Esther 9:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the decisive battle between the Jews and their enemies, and the Jews won. Neither side was caught off guard, because both had known about the day long enough ahead of time. So this was a fair test of strength and skill between them. Neither side could accuse the other of rebellion, since both were acting under royal authority.

The enemies of the Jews were the ones who attacked first. Even after the second decree, they still hoped to use the earlier one to overpower the Jews (Esther 9:1), so they gathered together and joined forces against them to do harm, Esther 9:2. The Chaldee paraphrase says that only Amalekites came out against the Jews, hardened and stubborn like Pharaoh against Israel, rushing toward their own ruin. Some people had such deep hatred for the Jews that Haman’s fall and Mordecai’s rise, instead of changing them, only made them angrier and more determined to kill them all.

Haman’s sons especially wanted to avenge their father’s death and carry on his plan, which they called noble and brave, no matter the danger. They had gathered a strong group in Shushan and in the provinces for that purpose. They went to fight even though they could plainly see that Providence, God’s guiding power, was against them. In this way they were blinded and led on to their own destruction. If they had simply stayed still and done nothing against God’s people, not a hair of their head would have been harmed. But they could not leave the Jews alone. They had to interfere, even though it would ruin them, like rolling a heavy stone that will fall back on them.

The Jews, however, were the victors. On the very day when the king’s decree against them was to be carried out, the day their enemies thought would belong to them, it became God’s day instead (Psalm 37:13). What was expected was reversed, and the Jews gained power over those who hated them, Esther 9:1.

We are first told what the Jews did for themselves (Esther 9:2). They gathered in their cities, formed themselves into a body, and stood on defense. They harmed no one, but they were ready to resist everyone. If they had not had a decree to support them, they would not have dared to do this. But with that support, they fought lawfully. If they had acted separately, each family by itself, they would have been easy prey. By gathering together in their cities, they strengthened one another and were able to face their enemies. Joined strength is stronger, because forces work best when united.

Writers about the Jews today say that this is one reason they are often looked down on, even though they are many and wealthy in many places. They are often so self-focused that they cannot join together. Because they are scattered, they cannot unite or gather as they did here. If they could, their numbers and wealth might threaten even powerful nations.

We are also told what the rulers of the provinces did for them, under Mordecai’s influence. The king’s officers, who had once been ordered by the bloody decree to help destroy the Jews (Esther 3:12, Esther 3:13), now followed the later decree instead. Since the two decrees stood against each other, the matter was left open, and they were free to choose. So they helped the Jews, and that turned the balance in their favor, Esther 9:3. The people in the provinces usually followed whatever the local rulers preferred, so this support mattered greatly.

Why did they help? Not because they loved the Jews, but because they were afraid of Mordecai. He clearly had the favor of both God and the king. Everyone could see that it was best to stand with Mordecai’s friends, because he was not only powerful in the king’s house and favored by the court, but his wisdom and good character were known throughout the provinces. Everywhere people spoke of him as a great man. He was also seen as a man rising higher and higher, Esther 9:4. So out of fear, all the king’s officers helped the Jews. Great people can do much good through their influence, and many who do not fear God still fear them.

We are also told what God did for them. He put fear of the Jews into all people, Esther 9:2. As the Canaanites were made afraid of Israel (Joshua 2:9, Joshua 5:1), so these enemies lost courage, even though they still made the attack. When the moment came to fight, their hearts failed them, and none of their strong men could make themselves act.

Then we are told what the Jews did after that. No one could stand against them, Esther 9:2, but they did to their enemies whatever they wished, Esther 9:5. The Jews were so strengthened and encouraged, and their enemies so weakened and shaken, that none of those who had marked themselves for the Jews’ destruction escaped. They struck them down with the sword.

On the thirteenth day of the month Adar, they killed 500 men in the city of Shushan, Esther 9:6, and the ten sons of Haman, Esther 9:10. When the Jews read the book of Esther at the feast of Purim, they say the names of Haman’s ten sons all in one breath, without a pause, because they believe they all died together at the same moment. The Chaldee paraphrase says that when these ten were killed, Zeresh, Haman’s wife, escaped with seventy more of his children and later begged for bread from door to door.

On the fourteenth day, they killed 300 more in Shushan, men who had escaped the sword on the first day of action, Esther 9:15. Esther had asked the king for permission to let them do this, to increase fear among their enemies and fully crush that evil group of men. The king had already counted the people killed on the first day, Esther 9:11, and told Esther so, Esther 9:12, then asked what more she wanted. She answered, in effect, that she wanted permission for one more day like the first.

Esther was certainly not bloodthirsty or eager for slaughter. She had good reasons for making this request. She also asked that the dead bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hung on the gallows where their father had been hung, to bring greater shame on the family and greater fear to the rest of the party, Esther 9:13. This was done, Esther 9:14. It is thought they were hung in chains and left there for some time.

The Jews in the countryside followed their orders and did not kill any more enemies than those who fell on the thirteenth day. Across all the provinces, the total was 75,000, Esther 9:16. If all of these were Amalekites, as the Jews say, then this was the final wiping out of Amalek’s memory, as in Exodus 17:14.

What makes their large number of executions justifiable is that they acted in lawful, necessary self-defense. They were fighting for their lives, and both the law of self-preservation and the king’s decree supported them. Their actions were not revenge, but protection.

It is also carefully noted that they did not lay their hand on the plunder (Esther 9:10, Esther 9:15, Esther 9:16). The king’s order had allowed them to take the spoil of their enemies (Esther 8:11), and they had every chance to make themselves rich from it. If Haman’s side had won, they would almost certainly have used their power to seize the Jews’ property (Esther 3:13). But the Jews refused to do that.

They did this, first, to show the honor of their religion, with a holy and noble disregard for worldly wealth, following Abraham, their forefather, who would not enrich himself from the spoils of Sodom. Second, they wanted it clear that they sought only to save their lives, not to increase their estates through court influence. Third, although their commission allowed them to destroy their enemies’ families, even the children and women (Esther 8:11), their sense of humanity kept them from doing so, even though the same cruelty had been intended against them.

They killed only those they found fighting. So they did not take the spoil, but left it for the women and children they had spared to live on. Otherwise, it would have been as cruel to leave them without support as to kill them outright. In this, they acted with a thoughtful mercy that is well worth imitating.

We also see how deeply they rejoiced in their rescue. The Jews in the countryside finished their defense on the thirteenth day of the month and rested on the fourteenth day, making it a day of thanks (Esther 9:17, Esther 9:19). The Jews in Shushan, the royal city, took two days for their defense, so they rested on the fifteenth day and made that their day of thanksgiving (Esther 9:18). In both places, they celebrated the very next day after their work was done and their purpose achieved. When God gives us marked mercy, we should be quick to give thanks while the blessing is still fresh and its impact is still strong.