Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Esther 8:15
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.
15. in royal apparel of blue and white ] by way of indicating externally the revulsion of feeling. The Persian king’s own robe was purple, or purple embroidered with gold over another garment of purple striped or mixed with white. See Rawlinson’s Anc. Mon. (2nd ed.), iii. 203.
crown ] not kether, that of the monarch, but ‘arh, which may have been a less rich one.
a robe of fine linen and purple ] The LXX. erroneously translate ‘a diadem’ etc. The king wore a diadem consisting of a blue and white band or fillet, encircling the lower part of the crown.
The description as regards the sentiments both of Mordecai and the city is worded so as to present a sharp contrast with that of the earlier condition of affairs (Est 3:15, Est 4:1).
shouted ] The Heb. verb denotes joy audibly expressed. Thus the A.V.’s ‘rejoiced’ is inadequate.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
See the Est 1:6 note. The crown was not a crown like the kings, but a mere golden band or coronet.
A garment – Or, an inner robe. The tunic or inner robe of the king was of purple, striped with white.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Est 8:15-17
The Jews had light, and gladness, and Joy, and honour.
Proper use of power
Now let us pause for a little, and take from this passage one or two of the important lessons which it suggests.
1. In the first place, the conduct of Mordecai under the strange revolution which had been wrought in his condition and prospects is full of practical instruction to us. The lesson is this, that advancement in worldly honour and prosperity should be turned to account, by being made conducive to the promotion of the interests of the Church of Christ and to the good of His people. It reflects high honour upon Mordecai, that the first act of authority which he performed in the exalted position to which he had been raised was one which secured the enlargement of the Church and the safety of his brethren. In other hands the kings signet had been more frequently employed to give effect to decrees of violence and cruelty; but no sooner does it pass into his hands than it is used in behalf of the oppressed. Worldly honour and dignity in his case were invested with a value which does not intrinsically belong to them, and which never can belong to them, except when they are made subservient to such ends as he sought to promote by means of them. Now we say that all who have been blessed with wealth and influence may well look to this example and learn from it. The natural selfishness of the human heart prompts men to overlook the miseries of others, when they have gathered about them all that is needful for their own comfort. If they can but obtain the luxuries which gratify the senses, they care not what amount of woe and wretchedness may be experienced by those who live almost at their door. They waste not a thought upon the sad condition of the victims of spiritual darkness. We would remind them, therefore, that there is a luxury, the sweetest and best which wealth can purchase, and which lies fully within their reach–the luxury of doing good.
2. In the second place, the account given in the text of the feelings of the Jews when the edict was issued for their deliverance, suggests some profitable reflections to us. It caused them light, and gladness, and joy; and the day of its publication was a day of feasting to them, and a good day. But our thoughts are directed by the description to a still higher theme. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth. All mere temporal deliverances sink into insignificance when contrasted with this which the prophet celebrates. The sentence of doom under which we all naturally lie, as transgressors of Gods covenant, has been followed by a message of pardon and life through Jesus Christ to all who will accept Gods gracious offer. Surely, then, we are warranted to ask, What has been the effect of this message upon you who have so often heard it? Now, according to the views of some, where spiritual joy and gladness are awanting, spiritual life must be awanting also. But to this opinion we cannot give our assent. Various causes there may be for the obscuration of the light of Divine joy in the soul, while there is no good reason for supposing that the soul is still dead in sin. No one who has had experience of the conflicts of the life of faith, and of the power of temptation, will require any formal reasoning in proof of the fact that there may be spiritual life without joy, or at least with not a little darkness and disquietude. Yet, it is unquestionably the duty of all Christs followers to rejoice in His salvation.
3. In the third place, we may take a lesson from what is said in the text respecting the readiness which was shown by multitudes to join themselves to the Jews, when the kings edict in their favour was published. It may be believed that in some instances those of the people of the land who professed the Jewish religion were influenced by right motives, and forsook their heathenism because they felt that Jehovah, the God of the Jews, was the true God. Zechariah had foretold such event (Zec 8:23). It is very manifest, from the language used in the text, that such was not the generally prevalent feeling. Many became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. The sunshine of the royal favour was now resting upon the seed of Abraham. They were a numerous body of themselves; and now, when they had liberty of action, by their wealth they could bring over to their side those who would protect them. It was good policy, therefore, to profess to be friendly toward them. And so not the fear of God, but the fear of the Jews, moved many to renounce heathenism, and acknowledge submission to the law of Moses. The Church was in one of her prosperous periods, and hence there were strong inducements to the worldly-minded to enrol themselves among her members. Now this is no isolated case. Such things have often occurred, although by no means tending to the advancement of vital religion. For example, it must have often struck the reflective readers of history, as a subject rather of painful than of pleasant contemplation, that the progress of the Reformation in many countries should have been so intimately connected with and dependent upon the belief and practice of the ruling powers. The flowing and ebbing of the tide of religious profession might be calculated too surely from the prevailing sentiments of the court. Thus, for instance, how sudden were the changes which the aspect of the Church in England presented during the reigns of three successive sovereigns. In the brief time of the Sixth Edward, when his counsellors were Protestant, and Popery was disallowed, how fast did the principles of Protestantism spread through the kingdom! Then Popery became rampant again, and the majority were glad to seem to be upon its side. And no less remarkable was the revival of Protestantism during the reign of Marys successor, Elizabeth. The nation appeared to be born in a day; and again multitudes who had joined in the celebration of the Mass cried, Away with it! and became the friends and promoters of the purer faith. And thus, from regard to character, and with a view to maintain respectability and to forward worldly interests, very many join themselves to the Church of Christ without being influenced at all by the love of Christ. Now, if we examine all the circumstances carefully, we shall perceive that we have as little reason to take comfort to ourselves from the external state of religion among us as the Jews had from the apparent respect which was shown for their religion in the days of Mordecai, or as the conflicting parties had which alternately sunk or prevailed in many countries at the period of the Reformation. The worldly and selfish element–the fear of man, and not the fear of God–has ever been too prevalent in moulding religious profession; the fires of persecution being sometimes employed to compel, and the attractions of self-interest at other times to draw men to confess with the mouth what they did not believe in their heart. And thus it is that the numerical force of Christianity, if I may so speak, is so different a thing from the vital power of it. A profession of Christianity, with some show of reverence for its ordinances, will not carry you to heaven. It will not even abide the trouble of a sifting-time on earth, if such time should overtake you. It will not give you solid comfort when you come, as soon you must come, to pass through the dark valley of the shadow of death. Nothing will avail but the faith which rests on Christ, and which, being the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, makes the possession of heaven sure, by the present foretaste of it with which it feasts the soul. (A. B. Davidson, D. D.)
Light and gladness
I. The golly of claiming human infallibility. Think of what the king had here to do. His law might no man reverse. To save the doomed Jews the king was reduced to the absurd necessity, as Matthew Henry pithily puts it, of enacting a civil war in his own dominions between the Jews and their enemies, so that both sides took up arms by his authority and yet against his authority. What is not claimed by our sovereigns or legislators is claimed, in matters of religion, by the Roman Pontiff. As a general belief it may be held by Roman Catholics. But in what one law has this personal infallibility been exercised? In the end it must be a manifest failure in religion, as it has been in politics.
II. Into all the languages of persia was the new decree translated. Thus with mans law. Thus too it should be with Gods law. Happy day for any nation when in its own language it comes into possession of the Bible, the good news from God.
III. The promptitude in the communication of good news. Wonderful the promptitude that marks the postal service of to-day! It may bring its burden to some, but it is a ministry of consolation to the many. It brings the distant nigh. It revives with oil of love the lamp of life.
IV. The temporal salvation of the jews was but a faint shadow of the good things to come in the great spiritual salvation wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ. (G. F. Coster.)
The story of a great deliverance
Some of the most striking illustrations of Divine truth are afforded to us in the incidents of history. It might be too much to say that the Book of Esther is an allegory, but I believe that its spiritual purpose is, that it should furnish us with a most striking illustration of that greater deliverance which God hath wrought for the sons of men through Jesus Christ.
