it must stand. Laws made by Persian kings could not be altered or changed. (See Dan 6:15.) A revocation of the edict is impossible and the former proclamation therefore stands. This Persian custom had for its foundation the idea that a decree must be looked upon in the light of an emanation from the king as a person with divine authority. But inasmuch as Mordecai had now the signet-ring, which authorized him to issue decrees in the name of the king, he could do anything he pleased and write to the Jews in the name of the king and this second proclamation would also be irrevocable.
Est 8:7-14. Then followed a great activity. The scribes were called and Mordecai dictated the message. It was addressed to the governors and princes of the whole empire from India to Ethiopia and written in many languages. He wrote in the name of the king and sealed it with his ring. The letters were dispatched by posts on horseback, riding on swift steeds that were used in the kings service. The proclamation contained the following good news: The king grants the Jews in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, their little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey, upon one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, that is upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. The proclamation of death stood, but alongside of it there was given a proclamation of life. They needed not to die. Their enemies were given into their hands. Acting upon this second proclamation, believing its contents, they learned that while the first decree stood and could not be revoked, the second decree set them free from death and gave them liberty.
Est 8:15-17. How things had changed under Gods merciful dealings with His people! When that first decree was issued Mordecai sat in sackcloth and ashes and all the Jews wept and wailed. But now when the second decree was announced Mordecai went forth from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue, white and purple, the Persian colours. (They illustrate the ancient Persian view about the world. White the colour of light, blue, the sky, and purple was brought in connection with the sun.) On his head he had a great crown of gold. There was great joy in the city of Shushan. The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and glory. Throughout the vast kingdom there was nothing but joy. Furthermore many people became Jews.
Typical Application
In Mordecais exaltation as given in this chapter, in Hamans possession handed over to the queen and her uncle, in the authority which both received, we have a fine foreshadowing of what will take place when the final Haman is overthrown. That will be when the times of the Gentiles are passed and the King, our Lord, has come back. Then Israel will get her great blessings, promised long ago by a covenant-keeping God.
Like it was in Mordecais and Esthers day, the riches of the Gentiles will be given unto them. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the wealth of the Gentiles shall come unto thee (Isa 60:5). Israel restored will then be the head of the nations and no longer the tail. As many people became Jews as recorded in the last verse of this chapter, so in that coming day, ten men out of all languages of the nations shall take hold of the skirt of a Jew and say, we will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you (Zec 8:23). And many nations shall be joined unto the LORD in that day (Zec 2:11). All this blessing for the Jews in Persia was brought about by the heroic deed of Esther, who passed through a great struggle, who risked her life that her people might be saved. And the promised blessings and glory can only come to the people Israel through Him who gave His life, the true King and Shepherd of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In gospel application the second decree or proclamation is of much interest. It typifies and illustrates the good news. As we saw, the first decree illustrates the sentence of death passed upon the whole race on account of sin. The second decree does not cancel the first, but declares that which liberates from death, sets free and gives power. And that is the good news as it is given in the cross of Christ. Death is met by death; the death of the Son of God in the sinners place, bearing the curse, sets free from the law of sin and death. Thus the sinners doom is fully met in the death of Christ. This second decree has been nailed to the cross of Christ, it has been revealed in His sacrificial death, written with His blood, sealed by His bowed head, uttered by His expiring cry. It has a twofold effect. First, the sinner who avails himself of it, who believes, is saved. It arrays all the forces of righteousness on his side and enables him to find his surest protection in that which but for the work of Christ must have condemned him. Then it puts him in a position to rise up against his enemies by whom as a captive he was enslaved and to lead his captivity captive. From the condemnation of the law and from the cruel dominion of sin believing sinners are equally delivered by the proclamation of the gospel in the cross of Christ, as the Jews had righteous power given to them over their enemies.
But faith was necessary for the Jews. They had to believe the second proclamation as they believed the first. Woe unto the Jews when that thirteenth day of the month Adar came and they acted not upon the second decree. Then the first decree would have been carried out upon their heads and they would have suffered death. So must the sinner believe the first decree–that death is sentence as a sinner; then he must believe the second decree Christ died for the sins of the ungodly–there is life in a look to the crucified One. And as the Jews had light, gladness, joy, and glory because they believed, even so he who believes the good news has salvation, peace, joy and glory.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
give the house: Job 27:16, Job 27:17, Psa 39:6, Psa 49:6-13, Pro 13:22, Pro 28:8, Ecc 2:18, Ecc 2:19, Luk 12:20
came before: Est 1:14, Est 2:7, Est 2:15
Reciprocal: Gen 31:9 – General Est 8:7 – Behold Est 9:25 – when Esther came Psa 37:10 – thou Isa 49:23 – kings
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
DELIVERANCE COMES
THE KINGS DECREE (Esther 8)
The house of Haman meant his possessions (Est 8:1). His death, however, and Mordecais distinction did not mean that the decree against the Jews had been annulled, which, indeed, could not be annulled, according to Persian law. This is the problem, now before Esther and Mordecai (Est 8:3-5), and which the king solves by granting permission to the Jews to arm themselves against their executioners (Est 8:8-11).
