Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Esther 9:20

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Esther 9:20. Mordecai wrote these things — It has been supposed that thus far that part of the book of Esther, which was written by Mordecai extends: what follows to the end, was probably added either by Ezra, or the men of the Great Synagogue; though what is said here may refer only to the letters sent by Mordecai to the Jews of the provinces. From this to the end of the chapter is nothing else than a recapitulation of the chief heads of the preceding history, and an account of the appointment of an annual feast, called the feast of Purim, in commemoration of their providential deliverance from the malice of Haman.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

8:1-10:3 THE JEWS TRIUMPHANT

Victory and celebration (8:1-9:32)

Although Mordecai was appointed chief minister instead of Haman (8:1-2), the decree arranged by Haman was still in force. A king’s decree could not be changed. However, the king gave Esther and Mordecai his authority to issue a new decree that would counteract the former one (3-8).
Esther and Mordecai acted promptly. They gave the Jews permission to take whatever action they chose in order to defend themselves against any attack on the appointed day. Because the new decree showed that the king was now sympathetic to the Jews, provincial officials would hesitate to enforce the former decree (9-14). Many non-Jewish people were so impressed by what had happened, that they became open converts to the Jewish religion (15-17).
It seems that when the day for the destruction of the Jews arrived, very few of their enemies attacked them. Rather the Jews attacked their enemies, possibly doing more than the decree gave them permission to do. To their credit, however, they refused to exercise their right to plunder the enemies’ goods. The Persian officials now feared Mordecai’s power, and thought it wise to give the Jews whatever help they needed (9:1-10).
At Esther’s request, the Jews in the capital were given an extra day to take revenge on their enemies (11-15). This meant that although the slaughter in the provincial areas lasted only one day, in the capital it lasted two days (16-19).
Mordecai ordered that the great occasion be celebrated by feasting, exchanging gifts of food and giving to the poor (20-22). From that time on the Jews held an annual festival, known as the Feast of Purim, to celebrate their victory over Haman. The word ‘purim’ was the Hebrew plural of the Persian-Assyrian word pur, and meant ‘lots’; for by casting lots, Haman decided which day was suitable for his attack. It was a day that turned into one of triumph for the Jews (23-28; cf. 3:7,13). Esther and Mordecai then issued a formal decree to confirm Mordecai’s instructions concerning Purim as official law for all Jews (29-32).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

MORDECAI RECOMMENDED THE ANNUAL CELEBRATION
OF THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH DAYS OF ADAR

"And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far, to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, as the days wherein the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and girls to the poor. And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them; because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them; But when the matter came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he had devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows."

This letter marked the beginning of the Jewish feast of Purim. "Here he wrote to the provincial Jews suggesting that they observe two days, namely, the 14th and 15th days of Adar, annually, with an explanation of why he thought that should be done, but without issuing any order to that effect."The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 158. Later, when Mordecai's suggestion was favorably received, he issued an order enjoining its observance.

"The month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy" This is the theme of Purim. "Sorrow turned into joy, mourning into dancing, utter destruction into glorious triumph - this is the dominant idea of Purim, to which all else was secondary and subordinate."Ibid.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 9

So, when this day came,

there in the city of Shushan, there were five hundred men that were slain by the Jews ( Esther 9:6 ).

Men who were seeking the evil of the Jews. And so they were able to take their vengeance upon their enemies, and throughout all the provinces actually there were a great number of people that the Jews actually put to death as they defended themselves. Seventy-five thousand were destroyed.

On the fourteenth day of the same month they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day, and on the fourteenth day, and on the fifteenth day they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month of Adar the day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, of sending portions one to another ( Esther 9:17-19 ).

Now, here was then instituted the Feast of Purim. Remember the word Pur? It means lot, and im is like an s. It makes it a plural in Hebrew. And so the Purim means lots. And so the Feast of Purim is actually a feast of lots, because Haman had determined by casting lots which day the Jews would be destroyed. And so, to the present day, on the thirteenth day of March in the Jewish calendar they have a day of, sort of, fasting and all, but then on the fourteenth day in the villages, and on the fifteenth day of March in the city of Jerusalem, the walled city, they celebrate the Feast of Purim to the present day.

