Esther 9:23

23 So the Jews accepted as tradition what they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them.

Esther 9:23 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 9:23

And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as
Mordecai had written unto them.
] They engaged to keep these two days as festivals annually, as they had at this time done; not in a religious but in a civil way, not as parts of religious worship, and as additions to and innovations of the law, but by way of commemoration of a civil benefit which they had received; and yet we find in later times that this was scrupled by some as an innovation; for we are told ^F18 that there were eighty five elders, and more than thirty of them prophets, who were distressed about this matter, fearing it was an innovation.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 T. Hieros. Megillah. fol. 70. 4.

Esther 9:23 In-Context

21 He established the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as days they must observe every year.

22 They were to observe them just like the days when the Jews freed themselves from their enemies. In that month their grief turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He declared that these days are to be days for feasting and celebrating and for sending gifts of food to one another, especially gifts to the poor.

23 So the Jews accepted as tradition what they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them.

24 It was because Haman, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them. (Haman was the son of Hammedatha and was from Agag.) Haman had the Pur (which means the lot) thrown [in order to determine when] to crush and destroy them.

25 But when this came to the king's attention, he ordered, in the well-known letter, that the evil plan Haman had plotted against the Jews should turn back on his own head. As a result, they hung Haman and his sons on poles.