The effect of this measure on the Jews was what might have been expected (Est 8:15-17). The meaning of the last sentence of the chapter is illuminated by Exo 15:16 and Deu 11:25. The Persians felt that the God of the Jews was ruling over their destiny in a peculiar way.
THE HEATHEN MASSACRE (Est 9:1-15)
The first part of this chapter records the successful stand made by the Jews against those who ventured to oppose them, and demonstrates that the God of their fathers was still their God. It reads like a chapter in Judges or Kings.
Rawlinson calls attention to the importance of verse three as bearing on verse 16. That the Jews should have been allowed to slay 75,000 Persians has been pronounced incredible, but it is not so when we see that the leaders of the nation took their side. The probability is, however, that the slain were people of other, subject nations the Persians did not particularly care for.
How does Est 9:10 show that the Jews motive was not avarice but self- defense? The kings inquiry and Esthers reply (Est 9:12-13) indicate that danger still threatened the Jews in Shushan at least, unless further measures were taken. Hamans sons were to be hanged after death. Hanged here really means crucified, which was the Hebrew and Persian custom.
THE FEAST OF PURIM (Est 9:16-32)
It seems that the Jews outside of Shushan celebrated on the fourteenth of Adar, but those within could not do so for obvious reasons until the fifteenth. This gave rise to different memorial days until Mordecai settled the matter as in verse 21. The whole writing of Mordecai here spoken of (Est 9:20-25), may have included the substance of the book we are considering. Nevertheless a second document by Esther herself seems to have been necessary to finally determine the perpetuity of the feast (Est 9:28-32). The feast is still kept by the Jews, proving the authenticity of this book.
MORDECAIS GREATNESS (Esther 10)
The greatness of the Persian king (Est 10:1) reflects on Mordecai (Est 10:2), who is recognized even in the kingly chronicles, and whose exalted privilege becomes a benefit to all his race in Persia (Est 10:3).
QUESTIONS
1. To what tribe and family did Mordecai belong (Est 2:5)?
2. What is Haman called (Est 3:5)?
3. What correspondence do you see between the above and what is recorded in 1 Samuel 15?
4. Have you compared the passages of the Pentateuch named in this lesson?
5. Why is the feast called Purim?
6. Who may have been the author of this book?
7. How is its authenticity attested?
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
Est 8:1. Did the king give the house of Haman unto Esther That is, he bestowed upon her the whole estate belonging to his family, his lands, his goods, his servants, his cattle, with all the money he had treasured up. All this is included here in his house, which, being justly forfeited to the king, is no less justly bestowed by him upon the queen, to compensate, in some degree, the danger to which Haman had exposed her. And Mordecai came before the king Was by the queens desire admitted into the kings presence and family, and probably made one of the seven princes. For Esther had told what he was unto her How nearly he was related to her, which till this time she had wisely concealed.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Est 8:1. On that day did the king give. The LXX read, In that day king Artaxerxes gave to queen Esther all the substance of the diabolical Haman; that is, all his estates, and servants, and cattle.
Est 8:2. The king took off his ring, which elevated Mordecai to the royal confidence, and equally so to that which Haman had enjoyed.
Est 8:10. Young dromedaries. On these the kings messengers usually rode. There are two species of the camel, the Bactrian camel, and the Arabian camel or dromedary. The chief thing that distinguishes these two races is, that the camel has two bunches on his back, and the dromedary but one. The latter is somewhat weaker than the camel. The camel is preferred, because having two bunches on his back, he is more proper to receive a load. But these animals can travel three or four days without water, and can live seven days without what is so essential to animal life. Their proper climate is the north of Africa, Arabia, and Persia. Indeed, were it not for these, the sandy deserts could not be traversed. The Arabians regard their dromedaries as a gift from heaven, without which they could neither carry on trade nor subsist. They eat their flesh, and drink their milk. Nor have they any thing to fear from their foes; in one day they can perform a journey of fifty leagues. Hence all the cavalry in the world would perish in the pursuit of a troop of Arabs. These animals can travel nine or ten days with one hours rest daily, and be fed with one ball of paste. They carry their own and their riders food and water; and they scent a brook at a distance of half a league. Their height is sometimes twelve feet six inches, they kneel to receive their burden, and live forty or fifty years. Buffon, Pennant, Shaw, &c.
