Then the king’s scribes were called in on the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month; and all that Haman commanded was written to the king’s local governors, and to the governors who were over every province, and to the princes of every people, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus, and it was sealed with the king’s ring.
Parallel Translations
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Then the king’s scribes were called in on the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month; and all that Haman commanded was written to the king’s local governors, and to the governors who were over every province, and to the princes of every people, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus, and it was sealed with the king’s ring.
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Then were the king’s scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king’s ring.
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Then were the king's scribes called in the first month, on the thirteenth day thereof, and there was written, according to all that Haman commanded, unto the king's satraps, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the princes of every people; to every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and it was sealed with the king's ring.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Esther 3:12 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Kings 21:8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were in his city, who lived with Naboth.
- Esther 1:22 for he sent letters into all the king’s provinces, into every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language, that every man should rule his own house, speaking in the language of his own people.
- Ezra 8:36 They delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s local governors, and to the governors beyond the River. So they supported the people and God’s house.
- Esther 8:2 The king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
- Esther 8:8-17 Write also to the Jews, as it pleases you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring; for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may not be reversed by any man.” Then the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month Sivan, on the twenty-third day of the month; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the local governors, and the governors and princes of the provinces which are from India to Ethiopia, one hundred twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language, and to the Jews in their writing, and in their language. He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king’s ring, and sent letters by courier on horseback, riding on royal horses that were bred from swift steeds. In those letters, the king granted the Jews who were in every city to gather themselves together, and to defend their life, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, their little ones and women, and to plunder their possessions, on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that the Jews should be ready for that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. So the couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king’s commandment. The decree was given out in the citadel of Susa. Mordecai went out of the presence of the king in royal clothing of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple; and the city of Susa shouted and was glad. The Jews had light, gladness, joy, and honor. In every province, and in every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness, joy, a feast, and a good day. Many from among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews was fallen on them.
- Esther 9:27 the Jews established and imposed on themselves, and on their descendants, and on all those who joined themselves to them, so that it should not fail that they would keep these two days according to what was written, and according to its appointed time, every year;
- Daniel 6:8 Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn’t alter.”
- Daniel 6:12 Then they came near, and spoke before the king concerning the king’s decree: “Haven’t you signed a decree that every man who makes a petition to any god or man within thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered, “This thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn’t alter.”
- Daniel 6:15 Then these men assembled together to the king, and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no decree nor statute which the king establishes may be changed.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Or, secretaries.
Or, secretaries.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Est 3:12 Then were the king’s scribes called on…
Est 3:12 Then were the king’s scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors that [were] over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and [to] every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king’s ring.
Ver. 12. Then were the king’s scribes called] Then, presently upon it, so soon as the word was out of the king’s mouth, licet quod libet, the scribes were called, and all things despatched with all possible haste, art, and industry. So Judas, what he did, did quickly; he was up and at it, when Peter and the rest of the apostles were found asleep. The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light; for why? they have the devil to help them, and to prick them on; and hence their restlessness.
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On the thirteenth day of the first month] Soon after they had begun to cast lots, Est 3:7.
And there was written according to all that Haman had commanded] Right or wrong, that was never once questioned by these overly officious officers. If the king commanded it, and Haman will have it so, the secretaries and rulers (those servile souls) are ready to say, as Tiberius once did to Justinus, Si tu volueris, ego sum; si tu non vis, ego non sum. If you are willing, so am I, if you are not willing, so am I. Or as he in Lucan did to Caesar,
Iussa sequi, tam velle mihi, quam posse, necesse.
We are wholly at your devotion and dispose. We are only your clay and wax, &c. It is not for us to take upon us as counsellors, but only to write what is dictated unto us, &c. But this was no sufficient excuse for them before God; as neither was it for Doeg, that he was commanded to slay all the Lord’s priests, which Abner and others of Saul’s servants rightly and stoutly refused to do, 1Sa 22:18. A warrant once came down under seal for Lady Elizabeth’s execution, while she was prisoner at Woodstock; Stephen Gardiner, like another Haman, being the chief engineer. But Mr. Bridges, her keeper, mistrusting false play, presently made haste to the queen, who renounced and reversed it. So might Ahasuerus haply have done this bloody edict, had his officers showed him the iniquity of it. But they took not this to be any part of their business; or if any one of them should be more conscientious, yet he might be surprised by a sudden onset, as the Lord Cromwell, when, by the instigation of Gardiner, he was commanded by King Henry VIII to read the sentence of death against Lambert the martyr, whereof he repented afterwards, sending for Lambert, and asking him forgiveness, as Mr Fox relateth.
