Esther 9:29

29 And Esther, the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai, the Jew, wrote also the second epistle, that this solemn day should be hallowed afterward with all busyness. (And Queen Esther, Abihail's daughter, and Mordecai, the Jew, confirmed in writing with a second letter, that these feast days should be kept thereafter with all diligence.)

Esther 9:29 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 9:29

Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai
the Jew, wrote with all authority
Strongly pressing the observance of this festival; before, Mordecai only recommended it, but now the queen gave a sanction to it, and laid her obligation on the Jews to observe it; perhaps some of the Jews were backward to it, or neglected to observe it, and therefore Esther and Mordecai joined in a letter to them, to press them to it; the Jewish chronologer ^F24 says, this was written the year following; the former Targum is, they wrote this whole volume, and the strength of the miracle, or set the miraculous deliverance in the strongest light, with this view,

to confirm this second letter of Purim;
that it might have its weight and influence upon them, to engage them to keep it, as the latter Targum adds; that when it was an intercalary year, they might not read the Megillah (or book of Esther) in the first Adar, but in the second Adar.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 29. p. 87.

Esther 9:29 In-Context

27 and which things they suffered, and which things were changed afterward, so that it be not leaveful to any man to pass these two days without solemnity, which days the scripture witnesseth, and certain times ask, while the years come continually one after another. (and what things they suffered, and what things happened afterwards, so that it be not lawful for anyone to pass these two days without feasting, yea, the days to which this writing witnesseth, and for which a certain time is ordained, while the years continue to come, one after the other.)

28 These be the days, which never any forgetting shall do away, but by all generations all the provinces, that be in all the world, shall hallow them; neither there is any city, in which the days of Purim, that is, (the days) of lots, shall not be kept of [the] Jews, and of the generation of them, which is bound to these ceremonies. (These be the days, which no forgetting shall do away, that is, they should always be remembered, and all the generations, or the descendants, of the people, who be in all the provinces, in all the world, shall keep and honour them; and there shall be no city, in which the Days of Purim, that is, the Days of Lots, shall not be kept by the Jews, and by their generations, or their descendants, who be bound and obliged to keep these ceremonies.)

29 And Esther, the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai, the Jew, wrote also the second epistle, that this solemn day should be hallowed afterward with all busyness. (And Queen Esther, Abihail's daughter, and Mordecai, the Jew, confirmed in writing with a second letter, that these feast days should be kept thereafter with all diligence.)

30 And they sent (their letter) to those Jews, that dwelled in an hundred and seven and twenty provinces of king Ahasuerus, that they should have peace, and receive the truth, (And they sent their letter to all the Jews, who lived in the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of King Ahasuerus, so that they would have peace, and receive the truth,)

31 and that they should keep the days of lots, and hallow them with joy in their time, as Mordecai and Esther had ordained; and they received the (rules for the) fastings, and the cries, and the days of lots, to be kept of themselves and of their seed, (and so that they would keep the Days of Purim, that is, the Days of Lots, and celebrate them with joy at their proper time, as Mordecai and Esther had ordained; just as they had received the rules for fasting, and mourning, or lamenting, to be kept by themselves, and by their descendants.)