REFLECTIONS.
With the sudden and instructive fall of Haman, all the dark clouds suspended over the Jews vanished away; and the sunshine of glory and peace burst forth in a very unexpected flood of day. This wicked man had intended to turn his sword against the Jews and their children; and now the Jews slew his children. He offered the substance of the Jews as a reward to the murderers; and behold, all his offices, his mansion, his money, his lands, fall to the lot of Esther! So it is, that one day or other, God calls both the great and the small to a strict account for abusing his favours.
The next grand point is the supplication of Esther, that the plot for exscinding the Jews might be turned against their foes, who were waiting with a bloody enmity in their hearts to cut them off. It was granted, and in words conformably to the wishes of Mordecai. So this woman, acting by the prudent counsel of her near relative and guardian, prevailed for her people; and in that view, she is a worthy model for us. We should often say to the king of glory, that we cannot endure to see the evil which shall come upon them, if placed out of his protection, and abandoned to their foes. They are our flesh and our bone, we cannot bear to see them perish. Let us therefore frequently kneel, and implore for them pardon and protection.
Haman was not only cut off, the Jews were not only commissioned to defend themselves, but Mordecai was arrayed in Hamans robes, received his ring, and occupied his offices and house. So God gave him beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness. And so he promised to do for his poor and afflicted christian church. Isa 61:3. Luk 4:12. And as the heathen then partook of the joy, or feared, so it shall be when the Lord undertakes the cause of his people, and when his name shall be great among the heathen, from the rising to the going down of the sun. Happy then, secure and happy are all those who stand in the divine counsel, and suffer in his spirit.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Esther 8. The King Decrees that the Jews may Defend Themselves.We come now to one of the most important parts of the tale. Esther has seen Haman pass out to deathnot, be it noted, at her request. Now, what does she seek further? Many have accused her of cruelty, her and her race. Not so the reality. She implores that the bloody decree be annulled (Est 8:5), and thus, had she been heard, no blood at all would have been shed. But the Gentile mind is not of this kindly sort. Oh no. The king likes to see blood: he is a sportsman. No, no, Esther, the king answers, blood must flow. Ye Jews, defend yourselves. Fight! So they are forced to take arms, directly against their own mind. LXX gives a supposed form of the new royal order, fanciful, perhaps, but based on fact. Away out the fast posts speed, to order this anti-massaore (Est 8:10 ff.). One point in the LXXs decree is of much interest: Haman is called a Macedonian (see above), and understood to be a representative of the cruel dynasty, of Macedonian descent, with its Alexander the Great, Antiochus, and Nicanor. Now all Shushan is glad because Mordecai is made Vizier in place of Haman (Est 8:15 ff.), and this pictures the joy in Palestine when Judas Maccabus became ruler. Moreover, in view of the coming conflict, many Persians get themselves circumcised (Est 8:17): this surely means a direct reference to the action of Antiochus in condemning to heavy penalties any person who bore the circumcision-marks (1Ma 1:48; 1Ma 1:60 f.).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
A SECOND EDICT CONCERNING THE JEWS
(vv. 1-17)
In all of the history we have considered, we cannot but discern the working of God as will be the case in the Great Tribulation period.Mordecai is a type of Christ, the chief object of the enemy’s hatred, yet eventually triumphant.Esther is a faint picture of the intercessory work of Christ on behalf of Israel.Haman pictures the antichrist, exalting himself to the highest position possible, but finally abased, destroyed by the brightness of the coming of the Lord.
King Ahasuerus immediately gave Esther all the possessions of Haman.The enemy being spoiled left great spoil for God’s chosen one.Esther also revealed her relationship with Mordecai to the king, and the king gave to Mordecai the signet ring he had previously given to Haman, thus virtually appointing Mordecai a prime minister of Persia (v. 2).Esther then committed to Mordecai the responsibility for the house of Haman.Thus, when the Jewish remnant is honored by the authorities of this world, they will transfer this honor willingly to the Lord Jesus.
