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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Esther 9:1-19

We have here a decisive battle fought between the Jews and their enemies, in which the Jews were victorious. Neither side was surprised; for both had notice of it long enough before, so that it was a fair trial of skill between them. Nor could either side call the other rebels, for they were both supported by the royal authority. I. The enemies of the Jews were the aggressors. They hoped, notwithstanding the latter edict, to have power over them, by virtue of the former (Est. 9:1), and made... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Esther 9:20-32

We may well imagine how much affected Mordecai and Esther were with the triumphs of the Jews over their enemies, and how they saw the issue of that decisive day with a satisfaction proportionable to the care and concern with which they expected it. How were their hearts enlarged with joy in God and his salvation, and what new songs of praise were put into their mouths! But here we are told what course they took to spread the knowledge of it among their people, and to perpetuate the remembrance... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Esther 9:19

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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Esther 9:20

And Mordecai wrote these things ,.... The transactions of those two days, and the causes of them, as well as the following letter; some conclude from hence that he was the penman of the book; and so he might be, but it does not necessarily follow from hence: and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, both nigh and far ; such as were near the city Shushan, and those that were at the greatest distance from it; these were more especially the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Esther 9:21

To stablish this among them ,.... That it might be a settled thing, and annually observed in all future generations, what they had now done: that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly ; as the former had been observed by the Jews in the provinces, and both by those in Shushan, Esther 9:17 as festivals in commemoration of their great deliverance; hence the fourteenth of Adar is called the day of Mordecai, being established by... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Esther 9:22

As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies ,.... Having slain all those that rose up against them, and assaulted them: and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning unto a good day ; for in this month Adar, on the thirteenth day of it, they expected to have been all destroyed, which had occasioned great sorrow and mourning in them; but beyond their expectation, in the same month, and on the selfsame day of the month, they had deliverance and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Esther 9:19

The Jews of the villages - They joined that to the preceding day, and made it a day of festivity, and of sending portions to each other; that is, the rich sent portions of the sacrifices slain on this occasion to the poor, that they also might be enabled to make the day a day of festivity; that as the sorrow was general, so also might the joy be. It is worthy of remark that the ancient Itala or Ante-hieronymian version of this book omits the whole of these nineteen verses. Query,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Esther 9:20

Mordecai wrote these things - It has been supposed that thus far that part of the book of Esther, which was written by Mordecai extends: what follows to the end, was probably added either by Ezra, or the men of the Great Synagogue; though what is said here may refer only to the letters sent by Mordecai to the Jews of the provinces. From this to the end of the chapter is nothing else than a recapitulation of the chief heads of the preceding history, and an account of the appointment of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Esther 9:17-23

FESTIVAL HELD , AND FEAST OF PURIM INSTITUTED ( Esther 9:17-32 ). A natural instinct led the Jews, so soon as their triumph was accomplished, to indulge themselves in a day of rest and rejoicing ( Esther 9:17 ). After toil there is need of repose; and escape from a great danger is followed, almost of necessity, by "gladness." The writer of the Book of Esther, practising his usual reticence, says nothing of the character of the "gladness;" but we can scarcely be wrong in... read more

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