Now they've modified the celebrations quite a bit. And the children dress up in costumes much like Halloween costumes. And the little girls will usually dress up like Esther, and some of the boys will dress up like Haman the bad guy, and others, of course, will dress in cowboy outfits and everything else, just like you see kids here at Halloween. Rather than trick-or-treating, they invite their friends over, and as it says here, there was feasting and gladness. They invite their friends over and they have cookies and goodies that they share together. And they have parties much like Halloween parties with the children all in costume, and it is a time of festival and all, in March there in Israel.

We have been over there the last two years during the Feast of Purim and I've seen the little children in their costumes, and they have cookies that they make that they call Haman's ears. And they're good cookies. But they will, a lot of times, have little plays, and the children will play-act the story of Esther and the villain, wicked Haman, and so forth. And they have these plays, and of course, its very colorful and very interesting; the Feast of Purim which was inaugurated here in the book of Esther, and is celebrated to the present day over there in Israel. One day in the villages on the fourteenth, and on the fifteenth within the city of Jerusalem, so it stretches out the holiday a little bit. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

IV. THE JEWS’ REJOICING 9:20-32

The tables having been turned, the tables could now be spread. [Note: Wiersbe, p. 746.]

Evidently Mordecai issued the decree establishing the Feast of Purim some time after the slaying of the Jews’ enemies (Esther 9:20). His proclamation united the two days on which the Jews had defended themselves (Adar 13 and 14) into one holiday. During the inter-testamental period the Jews called Adar 14 "Mordecai Day" (2 Maccabees 15:36, RSV), but they discarded this special designation later. Modern Jews celebrate Purim on the evening of Adar 14 (in March). It is their most festive and popular holiday. Esther is the only Old Testament book not found among the texts used by the Essene community at Qumran, probably because this community did not observe Purim. [Note: Bush, p. 273.]

"Purim" is the plural form of the Persian word pur, meaning the "lot" (cf. Esther 3:7). The name "Purim" became a symbolic reminder to the Jews of how God used circumstances, specifically casting the lot (cf. Esther 3:7), to deliver them in 473 B.C.

Probably Esther sent her decree (Esther 9:29), confirming Mordecai’s previous declaration of the official Jewish holiday (Esther 9:20-21), to encourage its firm establishment. Her letter evidently began, "Words of peace and truth" (Esther 9:30). [Note: Gordis, pp. 57-58.] There was probably considerable resistance within the conservative Jewish community to adding another national festival to those prescribed in the Torah.

"The book" (Esther 9:32) must be the one in which Mordecai recorded all these events (Esther 9:20), that most scholars have concluded may have been a source the writer of Esther used. This document was probably not the Book of Esther itself, assuming the writer of Esther was someone other than Mordecai. [Note: E.g., Whitcomb, p. 124.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And Mordecai wrote these things,.... The transactions of those two days, and the causes of them, as well as the following letter; some conclude from hence that he was the penman of the book; and so he might be, but it does not necessarily follow from hence:

and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, both nigh and far; such as were near the city Shushan, and those that were at the greatest distance from it; these were more especially the things he wrote.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      20 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far,   21 To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,   22 As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.   23 And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;   24 Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them;   25 But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.   26 Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them,   27 The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year;   28 And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.   29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim.   30 And he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,   31 To confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry.   32 And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.

      We may well imagine how much affected Mordecai and Esther were with the triumphs of the Jews over their enemies, and how they saw the issue of that decisive day with a satisfaction proportionable to the care and concern with which they expected it. How were their hearts enlarged with joy in God and his salvation, and what new songs of praise were put into their mouths! But here we are told what course they took to spread the knowledge of it among their people, and to perpetuate the remembrance of it to posterity, for the honour of God and the encouragement of his people to trust in him at all times.

