Esther 9:14

Est 9:14 And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman’s ten sons.

Ver. 14. And the king commanded it so to be done] He feared not that thereupon the people would rise and call him tyrant to his teeth; as when Bajazet II had cast Achmetes Bassa into prison, the janizaries in an uproar insolently answered the Great Turk, that they would by and by teach him, as a drunkard, a beast, and a rascal, to use his great place and calling with more sobriety and discretion (Turk. Hist. fol. 444). Ahasuerus well enough knew his own power, and was therefore the more bold in disposing, after this manner, of the lives of his subjects, who were ready to say to him, as once Tiberius did to Justinus, Si tu volueris, ego sum; si tu non vis, ego non sum; If you are willing, I am, if you are not willing, I am not. I am wholly yours to command.

And the decree was given at Shushan] Dictum, concessum, illico factum. Spoken, agreed, immediately done. The king was not willing to cross Esther in anything, saith Josephus.

And they hanged Haman’s ten sons] For greater ignominy and terror to others. Thus God commanded the heads of the twelve princes of Israel to be hanged up against the sun, Num 25:4. Joshua hanged the king of Ai upon a gallows until the evening, Jos 8:29, and after that the five kings of the Amorites, Jos 10:27 God hanged up Absalom with his own bare hand.

Absalon marte furens pensilis arbore obit.

Absalon died in a tree fighting punished for his rage.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9:14 So the king agreed, and the decree was announced in Susa: It was not in the king’s interest for there to be warring parties within the palace plotting to kill one another.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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 Est 9:7.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

They hanged the ten sons of Haman. Exposure on a cross was regarded as a deep disgrace, and was a punishment often inflicted by the Persians on persons killed in some other way (see Herod., 3:125; 7:238; Xen., "Anab.," 3. 1, Pint., "Vit. Artax.,"

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The king commanded it so to be done. "Then was a decree given at Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman." The decree given in Susa does not refer to the hanging of the sons of Haman, but to the permission given to the Jews to fight against their enemies on the morrow also. This is required not only by a comparison of Est 8:13, but also by the connection of the present verse; for in consequence of this decree the Jews assembled on the 14th Adar (comp. ויּקּהלוּ, then they assembled themselves, Est 9:15), while the hanging of the sons of Haman, on the contrary, is related in an accessory clause by a simple perfect, תּלוּ.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

and a decree was given a statute was decreed.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.