I. Now the first thing to be noticed in this story is, the secret of Israels danger. It arose from the fact that Israel had an enemy at court–that wicked Haman, who was, in the first place, moved by bitter hatred against the person of Mordecai, but who extended his antipathy to the whole nation to which the object of his hatred belonged. Observe, however, that the strength of the enemys position rested upon a more valid basis than his own personal hatred. In urging this case against them, he was able to appeal to the laws of the kings realm, and that it was not for the kings profit to suffer them. We need to point out where the analogy fails, as well as where it becomes instructive. There is no kind of moral resemblance between the Christians God, and this half-barbarous monarch, Ahasuerus. This man was a capricious and licentious Oriental tyrant, utterly selfish; while righteousness and mercy are blended in wondrous harmony with the attributes of Him whom we acknowledge as King of kings, and who holds our lives and our destinies in His hands. Once again, these Jews were harmless folk, and the charge brought against them, though plausible, was destitute of any such foundation in fact as could have justified severe measures against them. We may despise the moral character of this Oriental despot, and yet the attitude which he, as a king, assumed towards the Jews may well serve to illustrate the attitude which the King of kings is constrained to assume towards those who disobey His laws. Further, though the Jewish people were innocent of any moral or serious political offence, yet at the same time, the fact that they had laws and institutions of their own and that these laws and institutions were diverse from those of other nations, and in particular did not wholly accord with the laws of the Medes and the Persians, placed them in a position of apparent sedition against the ruling power. Here, then, first we have a striking illustration of the relations between the King of kings and Lord of lords, and His rebel creature man. In virtue of the sovereign position which He occupies in His universe, He cannot tolerate anything like deviation from those eternal statutes of righteousness which He Himself has laid down for His creatures; and, on the other hand, it cannot be denied that the sinner does break the Kings laws, and set His authority at defiance. We also have a determined and malignant foe, the accuser of the brethren, who first lays himself out to induce us to sin against these eternal edicts, and to form habits of life which are altogether at variance with the Divine mind, and who then turns round upon his victims and next accuses us to the Divine Being as persons whose very existence in the universe is a source of danger, moral disorder, and general peril to the stability of the kingdom over which the King of kings holds sway. He presses upon the notice of the Supreme Ruler the fact that it is not for His profit to allow us to go on as we are doing. Between the case of Haman against the Jews, however, and Satans ease against us, there is this wide difference–that the charge brought by the enemy of the Jews was morally a plausible pretext, a trumped-up accusation; whereas in the case of the sinner the charge is only too true. If there is one single person whose heart has not been surrendered to God, and whose will is not yet wholly yielded to Him, then of such an one the accusation is true, terribly true, It is not for the Kings profit to suffer him. Let me ask you, then, Have you yielded yourself to God? For observe that if God were to allow men to go on from age to age, defying and disregarding His Divine will and law, He would be permitting His own rule to be overthrown, and would be virtually abdicating the throne of the universe, and giving all over to general anarchy and disorder. Nay, God can never lay aside His claims, and therefore it is not for the Kings profit to suffer those who reject or ignore Him. Has it been for the Kings profit that thou hast lived? If you were eliminated from human society to-day, would it be a gain instead of a loss to the world in which you have lived? You may reply, I have affections as well as other people. There are many whom I love, and who love me, and whose hearts would bleed if I were taken away; how, then, could the world be anything but a loser by my removal? Stay, let me ask you, What is the character of your influence and the effect of your example upon those very persons whose affections you have won? Are you doing them harm or good? What fruit does your life bear from day to day? Father, might it not be better for your sons spiritual and eternal well-being if you were taken away from them? Mother, might it not be better for your daughters, better for your household, if your baneful influence were removed? And you, young man! who are the ringleader of a little band of friends, let me ask, Whither are you leading those young companions of yours? Is your fatal influence dragging them down to ever-deepening depths of moral degradation and sin? Ah! if that be thy case, if thy very friendship is a source of danger to those who are its objects, surely it is not for the Kings profit to suffer you. Well, you say, or some one says, Why does He suffer me, then? Ah, here is a point to which we can find nothing to answer in the analogy. Let St. Paul explain why God suffers you, Despisest thou the riches of His goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? Such is the secret of our danger; and now, turning again to our illustration, let us observe the sequel. There goes forth as the result of all this, a terrible edict against these unfortunate Jews, no less than an edict of utter destruction. Just let us picture to ourselves what effects must have been produced wherever the proclamation came. Yonder comes the royal herald into a large provincial town; he blows his trumpet and proceeds at once to nail up his proclamation at the gate of the city, or in the crowded marketplace. The news spreads like wildfire, and soon it reaches the Jewish quarter of a city. See the terrified inhabitants rushing about from house to house, and at last collecting in a crowd around the fatal parchment, eager to know the worst. One in a clear voice begins to read the dreadful paragraphs amidst a silence still as death. As he proceeds, strong men begin to weep like children, mothers clasp their children to their hearts in an agony of despair, till by and by, as with one voice, all break forth into a cry of lamentation; they rend their garments and grovel in the dust, utterly overwhelmed by a misfortune so unlooked-for and so inevitable. It is easy to account for their consternation, but it is much more difficult to explain the stolid equanimity with which sinners listen to the terrible threats against them of a proclamation more appalling than that which caused such terror to Israel of old. The dread and righteous decree which must expel the sinner from the Divine presence, and consign him to the darkness of death, may not be carried into effect at once; no more was the decree of Ahasuerus; but, remember, the command has gone forth, the sword of judgment is drawn, and under that most dread edict the sinner is condemned already. The wages of sin is death. Oh, if there was weeping and wailing throughout the provinces of Persia when that ancient proclamation was read, no less is there horror and fear in the heart of the sinner when, his conscience being roused, he at last becomes aware of his actual state, and of his terrible danger. Too many, indeed, are so absorbed with the passing nothings of this world, that they endeavour to evade all serious thought, and to forget the real perils of their present condition. But, thank God, it is not so with all. See that terrified jailer of Philippi. Why does he exclaim with such undisguised trepidation, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Surely it was because in his own conscience he had discovered the proclamation. Remember that nothing is gained by shutting our eyes to facts.
II. The secret of Israels safety; for saved, eventually, they were in spite of the foe and the terrible edict of the king. How were they saved? As their danger was due to the presence of an enemy at court, so their safety was due to the fact that they also had a faithful friend at court.
1. Let us consider their deliverer; and the first thing that strikes us about her is the fact that she was connected by a double relationship with each of the parties concerned. On the one hand she was related to the doomed race; she was one of them–a Jewess, bone of their bone, and flesh of their flesh; while, on the other hand, she was also closely related to the monarch. She was his wife. Thus she stands, then, between the two–the monarch and the condemned race–and so in her own person effects a reconciliation.
2. Notice, again, that the motive which inspired her to risk her life was love for her people. One angry word, one look, and she and her people were alike lost; but for love of them she was content to risk her all!
3. She stood before King Ahasuerus, not for herself, but as the representative of her people. She approaches him, not in her royal dignity as queen, but as identified with her kindred. For us, too, there is a secret of safety, and blessed are they who are acquainted with it. Let us proceed to consider how this safety has been secured. We, too, have a Friend at Court, and, like Esther, He is possessed of a certain double relationship. On the one hand, He is bound to humanity, for He Himself is man. Voluntarily He took our nature upon Him, He was made flesh, and tabernacled amongst us. He has identified Himself for ever with mankind; but, on the other hand, He is no less closely bound to the everlasting Father than to us. He is one with the Father from all eternity, the Son of His love, the express image of His Person. Further, observe that it was as the representative of His people that the Lord Jesus Christ undertook to perform the work that had to be done before man could be saved. Queen Esther took her life in her hand and presented herself before the king, in order to save; but our Deliverer has done much more than that–He has not risked, but given His life for the doomed race. Now observe, further, when Queen Esther entered into the presence of King Ahasuerus, we read that she found favour, or grace in his sight; but this favour was shown her on her own account, and not because she was a Jewess. Ahasuerus would scarcely, under the circumstances, have been disposed to listen to such a plea, even when advanced by his wife. What does she do? First she wins the kings favour for herself, and then she is in a position, so to speak, to transfer that favour to those whom she represents. Even so was it with our Great Deliverer when He entered within the veil, with His own blood having perfected the work of filial obedience which He had undertaken on our behalf. He was then most of all the Beloved Son in whom the Father was well pleased, but the special favour with which He was then rewarded by the Divine Father was won on our behalf that it might be transferred to us. When the grace of Ahasuerus reached Esther, it reached through her the Jew; and even so when the grace of the Father reaches the Beloved Son as Representative of the human family, it reaches us also through Him. Thus indeed the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men. You will notice that this grace thus assumes a definite form in a second proclamation made this time in favour of the Jews, whom the former proclamation had given over to death. This second proclamation, observe, does not override or conflict with the first. The law could not be abrogate.d, and yet its fatal operation had to be prevented, its condemning force was to be rendered nugatory. Here again we need to call attention to points of difference as well as points of agreement. The Gospel dispensation was not designed to abrogate but to fulfil the law. The law of God must remain unalterable, not in virtue of an arbitrary decree of Omnipotence, but because it is founded on moral principles of eternal obligation; it is only because Christ is the end of the law to every one that believeth, that is to say, produces consequences greater and better even than the law was designed to effect, that the dread penalties of the law can be escaped under the new dispensation. Now let us observe more closely the nature of this second proclamation, for we shall find the illustration very suggestive. The first proclamation puts the whole of the Jews into the hands of their enemies, and arrays against them all representatives of the kings authority and of legal justice throughout the land. The second proclamation, on