      I. The history was written, and copies of it were dispersed among all the Jews in all the provinces of the empire, both nigh and far,Esther 9:20; Esther 9:20. They all knew something of the story, being nearly concerned in it--were by the first edict made sensible of their danger and by the second of their deliverance; but how this amazing turn was given they could not tell. Mordecai therefore wrote all these things. And if this book be the same that he wrote, as many think it is, I cannot but observe what a difference there is between Mordecai's style and Nehemiah's. Nehemiah, at every turn, takes notice of divine Providence and the good hand of his God upon him, which is very proper to stir up devout affections in the minds of his readers; but Mordecai never so much as mentions the name of God in the whole story. Nehemiah wrote his book at Jerusalem, where religion was in fashion and an air of it appeared in men's common conversation; Mordecai wrote his at Shushan the palace, where policy reigned more then piety, and he wrote according to the genius of the place. Even those that have the root of the matter in them are apt to lose the savour of religion, and let their leaf wither, when they converse wholly with those that have little religion. Commend me to Nehemiah's way of writing; that I would imitate, and yet learn from Mordecai's that men may be truly devout though they do not abound in the shows and expressions of devotion, and therefore that we must not judge nor despise our brethren. But, because there is so little of the language of Canaan in this book, many think it was not written by Mordecai, but was an extract out of the journals of the kings of Persia, giving an account of the matter of fact, which the Jews themselves knew how to comment upon.

      II. A festival was instituted, to be observed yearly from generation to generation by the Jews, in remembrance of this wonderful work which God wrought for them, that the children who should be born might know it, and declare it to their children, that they might set their hope in God,Psalms 78:6; Psalms 78:7. It would be for the honour of God as the protector of his people, and the honour of Israel as the care of Heaven, a confirmation of the fidelity of God's covenant, an invitation to strangers to come into the bonds of it, and an encouragement to God's own people cheerfully to depend upon his wisdom, power, and goodness, in the greatest straits. Posterity would reap the benefit of this deliverance, and therefore ought to celebrate the memorial of it. Now concerning this festival we are here told,

      1. When it was observed--every year on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the twelfth month, just a month before the passover, Esther 9:21; Esther 9:21. Thus the first month and the last month of the year kept in remembrance the months that were past, even the days when God preserved them. They kept two days together as thanksgiving days, and did not think them too much to spend in praising God. Let us not be niggardly in our returns of praise to him who bestows his favours so liberally upon us. Observe, They did not keep the day when they fought, but the days when they rested, and on the fifteenth those in Shushan, and both those days they kept. The sabbath was appointed not on the day that God finished his work, but on the day that he rested from it. The modern Jews observe the thirteenth day, the day appointed for their destruction, as a fasting-day, grounding the practice on Esther 9:31; Esther 9:31, the matters of their fastings and cry. But that refers to what was in the day of their distress (Esther 4:3; Esther 4:16), which was not to be continued when God had turned their fasts into joy and gladness,Zechariah 8:19.

      2. How it was called--The feast of PurimEsther 9:26; Esther 9:26Esther 9:26), from Pur, a Persian word which signified a lot, because Haman had by lot determined this to be the time of the Jews' destruction, but the Lord, at whose disposal the lot is, had determined it to be the time of their triumph. The name of this festival would remind them of the sovereign dominion of the God of Israel, who served his own purposes by the foolish superstitions of the heathen, and outwitted the monthly prognosticators in their own craft (Isaiah 47:13), frustrating the tokens of the liars and making the diviners mad,Isaiah 44:25; Isaiah 44:26.

      3. By whom it was instituted and enacted. It was not a divine institution, and therefore it is not called a holy day, but a human appointment, by which it was made a good day,Esther 9:19; Esther 9:22. (1.) The Jews ordained it, and took it upon themselves (Esther 9:27; Esther 9:27), voluntarily undertook to do as they had begun.Esther 9:23; Esther 9:23. They bound themselves to this by common consent. (2.) Mordecai and Esther confirmed their resolve, that it might be the more binding on posterity, and might come well recommended by those great names. They wrote, [1.] With all authority (Esther 9:29; Esther 9:29), as well they might, Esther being queen and Mordecai prime-minister of state. It is well when those who are in authority use their authority to authorize that which is good. [2.] With words of peace and truth. Though they wrote with authority, they wrote with tenderness, not imperious, not imposing, but in such language as the council at Jerusalem use in their decree (Acts 15:29): "If you do so and so, you shall do well. Fare you well." Such was the style of these letters, or such the salutation or valediction of them: Peace and truth be with you.

