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Esther 8:1
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Esther Saves the Jews

1 On that day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the aenemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told bhow he was related to her.  
2 So the king took off ahis signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman.  
3 Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews.
4 And athe king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king,  
5 and said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the aletters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces.  
6 For how can I endure to see athe evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?”  
7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Indeed, aI have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hand on the Jews.  
8 You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews,1 as you please, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for whatever is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring ano one can revoke.”  
9 aSo the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day; and it was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princes of the provinces bfrom India to Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all, to every province cin its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.  
10 aAnd he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on royal horses1 bred from swift steeds.  
11 By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to agather together and protect their lives—to bdestroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions,  
12 aon one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of1 Adar.  
13 aA copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province and published for all people, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.  
14 The couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in1 Shushan the citadel.  
15 So Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of1 blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and athe city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.  
16 The Jews had alight and gladness, joy and honor.  
Book Notes:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Book Notes

Esther

ESTHER derives its name from the Jewess, who, having become wife of the king of Persia, employed her royal influence to effect a memorable deliverance for the persecuted Church of God. Various opinions are embraced and supported as to the authorship of this book, some ascribing it to Ezra, to Nehemiah, or to Mordecai. The preponderance of authorities is in favor of the last. The historical character of the book is undoubted, since, besides many internal evidences, its authenticity is proved by the strong testimony of the feast of Purim, the celebration of which can be traced up to the events which are described in this book. Its claim, however, to canonical authority has been questioned on the ground that the name of God does not once occur in it. But the uniform tradition both of the Jewish and the Christian Churches supports this claim, which nothing in the book tends to shake; while it is a record of the superintending care of divine providence over his chosen people, with which it is of the utmost importance the Church should be furnished. The name of God is strangely enough omitted, but the presence of God is felt throughout the history; and the whole tone and tendency of the book is so decidedly subservient to the honor of God and the cause of true religion that it has been generally received by the Church in all ages into the sacred canon.

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