The Book of Esther
Esther 8
Chapter VIII · Vol. II, pp. 933–934
1 Mordecai is advanced. 3 Esther maketh suit to reverse Haman's letters against the Jews. 7 Ahasuerus granteth to the Jews to defend themselves. 15 Mordecai's honour, and the Jews' joy.
1 On that day adid the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman, the Jews' enemy, unto Esther the queen: and Mordecai bcame before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her.
2 And the king took off chis ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther dset Mordecai over the house of Haman.
c ch.3.10.
d Job 27.16,17. Pr.3.22; 20.21.
3 And Esther spake yet again before the king, and efell down at his feet, and besought him with tears1 to put away the fmischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.2
e 1 Sa.25.24. 2 Ki.4.37. He.5.7. Ne.1.4. Is.38.3.
1 Heb. and she wept and besought him.—[On another occasion she again ventured uninvited into the royal presence, and was graciously received, the king, as before, holding out the golden sceptre to her. Her object was, if possible, to obtain a reversal of the bloody decree; for though she and Mordecai were now safe, the edict against her nation was still unrepealed and in force.—I.]
f ch.3.8-15; 7.4. Job 5.11-15.
2 In peaceful and settled times such a cruel device as that of Haman against the Jews seems scarcely credible, or at least an attempt without parallel. The plot against the Huguenots, and the massacre of St. Bartholomew's, in France, can, however, furnish an example of similar devising and cruelty, where the victims were taken totally unawares, and where the king, so far from repenting, like Ahasuerus, of his rash decree, himself took part in the murder of his subjects.—C.
4 Then the king gheld out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,
g ch.4.11; 5.2.
5 And said, If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be hpleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse ithe letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote3 to destroy the Jews which are in all the king's provinces:
6 For how can I kendure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?
7 Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen, and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, lI have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews.
l ver.1; ch.7.10.
8 Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, min the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring: for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, nmay no man reverse.4
m ch.3.12.
n ch.1.19. Da.6.8,12,15.
4 It seems that according to the principles of Median and Persian jurisprudence, a decree, once signed, could not be reversed: full power, however, is given to Esther and Mordecai to devise any means by which Haman's decree may be counteracted. C.——Whatever had passed the royal signet could never be revoked; and this was the reason why the king was obliged not to reverse, but to give a contradictory decree—that if the Jews, pursuant to the first decree, were assaulted, they might legitimately, by virtue of the second, defend themselves, slay their enemies, and even take the spoil. The maxim in our government that no act can be so framed but that the same authority which enacted it may repeal it, is better suited to the state of human nature; for no human wisdom can foresee all the effects of any regulation till experience has evinced them. Nothing, indeed, could more strikingly show the absurdity of this law of the Persians than that the king should now be forced to allow a civil war.—I.
9 Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the othird month, (that is, the month Sivan,) on the three and twentieth day thereof, and it was written (according to all that Mordecai commanded) punto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.
o ch.3.12. Ps.30.5,10. Je.30.17.
p ch.1.1,22; 3.12. 2 Co.7.6.
10 And he wrote qin the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed it with the king's ring; and sent letters by post on rhorseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries:
11 Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and sto stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them,5 both little ones and women, and to ttake the spoil of them for a prey,
s 1 Ki.20.22. Ps.94.16. Ec.9.5.
A.M. 3495 B.C. 509
5 Could not the Jews have stood upon the defensive without this royal decree? No doubt they could. But then they would have become rebels, and so would have been prosecuted for a new crime. This decree of Ahasuerus rendered their self-defence lawful, while it must greatly have abated the courage of their enemies. A more unnatural mode of government cannot well be conceived, nor can we wonder that the empire was soon afterwards dismembered by a handful of Macedonians.—C.
12 Upon uone day, in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
u ch.3.13; 9.1. Ex.15.9,10. Ju.1.6,7. Mat.7.2.
13 The copy of the writing, for a commandment to be given in every province, was published6 unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to xavenge themselves on their enemies.
6 Heb. revealed.
x Ps.37.14,15; 92.7,9,11; 68.23. Pr.11.8; 21.18.
14 So the posts7 that rode upon mules and camels went out, being yhastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace.
7 To Cyrus is attributed the origination of posts and couriers. He is said by the Greek writers to have established post-houses with relays of horses at proper distances; and that by causing them to travel both night and day, he astonished the ancient world by the rapidity of communication with all parts of his vast empire. Early European travellers were astonished to find similar posting establishments in the Mongol empire, having 10,000 post-houses, and 200,000 horses, and expediting despatches at the rate of 200 or 250 miles in a day. The origin of posting in Europe is generally ascribed to the university of Paris. (See Marco Palo, 2. 90).—C.
15 And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in zroyal apparel of blue8 and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan arejoiced 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.9
9 This is not surprising, for the Jews, though few, were a brave people, and being concentred into Jewish quarters, as is still the custom in the cities of the East, they could consequently have acted with terrible and combined effect upon their enemies.—C.
Notes
Reflections.—This world is but a changing scene. The favour even of kings is precarious; and riches make to themselves wings and fly away. Men often lay up wealth, little thinking to whom it shall at last pertain, whether to a friend or a foe. The ten thousand talents[≈ 340 tonnes · 340 tons] which were lately offered as the price of the Jews' blood now become the property of them whose lives were marked out for a prey. How just is the judgment of God; and with what care should we make sure those riches which will not be left behind, but will go with us into another world! Surely then the lives and interests of God's people ought to lie the nearest to our hearts! And no advancement must make us to forget our poor relations. It is proper to present our petitions to God or men with earnestness, and attended with the utmost modesty. Though we have justice on our side it becomes us, as inferiors, to use entreaty. Men's mischief often survives them. They murder, even after their death, by the laws which they have made, the projects which they have set on foot, and the writings and sentiments which they have propagated. But absurd and entangling are those laws which have pride for their source and basis. And there is great need to hasten the relief when men's lives are in danger: for when we have done wrong we cannot too quickly prevent the mischievous consequences of it. God quickly turns his people's mourning into joy. And his alarming providences in their favour effectually determine others to join them.
Measures in square brackets are modern equivalents added for this edition. They are not in the King James text or in Brown’s notes. They use common scholarly estimates: a cubit is about 45.7 cm (18 in), a shekel about 11.4 g (0.4 oz), an ephah about 22 litres. Money values give the worth of the silver or gold at spot prices on 28 October 2026, not what the sum would buy in the ancient world.