Esther 3:12-14 NASB,NIV

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Esther 3:14

commandment = Imperial decree. Hebrew. dath. See note on Esther 2:8 . people = peoples. read more

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Esther 3:12

THE DAY WAS SET;THE DECREE WAS SIGNED;THE MASSACRE WAS ANNOUNCED"Then were the king's scribes called, in the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month; and there was written according to all that Haman commanded unto the king's satraps, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the princes of every people, to every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, in the name of king Ahashuerus was it written, and it was sealed with the... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Esther 3:13

Esther 3:13. Letters were sent by posts— The first institution of posts is generally ascribed to the Persians; for the kings of Persia, as Diodorus Siculus observes, lib. 19: in order that they might have intelligence of what passed in all the provinces of their vast dominions, placed centinels on eminences, at convenient distances, where towers were built; and these centinels gave notice of public occurrences to each other, with a very loud and shrill voice; by which method news was... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Esther 3:12

12-15. Then were the king's scribes called . . . and there was written—The government secretaries were employed in making out the proclamation authorizing a universal massacre of the Jews on one day. It was translated into the dialects of all the people throughout the vast empire, and swift messengers were sent to carry it into all the provinces. On the day appointed, all Jews were to be put to death and their property confiscated; doubtless, the means by which Haman hoped to pay his stipulated... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Esther 3:7-15

B. Haman’s Proposal 3:7-15His pride having been wounded, Haman set about to take revenge, not only on Mordecai, but also on all of Mordecai’s relatives. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Esther 3:10-15

3. The king’s permission 3:10-15The imprint of an official’s signet ring (Esther 3:10) was the equivalent of his signature in ancient times (cf. Genesis 41:42; Esther 8:2; Esther 8:8; Esther 8:10). Ahasuerus gave permission to Haman to confiscate the Jews’ wealth and to put them to death (Esther 3:11; cf. Proverbs 18:13). Merrill suggested that Ahasuerus viewed the Jews as a scapegoat to blame for his humiliating losses to the Greeks. [Note: Eugene H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests, p. 502.] The... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Esther 3:1-15

Haman’s Revengeful Design Against the Jews1. The Agagite] It has been suggested that the name is an epithet meant to recall the Amalekite Agag hewn in pieces by Samuel (1 Samuel 15:33), and intended to indicate contempt and abhorrence.2. Mordecai bowed not, etc.] In the apocryphal ’Rest of Esther’ Mordecai explains in a prayer to the Almighty that he refused to bow down to Haman, ’that he might not prefer the glory of man above the glory of God.’ Amongst many heathen peoples divine honours were... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Esther 3:12

(12) On the thirteenth day of the first month.—From the next verse we see that the thirteenth of Adar was to be the lucky day for Haman’s purpose, which may have suggested the thirteenth of Nisan as a suitable day for this preliminary step. Bishop Wordsworth reminds us that this day was the eve of the Passover, so that Haman’s plot against the Jews strangely coincides in time with one five hundred years later, when the Jews themselves, aided by heathen hands and the powers of darkness, sought... read more

Charles John Ellicott