However, the edict of Haman, sealed with the king’s signet, could not be revoked, for the laws of the Medes and Persians were considered to be divinely ordered, and therefore unchangeable.What could be done about such a situation?Esther again ventured her life in coming before the king, but no doubt without the fear she had before, for he had proven his love for her.When the king held out his scepter to her, she implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman’s scheme to destroy the Jews.”For,” she says, “How can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people?” (v. 6).
Certainly the heart of the king could not fail to be moved by his beloved wife pleading in this way.Therefore he spoke to both Esther and Mordecai, reminding them that he had given the house of Haman to Esther, and telling them to write a decree as they saw fit that would be for the protection of the Jews from harm (vv. 7-8). They could not revoke the previous decree, but they found a way to preserve the Jews in spite of it.This second decree was sent as widely as the first, throughout all the lands of the Persian empire, from India to Ethiopia, to every people in their own language.The message was written in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed with the king’s signet ring, and sent by couriers on horseback, using thoroughbred horses chosen for their swiftness(vv. 9-10).
These letters authorized the Jews in all these places to gather together to protect their own lives, thus having permission to destroy, kill and annihilate any people who assaulted them on the 13th day of the 12th month, the day that the first decree had authorized the killing of the Jews(vv. 11-12).Thus, though the laws of the Medes and Persians could not be changed, the first edict was really rendered ineffective by the second, and done so legally.
This is a very striking picture of the way Israel will be preserved and blessed through the Tribulation.Her sins against God have by law merited the solemn sentence of death.But God in great mercy will intervene to give life instead of death.It is the same as regards all mankind today. The law of God has passed the sentence of death upon all men.But by sending His own Son to bear sin’s penalty on Calvary, God has intervened for the blessing of all who will receive His Son as Savior and Lord.
The first decree would at least serve the purpose of exposing who were the enemies of the Jews, and when they took advantage of the that decree to attack the Jews, then the Jews would take advantage of the second decree to defend themselves and to kill their enemies. Though God’s name is not mentioned, yet the Jews could depend on God to fight for them also.The couriers, in bearing their message, were impressed with the urgency of the matter, so that the Jews would be fully prepared for the crucial day (v. 14).
The king had Mordecai clothed in royal apparel of blue and white with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple (v. 15).Though Persia was no doubt ignorant of the significance of these things in God’s eyes, yet scripture considers blue as the heavenly color and white as the purity of moral character.Therefore Mordecai is seen by scripture as a type of the Lord Jesus, the Man from heaven in whom is moral perfection. The crown of gold reminds us that Christ is far more than man, for gold speaks of the glory of God.Among the nations the practice of a king wearing a gold crown is common, but it is only an imitation of the glory that really belongs to God.The only man entitled to such glory is the Lord Jesus, for He is God.The garment of fine linen and purple symbolizes the fact that kingly glory (the purple) belongs to Christ, but united with the grace of perfect purity (the fine linen).The rich man of Luk 16:19 was clothed in purple and fine linen, but this was an empty show. Christ on earth was clothed in the garments of the poor, but He will soon have His rightful place, with garments of glory and beauty.
Consistently with Mordecai’s exaltation, “the Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor” (v. 16), and this will be wonderfully true when Christ is recognized by Israel at the beginning of the millennium. The blessing of this was spread throughout all the land by the reception of the decree of the king, and the Jews were so greatly blessed that they called a holiday for celebration, and many of the Gentiles became proselytes, taking their place with Israel. While this may not be the case in the millennium, yet the rejoicing of the Gentiles over the blessing of Israel will be remarkably seen, such as is pictured in the rejoicing of the Queen of Sheba for Israel’s sake when she came to visit Solomon (1Ki 10:6-9).
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
8:1 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews’ enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai {a} came before the king; for Esther had told what he [was] {b} unto her.
(a) That is, was received into the king’s favour and presence.
(b) That he was her uncle, and had brought her up.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
C. The Jews’ Deliverance 8:1-9:19
Even though Haman was now dead, the Jews were not yet safe. This section of the text records what Esther and Mordecai did to ensure the preservation of the Jews who then lived throughout the vast Persian Empire. The death of Haman is not the major climax of the book.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
1. The rewarding of Esther and Mordecai 8:1-2
Haman’s "house" (Est 8:1) was his estate. Esther received the estate, probably to compensate her for her suffering. The king gave Mordecai Haman’s place as second in authority (cf. Joseph, Gen 41:42; Nehemiah, Neh 1:11 to Neh 2:8; and Daniel, Dan 5:7; Dan 5:29; Dan 6:3).