On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the palace was brought before the king. Either by order of the king, that he might know how many enemies the Jews had in the city, and how many of subjects had been slain; or officiously by others, with an intention to irritate the king against the Jews. read more
And the king said unto Esther the queen ,.... After the account had been brought in to him: the Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace ; the Targum adds, of the seed of Amalek: and the ten sons of Haman : which very probably were all he had; though the Targum, in Esther 9:14 , makes mention of seventy sons that Zeresh his wife fled with: what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces ? that could not be said; but it might be concluded,... read more
Then said Esther, if it please the king ,.... For she was all submission to his will: let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan ; for no further did she desire the grant to be extended: to do tomorrow also according to this days decree ; one Targum makes the request only that they might keep the morrow as a festival, but the other, more rightly, to do according to the decree of this day; which was, to slay as many of their enemies as rose up against them; and whereas many... read more
And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan ,.... That the Jews might have leave to seek out and slay the rest of their enemies in Shushan, on the fourteenth day, in like manner as they had on the thirteenth: and they hanged Haman's ten sons ; on the same gallows very probably their father was hanged; the Targum gives us the distance between each person hanged thereon. read more
For the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar ,.... As they had on the thirteenth: and slew three hundred men at Shushan ; the Targum adds, of the family of Amalek: but there is no reason to confine it to them; it respects all such as were the enemies of the Jews, and rose up against them; so that the whole number slain in Shushan were eight hundred persons, besides the sons of Human: but on the prey they laid not their... read more
But the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together ,.... In a body, in their respective provinces and cities: and stood for their lives ; defended themselves against those that attacked them: and had rest from their enemies ; that selfsame day; all being destroyed by them, and none daring to appear against them: and slew of their foes 75,000 men ; that is, in all the provinces put together: but they laid not their hands on the prey ; See Gill on... read more
On the thirteenth day of the month Adar ,.... This belongs to the preceding verse; and the meaning is, that on this day the Jews gathered together and slew so many thousand of their enemies as before related: and on the fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a feast of gladness : rejoicing that they were delivered out of the hand of their enemies, who hoped and expected on that day to have made an utter end of them; according to the Jewish canons F12 Lebush, c. 697.... read more
But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth day thereof ,.... Of the month Adar; that is, they gathered together to defend themselves, and destroy their enemies, on both these days, having the decree renewed for the fourteenth as they had for the thirteenth: and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness ; as the Jews in the provinces did on the fourteenth. read more
Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting ,.... Jarchi observes that those in the villages, who are they that do not dwell in walled towns, observed the fourteenth, and they in towns surrounded with walls the fifteenth, as Shushan; and this circumvallation, he says, must be what was from the days of Joshua; according to the Jewish canons, every place that was walled from the days of Joshua... read more
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John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Esther 9:7-10
And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha, and Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha, and Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vajezatha, the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, slew they, .... Along with the five hundred men, at the head of which they were: but on the spoil laid they not their hands ; though they were allowed by the edict to do it, Esther 8:11 , but this they did not, that it might appear that they did not take away their lives from a... read more