Esther 9:3-13

3 And all heads of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the governors, and those doing the work that the king hath, are lifting up the Jews, for a fear of Mordecai hath fallen upon them;

4 for great [is] Mordecai in the house of the king, and his fame is going into all the provinces, for the man Mordecai is going on and becoming great.

5 And the Jews smite among all their enemies -- a smiting of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction -- and do with those hating them according to their pleasure,

6 and in Shushan the palace have the Jews slain and destroyed five hundred men;

7 and Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,

8 and Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,

9 and Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vajezatha,

10 ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, adversary of the Jews, they have slain, and on the prey they have not put forth their hand.

11 On that day hath come the number of the slain in Shushan the palace before the king,

12 and the king saith to Esther the queen, `In Shushan the palace have the Jews slain and destroyed five hundred men, and the ten sons of Haman; in the rest of the provinces of the king what have they done? and what [is] thy petition? and it is given to thee; and what thy request again? and it is done.'

13 And Esther saith, `If to the king [it be] good, let it be given also to-morrow, to the Jews who [are] in Shushan, to do according to the law of to-day; and the ten sons of Haman they hang on the tree.'

Esther 9:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ESTHER 9

In this chapter we have an account of the Jews gathering together, on the day fixed for their destruction, to defend themselves, which they did in all the provinces, and smote their enemies; Es 9:1-5. In Shushan the palace they slew the ten sons of Haman and five hundred men on that day, Es 9:6-11 and at the request of the queen they were allowed the next day to hang up his sons, when they slew three hundred men more, Es 9:12-15, in the provinces they slew 75,000 and those in one day only, and the following days they kept as a festival, but they in Shushan kept the two days following, Es 9:16-19, and which two days were established by Esther and Mordecai as festivals, to be observed as such in future ages, by the name of the days of Purim, Es 9:20-32.