What events and attributed statements does Esther Chapter 16 record?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

The king’s letter argues that bad advisers corrupt good royal intentions and alleges Aman’s plot and Macedonian aim. It declares the Jews blameless and the former letters void, attributing the punishment to God. It orders publication, assistance in killing would-be killers on the thirteenth of Adar, celebration and severe penalties for nonparticipation.

Chapter breakdown

Great King Artaxerxes issues a formal imperial letter addressed to the governors and rulers of the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia. (Challoner notes that this title describes the monarch's vast realm.) The king begins with an administrative reflection: many individuals elevated by royal generosity abuse the honor bestowed upon them by falling into excessive pride. They not only oppress the king's loyal subjects, but turn treasonously against the very benefactors who elevated them, violating human laws and imagining they can escape the justice of the all-seeing God. Crafty flatterers deceive well-meaning rulers who naively judge others by their own good intentions, as proven by ancient histories and daily occurrences where evil counsel corrupts royal designs.

To ensure the peace of all provinces, the king explains that changing decrees reflects no fickleness or instability of mind, but a necessary judicial response tailored to the changing circumstances of the commonwealth. He says that Aman, son of Amadathi, was a Macedonian in mind and country who lacked any Persian heritage. Welcomed as a stranger and honored as the king's second-in-command, Aman was called father and worshipped throughout the empire. Yet his arrogance led him to conspire against the life and crown of the king.

The decree alleges Aman’s plot: by novel and unheard-of stratagems, he sought the extermination of Mardochai, whose loyalty had preserved the king's life, and Queen Esther, partner of the Persian realm, alongside their entire nation. According to the letter, Aman intended to leave the king isolated without trusted friends so that he could transfer the Persian empire to the Macedonians.

The king declares he has found that the Jews targeted for slaughter are entirely blameless, practice righteous laws, and are the children of the highest, greatest, and ever-living God, whose blessing bestowed the kingdom upon the Persians and preserves it to this day. Consequently, the previous extermination letters sent in the king's name are declared completely void. The decree reveals that Aman and his entire family have already been hanged upon gibbets before the gates of Susa, receiving divine retribution for their crimes.

The king commands that this new edict be published throughout all cities, granting the Jews full freedom to live according to their own laws. Provincial officials are instructed to assist the Jews on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (Adar) to kill those who had prepared to massacre them, celebrating how Almighty God turned a day of mourning into a day of joy. Finally, the king ordains that this day be counted among the other festival days and celebrated as a joyful festival throughout the empire, warning that any city or province refusing to participate shall be completely devastated by fire and sword, left desolate and impassable to both men and beasts.

The story inside

Initial conditions: The king’s letter argues that bad advisers corrupt good royal intentions and alleges Aman’s plot and Macedonian aim. Development: It declares the Jews blameless and the former letters void, attributing the punishment to God. Recorded ending: It orders publication, assistance in killing would-be killers on the thirteenth of Adar, celebration and severe penalties for nonparticipation.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The king’s letter argues that bad advisers corrupt good royal intentions and alleges Aman’s plot and Macedonian aim.
2
It declares the Jews blameless and the former letters void, attributing the punishment to God.
3
It orders publication, assistance in killing would-be killers on the thirteenth of Adar, celebration and severe penalties for nonparticipation.

Test your recall

Which concrete sequence does this chapter record, and what remains unstated?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 54146–54148
The great king Artaxerxes, from India to Ethiopia, to the governors and princes of a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, which obey our command, sendeth greeting.
Lines 54183–54186
Now that you may more plainly understand what we say, Aman the son of Amadathi, a Macedonian both in mind and country, and having nothing of the Persian blood, but with his cruelty staining our goodness, was received being a stranger by us:
Lines 54207–54209
And are the children of the highest and the greatest, and the ever living God, by whose benefit the kingdom was given both to our fathers and to us, and is kept unto this day.
Lines 54221–54223
And you shall aid them that they may kill those who had prepared themselves to kill them, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is called Adar.