the other hand, has the opposite effect, for it puts the law on the side of the Israelites; it gives them the right to defend themselves. Thus it is that the story of this marvellous deliverance shadows forth ours with strange fidelity. For us, too, there has been issued from the throne of the Eternal Being a second proclamation. It has been nailed to the Cross of Calvary, it has been revealed in the broken body of the Son of God. First, it puts the sinner who avails himself of it right with his God; it arrays all the forces of justice on his side, and enables him find his surest protection in that which but for the work of Christ must have condemned him; and further, it puts him in a position to rise up against the tyrant sins by which he was previously enslaved, and to lead his captivity captive. From the condemnation of the law and from the cruel dominion of sin the believing sinner is equally delivered by the proclamation made from Calvary. The eternal justice of God, which apart from the Cross of Christ must have righteously demanded our punishment, now secures our safety; and we find now that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Many see that God is merciful to forgive us our sin; but how much stronger is our confidence when we see even His eternal justice, that attribute of His from which we needs must have most to fear, arrayed on our side! And here again I think we may notice, without pressing the illustration unduly, that this second proclamation demanded a certain believing response from the Jews before it could be of any practical utility to them. The favour of the king towards the race was conveyed by the proclamation; but unless the Jews had sufficient faith in the kings word to act upon it, and to arm themselves and issue forth against their enemies, they might still have fallen an easy prey. The proclamation from Calvary is described by St. Paul as the grace of God which bringeth salvation to every man, but it is not every one that ventures forth upon it, claims justification, and, as it were, takes his spiritual enemies by the throat because that proclamation has delivered them into his hands. Alas I how many are there still who receive the grace of God in vain! But to return to our story, let us follow the second proclamation in its journey forth from the court of King Ahasuerus. In hot haste the heralds speed on their way, for the business is urgent, and the tidings spread from city to city, until they reach the uttermost parts of the great kings dominions. Let us watch this royal messenger as he enters that same provincial town that we were visiting in our thoughts when I was describing the promulgation of that first terrible edict. See, he rides up the street in great haste, he blows his trumpet, and the people begin to gather in a crowd. What is going to happen now? Another proclamation! What is it all about? Some poor trembling Jews venture into the throng in deadly terror, lest it should prove but some fresh aggravation of their woes. Oh, its about these Jews again! What more about them? Are they to be given up to us at once instead of our having to wait three or four days longer? It is in three or four different languages, amongst others in Hebrew, and signed with the kings seal See, there is one of the doomed race. His eyes fall upon the Hebrew; eagerly he begins to read, the colour comes and goes. God of my fathers! I fancy I hear him exclaim, what is this? Another glance to make sure that his eyes dont deceive him, and then away he hies to the Jewish quarter of the town. Deliverance! he cries, we are delivered, we are saved, God has saved us! The Jews rush out of their houses, the whole multitude throng to the market-place. Eagerly they listen as one reads aloud; and as sentence after sentence falls from the lips of the reader, sobs of joy and gladness are heard. Ah, that was a day long to be remembered by all. What tears of joy were shed, what songs of rejoicing were raised, what feasts they held! But what shall we say of the joy of the ransomed sinner when the proclamation of life reaches his liberated heart? He has heard the sentence of doom from Sinai, tie has felt his impotence to resist his terrible foes, and has wrung his hands in despair as the iron has entered into his soul. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? It may be that his misery is so great that he can scarcely attend to his ordinary business, or even find an appetite for his necessary food; and if so, why should we wonder at it? Are you surprised, then, at his joy when first he reads the second proclamation, and discovers that it is really intended for him? Do you blame him for being excited? Ill answer for it, these Jews were excited enough. How could they help it? And how can he? The Jews, we read, had light and gladness, and joy and honour; and such are the blessed privileges still of him who hears the gospel report, and believes it. The Sun of Righteousness has arisen upon him with healing in His wings–joy within, and gladness without; and honour, for are we not children of the Most High, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together? Honour! Yes, for all things are ours, and we are Christs, and Christ is Gods. Well, now, that second proclamation has been made to us; the voice from Calvary has been spoken. On the Cross, favour has been secured for a guilty world. Have you received the report? But do you say, I dont realise it; I am afraid it cant be for me, because I dont feel happy; I dont feel as if I were free from condemnation; I dont feel that I am saved? Did these Jews of eld know that they were delivered because they felt happy? Or did they feel happy because they knew that they were delivered? Which? Thy happiness is the, effect, not the cause of thy safety. If thou wouldst be happy read the proclamation. Answer all thy inward misgivings by telling thy troubled heart that the good news is for thee. When we really believe a thing, we cease to look for evidence of our believing it in the effect produced in our own experience. Let me put it thus: Suppose we were to visit that Persian city shortly after the proclamation, and find there an aged Israelite of a sorrowful countenance. Well, sir, we remark, this, is a day of good tidings: it occurs to us that a more cheerful look might be more in keeping with the occasion. Ah, sirs, he replies, this is a sad, sad time with me. I can get no comfort. Why not, my good friend? Havent you heard all about the kings decree, and how you Jews are to stand up against your enemies; and dont you know that the kings officers are all going to defend you, and that you are safe? Ah! he replies, with a mournful shake of his head, that may be all very true, but–but–I dont realise it! But what has your realising got to do with it: do tell us, is it true or false? If it is true, your realisings wont make it any truer; and if it be false, your realisings wont make it true; which is it? Oh, no doubt its perfectly true; but still, how can you expect me to be happy when I dont realise it? Really, if we could have found such a man, dont you think we should have felt something like irrepressible impatience with him? (W. H. M. H. Aitken, M. A.)
Many became Jews, for the fear of the Jews were upon them.
Reasons for uniting with a Church
The true reasons why one should unite himself with a particular Church are because, first of all, he is already united to Christ; because, next, the organisation and activities of that special Church commend themselves to him as most in harmony with the principles of the New Testament; and because, finally, he is most edified and sustained by its ordinances and ministry. But to allow fashionable or worldly motives to intervene and become the determining elements is to secularise the Church by making it an anteroom of the world and so subordinating it to the world. One should be in that Church where he sees most of Christ; where he gets most from Christ; and where he can do most for Christ. The Church that is composed of such members will be blessed, and will be made a blessing, not to its own adherents, only, but to all around. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 15. Blue and white] Probably stripe interchanged with stripe; or blue faced and bordered with white fur.
A great crown of gold] A large turban, ornamented with gold, jewels, c.
Fine linen and purple] See on Ge 41:42. The buts, here mentioned, is most probably the same with the byssus of the ancients supposed to be the beautiful tuft or beard, growing out of the side of the pinna longa, a very large species of muscle, found on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, of which there are a pair of gloves in the British Museum. This byssus I have described elsewhere.
Shushan – was glad.] Haman was too proud to be popular; few lamented his fall.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
With a great crown of gold; which the chief of the Persian princes were permitted to wear, but with sufficient distinction from the kings crown.
The city of Shushan; not only Jews, but the greatest number of the citizens, who, by the law of nature written upon their hearts, had an abhorrency from bloody counsels and designs, and a complacency in acts of benignity and mercy; or for other reasons, of which See Poole “Est 3:15“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. Mordecai went out . . . in royalapparelHe was invested with the khelaat of official honor. Adress of blue and white was held in great estimation among thePersians; so that Mordecai, whom the king delighted to honor, was infact arrayed in the royal dress and insignia. The variety and thekind of insignia worn by a favorite at once makes known to the peoplethe particular dignity to which he has been raised.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king,…. And walked or rode about in the city to show himself to his friends:
in royal apparel of blue and white; such as the Persian kings wore, and were not allowed to any other, as Xenophon writes g:
and with a great crown of gold; a coronet, such as princes and nobles wear; the latter Targum calls it a great golden chain, and such the eastern kings used to give to their favourites; see Da 5:29,
and with a garment of fine linen and purple; this must be an inner garment, since it is distinct from the royal robe before mentioned; though as the word signifies a wrap, or roll, it may design a turban, which was a roll of linen wrapped about the head; and such was the Persian diadem, according to Curtius h, which was of a purple colour, mixed with white; and so the Septuagint version is, “and a diadem of fine linen, of a purple colour”; and if so, the crown of gold was not worn on his head, nor is it likely it should be allowed, but was carried before him, [See comments on Es 6:8],
and the city of Shushan rejoiced, and was glad; not only the Jews in it, but the native inhabitants of it, that had any sense of humanity, expressed their joy at the sight of Mordecai thus arrayed; that so good a man was advanced at court, and so bad a man as Haman was displaced and put to death; see Pr 29:2.
g Cyropaedia, l. 8. c. 23. h Hist. l. 3. c. 3. & l. 6. c. 6. Vid. Solerium de Pileo, sect. 9.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The joy experienced throughout the kingdom at these measures. Est 8:15. After transacting with the king this measure so favourable to the Jews, Mordochai went out from the king in a garment of deep blue and white material (comp. Est 1:6), and with a great crown of gold, and a mantle of byssus and purple. , . . , in the Aramaean , a wide mantle or covering. The meaning is not, as Bertheau remarks, that he left the king in the garment which had been, according to Est 6:8., presented to him, nor that he left him with fresh tokens of his favour, clothed in a garment, crown, and mantle just bestowed on him, but that he left him in a magnificent state garment, and otherwise festally apparelled, that he might thus show, even by his external appearance, the happiness of his heart. Of these remarks, the first and last are quite correct; the second, however, can by no means be so, because it affords no answer to the question how Mordochai had obtained crown and mantle during his stay with the king and in the royal palace. The garments in which Mordochai left the king are evidently the state garments of the first minister, which Mordochai received at his installation to his office, and, as such, no fresh token of royal favour, but only his actual induction in his new dignity, and a sign of this induction to all who saw him issue from the palace so adorned. “The city of Susa rejoiced and was glad,” i.e., rejoiced for gladness. The city, i.e., its inhabitants on the whole.