And to every people after their language] See Est 1:22.
In the name of the king Ahasuerus] For more authority’ sake, and that Haman’s malice and cruelty might lie hid under the king’s cloak. So Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab’s name against Naboth; so the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites in the name of their king; the Jews pretended to be all for Caesar, when they sought and sucked our Saviour’s blood. The Popish persecutors here did all in Queen Mary’s name, when as it might be said to her, as Josephus doth of Queen Alexandra among the Jews, Ipsa solum nomen regium ferebat, &c., She had the name only of queen, but the Pharisees ruled the kingdom; so did the bishops in those days; and some of them would have done the like in ours, and that was their downfall; after that, as rotten teeth, they had put the king and kingdom to a great deal of misery.
And sealed with the king’s ring] Lest it should by any means be reversed, Dan 6:8; Dan 6:12-13. Of the right antiquity, use, and matter of rings let them that will, read Plin. lib. 33, cap. 1; 37, 1; Macrob. lib. 1; Saturn. cap. 13; Alexand. ab Alex. lib. 2. genial dier.; Rhodig. lib. 6, cap. 12.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Then were the king’s scribes called: this he did…
Then were the king’s scribes called: this he did so speedily, though it was a year before the intended execution, lest the king should change his mind, either by his own clemency, or by the persuasion of others.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Then were the king's scribes called, on the thirteenth…
Then were the king's scribes called, on the thirteenth day of the first month,.... The month Nisan, Est 3:7, after Haman had leave and power from the king to destroy the Jews, and his ring given him in token of it; the king's scribes or secretaries of state were called together on that day, to write the letters for that purpose:
and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded; whatever he would have done; he had an unlimited power to do what he pleased, and he made use of it, and directed the scribes what they should write:
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unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province; the deputy governors of the one hundred and twenty seven provinces, Est 1:1
and to the rulers of every people of every province; it seems there were different people in every province, which had their rulers; and these were sent to:
according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; and letters were written in the language, and character of the language, each people spoke, that they might be understood by them:
in the name of King Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring. All this Haman took care to have done so early as the thirteenth of Nisan, though the execution was not to be until the thirteenth of Adar, eleven months after; partly that there might be time enough to send the letters everywhere, even to the most distant parts; and chiefly lest Ahasuerus should change his mind, and be prevailed upon to revoke his grant; and, it may be, either to keep the Jews in continual dread, or cause them to flee.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 12. Unto the king's lieutenants] אחשדרפני achashdarpeney. This…
Verse 12. Unto the king's lieutenants] אחשדרפני achashdarpeney. This is in all probability another Persian word, for there is nothing like it in the Hebrew language, nor can it be fairly deduced from any roots in that tongue. The Vulgate translates ad omnes satrapas regis, to all the satraps of the king. It is very likely that this is the true sense of the word, and that the אחשדרפני achsadrapani, as it may be pronounced, is the Chaldee or Hebrew corruption of the Persian word [Persian] satraban, the plural of [Persian] satrab, a Persian peer, though the word is now nearly obsolete in the Persian language; for since the conquest of Persia by Mohammedanism, the names of officers are materially changed, as something of Islamism is generally connected with the titles of officers both civil and military, as well as religious.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Est 3:12-13. Then were the king’s scribes called —…
Est 3:12-13. Then were the king’s scribes called — This he did so speedily, though it was a year before the intended execution, lest the king should change his mind, either through his own clemency, or the persuasion of others. It was, however, not wisely judged to let his design be known so long before it was to take effect; for the Jews might find some way to deliver themselves, or might steal out of the kingdom: but undoubtedly this was so ordered by the overruling providence of God. And to take the spoil of them for a prey — Which was to induce the people to use the greater severity and readiness to execute this edict for their own advantage.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On the thirteenth day - Haman had, apparently (compare…