      4. By whom it was to be observed--by all the Jews, and by their seed, and by all such as joined themselves to them,Esther 9:27; Esther 9:27. The observance of this feast was to be both universal and perpetual; the proselytes must observe it, in token of their sincere affection to the Jewish nation and their having united interests with them. A concurrence in joys and praises is one branch of the communion of saints.

      5. Why it was to be observed--that the memorial of the great things God had done for his church might never perish from their seed,Esther 9:28; Esther 9:28. God does not work wonders for a day, but to be had in everlasting remembrance. What he does shall be forever, and therefore should for ever be had in mind, Ecclesiastes 3:14. In this affair they would remember, (1.) Haman's bad practices against the church, to his perpetual reproach (Esther 9:24; Esther 9:24): Because he had devised against the Jews to destroy them. Let this be kept in mind, that God's people may never be secure, while they have such malicious enemies, on whom they ought to have a jealous eye. Their enemies aim at no less then their destruction; on God therefore let them depend for salvation. (2.) Esther's good services to the church, to her immortal honour. When Esther, in peril of her life, came before the king, he repealed the edict, Esther 9:25; Esther 9:25. This also must be remembered, that wherever this feast should be kept, and this history read in explication of it, this which she did might be told for a memorial of her. Good deeds done for the Israel of God ought to be remembered, for the encouragement of others to do the like. God will not forget them, and therefore we must not. (3.) Their own prayers, and the answers given to them (Esther 9:31; Esther 9:31): The matters of their fastings and their cry. The more cries we have offered up in our trouble, and the more prayers for deliverance, the more we are obliged to be thankful to God for deliverance. Call upon me in the time of trouble, and then offer to God thanksgiving.

      6. How it was to be observed. And of this let us see,

      (1.) What was here enjoined, which was very good, that they should make it, [1.] A day of cheerfulness, a day of feasting and joy (Esther 9:22; Esther 9:22), and a feast was made for laughter,Ecclesiastes 10:19. When God gives us cause to rejoice why should we not express our joy? [2.] A day of generosity, sending portions one to another, in token of their pleasantness and mutual respect, and their being knit by this and other public common dangers and deliverances so much the closer to each other in love. Friends have their goods in common. [3.] A day of charity, sending gifts to the poor. It is not to our kinsmen and rich neighbours only that we are to send tokens, but to the poor and the maimed,Luke 14:12; Luke 14:13. Those that have received mercy must, in token of their gratitude, show mercy; and there never wants occasion, for the poor we have always with us. Thanksgiving and almsgiving should go together, that, when we are rejoicing and blessing God, the heart of the poor may rejoice with us and their loins may bless us.

      (2.) What was added to this, which was much better. They always, at the feast, read the whole story over in the synagogue each day, and put up three prayers to God, in the first of which they praise God for counting them worthy to attend this divine service; in the second they thank him for the miraculous preservation of their ancestors; in the third they praise him that they have lived to observe another festival in memory of it. So bishop Patrick.

      (3.) What it has since degenerated to, which is much worse. Their own writers acknowledge that this feast is commonly celebrated among them with gluttony, and drunkenness, and excess of riot. Their Talmud says expressly that, in the feast of Purim, a man should drink till he knows not the difference between Cursed be Haman, and Blessed be Mordecai. See what the corrupt and wicked nature of man often brings that to which was at first well intended: here is a religious feast turned into a carnival, a perfect revel, as wakes are among us. Nothing more purifies the heart and adorns religion than holy joy; nothing more pollutes the heart and reproaches religion than carnal mirth and sensual pleasure. Corruptio optimi est pessima--What is best becomes when corrupted the worst.