Est 8:16 The Jews (i.e., in Susa, for those out of the city are not spoken of till Est 8:17) had light and gladness, and delight and honour.” (this form occurs only here and Psa 109:12), light, is a figurative expression for prosperity. , honour – in the joy manifested by the inhabitants of Susa at the prevention of the threatened destruction.
Est 8:17 And in every province and city … there was joy and a glad day, a feast day, comp. Est 9:19, Est 9:22, while Haman’s edict had caused grief and lamentation, Est 4:3. “And many of the people of the land (i.e., of the heathen inhabitants of the Persian empire) became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.” , to confess oneself a Jew, to become a Jew, a denominative formed from , occurs only here. On the confirmatory clause, comp. Exo 15:16; Deu 11:25. This conversion of many of the heathen to Judaism must not be explained only, as by Clericus and Grotius, of a change of religion on the part of the heathen, ut sibi hoc modo securitatem et reginae favorem pararent, metuentes potentiam Mardechaei . This may have been the inducement with some of the inhabitants of Susa. But the majority certainly acted from more honourable motives, viz., a conviction, forced upon them by the unexpected turn of affairs in favour of the Jews, of the truth of the Jewish religion; and the power of that faith and trust in God manifested by the Jews, and so evidently justified by the fall of Haman and the promotion of Mordochai, contrasted with the vanity and misery of polytheism, to which even the heathen themselves were not blind. When we consider that the same motives in subsequent times, when the Jews as a nation were in a state of deepest humiliation, attracted the more earnest-minded of the heathen to the Jewish religion, and induced them to become proselytes, the fact here related will not appear surprising.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Joy of the Jews. | B. C. 510. |
15 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. 16 The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour. 17 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. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.
It was but a few days ago that we had Mordecai in sackcloth and all the Jews in sorrow; but here is a blessed change, Mordecai in purple and all the Jews in joy. See Psa 30:5; Psa 30:11; Psa 30:12. 1. Mordecai in purple, v. 15. Having obtained an order for the relief of all the Jews, he was easy, he parted with his mourning weeds, and put on the royal apparel, which either belonged to his place or which the king appointed him as a favourite. His robes were rich, blue and white, of fine linen and purple; so was his coronet: it was of gold. These are things not worth taking notice of, but as they were marks of the king’s favour, and that the fruit of God’s favour to his church. It is well with a land when the ensigns of dignity are made the ornaments of serious piety. The city Shushan was sensible of its advantage in the preferment of Mordecai, and therefore rejoiced and was glad, not only pleased in general with the advancement of virtue, but promising itself, in particular, better times, now that so good a man was entrusted with power. Haman was hanged; and, when the wicked perish, there is shouting, Prov. xi. 10. Mordecai was preferred; and, when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. 2. The Jews in joy, Est 8:16; Est 8:17. The Jews, who awhile ago were under a dark cloud, dejected and disgraced, now had light and gladness, joy and honour, a feast and a good lay. If they had not been threatened and in distress they would not have had occasion for this extraordinary joy. Thus are God’s people sometimes made to sow in tears that they may reap in so much the more joy. The suddenness and strangeness of the turn of affairs in their favour added much to their joy. They were like those that dream; then was their mouth filled with laughter,Psa 126:1; Psa 126:2. One good effect of this deliverance was that many of the people of the land, that were considerate, sober, and well inclined, became Jews, were proselyted to the Jewish religion, renounced idolatry, and worshipped the true God only. Haman thought to extirpate the Jews, but it proves, in the issue, that their numbers are greatly increased and many added to the church. Observe, When the Jews had joy and gladness then many of the people of the land became Jews. The holy cheerfulness of those that profess religion is a great ornament to their profession, and will invite and encourage others to be religious. The reason here given why so many became Jews at this time is because the fear of the Jews fell upon them. When they observed how wonderfully divine Providence had owned them and wrought for them in this critical juncture, (1.) They thought them great, and considered those happy that were among them; and therefore they came over to them, as was foretold, Zech. viii. 23. We will go with you, for we have heard, we have seen, that God is with you, the shield of your help, and the sword of your excellency, Deut. xxxiii. 29. When the church prospers, and is smiled upon, many will come into it that will be shy of it when it is in trouble. (2.) They thought them formidable, and considered those miserable that were against them. They plainly saw in Haman’s fate that, if any offered injury to the Jews, it was at their peril; and therefore, for their own security, they joined themselves to them. It is folly to think of contending with the God of Israel, and therefore it is wisdom to think of submitting to him.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Est. 8:15. Crown of gold] Not a crown like the kings, but a mere golden band or coronetAtarah.Rawlinson. Royal apparel of blue and white. State garments such as became the grand vizier; royal robes of royal colours.Whedon. It is well to compare this description of Mordecais appearance on leaving the palace with Xenophons description of the attire in which Cyrus himself appeared in public. Cyrus himself then appeared, wearing a turban, which was raised high above his head, with a vest of a purple colour, half mixed with white; and this mixture of white none else is allowed to wear. On his legs he had yellow buskins; his outer robe was wholly of purple; and about his turban was a diadem or wreath (Cyrop. viii. 3, 13). Every one of these things occur in the description of Mordecais royal attire, except the yellow buskins. Xenophon, however, adds, that the diademed turban was not peculiar to the king, but was allowed to his relations. This doubtless answers to the great crown which Mordecai wore. The description does not correspond with the appearance of the cap which the king wears in the sculptures of Persepolis. This difference, which has perplexed antiquarians, is probably owing to the fact that the sculptures represented the king as he usually appeared in his palace; whereas the description refers to his appearance when he went abroad, or on occasions of high state within-doors.Kitto. The garments in which Mordecai left the king are evidently the State garments of the first minister, which Mordecai received at his installation to his office; and, as such, no fresh token of royal favour, but only his induction in his new dignity, and a sign of his induction to all who saw him issue from the palace so adorned.Keil. City of Shushan rejoiced] That is, the inhabitants as a whole. They had probably deprecated the massacre awaiting the Jews, and perhaps apprehended with fear the great disorders and dangers that would ensue.Lange.
Est. 8:16. The Jews had light] Light (this particular form of the noun occurs only here and Psa. 109:12) is a figurative expression for prosperity.
Est. 8:17. And many of the people became Jews] This must not be explained only, as by Clericus and Grotius, of a change of religion on the part of the heathen that they might procure the favour of the queen, and avert the wrath of Mordecai. This may have induced some; but the majority certainly acted from a conviction, forced upon them by the unexpected turn of affairs in favour of the Jews, of the truth of the Jewish religion, and the power of that faith and trust in God manifested by the Jews, and so evidently justified by the fall of Haman, and the promotion of Mordecai,Keil.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH. Est. 8:15-17
DAYS OF REJOICING
AFTER a dark and stormy night, when the clouds have hidden every star, and the fierce winds have been howling over hill and dale, what gladness fills all animated nature as the sun arises in the East. He floods the valleys with his cheerful light, and kindles a blaze of glory upon the mountain-tops. Then the thief and assassin, with every unclean and loathsome creature, seek their hiding-place; then the honest artisan goes forth to his task until the evening; and then sweet concerts are heard in every grove. So after the days of national gloom came the morning of gladness to the Jews. Mans extremity once again proved to be Gods opportunity. As when the breath of heaven sweeps onward through the open sky, and meets there with an easy reception, it creates little commotion; but when it meets the strength of a forest, the same wind grows mighty, and dwells there till it compels the tall trees to bow, and yield a triumphant passage over the top of all their glories. So in days of quiet, men pass easily along, and are barely conscious of the presence of God; but when affliction or persecution ariseth because of the Word, then God wonderfully interferes to save his chosen people, and even his foes are constrained to cry, Galilean, thou hast conquered. So had Jehovah vindicated the rights of his people, and compelled even the heathen to acknowledge that his ways were wonderful Days can never be so dark but that the sun may burst through the cloud; our difficulties can never be so great but that our Master can lift us above them all; and often where sin has made a difficulty, grace has made a triumph. Now Hamans devices end in the exaltation of Mordecai, and the threatened destruction of the Jews leads directly to the enlargement of their nation.
