Esther 9:21

Est 9:21 To stablish [this] among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,

Ver. 21. To establish this among them] sc. By a law, that they should yearly on those two days rest, and repeat among themselves that signal deliverance, propagating the remembrance of it to all posterity. Mordecai well knew that eaten bread is soon forgotten, that deliverances are usually but nine days’ wonderment, that it is easy and ordinary with people to rob God and wrong themselves by their unthankfulness, which forfeiteth former mercies and forestalleth future, he therefore settleth it upon them, saith the text, statuendo eis ut facerent, he exacteth it of them by virtue of his office.

That they should keep the fourteenth day, and the fifteenth day] Both days, nam gaudet produci haec solennitas, for he rejoices to promote these feasts, as Austin said of the feast of Pentecost, such a solemnity should be drawn out to the full length, as the silkworm stretcheth forth herself before she spinneth her finest thread. Jehoshaphat and his people showed themselves unsatisfiable in their praises, which they presented again and again, 2Ch 20:26-27. And good Hezekiah, when he observed in his subjects such a float of affections at the passover, and that they were in so good a frame, took counsel with them to keep other seven days, and they kept other seven days with gladness, 2Ch 30:21-23. See with what a flood of words holy David poureth forth his soul in prayer, Psa 145:1-8, as if therewith he would even fill up the distance between God and himself. Sometimes he seemeth to forget himself in point of praising God; for he will, like a bird, having got a note, record it over and over, as Psa 136:1-26. And in the last psalm there are but six verses yet twelve hallelujahs. He concludeth, Let everything that hath breath, or, Let every breath praise the Lord, let it be as the smoke of the tabernacle, when peace offerings were offered. Tam Dei meminisse opus est quam respirare, saith Chrysostom, We have as much need to remember God as to take breath.

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.

Est 9:21. To establish this — to keep the fourteenth day, and the fifteenth day of the month Adar — The twelfth month; just a month before the passover. Thus the first and the last month of the year were kept in remembrance of the days when God preserved them. They were enjoined to keep two days together, because both those days had been set apart this year, the latter at Shushan, and the former in other parts; and because that victory over their enemies, which was to be the ground of this festival, had been achieved on both the thirteenth and fourteenth days. Let us not be niggardly in our returns of praise to him, who bestows his favours so liberally upon us.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(21) And the fifteenth day of the same.—The Jews in the provinces had already made the fourteenth day a day of gladness and feasting. Mordecai now bids that the fifteenth also be so kept.

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

And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them. They engaged to keep these two days as festivals annually, as they had at this time done; not in a religious but in a civil way, not as parts of religious worship, and as additions to and innovations of the law, but by way of commemoration of a civil benefit which they had received; and yet we find in later times that this was scrupled by some as an innovation; for we are told (r) that there were eighty five elders, and more than thirty of them prophets, who were distressed about this matter, fearing it was an innovation.

(r) T. Hieros. Megillah. fol. 70. 4.

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

Receive. Protestants, "establish this among them, that they should keep the 14th....yearly," 2 Machabees xv. 37. (Haydock) --- None were obliged to keep more than one of these days, according to their respective dwellings. The 14th was for the provinces, the 15th for the Jews of Susan, ver. 18. (Tirinus) (Calmet) (Worthington) --- Yet it would seem that both days were enjoined, ver. 27, 28. (Haydock) --- The Jews still observe, them, as they gratify their vanity and vindictive spirit. The 13th is kept a rigid fast, for all above sixteen, for twenty-four hours, during which they eat nothing. (Calmet) --- If that day should be a sabbath, or its eve, they fast on the 11th or 12th. (Drusius) --- The day before the festival they give alms to their poor brethren, enjoining them to consume the whole in making good cheer. Each person must then contribute the half sicle, (Exodus xxx. 13.) which is bestowed on those who undertake a pilgrimage to the land of promise. At night, when the feast commences, they light the lamps, and begin to read the Book of Esther, as soon as the stars appear. They use an old parchment manuscript roll, and, in the five places, the reader shouts with all his might, running over the names of the ten sons of Aman with all haste, to shew that they all died in a moment. Whenever Aman is mentioned, the children beat the benches with mallets; and formerly they used to strike at a stone, on which his name was cut, till it broke, ver. 31. After the lecture, they take a repast at home. Early the next morning they return to the synagogue, and read the account of Amalec from the Pentateuch, and repeat the Book of Esther, with the aforesaid ceremonies. The rest of the day they spend in merriment. Their teachers allow them to drink till they are unable to distinguish the name of Aman from that of Mardochai. (Basnage, vi. 15.) --- They also change clothes, in contradiction to the law; (Deuteronomy xxii. 5.) and were formerly accustomed to crucify a man of straw, which they burnt with the cross, till Christian emperors put a stop to them; as it was concluded, from their curses, &c., that they had an eye to our Saviour. (Calmet) See chap. v. 14. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Because both these days had been set apart this year, the latter at Shushan, the former in other parts; and because that great work of God, which was the ground of this solemnity, had been done both upon the thirteenth and the fourteenth day.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. To establish this among them — That is, to establish or appoint the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar as an annual feast of joy and gladness.

