What events and attributed statements does Esther Chapter 9 record?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

On the thirteenth of Adar the Jews prevail; Susan’s count is five hundred besides Aman’s ten sons, with no spoil taken. After Esther’s further request, the sons are hanged and three hundred more die in Susan on the fourteenth; the provincial count is seventy-five thousand. The different rest days lead to annual Phurim observance, letters, food-sharing and gifts to the poor.

Chapter breakdown

On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar, the day appointed for their destruction, the situation reversed as the Jews assembled in every city and town to defend themselves against their enemies. Provincial governors, judges and lieutenants extolled the Jews for fear of Mardochai, prince of the palace, whose fame increased. The Jews made a great slaughter of their enemies. In the capital city of Susan, the Jews killed five hundred men, besides the ten sons of Aman the Agagite—Pharsandatha, Delphon, Esphatha, Phoratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Phermesta, Arisai, Aridai, and Jezatha. Despite imperial authorization to take plunder, they refused to touch the goods of the slain. A traditional annotation notes that the Jews acted here as authorized ministers of public justice executing punishment against a conspiracy of genocide.

When the report of five hundred slain in Susan reached King Assuerus, he asked Queen Esther what further petition she wished to make. Esther requested that Susan's Jewish community be permitted to do as they had done that day on the following day and that the bodies of Aman's ten sons be hanged upon gibbets. The king consented, publishing an edict and hanging the ten corpses. On the fourteenth of Adar, the Jews in Susan slew an additional three hundred men, again refraining from taking any spoils. Meanwhile, in the outlying provinces, the Jews defended themselves on the thirteenth of Adar, killing seventy-five thousand of their enemies and persecutors while leaving their goods untouched. Provincial Jews rested on the fourteenth day, establishing it as a festival of banqueting and food sharing, whereas the Jews of Susan completed their conflict on the fourteenth day and observed their rest and rejoicing on the fifteenth.

Mardochai recorded these events and dispatched letters to all Jewish communities across the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, commanding them to observe both the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar annually as holy days. Because their sorrow had been transformed into joy, these days were designated for feasting, sending food portions to neighbors, and distributing gifts to the poor. The observance was named Phurim from the word Phur, signifying the lot that Aman had cast to schedule their annihilation before his wicked plot recoiled upon his own head. Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, joined Mardochai in issuing a second confirming epistle to all provinces to establish the festival of Phurim, with the fasts, cries and days of lots undertaken as an annual observance for all generations and for all who should embrace their faith. The second epistle also calls on the Jews in the hundred and twenty-seven provinces to have peace and receive truth. Its future-observance language is the account’s prescription, not a separate verification of all later practice.

The story inside

Initial conditions: On the thirteenth of Adar the Jews prevail; Susan’s count is five hundred besides Aman’s ten sons, with no spoil taken. Development: After Esther’s further request, the sons are hanged and three hundred more die in Susan on the fourteenth; the provincial count is seventy-five thousand. Recorded ending: The different rest days lead to annual Phurim observance, letters, food-sharing and gifts to the poor.

Lessons worth keeping

1
On the thirteenth of Adar the Jews prevail; Susan’s count is five hundred besides Aman’s ten sons, with no spoil taken.
2
After Esther’s further request, the sons are hanged and three hundred more die in Susan on the fourteenth; the provincial count is seventy-five thousand.
3
The different rest days lead to annual Phurim observance, letters, food-sharing and gifts to the poor.

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 53680–53691
9:6. Insomuch that even in Susan they killed five hundred men, besides the ten sons of Aman the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews: whose names are these: 9:7. Pharsandatha, and Delphon, and Esphatha 9:8. And Phoratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha, 9:9. And Phermesta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Jezatha. 9:10. And when they had slain them, they would not touch the spoils of their goods.
Lines 53736–53744
9:21. That they should receive the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the month Adar for holy days, and always at the return of the year should celebrate them with solemn honour: 9:22. Because on those days the Jews revenged themselves of their enemies, and their mourning and sorrow were turned into mirth and joy, and that these should be days of feasting and gladness, in which they should send one to another portions of meats, and should give gifts to the poor.