On the thirteenth day - Haman had, apparently (compare Est 3:7 with Est 3:13), obtained by his use of the lot the 13th day of Adar as the lucky day for destroying the Jews. This may have caused him to fix on the 13th day of another month for the commencement of his enterprise. So, the Jews throughout the empire had from 9 to 11 months of warning of the peril which threatened them.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Lieutenants. Literally, "satraps." Hebrew achashdarpene, "courtiers," (Haydock) or those…
Lieutenants. Literally, "satraps." Hebrew achashdarpene, "courtiers," (Haydock) or those who are int he presence of his majesty, or porters. (Calmet) --- They were entrusted with the care of the different provinces. (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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Then were the king's scribes called . . .…
Then were the king's scribes called . . . and there was written--The government secretaries were employed in making out the proclamation authorizing a universal massacre of the Jews on one day. It was translated into the dialects of all the people throughout the vast empire, and swift messengers were sent to carry it into all the provinces. On the day appointed, all Jews were to be put to death and their property confiscated; doubtless, the means by which Haman hoped to pay his stipulated tribute into the royal treasury. To us it appears unaccountable how any sane monarch could have given his consent to the extirpation of a numerous class of his subjects. But such acts of frenzied barbarity have, alas! been not rarely authorized by careless and voluptuous despots, who have allowed their ears to be engrossed and their policy directed by haughty and selfish minions, who had their own passions to gratify, their own ends to serve.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 12. The king’s scribes — See note on 2Sa_8:17.
12. The king’s scribes — See note on 2Sa_8:17.
The thirteenth day — Having fixed on the thirteenth of Adar (Est_3:13) for the execution of his bloody design, he seems to have purposely selected the corresponding day of the first month for the beginning of his work.
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Lieutenants — Satraps. See note on Ezr_8:36.
Governors — Or prefects. On this word, which is rendered deputies in Est_8:9; Est_9:3, see notes, Ezr_5:3 and 2Ki_18:24.
Rulers — Or princes.
The writing… their language — See note on chap. Est_1:22.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 12. scribes] secretaries, such as attended Xerxes in his…
12. scribes] secretaries, such as attended Xerxes in his expedition against Greece.[70]
[70] Herodotus says that “seated beneath a golden awning [in a Sidonian galley] he sailed along the prows of all his vessels … while he made enquiries again, as he had done when he reviewed the land-force, and caused the answers to be recorded by his scribes” (Herod. vii. 100). Again, “During the whole time of the battle [of Salamis] Xerxes sat at the base of the hill called Aegaleos, over against Salamis, and whenever he saw any of his own captains perform any worthy exploit, he enquired concerning him, and the man’s name was taken down by his scribes, together with the names of his father and his city” (viii. 90).
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in the first month, on the thirteenth day thereof] The thirteenth having been found to be a lucky day for the massacre itself, Haman may have thought it advisable to choose the same day of the first month for entering upon the preparation for it.
satraps] A.V. lieutenants. The original word is aḥashdarpan, a Hebraised form of the word khshatrapava, which occurs in Persian inscriptions in the sense of governor. Our word satrap comes through the Græcised form (σατράπης) of the Persian word.
governors] Heb. pakhoth, plural of pekhah. The satrap held sway over a province, the pekhah over a smaller district or petty kingdom. The latter is a loan word from the Assyrian pakhâti, lord of a district. Nehemiah was a pekhah (Neh_5:14).
the princes] A.V. the rulers. These were the chiefs of the conquered peoples. The Persians in this respect followed the same course which we have adopted in India, and placed a good deal of power in the hands of the existing native rulers.
in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written] See on Est_3:10.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (12) On the thirteenth day of the first month.—From…
(12) On the thirteenth day of the first month.—From the next verse we see that the thirteenth of Adar was to be the lucky day for Haman’s purpose, which may have suggested the thirteenth of Nisan as a suitable day for this preliminary step. Bishop Wordsworth reminds us that this day was the eve of the Passover, so that Haman’s plot against the Jews strangely coincides in time with one five hundred years later, when the Jews themselves, aided by heathen hands and the powers of darkness, sought to vanquish the Saviour; and as the trembling Jews of Persia were delivered by God’s goodness, so too by His goodness Satan himself was overthrown and the Lamb that was slain did triumph.
