Esther 4:13,14 After hearing Esther's response which, in other words, said, "If I do this I will die" (v.11), Mordecai gave an in depth answer. He said, "You will die anyway. If you don't speak, you may lose a great opportunity, the privilege, of serving GOD by saving your nation."

Esther 4:16 Esther's response is her definitive commitment to Mordecai and her people, the Jews, under threat of death. In essence, she says: "Do your part in helping me, and I will do what you have told me to do, even if I die". The fast, especially when it's accompanied by prayer, is a sign of intensity or desire respecting a desperate need (Jonah 3:5-8).

Esther 5:1-14 Esther's Banquet and Haman's Folly (HBH) The prayers of GOD's people were answered because Xerxes received Esther without incident. She invited the king and Haman to a banquet whereupon she would make her request known (5:1-51). Once the guests had enjoyed their fill, Esther wisely delayed her request for another day of feasting - no doubt to heighten the king's interest in the petition (5:5b-8).

Haman left in a happy mood (5:9-10a), but it was tempered by his fury for "the Jew Mordecai" (5:13). Haman boasted of his authority, (5:10b-13) but these boasts would later turn into tears of humiliation (6:12-13a; 7:7-8a). Haman's friends and family (5:14) would be repaid with their own lives on the very gallows they had recommended for Mordecai (7:10; 9:14).

Esther 5:2 The sceptre was a rod (often ornamental) utilized by a ruler, the symbol of his power. When the king extended the sceptre, he was manifesting entrance and favor. When Esther touched the end of the sceptre, she gratefully accepted the favor that the king offered. We can direct petitions to our GOD and King in prayer on the basis of the invitation that he extends to us (see Heb. 4:16).

Esther 5:6 See the note for 7:2.

Esther 5:8 GOD uses Esther wisely (see Matt. 10:16). She understands the importance of waiting for GOD's time before raising her petition (see Eccl. 8:5,6).

Esther 5:14 Fifty cubits high: According to the Old Testament, 22.5 meters; Haman wanted Mordecai's hanging to serve as a public lesson.

Esther 6:1-11 See section 3 of "TRUTH IN ACTION" at the end of Esther.

Esther 6:1 GOD intervenes sovereignly, demonstrating that he has many ways to make his people obediently do his will (see Job 42:2; Psa. 57:2).

Esther 6:1-7:10 Mordecai Defeats Haman (HBH) This section features the key reversal in Haman's and Mordecai's fates. Mordecai was honored by the king, much to Haman's humiliation (chap. 6). The final indignity of foolish Haman was his pathetic effort to save himself from the gallows (chap. 7).

Esther 6:1-14 Mordecai Honored by Haman The unstated reason for the king's insomnia was GOD's providence. To pass the sleepless night, servants brought the royal annals where Mordecai's deed of saving the king was read (6:1-2; compare 2:19-23). Haman was consulted, but ironically his egotism caused him unintentionally to honor Mordecai (6:3-10). The depiction of Mordecai dressed in royalty and being led on horseback by Haman anticipates their inverted roles to come (6:11). Even his friends and wife voiced the theological proposition of the book: Mordecai is invincible because he is a Jew (6:12-14).

Esther 6:2 The guard of the gate (KJV-keepers of the door): The gatekeepers guarded the entrance to a city, a public building, or the mansion of a rich man.

Esther 6:11 GOD makes it so that Mordecai is honored because he has demonstrated with his conduct that he fears GOD, not people.

Esther 6:12 Returned to the royal gate: Mordecai was sufficiently humble to recognize that, no matter the prominence of his new position, he should remain intimately tied to Esther.

Esther 7:1-10 Haman's Hanging (HBH) Not only did Mordecai get the best of Haman, but Esther outsmarted him. On the following day, Esther assembled her guests for the second banquet, during which she revealed her entreaty (7:1-4; cf. 5:7-8). The fivefold repetition of "Queen Esther" in this chapter (7:1-3,5,7) echoed Mordecai's plea that she had come to power for this moment (4:14). Alluding to Haman's bribe (3:9), she described herself and the Jews as "sold for destruction" (7:4). She identified Haman as the adversary (7:5-6a).

