Esther 9:15

Est 9:15 For the Jews that [were] in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand.

Ver. 15. For the Jews that were in Shushan] They did not stand to cast perils or frame excuses, but with singular courage and constancy went an end with the work, whereunto they saw themselves to be rightly called by God and man, keeping themselves still within the compass of the king’s edict, and so carrying the matter, that those that were slain were judged by their own fellow citizens to have deservedly perished.

And slew three hundred men at Shushan] Besides the former five hundred. All these, with Haman, their chieftain, might have lived long in honour and safety could they have kept them quiet. But, by the just and secret judgment of God, they kindled a fire with great force, that consumed themselves, according to that in the prophet Isaiah, Isa 33:10-12, "Now will I rise, saith the Lord of recompenses; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you. And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burnt in the fire."

But on the prey they laid not, &c.] See Est 9:10.

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.

9:15 Once again, the Jews took the high moral ground and took no plunder from their enemies, though it was legally permitted (8:11; 9:10).

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

Verse 15. And slew three hundred men] Esther had probably been informed by Mordecai that there were still many enemies of the Jews who sought their destruction, who had escaped the preceding day; and, therefore, begs that this second day be added to the former permission. This being accordingly granted, they found three hundred more, in all eight hundred. And thus Susa was purged of all their enemies.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(15) For the Jews . . .—Translate, And the Jews.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 (l), mourning and fasting on this day were forbidden, but feasting and gladness were to be multiplied.

(l) Lebush, c. 697. Schulchan Aruch, par. 1. c. 697.

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

Shushan - Here probably the lower town, which lay east of the upper one, and was of about the same size (compare the Est 9:6 note).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. Slew three hundred men at Shushan — Making, with the five hundred of the previous day, eight hundred slain at this capital city. We understand that, as Esther suspected, there were in Shushan many desperate persons who had resolved not to let the matter stop with the thirteenth of Adar, and so recommenced the fight on the next day. The result was the death of these three hundred men.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For the Jews. Rather, and the Jews," or so the Jews." The Hebrew has the vau conjunctive, which is here certainly expressive of a sequence, or consequence.

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

On this second day the Jews slew 300 more; comp. Est 9:10. - Est 9:16. The rest of the Jews in the provinces, i.e., the Jews in the other parts of the kingdom, assembled themselves and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes 75,000, but upon the spoil they laid not their hand. על עמד like Est 8:11. The מאיביהם ונוח inserted between על נ ועמד and והרוג is striking; we should rather have expected the resting or having rest from their enemies after the death of the latter, as in Est 9:17 and Est 9:18, where this is plainly stated to have taken place on the day after the slaughter. The position of these words is only explained by the consideration, that the narrator desired at once to point out how the matter ended. The narrative continues in the infin. abs. instead of expressing this clause by the infin. constr., and so causing it to be governed by what precedes. Thus - as Ew. 351, c, remarks - all the possible hues of the sentence fade into this grey and formless termination (viz., the use of the infin. absol. instead of the verb. fin.). This inaccuracy of diction does not justify us, however, in assuming that we have here an interpolation or an alteration in the text. The statement of the day is given in Est 9:17, and then the clause following is again added in the inf. absol.: "and they rested on the 14th day of the same (of Adar), and made it a day of feasting and gladness."

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.)

the fourteenth day of the month of Adar

See how you translated a similar phrase in Esther 3:13.

laid no hands on the plunder

Laying their hands on things represents taking them. AT: "took none of the plunder" or "did not take any of the plunder" (See: Metonymy)

seventy-five thousand

"75,000" (See: Numbers)

they did not lay their hands on the valuables of those they killed

Laying their hands on things represents taking them. AT: "they did not take any of the valuables of the people they killed" (See: Metonymy)

valuables

"valuable things" or "possessions"

translationWords

day

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.