Lieutenants.—Literally, satraps. The Hebrew word here (akhashdarpan) is simply an attempt to transliterate the Persian khahatrapa, Whence the Greek satrapes, and so the English word. The word occurs several times in this book and in Ezra and Daniel.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Then were the king"s scribes called. "Scribes (in the…
Then were the king"s scribes called. "Scribes (in the plural) are spoken of as attending on Xerxes throughout the Grecian expedition (Herod., 7:100; 8:90). Such persons were always near at hand in the palace, ready to draw up edicts. On the thirteenth day of the first month. It is conjectured that Haman cast his lots on the first day of the year (Berthcau), as an auspicious time for taking anything in hand, and having obtained a thirteenth day for the massacre, adopted the same number as probably auspicious for the necessary appeal to the king. Having gained the king s consent, he sent at once for the scribes. The king"s lieutenants. Literally, "the king"s satraps. " The actual Persian word is used, slightly Hebraised. And to the governors. The word used has been compared with pasha (Stanley), and again with beg or bey, but is probably distinct from either. It designates a provincial governor of the second rank-one who.would have been called by the Greeks uJposatraphv. The number of these subordinate officials was probably much greater than that of the satraps. And to the rulers of every people. i.e. the native authorities the head men of the conquered peoples, to whom the Persian system allowed a considerable share of power. In the name of king Ahasuerus was it written. All edicts were in the king"s name, even when a subject had been allowed to issue them. See the story of Bagseus in Herodotus (iii. 128), where the edicts, of which he alone was the author, have the form of orders from the king. And sealed with the king"s ring. Or "signet" (see note on ver. 10).
Vers. 12-15.
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Heartless counsels of destruction.
History records many massacres, and the record is among the saddest and most sickening chapters of human annals. Most of these massacres have arisen from political fears and jealousies, or from religious hatred and bigotry. The proposed massacre of the Jews throughout the Persian empire took its origin from personal pique and pride a motive even more contemptible than the others. Happily, the proposal and purpose of Haman were defeated. Still it may be well to regard the nefarious proposal of the king"s favourite and counsellor as an illustration of the possible wickedness of the human heart.
I The EXTENT Of the contemplated massacre. The Jews were scattered throughout all the provinces of the empire; and to all the provinces the letters commanding to slay them were transmitted by the posts, hastened by the king"s commandment.
II The UNIVERSALITY Of the contemplated massacre. "Both young and old, little children and women," were to be slain.
III The SIMULTANEOUSNESS of the contemplated massacre. The bloody work was to be done in one day the thirteenth day of the twelfth month.
IV The GREED accompanying the massacre. The spoil of them was to be taken for a prey. The king had given to Haman beforehand the silver for himself. Admire the wisdom and mercy of God which discomfited these evil plans, and brought their authors to confusion.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Then were the kings scribes called on the thirteenth…
Est_3:12-15
Then were the kings scribes called on the thirteenth day.
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Fruitless preparations
I. Here is unseemly haste.
II. Here are inconsistent precursory measures. Wickedness renders a man inconsistent. Revenge impelled to action, but conscience still spoke in reproving tones. All must be done according to law. Obedience to the eternal law of right is the only method by which human lives can be rendered consistent and harmonious.
III. Here is a low estimate of human life, shown--
1. In the unmethodical nature of the slaughter designed.
2. In the indiscriminate nature of the slaughter designed.
3. In the rapacity after property. Life versus property. This decree is one of the unwritten decrees of modern civilisation.
