The Pulpit Commentary on Esther 9:1-16

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

Deliverance and victory.

The history of "the chosen nation" is full of Divine deliverances. The present is only one of the many instances in which, by faith, the Israelites "escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens."

I. THE MEANS of the deliverance and victory here related. Royal authority primarily accounts for it. Only by the sanction of the king could the Jews dare to draw the sword and withstand their foes. Ministerial encouragement supported this sanction. It was known that Mordecai, the chief minister of Ahasuerus, was thoroughly earnest in the matter, and would countenance his countrymen in their proceedings. Official help was given. Probably the enemies of the Jews were among the idolatrous tribes, and the Persian officers and rulers were instructed to favour the Jews against their heathen foes. National courage explains the valiant stand which was made by the children of the captivity. "A good cause, a good conscience, and a good courage" secured the victory.

II. THE COMPLETENESS of the deliverance and victory. Fear, panic, dread of the Jews seized their enemies, and the oppressed "had rule over" the oppressors. The enemies were slain in great numbers wherever an encounter took place. Mordecai and his party triumphed over their foes in the public hanging on the gibbet of the dead bodies of Haman's ten sons. The magnanimity of the victorious was shown in their not laying hand upon the spoil, which was wise, inasmuch as it was thus made apparent that their only aim was security, and that they sought not plunder, and also that they did not wish to avail themselves of the king's generosity, but to replenish his treasury rather than their own.

III. THE MARVEL of the deliverance and victory. How contrary to the designs of Haman, the most powerful personage in the realm! How contrary to the expectations of the Jews themselves, who were naturally enough oppressed with the sense of their danger, and the prospect of their extermination! How contrary to the forebodings of the neighbours of the Jews, who had joined in their distress and lamentations with true and friendly sympathy. "God's ways are not as our ways, neither our thoughts as his thoughts." This is the appropriate benediction which the reader of the Megillah, at the feast of Purim, pronounces at its close: "Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who hast contended our contest, judged our cause, hast avenged our wrongs, requited all the enemies of our souls, and hast delivered us from our oppressors. Blessed art thou, who hast delivered thy people from all their oppressors, thou Lord of salvation."

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commentaryMatthew Henry on Esther 9:1-19The enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them by the former edict. If they had attempted nothing against the people of God, they would not themselves have suffered. The Jews, acting together, strengthened one an…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Jews Avenged. (b. c. 509.)THE JEWS AVENGED. (B. C. 509.) We have here a decisive battle fought between the Jews and their enemies, in which the Jews were victorious. Neither side was surprised; for both had notice of it long enough before, so th…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Esther 9:1-32EXPOSITION RESULT OF THE SECOND EDICT' THE JEWS RESIST THEIR ENEMIES, AND EFFECT A GREAT SLAUGHTER OF THEM, BUT DO NOT LAY HAND ON THEIR GOODS (Esther 9:1-16). The Jews of all the provinces, having had ample time to pre…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Esther 9:1The antagonisms of nations. "In the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them. Though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them." This passage tells a history o…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Esther 9:1To have power over them. Or, "to get the mastery over them" (comp. Daniel 6:24, where the same word is used). Had rule. Or, "had the mastery."Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Esther 9:2-5A reign of terror. "The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities," etc. There were many greedy to possess the property of the Jews, and such as cherished spite against them, who were glad of the permission to s…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Esther 9:2The Jews gathered themselves together. Acting on the first clause of the edict (Esther 8:11). In their cities. By "their cities" the writer means not cities exclusively Jewish, but cities where Jews formed an element in…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Esther 9:3All the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies. Compare Esther 3:12 and Esther 8:9, where the same enumeration is made, though not quite in the same order. And officers of the king. Literally, "t…Joseph S. Exell and contributors