Esther 8

Esther Saves the Jews

1 On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, ¹the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told ²what he was to her.

2 ³And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

3 Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman ⁴the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews.

4 ⁵When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther,

5 Esther rose and stood before the king. And she said, "If it please the king, ⁶and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke ⁷the letters devised by Haman ⁸the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king.

6 For how can I bear ⁹to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?"

7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, "Behold, ¹⁰I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows,^[a] because he intended to lay hands on the Jews.

8 But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, ¹¹and seal it with the king's ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring ¹²cannot be revoked."

9 ¹³The king's scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to ¹⁴the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces ¹⁵from India to Ethiopia, provinces, ¹⁶to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language.

10 ¹⁷And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus ¹⁸and sealed it with the king's signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on ¹⁹swift horses that were used in the king's service, bred from the royal stud,

11 saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city ²⁰to gather and defend their lives, ²¹to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, ²²and to plunder their goods,

12 ²³on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.

13 ²⁴A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies.

14 So the couriers, mounted on their ²⁵swift horses that were used in the king's service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king's command. And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel.

15 Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king ²⁶in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown^[b] and ²⁷a robe of fine linen and purple, ²⁸and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.

16 The Jews had ²⁹light and gladness and joy and honor.

17 And in every province and in every city, wherever the king's command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and ³⁰a holiday. ³¹And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, ³²for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.

Esther 8 Commentary

Chapter 8

Mordecai is advanced. (1,2) Esther makes suit for the Jews. (3-14) Mordecai honoured, The joy of the Jews. (15-17)

Verses 1-2 What Haman would have done mischief with, Esther will do good with. All the trust the king had reposed in Haman, he now placed in Mordecai: a happy change. See the vanity of laying up treasure upon earth; he that heapeth up riches, knoweth not who shall gather them. With what little pleasure, nay, with what constant vexation, would Haman have looked upon his estate, if he could have foreseen that Mordecai, the man he hated above all men in the world, should have rule over all that wherein he had laboured! It is our interest to make sure of those riches which will not be left behind, but which will go with us to another world.

Verses 3-14 It was time to be earnest, when the church of God was at stake. Esther, though safe herself, fell down and begged for the deliverance of her people. We read of no tears when she begged for her own life, but although she was sure of that, she wept for her people. Tears of pity and tenderness are the most Christ-like. According to the constitution of the Persian government, no law or decree could be repealed or recalled. This is so far from speaking to the wisdom and honour of the Medes and Persians, that it clearly shows their pride and folly. This savours of that old presumption which ruined all, We will be as gods! It is God's prerogative not to repent, or to say what can never be altered or unsaid. Yet a way was found, by another decree, to authorize the Jews to stand upon their defence. The decree was published in the languages of all the provinces. Shall all the subjects of an earthly prince have his decrees in languages they understand, and shall God's oracles and laws be locked up from any of his servants in an unknown tongue?

Verses 15-17 Mordecai's robes now were rich. These things are not worth notice, but as marks of the king's favour, and the fruit of God's favour to his church. It is well with a land, when ensigns of dignity are made the ornaments of serious piety. When the church prospers, many will join it, who will be shy of it when in trouble. When believers have rest, and walk in the fear of the Lord, and the comfort of the Holy Ghost, they will be multiplied. And the attempts of Satan to destroy the church, always tend to increase the number of true Christians.

Cross References

• 1. [See Esther 7:6 above]
• 2. [Esther 2:7, 15]
• 3. Esther 3:10
• 4. Esther 3:1; Esther 9:24
• 5. Esther 4:11; Esther 5:2
• 6. Esther 5:8; Esther 7:3
• 7. [Esther 3:13]
• 8. [See ver. 3 above]
• 9. [Esther 7:4]
• 10. ver. 1
• 11. ver. 10; Esther 3:12
• 12. [Esther 1:19; Dan. 6:8, 12, 15]
• 13. Esther 3:12
• 14. See Ezra 8:36
• 15. Esther 1:1
• 16. Esther 1:1
• 17. Esther 1:22; Esther 3:12
• 18. Esther 3:12, 13
• 19. Esther 3:12
• 20. 1 Kings 4:28
• 21. Esther 9:2, 15, 16, 18
• 22. Esther 3:13; Esther 7:4
• 23. [Esther 9:10, 15, 16]
• 24. Esther 3:13; Esther 9:1
• 25. Esther 3:14; Esther 4:8
• 26. [See ver. 10 above]
• 27. [Genesis 41:42; Daniel 5:29]
• 28. [1 Chronicles 15:27]
• 29. [Esther 3:15]
• 30. [Psalms 97:11]
• 31. Esther 9:19, 22; 1 Samuel 25:8
• 32. Esther 9:27
• 33. Esther 9:2

Footnotes

• [a]. Or stake
• [b]. Or headdress

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ESTHER 8

This chapter relates the gifts Ahasuerus gave to Esther and Mordecai, Es 8:1,2, the suit Esther made to him to reverse the letters for the destruction of the Jews, Es 8:3-6, which, though it could not be formally granted, was in effect done by letters sent to the Jews, giving them power to rise in their own defence, and slay their enemies, Es 8:7-14, the consequence of which, and the advancement of Mordecai, were matter of great joy to the Jews, Es 8:15-17.