IV. Here is wickedness bolstered up by human authority. Learn--
1. Great men should try to get a true idea of the importance of human life.
2. Statesmen should remember that the true wealth of a community is its men.
3. All ought to remember that life is ignoble when passion is allowed to rule. (W. Burrows, B. A.)
Persian postal facilities
The postal service for that age was exceedingly good, but only the king could take advantage of it. Indeed, it was one of the means used by him for the government of the empire, and was very largely, according to Herodotus, the device of this same Xerxes. Along the chief lines of travel he established, at intervals of fourteen miles, post-houses, at each of which relays of horses and couriers were always in readiness. One of these messengers, receiving an official document, rode with it at his utmost speed to the next post-house, where it was taken onward by another courier with another horse, and in this way a proclamation like that here described would reach the farthest limits of the empire in five or six weeks. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Est_3:12.] The scribes of Xerxes are mentioned more than…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Est_3:12.] The scribes of Xerxes are mentioned more than once by Herodotus. They appear to have been in constant attendance on the monarch, ready to indite his edicts, or to note down any occurrences which he desired to have recorded.—Rawlinson. אַתַשְדַּוְפָנִים and פַחוֹת are here placed together, the satraps of the larger provinces and the rulers among the separate peoples of the provinces. The שָרִים are the native so-called born princes of the different people.
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Est_3:13.] By the runners, by whom they were sent, are meant the posts, the angari or preasmen, who were posted on the main roads of the empire at definite distances from each other, from four to seven parasangs, and who rapidly expedited the royal (mails) letters or commands. The three verbs—to destroy, to kill, and cause to perish—are combined to give strength to the expression. שְׁלָלָם is their property, which is called spoil because it was delivered up to plunder.
Est_3:14.] By the issue of the decree at this time (the first month) the Jews throughout the empire had from nine to eleven months’ warning of the peril which threatened them. So long a notice is thought to be “incredible,” and the question is asked, Why did they not then quit the kingdom? In reply we may say,
(1) That many of them may have quitted the kingdom; and,
(2) That those who remained may have believed, with Mordecai, that enlargement and deliverance would arise from some quarter or other. As to its being improbable that Haman should give such long notice, we may remark that Haman only wished to be quit of Mordecai, and that the flight of the Jews would hare served his purpose quite as well as their massacre.—Rawlinson.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH. Est_3:12-14
FRUITLESS PREPARATIONS
Haman had no regard to the contingency of human affairs. He was blind to the fact that it is not in man’s power to control events, and arrange for the future. He had not learnt the wise man’s lesson—“Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” To-morrow is a humiliating term often to those who have far-reaching designs. To-morrow never comes when we work under the guidance of human arrogance. It never comes exactly as we purposed. The seed may flourish to-morrow, but the sower has perished; or the seed which he has sown flourishes to his destruction. Enjoy thyself, Haman, to-day, call forth thy scribes, send forth thy bloody edicts, for to-morrow is coming with crushing doom! We all need to look into the future in order to read the lesson of our weakness.
I. Here is unseemly haste. No sooner had Haman received the king’s permission than he goes forth to his work of revenge. He is in a hurry to set in operation the plans which should work to the destruction of the despised race. There would have been propriety in Haman pausing and considering well before sending forth the orders which were intended to work such vast mischief. Better still if Haman had said, “This scheme is an unworthy one. I am compromising my dignity and my manhood. I will go back to the king, and undo the evil I have sought to accomplish.” Better think twice before committing ourselves to an unworthy action.
II. Here are inconsistent precursory measures. The bad are always inconsistent. Their lives are not harmonious. Wickedness renders a man inconsistent. The good in man, or at least the voice of conscience, works against or speaks against the evil. There would be times when Haman would feel the dreadful nature of the enterprise upon which he had set his heart. Revenge impelled to action, but conscience still spoke in reproving tones. We have pictured Haman as the revengeful man, being willing to wait in order that there might be the more signal display of his malicious power; but here we find him proceeding in regular method, as if to justify his deeds. It may be, however, that Haman was afraid of his own position. If we have given him credit for too much conscientiousness, we cannot easily charge him with too much selfishness. All must be done according to law, that Haman’s enemies may not in the future have the power of charging him with open-handed crime. Obedience to the eternal law of right is the only method by which human lives can be rendered consistent and harmonious.