Haman, true to his character as a blundering dunce, begged for the queen's mercy, thus breaking protocol with the king's harem. He magnified his folly by stumbling to her couch, creating the appearance of improprieties and thereby sealing his doom with the irate king (7:6b-8a). The gallows, whose references tower over much of the narrative (2:23; 5:14; 7:9-10; 8:7; 9:13,25), afforded the Jews their vindication by the hanging of Haman (7:8b-10).

Esther 7:2 On the second day: Alludes to the day of the second banquet. While they drank wine: Guests, after eating, relaxed and drank wine.

Esther 7:4 Our death would be an irreparable damage for the king: Referred to the impossibility of compensating for the loss of income that the death of the Jews would occasion.

Esther 7:8 By groveling in alarm, Haman violated palace etiquette by getting too close to the bed on which Esther reclined to eat. They covered Haman's face: This indicates that he had been condemned to death.

Esther 7:10 Although ironic, these verses confirm a crucial truth that the book of Esther contains: The sovereign GOD destroys his enemies.

Esther 8:1-9:32 The King's Decree on the Jews' Behalf (HBH) This royal decree Mordecai wrote answered Haman's evil decree (compare 3:8-11). This parallelism continues the theme of reversal, the decree enabling the Jews to take the offensive against their enemies (chap. 8). The thirteenth of Adar, the day planned for the Jews' destruction, was exchanged for the two-day celebration of Purim because of the Jews' conquest (chap. 9).

Esther 8:1-17 Mordecai's Plan of Defense (HBH) Rather than Jewish property falling into Haman's hands (3:13b), Haman's property and authority were given to Esther and Mordecai (8:1-2). But Haman's villainous plot remained, and Esther successfully pleaded for the king's assistance to avert the disaster *8:3-6). The decree Mordecai wrote gave the Jews the right to defend themselves (8:7-14).

Mordecai took Haman's place as second to the king (8:15). Whereas the city of Susa was disturbed at Haman's decree (3:15), Mordecai's edict gladdened their hearts and converted some to the Jewish faith (8:15-17). Esther 8:1 The house of Haman: Includes his properties and his family.

Esther 8:2 Mordecai receives Haman's position and goods.

Esther 8:3-6 Haman has died, but the problem of the irreversibility of the decree remains. Although conscious of the problem that Ahaseurus faces, Esther appeals to his benevolence and, by doing so, risks her life once more. She appraised her life that same way that the apostle Paul did (Acts 20:24; Phil. 1:20).

Esther 8:7-12 Ahaseurus resolves the problem by authorizing Mordecai to write an edict in the name of the king: he decreed that the Jews could legally defend themselves if they were attacked.

Esther 8:9 Haman's law lasted for 70 days, as a symbol of the 70 years of the Babylonian captivity.

Esther 8:16,17 This is the reverse of the bad things of 4:3.

Esther 8:17 See section 2 of "TRUTH IN ACTION" at the end of Esther.

Esther 9:1-32 The Jews' Feast of Victory (HBH) The dates of the edict and the subsequent victory of the Jews were repeated by the author because they established the traditional calendar for the Feast of Purim (9:1,17-18,21). On the thirteenth day of Adar (Feb.-Mar.), the appointed day of Haman's plot (3:13), the Jews defeated their enemies. The nations feared the Jews, and local magistrates were favorably influenced by Mordecai's position in Xerxes' court. The king granted a second day of vengeance (the fourteenth of Adar). In Susa eight hundred were killed, and Haman's ten sons were hanged. Among all the provinces, the Jews killed seventy-five thousand (9:2-17).

This explained why Purim was celebrated in the city on the thirteenth and fourteenth and in the provinces on the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar (9:18-19). The author reiterated that the Jews, however, did not loot their enemies (9:10,15). The motivation for the purging was not economic but an avenging of crimes committed against the Jews. Mordecai gave the official decree establishing Purim (9:20-28). The feast was named Purim because of the pur ("lot") cast by Haman (9:26). The purpose of the feast was a memorial to Haman's wicked ploy, which returned "onto his own head" (9:25). To promote the feast Esther added her authority to a joint letter distributed with Mordecai (9:29-32).

