Esther 9:21-31

21 To establish this among them, that they should keep the 14th day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, shanah v’shanah,
22 As the yamim wherein the Yehudim got relief from their oyvim, and the month which was turned unto them from yagon (sorrow) to simcha (joy), and from evel (mourning) into yontef; that they should make them yemei mishteh v’simcha, and of sending presents one to another, and mattanot (gifts) to the evyon (needy, poor).
23 And the Yehudim undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordechai had written unto them;
24 Because Haman ben Hamdata, the Agagi, the tzorer kol HaYehudim, had devised against the Yehudim to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the goral (lot), to utterly defeat them, and to destroy them;
25 But when Ester came before HaMelech, he commanded by hasefer that his wicked machashevah, which he devised against the Yehudim, should return upon his own head, and that he and his banim should be hanged on the etz.
26 Wherefore they called these yamim Purim after the shem of the Pur. Therefore for all the words of this iggeret (letter), and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had happened unto them,
27 The Yehudim established, and took upon them, and upon their zera, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time shanah v’shanah;
28 And that these yamim should be remembered and kept dor v’dor (throughout every generation), in every mishpachah, every province, and every city; and that these yemei HaPurim should never cease from among the Yehudim, nor the memorial of them perish from their zera.
29 Then Ester HaMalkah, the bat Avichayil, and Mordechai HaYehudi, wrote with kol tokef (all authority, see Yn 1:12-13), to confirm this second iggeret (letter of) Purim.
30 And he sent seferim unto all the Yehudim, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the malchut of Achashverosh, with words of shalom and emes,
31 To confirm these yemei HaPurim in their times appointed, according as Mordechai HaYehudi and Ester HaMalkah had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their zera, the matters of the tzomot (fasts) and their ze’akah (lamentation).

Esther 9:21-31 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.

The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.