III. Here is a low estimate of human life. This is one of the strange anomalies, that great men, as the world accounts greatness, think so little of human life. Is ambition to be fed?—human lives must be slaughtered. Is revenge to have its way?—human lives must be sacrificed. Kings, conquerors, and statesmen have regarded no life as precious which stood in the way of their ambitious schemes. Haman was bad, but there are more Hamans than we think of in the historical records. The low estimate of life is here shown—(a) In the unmethodical nature of the slaughter designed. The three terms—to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish—may be employed to give intensity to the barbarous decree. But they also set forth the dreadful fact that the poor people were to be killed anyhow. Let the servants of revenge do their work after any fashion, so that it is done effectually, and the hated race are removed from the face of the earth. (b) In the indiscriminate nature of the slaughter designed. “All Jews, both young and old, little children and women.” Revenge would glut itself. The young and the fair, the beautiful and the innocent, the wise and the virtuous, must be slain, These bleating lambs, what have they done that the light of life must be quenched in its very dawn? (c) In the rapacity after property. The spoil of the slaughtered is to be taken for a prey. Life versus property. This decree is one of the unwritten decrees of modern civilization. Let the spoil of the slaughtered be taken for a prey. Men and women, fair maids, and even little children are slaughtered in order to increase property.
IV. Here is wickedness bolstered up by human authority. “The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day.” Wickedness wears a mask; it shrinks from the exposure of its own deformity. State policy requires the enormous sacrifice. Capital must have its due return. Business is business. The law of supply and demand must have its way, though that may be through human blood. These are some of the flimsy and false excuses with which sin dresses up itself in order to make a respectable appearance.
Great men should try to get a true idea of the importance of life. Such an idea might save them from mad and wicked enterprises. God has crowned life with an excellent glory. To preserve life nature yields her million products, and pours into the lap of man her myriad fruits;—to promote its welfare the sun bathes the world with his influences, and the component parts of the atmosphere are blended together in relative proportions;—and to increase its pleasures the flowers give forth their fragrance and show their beauty, hills and mountains rise in grandeur, sweet dales rest in their encircling embrace; the birds make the air vocal with their songs of praise; and the stars gem the midnight sky, forming a glorious canopy for man. For the development of man’s whole life time is not adequate, and eternity is the sphere in which an ever-expanding life shall work on to unknown heights of blessed perfection. Life is great, and high estimates ought to be formed of its worth. Statesmen should remember that the true wealth of a community is its men.
“Ill fares the land, to hast’ning ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.
Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade;
A breath can make them, as a breath has made;
But a bold peasantry, their country’s pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied.”
All ought to remember that life is ignoble when passion is allowed to rule. How many lives are thus rendered inglorious! Lives with fair opportunities for development are blasted by an overmastering passion. Lives with extensive prospects for usefulness are crushed by the influence of ignoble motives. What a position was that to which Haman was raised! How many might have blessed his memory! His name might have been lauded by the national orators, and sung by the national poets. But his name is scouted, and his memory is covered with opprobrium. The name of the wicked shall rot. The memory of the just only is blessed. Let passion then be subordinated to principle. Let the ambition be to be good and to do good. Let the honour that cometh from God be the supreme concern. And then, whether men bow or refuse to bow, the soul will be unruffled.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Est_3:12-14
The very circumstance which is urged as an objection to the truth of the narrative is rather to be regarded as an evidence of its trustworthiness. The Book of Esther does not contain any record of miraculous events. There are no wonders and prodigies in it, at which infidelity might carp, and with reference to which it might say that the writer must have drawn so largely upon his fancy in some places as to render suspicious what appears to be the record of simple matters of fact. The whole tenor and style of the book indicate that the writer of it acted the part of a historian who was concerned only to relate what actually took place; and if he had been a deceiver he certainly would not have laid himself open to an objection so very palpable as that under review, when it was in his power, by the mere alterations of dates, to make the whole narrative so plausible that not a flaw could be found in it. In a word, I consider the difficulty before us as an argument for the truth of the history. But further, it must be kept in mind that though the king’s scribes were called on the thirteenth day of the month to write the decree, it does not follow that the work was finished in a day. King Artaxerxes reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, as we read in the first chapter. Diverse languages and dialects were spoken in many of these provinces. The edict was given forth, we are told, “to the rulers of every people of every province, according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language.” The document had to be translated, then, into different languages, and a translation sent with the Persic original; and besides, there would, no doubt, be private communications dictated by Haman to the governors of the different provinces, containing directions as to the manner in which the bloody work was to be executed, and the spoils of the