I. Honour paid to a wise minister. The once despised Mordecai now issues from the palace clothed in royal apparel, and wearing a crown of gold. It is not always that a wise minister wins national honour. Every age has seen examples of great statesmen hurled from power by the vices of the great, or by the folly of the crowd. But happy is that country in which the poor wise man is not despised. () Such a man, placed at the head of the state, will not be blinded by personal vices. Frequently the dearest interests of a nation have been sacrificed to the luxury of the minister; but a man of virtue will always be on the watch for opportunities to serve his generation. () A great statesman, again, will not be biassed by selfish motives. To increase his own wealth or prestige, to promote the prosperity of family or party, or to injure the power of a rival, are desires never cherished in such a breast. It should be easier to turn the sun from his path than a statesman from the path of duty. () A great statesman will recognize the supremacy of virtue. The will of God is his supreme law, and his final reward is the approval of that unseen Master. () A great minister, once more, will live for the welfare of others. To raise the fallen, to vindicate the oppressed, to afford an asylum to the slave, to increase the food of the poor, to care for the education of the child, and to promote the glory of Godsuch is the noble vocation of a truly wise minister of state.
II. A nation rejoicing under the good ministers shadow. The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honour. The Jews had () the joy of deliverance. The poet Spenser writes:
Ease after war, port after stormy seas,
Rest after toil, death after life, doth greatly please.
So there is always joy in a sudden change from danger to safety. As a gentle mother prepares pleasant surprises for her child, so Gods providence frequently delights his people with a sudden change of prospect; and he who was in darkness now finds the light doubly precious. There was also () the joy of safety. The danger was not only postponed, but removed. Hitherto they had lived as strangers in a strange land, liable at any time to plots like those of Haman. Such has been the history of the Jews in every nation under heaven. Now, at least for a time, they were safe under the shadow of Esther the queen, and Mordecai the statesman. Every history tells how the liability to a crushing disaster unsettles the morals of a people, and drives men headlong into vice. Every man knows, also, from his own experience, how completely a sense of insecurity detracts from happiness. Hitherto the Jews had been like a man stood on a narrow plank over a yawning chasm. A false step, a sudden breeze, or a weak spot in the board, will precipitate him into the abyss. But now the Jews were standing on a massive rock, and were able to look back on the danger from which they were escaped. () They had also the joy and honour of large accessions. A mans faith redoubles in intensity when he can persuade others to believe it; and the Jews confidence in their national glory would wonderfully increase when they saw the heathen offering themselves as converts to the true faith.
III. The triumph of religion. Many of the people of the land became Jews. So always wise rulers may be as nursing fathers to the Church. Multitudes are led by the example of the great; many may be only influenced by the desire for worldly prosperity, and some will be genuine converts. Without the imputation of any sinister motives, two valid reasons can be assigned for this sudden development of Judaism. () Many are influenced only by visible signs. Now this wonderful interposition of providence on behalf of the Jews would be to many a sufficient proof that God was on their side. () Others, of a nobler sort, might first hear of Judaism as a power in the State through the very tumults excited by Haman. They would then inquire into the history and claims of this strange religion, and become convinced of its truth. Thus the wrath of man is made to praise God.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Est. 8:15-17
This narrative may teach us that in the darkest and most unpromising circumstances there is nearly always some way of relief and improvement. How seldom are things so in human life that literally nothing can be done! There is something unrepealable in all important human action. But there is also much that may be practically repealed. I think we may say that never, at any one time, in the history of a nation; never, in the life of an individual, are things so dark and bad that nothing can be done to amend and lighten them. On the contrary, this world, and the social and individual spheres of it, this whole mundane system, is constructed on the plan, so to say, of admitting, suggesting, prompting to, and furnishing, the means of continual recovery.
If this were not so, the world would soon be full of the most pitiable spectacles that could be conceived; communities and individuals sitting hopelessly amid the gloom of their own failures, amid the consequences of their own mistakes, amid the deepening unhappiness arising from the memory of their own sinsthe strokes of penalty heard resounding on every side, the waters of misery rising silently and coldly within, while the long night of despair is deepening and settling without. Such pictures are not to be seen. There is indeed much suffering in the world; some of it penalty, and much of it not. And there are all kinds of calamities, and mischances, and unexpected and unsuspected griefs, and things that ought never to have happened, and things which fill you with sympathy, and pain, and profound regret, and perhaps indignation, as soon as you know them. And there are many mournful people who make the worst of them; or shall we say the best of them, for they really seem to find a kind of dismal enjoyment in seeing how bad they are, and in anticipating that they are going to be still worse.
But who knows not, also, that calamities and misfortunes are retrieved, that injuries are redressed, that mistakes are rectified? Who knows not that oppressions come to an end, and bloody wars, and other evil works? Yes, and those things are accomplished sometimes just when everything appears almost hopeless, and by means which do not seem at all sufficient or equal to the end.Raleigh.
The joy felt by the Jews was greatly enhanced by the distress into which they had lately been plunged, and by the suddenness and strangeness of the transition. They felt like a sick man at the point of death, when he hears the voice, Deliver from going down to the pit; or like a criminal expecting the hour of his execution, when a pardon is put into his hand. They felt like their fathers when the Lord turned back the captivity of Zion; they were like them that dream; their mouth was filled with laughter, and their tongue with singing. And such, my friends, will be the feelings of the ransomed of the Lord, when they shall come to the heavenly Zion; the recollection of all that they have suffered here shall only serve to accent their happiness, and convert it into a joy unspeakable and full of glory. Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christs sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
The deliverances experienced in time by the Church and people of Jehovah are earnests of that felicity and glory which shall be enjoyed in the future world. But they are also productive of benefits in this life, which make them sources of joy and thanksgiving to all well-affected minds. Besides confirming weak disciples, and adding alacrity to the strong, they are often blessed for making converts, and inducing strangers to join themselves to the people of God. Thus it is written, The Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land; and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.*
These promises were partly fulfilled in consequence of the visible interposition of Divine providence, on the occasion referred to in the text. Many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. They became proselytes to the Jewish religion (for no other meaning can be applied to the words, when the Jews were foreigners), renounced idolatry, and worshipped the true God. When the Church prospers, and is smiled upon, says a pious commentator, many will come into it that will be shy of it when it is in trouble. But we must not altogether despise such conversions. Though nothing but willing and cordial submission will advantage the souls of individuals, God can glorify himself, and Christ is glorified in the professed subjection of men. Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me. As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me; or, as it is in the margin, shall yield feigned obedience unto me. Not fear, but love, is the principle of genuine and evangelical obedience. But the Spirit of God makes use of the natural principle of fear, in awakening persons to a concern about salvation. Save yourselves from this untoward generation, was an apostolical exhortation; and among the effects produced by the preaching and miracles of the primitive Church, this is particularly specified, that fear came upon every soul; and again, great fear came upon all the Church, and upon as many as heard these things; after which it follows, and believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women. Amen.McCrie.
Who could have believed that the contrivances of Haman for the destruction of the Jews would have terminated in the increase of their nation? The lovers of the name of the God of Israel would tremble at Hamans devices, lest the name of Israel should be put out, and the worship of the God of Israel should be extirpated from the earth. But the revolution of a few weeks convinced them that their God was the same God that he had ever been; and that wherein his enemies dealt proudly, he was still above them. Death and destruction are in the hand of the Lord, and he can make them instrumental for the life, and for bringing about the safety, of his people. Before him darkness becomes light, and sorrow is turned into joy. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and carrieth the devices of the froward headlong. So the poor have hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.Lawson.
And many of the people of the land became Jews.That is, they were proselyted, professing the Jewish religion, and siding with them; some in sincerity, doubtless, and some out of sinisterity, and for self-respects, because they saw the king favoured them, the queen and Mordecai were altogether with them and for them. So that mixed multitude (Exo. 12:38), moved with miracles, removed out of Egypt with the Israelites, took hold of the skirts of these Jews and said, We will go with you. So in Davids days, whilst he dealt prudently and prospered, so that he became the head of the heathen, a people whom he had not known submitted themselves unto him. The like they did in Solomons days, as Josephus relateth, as also that the people were then very careful how they received such prosperity-proselytes. So, many strangers followed the captives returning out of Babylon under the conduct of Zerubbabel; and many heathens joined themselves to the Christian congregations under Constantine, the first Christian emperor. The Huns, well-beaten by the Christians, concluded that their God was the true God, and received the gospel. Thus, whether it be in pretence or in truth (as St. Paul hath it) that people come in, God is glorified and his Church amplified, and the saints therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.Trapp.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 8
Est. 8:17. House of joy.
