Esther 9:24 - Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Book Notes

Esther 9:24

22 as the days on which the Jews had rest from their enemies, as the month which was turned from sorrow to joy for them, and from mourning to a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, of ^asending presents to one another and gifts to the ^bpoor.

23 So the Jews accepted the custom which they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them,

24 because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, ^ahad plotted against the Jews to annihilate them, and had cast Pur (that is, the lot), to consume them and destroy them;

25 but ^awhen Esther came before the king, he commanded by letter that² this wicked plot which Haman had devised against the Jews should ^breturn on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

26 So they called these days Purim, after the name Pur. Therefore, because of all the words of ^athis letter, what they had seen concerning this matter, and what had happened to them,

27 the Jews established and imposed it upon themselves and their descendants and all who would ^ajoin them, that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year, according to the written instructions and according to the prescribed time,

28 that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.

29 Then Queen Esther, ^athe daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this ^bsecond letter about Purim.

30 And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews, to ^athe one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,

31 to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had prescribed for them, and as they had decreed for themselves and their descendants concerning matters of their ^afasting and lamenting.

32 So the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim, and it was written in the book.

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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