Jews disposed of; so that some considerable time would elapse before the royal decree could be sent out to the provinces. We learn, indeed, from the eighth chapter that it was the twentieth day of the third month before Mordecai obtained permission to counteract the design of Haman; and, making allowance for distance and modes of travelling, we may suppose that the sentence against the Jews had not even reached the more remote parts of the empire when the remission of it was resolved upon. But again, and more particularly, it is very obvious that we have to regard the whole transaction here as overruled in the providence of God for the good of his people and the confusion of their enemies. It is easy to say that there is an air of improbability in the whole story, because, even with a few months’ warning, the Jews would have had time to remove from the places where they were doomed to perish. But whither could they have gone? is one question. The Persian empire was so extensive that it would have been difficult for them to escape beyond its bounds and find a refuge elsewhere. Besides, how could they have fled, when no doubt there were orders issued to prevent their flight? We know that in persecuting times in France, and in our own country also, while the victims of persecution were warned that within a certain period no mercy would be shown to them, there were steps taken to prevent their escape; and even the attempt to escape was denounced as criminal. In the case which we have before us in the text the whole matter turns upon this point—that Haman got what he considered the favourable day for his enterprise fixed by a superstitious practice which he revered and believed to be infallible. Then, after this, he felt as if all were secure; and with a recklessness—or, as we might call it, an infatuation—such as there are many examples of in the perpetrators of heinous crimes, he proceeds to accomplish his purpose in a way which one would say was calculated to render it abortive, and to ruin himself.—Davidson.
Multitudes may have been in such a state of bondage as to make it impossible for any great number of them to escape; and as for others, it may have been expected and desired that some of them would leave the kingdom. But such as Mordecai, whom Haman especially wished to destroy, could not leave the kingdom, any more than Nehemiah, without permission from the king. It was also in keeping with Haman’s character to cause all the anguish and horror possible to the Jews in anticipation of the dreadful slaughter. Then we must remember that a wise Providence so overruled this whole procedure as to bring to nought the plans of the Jews’ enemy, and make his malignant hatred of the Jews the occasion of his ruin.—Whedon’s Commentary.
If the chronicles of Persia thus record an intended massacre of the Jews which appals us in its extent and atrocity, the chronicles of Spain, Italy, and France contain records of massacres of Protestants which equal it in unmitigated barbarity. Let us thank God that our lot has been cast in times of comparative quiet, when the spirit of persecution and bloodshed is afraid to manifest itself; and when the exhortation of the apostle is not rendered hard by a “reign of terror”—“Fear God, honour the king.”—McEwan.
“Where,” one is ready to ask, “will rulers find persons willing to execute such unreasonable and barbarous orders?” Executioners have seldom been wanting. Many are accustomed to do blindly whatever their superiors require, without inquiring whether it be right or wrong. Others act under the influence of fear; while a thousand passions—selfishness, avarice, malice, envy, strife, hatred to godliness, and the innate love of cruelty—take the opportunity of gratifying themselves under the covert of authority, and the pretext of executing its mandates.—McCrie.
Est_3:13. The malice of Haman could no more frustrate the ancient oracles relating to the Jews than it could pull the sun out of the firmament, and deprive the world of the light of day. “The sceptre was not to depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, till Shiloh should come.” The Shiloh was not yet come. Judah must, therefore, continue a distinct nation, under governors that proceeded from himself. Haman’s malice will be so far from finding the means of extirpating Judah, that the glory of that people, though eclipsed, must again shine forth as the morning.
Est_3:14. Haman caused the edict against the Jews to be published in the language of every people, that they might all be prepared to bear their part in the destruction of the Jews. But the enemies of Israel had one thing in view, and the God of Israel quite another. Haman intended to make the destruction of Judah as sure as possible, but God intended to make all nations attentive witnesses of his power and wisdom displayed in counteracting the designs of their enemies, and accomplishing their salvation. The effect of such an edict would be the fixing of all men’s attention on the event; and the event was to make it evident that there was no God like the God of Israel, nor any people on the earth so much the care of heaven as that nation which was held in abhorrence by Haman.—Lawson.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3
Est_3:13. The deliverance of Hubert de Burgo. We read in our Chronicles, that when King Henry III. had given commandment for the apprehending of Hubert de Burgo, earl of Kent, he fled into a church in Essex. They to whom the business was committed, finding him upon his knees before the high altar, with the sacrament in one hand, and a cross in the other, carried him away, nevertheless, unto the Tower of London. The bishop, taking this to be a great violence and wrong to the Church, would never leave the king until he had caused the earl to be carried back to the place whence he was fetched. This was done; and although order was taken he should not escape thence, yet it gave the king’s wrath a time to cool, and himself leisure to make proof of his innocency; by reason whereof he was afterwards restored to the king’s favour, and former places of honour. And the like befell these Jews ere the thirteenth of Adar; but Haman, blinded with pride and superstition, could not foresee it.—Trapp.