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

To stablish. i.e. "with a view to establishing not actually doing so.

Vers. 21, 27, 28, 31.

The religion of national gratitude.

Mordecai and Esther were not the people to receive great blessings and then at once to forget them. We not unfrequently see those who have had hair-breadth escapes from the worst of calamities recover in a moment their previous light and jaunty spirits. They seem insensible to the risk which had so imperilled them, and certainly are not grateful for the mercy which had rescued them. They do not return either to give thanks to man or glory to God. It is far otherwise now with Mordecai, with Esther, and, at their initiative, with the mass of the people. Wherever Mordecai had sent to his people the messages of relief and the warrants to resist, there he now sends proposals which, if acceded to, will insure the perpetual memory of their deliverance, and will suggest ever new gratefulness for it. Esther joins heart and hand in the same, and the people themselves warmly approve the suggestion. They solemnly and enthusiastically adopt the proposal. They "undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written to them." The method of observing an anniversary to all generations is accepted as the means by which "the memorial" of their deliverance "shall never perish" from them or "their seed." It is evident that a deep religious interest was thrown into this matter, and the account of it is repeated as many as four times, and with minuteness of detail. The example is good for individuals. The precedent is good for nations. We have here

I A LEADING INSTANCE OF NATIONAL GRATITUDE. There is great danger of the fit occasions of national gratitude passing by unimproved. This may often arise simply from the fact that "what is every one"s business is no one"s." The danger needs to be counteracted, and sometimes it is effectually counteracted. Three conditions present, will exhibit, the fair and happy display of national gratitude.

1. The benefit must be in its character such as reaches the heart. Whethercheap bread, cheap health, or cheap Bible; whether free laws, free knowledge, or free conscience, it must be what is adapted to all, and can be appreciated by all. The blessing called life had perhaps never been considered in this light by the Jews till they were so near to losing it. But it was what every one of them, young and old, and of every class, appreciated.

2. The benefit must be such as has reached, either directly or indirectly,every class of the people. In highly-developed communities it should form part of the self-imposed work of all kinds of public and religious teachers to show the value of benefits which may be only indirect, and how they claim gratitude. In the present instance, the benefit for which such gladness and joy had sprung up had penetrated not only to every class, but to every individual.

3. The call to celebrate the benefit must be made so as to win the heartyapproval and co-operation of the people. The moral influence of Mordecai and Esther was evidently very great. Their own example, their own deep interest in the course suggested, was contagious. The urgency with which they wrote helped to throw conviction of duty and enthusiasm toward its performance into the hearts of all the people. God never loves a cheerful giver more than when the cheerful giving is in very simple matters that of thanks, or praise, or grateful adoration presented to himself.

II A SOLEMN RESOLUTION FOR THE PERPETUATION OF NATIONAL GRATITUDE. Much kindly feeling passes away for want of embodiment. It dies down within, and there comes "no second spring" for it. Certainly gratitude is liable soon to die away. The most solemn claim of affection that the world knows is couched in the language of the claim of gratitude: "Do this in remembrance of me." In this perpetuation of national thanksgiving we may notice

1. The wise method by which it was obtained.

(1) The happy moment was seized by the moral leaders of the people for giving a religious character to the joy that already possessed them.

Mordecai made use of the excited state of feeling to say, Let it take the direction of thanksgiving.

(2) The right moment was seized, when the "willing mind" of a whole people would be inclined to make a day into an anniversary ever to be observed. After the people had once pronounced assent, as it were with one voice, and their chief men had put their hand to the engagement, they would not be likely to turn back. The resolution of that critical time has lasted and has borne fruit now over twenty-three centuries.

2. The good ends which it would serve. Love and thankfulness, and praiseand gratitude, are all alike in one respect, that they ask no utilitarian questions. Their motive lies in themselves. And probably it was never more so than in this history. Yet we are permitted to observe the many directions in which they bear good fruit. The perpetuation of national thanksgiving on the right occasion that is to say, not after every bloody battle, to which the Lord never sent forth his people; and in the right methodi.e. not in such a way as will gratuitously wound the feeling of another nation, is adapted to produce great and good results.

(1) The acknowledgment is a direct act of glorifying God.

(2) It keeps him in the memory of the people as the Giver of all good, as the Sovereign Ruler and the beneficent Friend.

(3) It reminds again and again of the need once felt so keenly, of the poverty once so trying, of the exceeding peril which once threatened, of the boundless relief once experienced. God"s people were bidden to remember how "they were bondsmen in Egypt," to "look to the rock whence they were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence they were digged." And these are the memories that chastise the pride of the human heart, and raise the tone and level of the character, and lead gradually nearer real safety and real prosperity. They are also the memories which for the future guide to the right source of confidence and of help. Of whatever advantage we know these things to be in any individual life, the advantage is one immensely multiplied in the case of a nation multiplied, that is, by the whole number of those who go together to compose it. B.

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