I see a forest, dark, dim, deep, and dread,
Whose solemn shades no human foot or eye
Can penetrate; but now, oh, see! a veil
Falls from my strengthened eyes; and now
Even in its deepest centre I behold
A spot more beautiful than human heart
Can comprehend; it is the home of joy;
And there the blessed spirit broods for ever,
Making her dwelling-place a heaven; there
The skies are pure as crystal, and the eye
Looks through their clear expanse direct to God.
No sun is there; the air itself is light
And life; a rainbow spans it like a crown
Of tearless glory, and the forest trees
Sweep round it in a belt of living green.
Colour, that wayward sprite of changeful mien,
Is here subdued to an intensity
Of burning lustre. Sound has but one voice,
And that is joyous song; sight but one object,
And that is happiness; mine eyes are strained
To catch the lineaments of the bright queen
Whose dwelling-place I see; but tis in vain;
Nowhere distinct, yet felt in all, she glides,
A shape of light and colour, through the air,
Making its pure transparency to thrill
With the soft music of her viewless step.
Reddal.
A feast and a good day. These Jews had a feast and a good day, for they were delivered from the fear of their enemies. But surely we may go further, and picture them rejoicing because the righteous are vindicated, and the holy ones are now delivered from the hand of the oppressor. The nation may well rejoice when the righteous are exalted. God often gives to his people on earth a feast and a good day. Every Sabbath should be such a day. Every good day on earth should be a type of the unending feast and uninterrupted good day of heaven. And how transcendent the glory of that world where there shall be no more sin or imperfection, where we all unite in the song, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain! The glory of the Lord doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. The idolatrous temple of Diana was so bright and splendid that the door-keeper always cried to them that entered it, Take heed to your eyes. But what faculties of vision must we have to behold the glory of the temple above! If it is said that the righteous themselves shall shine forth as the sun, what will be the splendour of the Eternal Throne! What a delightful change from this world of darkness and imperfection to that where all shall be light and glory!
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
D. Multitudes Rejoice
TEXT: Est. 8:15-17
15
And Mordecai went forth from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan shouted and was glad.
16
The Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honor.
17
And in every province, and in every city, withersoever the kings commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness and joy, a feast and a good day. And many from among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews was fallen upon them.
Todays English Version, Est. 8:15-17
Mordecai left the palace, wearing royal robes of blue and white, a cloak of fine purple linen, and a magnificent gold crown. Then the streets of Susa rang with cheers and joyful shouts. For the Jews there was joy and relief, happiness and a sense of victory. In every city and province, wherever the kings proclamation was read, the Jews held a joyful holiday with feasting and happiness. In fact, many other people became Jews, because they were afraid of them now.
COMMENTS
Est. 8:15-16 Passions: Mordecai was apparently given royal robes to wear signifying his appointment by the king to the position once held by Hamanprime minister. The king probably gave him robes from his own palace wardrobes. A great crown of gold was given Mordecai. The Hebrew word for crown here is atereth and not the word kether which is used in Est. 2:17 to designate Esthers royal crown of office. Mordecais crown was one which would be plainly inferior to the kings crown, but great enough to symbolize his high office. Whereas the city of Susa had formerly been upset and perplexed at the edict of Haman (Est. 3:15) to slaughter the Jews, now the city shouts its gladness that the Jews will be able to defend themselves. The Hebrew word tzahalah is translated shout and is often translated to neigh like a horse. The majority of men are possessed of a fundamental sense of justice and right. Only a very few (like Haman) take pleasure in the sufferings of others and are so perverted they have no sense of justice. Most of the people of Susa, even though Persian, would be glad that the Jews would have, at least, the liberty of self-defense.
As for the Jews, there was great rejoicing. The word orah means light in the literal sense but can also mean happiness, prosperity, truth or passion in the figurative sense. It probably means happiness in this context (cf. also Isa. 58:8).
Est. 8:17 Proselytes: The Hebrew text uses the word rabbim (from the root ravav) and is translated many from among the peoples . . . became Jews. . . . One commentator says, It can only have been a small minority of the population in each city that took this view (becoming Jewish proselytes). However, the word rabbim means myriads, much, abundance, great, vast, so many of the peoples did become Jewish proselytes. Jewish commentators are reluctant to admit that many uncircumcised Persian subjects from all over the empire actually became Jewish proselytes. One Jewish commentator writes, The Hebrew verb is a denominative from Yehudi, Jew. Since nowhere else, either in the Bible or in Rabbinic Hebrew, is this verb used to denote proselytization, it may be argued with some reason that a better translation is took the part of the Jews. However, the Hebrew word mitheyehedim is a participle; a participle is a verbal adjective. That is, a participle actively modifies the noun of the sentence. This participle indicates that the many were becoming Jewish. This being the case, many who were proselyted to Judaism in Esthers day may have been the ancestors of many who today call themselves Jews. Ezra (Ezr. 2:59-63) found of the approximately 50,000 Jews who returned to Palestine after the exile at least 652 who could not prove they were Jews. According to the book, The Thirteenth Tribe, by Arthur Koestler, pub. Random House, (the author himself a Jew), most East-European Jews today are descended from the Khazars. The Khazars were Caucasians of southern Russia who were proselyted to Judaism about 900 A.D. According to Jacob Gertenhaus (in Christianity Today, 31370), no Jew today can trace his ancestry beyond 200300 years backward. Exclusive genetic purity of the Jewish race began to disappear as a result of the Assyrian and Babylonian exile. The many Gentiles who became Jewish proselytes here in the days of Esther is a case in point! Most Jews today are no more genetically pure Israelite than Americans are genetically pure Englishmen!
To be sure, the motive for these myriads of people who became Jewish was not the best. The two edicts from the royal throne made it very apparent that there was about to be a time of struggle and bloodshed. The Jews would have the governments authority on their side (cf. Est. 9:3). Most people would reason that the Jews would probably be victorious and they could be expected to take revenge upon all who had not been sympathetic to them. So many thought the most practical thing to do was to become Jewish.
We may learn the following lessons from this chapter:
1.
Civil power may be used for good.
2.
The Jews would not have been delivered if Esther and Mordecai had not used some ingenuity of their own in composing a counteracting edict.
3.
Sometimes those expensive (royal stables) trappings of government, which seem so impractical, may be of very crucial usefulness.
4.
The Lord does not always work miracles to protect the oppressed, sometimes he uses letters, languages, couriers, kings and queens and commoners.
5.
Even pagan emperors and peoples recognize the need for the sanctity of human life against unwarranted and unjustified homicide.
6.
Not all Jews today were born Jewsmany may be descendants of proselytes.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(15) Blue and white.See Note on Est. 1:6.
Crown.This is a different word from that previously used of a royal crown (Est. 6:8).
Garment.The inner robe or tunic. That of the king was of purple striped with white.
Linen.White linen.
The city of Shushan rejoiced.The tide of royal favour had changed, and the people of Shushan were evidently not very different from the mass of the populace of the present day, who shout with the winning side. Nothing succeeds like success, and the mobile vulgus of Susa cheered Mordecai as doubtless they would have hooted had they seen him led to execution. The crowds who welcomed our Lord into Jerusalem on His triumphal entry soon let their enthusiasm die away Hosanna! now; tomorrow, Crucify!
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. Mordecai went out from the king This verse relates back to Est 8:1-2. Mordecai had been summoned into the royal presence, and there promoted to the high office made vacant by the fall of Haman.
Having been invested with the insignia of office, and clothed with authority as chief minister, he went forth to attend to the duties of his new position.
Royal apparel of blue and white State garments, such as became the grand vizier; royal robes of royal colours. Compare note on Est 1:6.
A great crown of gold The word here rendered crown is , atarah, a coronet. Only a very exalted prince or courtier could go thus adorned. When Mordecai was honoured for his loyal service to the king, the horse on which he rode was decked with a royal crown. Note on Est 6:7. Now Mordecai himself is made to wear a coronet.
A garment of fine linen Or, a mantle of byssus.
Shushan rejoiced As it had been previously “perplexed” and saddened. See Est 3:15, note. It was now felt by the great majority of the people that a most wicked and pernicious edict was virtually frustrated.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Est 8:15. And with a great crown of gold The word royal is not added here, as in the 8th verse of the sixth chapter; nor is the horse mentioned, as there, because no extraordinary honours are here spoken of, but only that honour and that habit which immediately belonged to the keeper of the royal signet. Houbigant.
REFLECTIONS.Just execution having been performed on the person of the wicked Haman, we have here,
1. The disposal of his estate, which, as forfeited, the king bestows on the queen. The ten thousand talents which were offered as the price of blood, become the property of those whose lives were marked out for a prey.