Esther 9:1-17 The Jews had some nine months to prepare their defense (see 8:9). The the day appointed in the decree of Haman came (see 3:13) the Jews were well prepared for defending themselves, as indicated by the great number of people that they killed.

Esther 9:12 Or what more is your demand?: Esther is recompensed for fearing GOD and not persons, for interceding in favor of her people, for being prepared to sacrifice her life for others, and for complying with the biblical mandate to remain united with her own. GOD promises the same things to those who fulfill his purposes (see John 15:7).

Esther 9:18 The commemorative banquet in honor of the final episode of the battle in Shushan lasts two days. In the Feast of Purim, in which gifts are exchanged, there is rejoicing and the book of Esther is read; it's joyfully celebrated annually a month before the Passover.

LITERARY RICHES

Esther 9:28 generations, dor; Strong #1755: A generation; an age; a revolution of time, the duration of a life, or a portion of our life. This substantive appears around 160 times. It comes from the verb dur, which means "to dwell" or "to go around". Dor describes what a generation is: the cycle of life (whether from birth to death or from the moment in which a person is conceived until he has offspring). Therefore, dor doesn't represent a fixed number of years. The divine plan to celebrate GOD's works from generation to generation (Psa. 145:4) would have to be fulfilled by the progenitors who educate their children, like the authors of the Scriptures who continued praising the works of GOD in each generation of believers (Psa. 78:5-8).

Esther 10:1-3 Mordecai's Promotion (HBH) The story concludes in the way it began by describing the power and influence of Xerxes' kingdom. The author refers the reader to the official records of the empire where a full account of the kingdom and the role played by Mordecai could be examined (10:1-2; compare I Kings 14:19; 15:7). Mordecai contributed to the prosperity of the empire and cared for the Jews' welfare (10:3). The greatness of Mordecai vindicated the Jews as a people. Their heritage was not a threat to the Gentiles, but rather through Mordecai and the Jews the empire enjoyed peace.

Esther 10:1 Emphasis is made of Ahaseurus' imposition of forced labor in all the kingdom as a show of his power, obviously very great, but not as much as the power with which GOD worked through Esther and Mordecai. Their wills are submissive to GOD, their hearts are humble, their unity of purpose notable and their GOD victorious.

Esther 10:3 See section 2 of "TRUTH IN ACTION" at the end of Esther.

Theological and Ethical Significance (HBH) Our modern experience of GOD is more like that of the Book of Esther than that of many Old Testament books. In Esther, GOD worked behind the scenes to bring about deliverance for His people. GOD did not bring deliverance through spectacular plagues or a miracle at the sea as in the exodus. Rather, GOD worked through a courageous old man who refused to abandon his principles and a courageous woman who valued the lives of her people more than her own life. The Book of Esther calls us to look at the lives of people committed to GOD if we want to know what GOD is doing to bring about deliverance in our own world.

The outlook for Mordecai and the Jews looked bleak through much of Esther. Today we may fell that GOD has abandoned us or that it is not profitable to be on the LORD's side. The last chapters of Esther brought about GOD's reversal of circumstances. We should live our lives with a view to how our story is going to end. Someday every knee will bow "and every tongue confess that Jesus is LORD" (Phil. 2:10-11). What occasioned fasting and anxious prayer will be forgotten in heaven's feasting (compare Rom. 8:18).

As Christians our power and influence should be used for righteous purposes and not for self-gratification. Power is a gift from GOD to be used for the benefit of His people and His creation. Christian citizenship demands involvement in the affairs of the state. Anti-Semitism and other forms of racial and religious bigotry easily lead to dangerous abuses of power. Today's Christians, like Esther, must be courageous in opposing such abuses.

Questions for Reflection (HBH)

1. What is the proper relationship between religion and politics?
2. What does the story of Esther teach about evil and suffering?
3. What godly traits does Mordecai exemplify?
4. What is the purpose of fasting?
5. What does this tory teach about the care of GOD for His people?

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