Est_3:13. Soldiers, not butchers. At the famous Bartholomew’s massacre, when the King of France sent his orders to the commanders in the different provinces to massacre the Huguenots, one of them returned him this answer: “In my district your Majesty has many brave soldiers, but no butchers.” That virtuous governor never felt any effects of the royal resentment. It is to be feared that few of the Persian governors would have given such proofs of virtuous courage if the king’s edict had not been reversed. We find none of all the governors of the provinces of the Babylonian empire that refused to bow their knees to the graven image which Nebuchadnezzar the king set up. The subjects of princes who rule with unlimited dominion are for the most part slaves both in body and in soul. They are taught from their earliest days, by the examples which they see around them, to consider their princes as gods on earth, whose will must not be disputed.—Lawson.
Est_3:14. Executioners. There is abundance of evidence that, in the middle ages, the office of public executioner was esteemed highly honourable all over Germany. It still is, in such parts of that country as retain the old custom of execution by stroke of sword, very far from being held discreditable to the extent to which we carry our feelings on the subject, and which exposed the magistrates of a Scotch town,—I rather think no less a one than Glasgow,—to a good deal of ridicule, when they advertised, some few years ago, on the occasion of the death of their hangman, that “none but persons of respectable character” need apply for the vacant situation. At this day, in China, in Persia, and probably in other Oriental kingdoms, the Chief Executioner is one of the great officers of state, and is as proud of the emblem of his fatal duty as any European Lord Chamberlain of his golden key.—Note to Anne of Geierstein.
No doubt very many of the subjects of Ahasuerus would be willing to become executioners, in order to secure the favour of the monarch, and to get a share of the spoil. They would get themselves ready against that day of intended slaughter.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 the king's scribes were summoned ... a decree containing…
the king's scribes were summoned ... a decree containing all that Haman had commanded was written
This can be stated in active form. AT: "the king summoned his scribes ... they wrote a decree containing all that Haman had commanded" (See: Active or Passive)
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thirteenth day of the first month
This is the first month of the Hebrew calendar. The thirteenth day is near the beginning of April on Western calendars. (See: Hebrew Months and Ordinal Numbers)
king's provincial governors
"governors of the provinces." Translate "province" as in Esther 1:1.
It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and was sealed with his ring
This can be stated in active form. AT: "They wrote the decree in the name of King Ahasuerus and Haman sealed it with the king's signet ring" (See: Active or Passive)
in the name of
Here "name" represents the authority of the king. AT: "in the authority of" (See: Metonymy)
Documents were hand-delivered by couriers
This can be translated in active form. AT: "Couriers hand-delivered the documents" or "Courtiers gave the documents directly" (See: Active or Passive)
annihilate, kill, and destroy
These words mean the same thing and emphasize the completeness of the destruction. AT: "completely destroy" (See: Doublet)
thirteenth day of the twelfth month
"day thirteen of month twelve" (See: Ordinal Numbers)
which is the month of Adar
"Adar" is the name of the twelfth and last month of the Hebrew calendar. The thirteenth day is near the beginning of March on Western calendars. (See: Hebrew Months and How to Translate Names)
plunder
steal by force
translationWords
scribe
day
written
govern
seal
Jew
possess
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 3:12 So on April 17: Haman’s choice of the…
3:12 So on April 17: Haman’s choice of the day before the Jewish Passover began (see Exod 12:6) was probably calculated to terrorize and demoralize the Jews. But as he did at the Exodus, God would deliver the Jews miraculously from a tyrant who was trying to destroy them.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.