2. Mordecai is highly advanced. Though the queen had before concealed her kindred, she thinks it a proper season now to own her relation and obligations to Mordecai, whose good services had already so highly recommended him to the king; but this more especially engaged the royal favour to him. He is immediately introduced; and, as a token of the warmest regard, the king presents him with the ring from his finger, and thus he becomes, in the king’s favour and in dignity, the worthy successor of the wicked Haman. To his trust also the queen commits the management of the forfeited estate: thus completely were the tables changed; the wickedness of the wicked was upon him, and the wealth of the sinner laid up for the just. Note; (1.) This world is a changing scene, kings’ favours are precarious, and riches make themselves wings and fly away. Let it admonish us to secure his favour whose regards are unchangeable to the good, and those riches which are abiding, even eternal in the heavens. (2.) God’s providence often in this world displays the justice of his government.
3. Esther again appears before the king; though uncalled, yet confident of his regards, the golden sceptre bids her be comforted, and she humbly presents her petition. With tears she pleads the danger of her kindred and people, and the insupportable grief of seeing them massacred; with deep submission represents the case to the king, and hopes that the bloody edict may be reversed, which Haman, by misrepresentations, had obtained. Note; (1.) Though we have justice on our side, yet as inferiors it becomes us to use entreaty. (2.) Some men’s mischief survives them: they murder even after death, by the pernicious writings and sentiments that they have propagated. (3.) Our advancement must never make us forget our poor relations, or be unconcerned for their distresses.
4. The king kindly receives her request, and instantly prepares to counteract the mischief of the former decree. Note; When we have done wrong, we cannot too soon endeavour to prevent, to the utmost of our power, the mischievous consequences that might ensue.
5. When the Lord pleases to work, how soon can he give beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness! We have,
(1.) Mordecai in royal apparel, robed in purple and fine linen, with a coronet of gold upon his head: a great distinction this; but poor, compared with the brighter robes with which the King of glory shall array his redeemed when he shall put on their heads a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
(2.) On his advancement a general joy was diffused around: the city promised themselves prosperity under his wise and just administration: the Jews with gladness heard the unexpected tidings of deliverance; and whilst with exultation they rejoiced, the people around them, now perceiving the court-favour towards them, paid them all honour and respect. Note; [1.] A happy change of administration, from bad men and bad measures, is a truly national joy. [2.] The anguish and sorrow that a christian sometimes feels, only serves to heighten his joy when the Lord turns and refreshes him, and brings him from the depths of the earth again.
(3.) A great accession of converts was made to the Jewish church on this occasion. The evident finger of God seen in their deliverance, their present happy and prosperous estate, and the fear of the power with which they were invested, wrought upon multitudes, who, to avoid their resentment, or to obtain court-favour, or perhaps from better motives of divine conviction, became proselytes. Note; When the church is in prosperity professors are numerous, but the faithful are proved in adversity.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
(15) 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.
No doubt Mordecai was humble under all this splendor, and rejoiced more in the people’s salvation, than in his own purple. Think, Reader! of thy Jesus, who passed through the streets of Jerusalem, agreeably to the Prophet’s account of him ages before, meek and lowly: Zec 9:9 . with Mat 21:5-9 . Behold him in his purple before Pilate, when he stood as thy Surety! Joh 19:5 . Look at him with an eye of faith, as John saw him, in a vesture dipped in blood. Rev 19:13 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Est 8:15 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. And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king ] Whither he went is not set down. It is probable he either went to Haman’s house, the oversight whereof was committed to him by Esther, or that he went to some other parts of the city, upon the public employment, whereof now he had his hands full; and, therefore, all his faculties were in motion, and every motion seemed a well guided action, as one saith well of Queen Elizabeth, when she first came to the crown.
In royal apparel
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
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Esther
THE NET BROKEN
Est 8:3 – Est 8:8
The spirit of this passage may perhaps be best caught by taking the three persons appearing in it, and the One who does not appear, but acts unseen through them all.
I. The heroine of the whole book and of this chapter is Esther, one of the sweetest and noblest of the women of Scripture. The orphan girl who had grown up into beauty under the care of her uncle Mordecai, and was lifted suddenly from sheltered obscurity into the ‘fierce light that beats upon a throne,’ like some flower culled in a shady nook and set in a king’s bosom, was true to her childhood’s protector and to her people, and kept her sweet, brave gentleness unspoiled by the rapid elevation which ruins so many characters. Her Jewish name of Hadassah ‘myrtle’ well befits her, for she is clothed with unostentatious beauty, pure and fragrant as the blossoms that brides twine in their hair. But, withal, she has a true woman’s courage which is always ready to endure any evil and dare any danger at the bidding of her heart. She took her life in her hand when she sought an audience of Ahasuerus uninvited, and she knew that she did. Nothing in literature is nobler than her quiet words, which measure her danger without shrinking, and front it without heroics: ‘If I perish, I perish!’
The danger was not past, though she was queen and beloved; for a despot’s love is a shifting sand-bank, which may yield anchorage to-day, and to-morrow may be washed away. So she counted not her life dear unto herself when, for the second time, as in our passage, she ventured, uninvited, into the king’s presence. The womanly courage that risks life for love’s sake is nobler than the soldier’s that feels the lust of battle maddening him.
Esther’s words to the king are full of tact. She begins with what seems to have been the form of address prescribed by custom, for it is used by her in her former requests Est 5:8 ; Est 7:3. But she adds a variation of the formula, tinged with more personal reference to the king’s feeling towards her, as well as breathing entire submission to his estimate of what was fitting. ‘If the thing seem right before the king,’ appeals to the sense of justice that lay dormant beneath the monarch’s arbitrary will; ‘and I be pleasing in his eyes,’ drew him by the charm of her beauty. She avoided making the king responsible for the plot, and laid it at the door of the dead and discredited Haman. It was his device, and since he had fallen, his policy could be reversed without hurting the king’s dignity. And then with fine tact, as well as with a burst of genuine feeling, she flings all her personal influence into the scale, and seeks to move the king, not by appeals to his justice or royal duty, but to his love for her, which surely could not bear to see her suffer. One may say that it was a low motive to appeal to, to ask the despot to save a people in order to keep one woman from sorrow; and so it was. It was Ahasuerus’s fault that such a reason had more weight with him than nobler ones. It was not Esther’s that she used her power over him to carry her point. She used the weapons that she had, and that she knew would be efficacious. The purpose for which she used them is her justification.
Esther may well teach her sisters to-day to be brave and gentle, to use their influence over men for high purposes of public good, to be the inspirers of their husbands, lovers, brothers, for all noble thinking and doing; to make the cause of the oppressed their own, to be the apostles of mercy and the hinderers of wrong, to keep true to their early associations if prosperity comes to them, and to cherish sympathy with their nation so deep that they cannot ‘endure to see the evil that shall come unto them’ without using all their womanly influence to avert it.
II. Ahasuerus plays a sorry part beside Esther. He knows no law but his own will, and that is moved, not by conscience or reason, but by ignoble passions and sensual desires. He tosses his subjects’ lives as trivial gifts to any who ask for them. Haman’s wife knew that he had only to ‘speak to the king,’ and Mordecai would be hanged; Haman had no difficulty in securing the royal mandate for the murder of all the Jews. Sated with the indulgence of low desires, he let all power slip from his idle hands, and his manhood was rotted away by wallowing in the pigsty of voluptuousness. But he was tenacious of the semblance of authority, and demanded the appearance of abject submission from the ‘servants’ who were his masters. He yielded to Esther’s prayer as lightly as to Haman’s plot. Whether the Jews were wiped out or not mattered nothing to him, so long as he had no trouble in the affair.
To shift all responsibility off his own shoulders on to somebody else’s was his one aim. He was as untrue to his duty when he gave his signet to Mordecai, and bade him and Esther do as they liked, as when he had given it to Haman. And with all this slothful indifference to his duty, he was sensitive to etiquette, and its cobwebs held him whom the cords of his royal obligations could not hold. It mattered not to him that the edict which he allowed Mordecai to promulgate practically lit the flames of civil war. He had washed his hands of the whole business.
It is a hideous picture of an Eastern despot, and has been said to be unhistorical and unbelievable. But the world has seen many examples of rulers whom the possession of unlimited and irresponsible power has corrupted in like fashion. And others than rulers may take the warning that to live to self is the mother of all sins and crimes; that no man can safely make his own will and his own passions his guides; that there is no slavery so abject as that of the man who is tyrannised by his lower nature; that there is a temptation besetting us all to take the advantages and neglect the duties of our position, and that to yield to it is sure to end in moral ruin. We are all kings, even if our kingdom be only our own selves, and we shall rule wisely only if we rule as God’s viceroys, and think more of duty than of delight.
