เอสเธอร์ 9:24 วิจารณ์

We left two royal edicts in force, both given at the court of Shushan, one bearing date the thirteenth day of the first month, appointing that on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month then next ensuing all the Jews should be killed; another bearing date the twenty-third day of the third month, empowering the Jews, on the day appointed for their slaughter, to draw the sword in their own defence and make their part good against their enemies as well as they could. Great expectation there was, no doubt, of this day, and the issue of it. The Jews' cause was to be tried by battle and the day was fixed for the combat by authority. Their enemies resolved not to lose the advantages given them by the first edict, in hope to overpower them by numbers; the Jews relied on the goodness of their God and the justice of their cause, and resolved to make their utmost efforts against their enemies. The day comes at length; and here we are told, I. What a glorious day it was, that year, to the Jews, and the two days following - a day of victory and triumph, both in the city Shushan and in all the rest of the king's provinces (v. 1-19). II. What a memorable day it was made to posterity, by an annual feast, in commemoration of this great deliverance, called "the feast of Purim," (Est 9:20-32).

INTRODUCTION TO ESTHER 9 In this chapter we have an account of the Jews gathering together, on the day fixed for their destruction, to defend themselves, which they did in all the provinces, and smote their enemies; Est 9:1. In Shushan the palace they slew the ten sons of Haman and five hundred men on that day, Est 9:6 and at the request of the queen they were allowed the next day to hang up his sons, when they slew three hundred men more, Est 9:12, in the provinces they slew 75,000 and those in one day only, and the following days they kept as a festival, but they in Shushan kept the two days following, Est 9:16, and which two days were established by Esther and Mordecai as festivals, to be observed as such in future ages, by the name of the days of Purim, Est 9:20.

Wherefore they called these days Purim, after the name of Pur,.... The lot; because of the lots cast by Haman; see Est 3:7, therefore for all the words of this letter; in obedience to what Mordecai wrote in his letter to the Jews, and because of the things contained in it: and of that which they had seen concerning this matter; with their own eyes, in the several provinces where their enemies rose up to assault them, but were destroyed by them: and what had come unto them: by report; as the fall of Haman, and advancement of Mordecai, and the favours shown to Esther and her people; all this belongs to the following verse, containing the reasons of the Jews' appointment and engagement to observe the days of Purim.

For wicked men often find that their desires are fulfilled in ways they had not expected to happen; and they are caught in the same traps they set to ensnare others, as the Scripture shows when it says: "The wicked are caught in their traps; and whoever digs a pit falls into it" (Proverbs 26). Hence Haman, who prefigures the enemies of the Church, was likewise forced to suffer the death he had planned for Mordecai. For the lot cast into an urn symbolizes the disposition of each and every thing in the mind of man, whose outcomes depend even so upon the judgment of God. Hence we are told by Solomon: "Lots are cast in the lap, but they are tempered by the Lord. For his way is not in the power of man; rather it belongs not to one who wills, or one who runs, but to God who grants mercy. For all things obey at his nod, and he does whatever he wishes in Heaven and on earth, on the sea and in all the depths" (Proverbs 16).

Very often people's evil schemes turn out differently than they had hoped and the trap they had placed to capture others ensnares them, as the Scripture confirms, "The wicked are ensnared in their traps. And whoever digs a pit will fall into it." Therefore also Haman, who prefigures the enemies of the church, was obligated to suffer the death that he had prepared for Mordecai. The lot cast into the urn represents the machinations of the human mind; but the result of such machinations entirely depends on divine judgment. Therefore it is said through Solomon, "The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is the Lord's alone."

On the thirteenth of the month Adar the Jews destroy their enemies, and the governors of the provinces assist them, Est 9:1-5. They slay five hundred in Shushan, and kill the ten sons of Haman, but take no spoil, Est 9:6-10. The king is informed of the slaughter in Shushan, Est 9:11. He desires to know what Esther requests farther; who begs that the Jews may be permitted to act on the following day as they had done on the preceding, and that Haman's sons may be hanged upon the gallows; which is granted; and they slay three hundred more in Shushan, and in the other provinces seventy-five thousand, Est 9:12-16. A recapitulation of what was done; and of the appointment of the feast of Purim to be observed through all their generations every year, Est 9:17-28. Esther writes to confirm this appointment, Est 9:29-32.

THE JEWS SLAY THEIR ENEMIES WITH THE TEN SONS OF HAMAN. (Est. 9:1-19) in the twelfth month, . . . on the thirteenth day of the same--This was the day which Haman's superstitious advisers had led him to select as the most fortunate for the execution of his exterminating scheme against the Jews [Est 3:7].

The Jews Avenged of Their Enemies. The Feast of Purim Instituted - Esther 9 On the day appointed by both edicts, the Jews assembled in the towns and provinces of the kingdom to slay all who sought their hurt, and being supported by the royal officials, inflicted a great defeat upon their enemies (Est 9:1-10). At the queen's desire, the king granted permission to the Jews in Susa to fight against their enemies on the following day also (Est 9:11-15), while in the other towns and districts of the kingdom they fought for their lives only on the 13th of Adar; so that in these places they rested on the 14th, but in Susa not till the 15th, and consequently kept in the latter the one day, in the former the other, as a day of feasting and rejoicing (Est 9:16-19). The observance of this day of resting as a festival, under the name of Purim, by all the Jews in the Persian monarchy, was then instituted by Esther and Mordochai (Est 9:20-32).

For Haman, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them (comp. Est 3:1, Est 3:6.), and had cast Pur, that is the lot (see on Est 3:7), to consume them and to destroy them. המם, mostly used of the discomfiture with which God destroys the enemies, Exo 14:24; Deu 2:15, and elsewhere.