III. Mordecai is a kind of duplicate of Joseph, and embodies valuable lessons . Contented acceptance of obscurity and neglect of his services, faithfulness to his people and his God in the foul atmosphere of such a court, wise reticence, patient discharge of small duties, undoubting hope when things looked blackest fed by stedfast faith in God, unchangedness of character and purpose when lifted to supreme dignity, the use of influence and place, not for himself, but for his people,-all these are traits which may be imitated in any life. We should be the same men, whether we sit unnoticed among the lackeys at the gate, or are bearing the brunt of the hatred of powerful foes, or are clothed ‘in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold.’ These gauds were nothing to Mordecai, and earthly honours should never turn our heads. He valued power because it enabled him to save his brethren, and we should cultivate the same spirit. The political world, with its fierce struggles for personal ends, its often disregard of the public good, and its use of place and power for ‘making a pile’ or helping relations up, would be much the better for some infusion of the spirit of Mordecai.
IV. But we must not look only at the visible persons and forces. This book of Esther does not say much about God, but His presence broods over it all, and is the real spring that moves the movers that are seen. It is all a lesson of how God works out His purposes through men that seem to themselves to be working out theirs. The king’s criminal abandonment to lust and luxury, Haman’s meanly personal pique, Esther’s beauty, the fall of the favourite, the long past services of Mordecai, even the king’s sleepless night, are all threads in the web, and God is the weaver. The story raises the whole question of the standing miracle of the co-existence and co-operation of the divine and the human. Man is free and responsible, God is sovereign and all-pervading. He ‘makes the wrath of man to praise Him, and with the remainder thereof He girdeth Himself.’ To-day, as then, He is working out His deep designs through men whom He has raised up, though they have not known Him. Amid the clash of contending interests and worldly passions His solemn purpose steadily advances to its end, like the irresistible ocean current, which persists through all storms that agitate the surface, and draws them into the drift of its silent trend. Ahasuerus, Haman, Esther, Mordecai, are His instruments, and yet each of them is the doer of his or her deed, and has to answer to Him for it.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Est 8:15-17
15Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a large crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. 16For the Jews there was light and gladness and joy and honor. 17In each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree arrived, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.
Est 8:15 in the royal robes of blue and white Ancient colors are hard to be specifically defined. Possibly, the blue is royal purple. However, it is obvious that these two colors were the royal colors of Persia.
There are many aspects of this book that remind one of Joseph (cf. Gen 41:42) and Daniel (cf. Dan 5:7; Dan 5:29).
with a large crown of gold There is a distinction made between the large, royal crown and these lesser crowns of gold which were worn by the Persian nobles.
and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced This seems to show the proper interpretation of Est 3:15 that, although the king reacted with such vengeful wrath against the Jews, the general population did not feel this way.
Est 8:16 These four terms (possibly two sets of hendiadys) are an attempt to describe the emotional joy of the Jewish population of Persia (cf. Est 8:17).
The last term honor (BDB 430) implies a grant from the king. The king’s support insured their victory! The Persian king’s concern and care mimics the King of king’s concern and care!
Est 8:17
NASB, NKJV,
TEV, NJBbecame Jews
NRSV, JPSOA professed to be Jews
REBprofessed Judaism
NABembraced Judaism
LB, NETpretended to be Jews
Whether this refers to circumcision, baptism, sacrifice and thereby full proselytism (cf. LXX), or simply that the populace supported the Jewish cause and pretended to become Jews is uncertain. The VERB (BDB 397, KB 393, Hithpael PARTICIPLE) is found only here in the OT. Haman’s plot not only failed, but actually increased the power, prestige, and numbers of the Jewish population. The unseen hand of God was guiding all things!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Est 8:15-17
Est 8:15-17
THE GREAT REJOICING OF THE JEWS EVERYWHERE
“And Mordecai went forth from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan shouted and was glad. The Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honor. And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness and joy, a feast and a good day. And many from among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews was fallen upon them.”
“Mordecai went forth … with a great crown of gold” (Est 8:15). “The Hebrew has two different words for crown, namely, [~kether] which referred to the type of crown worn by the monarch, and [~’atarah], a crown of an inferior kind frequently worn by nobles.” Mordecai’s crown was the latter. His great authority, symbolized here by his apparel and the crown, was, however, one of the primary reasons for the Jews’ rejoicing.
“The Jews … had a feast and a good day” (Est 8:16). “This celebration was in anticipation of the feast of Purim, which was first celebrated eight months later (Est 9:17-19).”
“And many among the peoples of the land became Jews” (Est 8:17). “Such a providential outworking of events in favor of the Jews convinced many of the power of God, and caused them to become proselytes.” Some scholars have interpreted this acceptance of Judaism as merely a political maneuver, not based upon any sincere belief in God; but Keil wrote that, “This might have been true of some of the inhabitants of Shushan, but the but the majority certainly acted from more honorable motives.”
majority certainly acted from more honorable motives.”
E.M. Zerr:
Est 8:15. Mordecai had manifested a spirit of humility from the beginning. There is no indication that he ever sought any honor. So the exaltation of which we read was placed upon him by the king unsolicited. It is significant that the city of Shushan (the Persian capital) rejoiced. Most of the citizens of the city were Persians, and the edict just sent out was on behalf of the Jews. But the injustice of Haman’s activities was doubtless understood by the people. They were happy, therefore, to know that a harmless group of their subjects was to be spared the awful destruction intended by the wicked Haman.
Est 8:16. Light is from OWRAH and Strong defines it, “luminousness, i. e. (figuratively) prosperity.” Of course the idea is that the Jews were glad because of the prosperous situation they had the right to expect.
Est 8:17. In the various sections of the realm of Persia, the Jews celebrated their joy by holding a feast. Many of the people became Jews. This means they became proselytes to the Jewish system. There were certain privileges that were allowed by the law that entitled a foreigner to be classed with the Jews. That had several restrictions, yet left the relationship in such a state that it gave to the proselyte much advantage. The circumstance shows one of the common traits of mankind. When special favor seems to be in store for certain classes, then others wish to “get in” on the favor. It is always well to see persons show an interest in things that are right. It would be more highly appreciated, though, were they to do so under circumstances that betrayed less selfishness.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
royal apparel: Est 5:1, Est 6:8, Est 6:11, Gen 41:42, Mat 6:29, Mat 11:8, Luk 16:19
blue: or, violet, Est 1:6
and with a great crown: Mordecai was now made the chief minister, or vizier, instead of Haman; and was accordingly invested with the “royal apparel,” in conformity to the custom of the East. So we are informed, in the History of the Revolt of Ali Bey, that on the election of a new sheikh bellet, or chief of the country, in Egypt, the pasha who approves of him invests him with a robe of valuable fur. Perhaps the crown was one of the insignia of the office of vizier. Concerning the blue, fine linen, and purple; see note on Exo 25:4, and see note on Exo 39:27.
the city: Haman was too proud to be popular: few lamented his fall. Est 3:15, Pro 29:2
Reciprocal: Jdg 8:26 – purple 2Ki 25:29 – changed Est 10:2 – advanced him Psa 67:2 – That Psa 107:41 – setteth Pro 11:10 – it goeth Pro 28:12 – righteous Pro 31:22 – clothing Ecc 9:8 – thy garments Isa 22:21 – clothe Isa 61:3 – beauty Dan 8:2 – Shushan Luk 7:25 – are in Rev 3:4 – walk Rev 4:4 – crowns
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Est 8:15. With a great crown of gold Which the chief of the Persian princes were permitted to wear, but with sufficient distinction from the kings crown. For it must be observed, that the word royal is not added here, as in chap. Est 6:8, nor is the horse mentioned, as there, because no extraordinary honours are here spoken of, but only that honour, and that habit, which immediately belonged to the keeper of the royal signet. Houb. The city of Shushan rejoiced Not only Jews, but the greatest number of the citizens, who by the law of nature abhorred bloody counsels, and had a complacency in acts of mercy.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
4. The joy of the Jews 8:15-17
"Crown" (Est 8:15) should be "turban." Mordecai’s clothing reflected his important position in the government.
Evidently, Mordecai read the second decree at a public meeting in Susa. Contrast the Jews’ reaction here with their response to the first decree (Est 3:15). God had blown away the dark cloud that had hung over their heads.
"The Jews killed only those who attacked them; they killed only the men (Est 9:6; Est 9:12; Est 9:15); and they didn’t lay hands on the loot, although they had the right to do so (Est 8:10; Est 8:15-16)." [Note: Ibid., p. 744.]
"And the fact that these people were even willing to attack when they knew the Jews would protect themselves is proof that anti-Semitism was very strong throughout the empire." [Note: Ibid., p. 745.]
"Holiday" (Est 8:17) is literally "a good day" (cf. Est 9:19; Est 9:22). It refers to a religious festival. [Note: Moore, Esther, p. 81.] This was not the Feast of Purim but a celebration in anticipation of it. Many Gentiles became proselytes to Judaism as a result of God’s obvious blessing on His people (Est 8:17). This is the only mention in the Old Testament that Gentiles "became Jews." They became religious Jews, not racial Jews. This testimony to the fact that Gentiles recognized God’s blessing on the Jews would have been a great encouragement to the Jews in the postexilic period (cf. Exo 19:5-6).