Esther
Chapter 8
Triumph of the Jews
On the same day, King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther Haman’s house, the enemy of the Jews. Mordecai was brought before the king because Esther had revealed his relation to her.
The king removed his signet ring, which he had recovered from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai, whom Esther appointed in charge of Haman’s house.
Once again, Esther was able to get the king’s attention. Weeping and falling before him, she begged him to stop Haman the Agagite’s evil plot against the Jews.
The king extended the golden scepter to her, and she rose and stood before him saying:
“If it pleases your Majesty, and if I am pleasing to your eyes and have found favor with you, and if you think it proper to do so, let an order be issued revoking the letters that Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite, wrote to destroy the Jews throughout all the royal provinces.
How can I bear to see the destruction of my people, the extermination of my race?”
King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew: “I have given Haman’s house to Esther and had Haman hanged on the gallows for plotting to destroy the Jews.
Now you can write a decree concerning the Jews, in the king’s name, and seal it with the royal signet ring; any document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring cannot be revoked.”
The royal scribes were summoned on that very day, the twenty-third of the third month of Sivan, and as Mordecai dictated, they wrote an order to the Jews, to the satraps, governors, and officials of the one hundred twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia, in their scripts and languages—each in its own.
These letters, written in King Ahasuerus’s name and sealed with the royal signet ring, were delivered by couriers riding the king’s thoroughbred horses.
The king’s edict granted the Jews in each city the right to assemble and defend themselves, to kill, destroy, and wipe out any armed group from any nation or province that might attack them and their women and children, and to seize their goods as spoil.
This edict took effect throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar.
The Edict Reaches All the Provinces
A copy of the edict to be enacted as law in each province was published among all the people so that the Jews could be prepared on the appointed day to avenge themselves on their enemies.
Encouraged by the king’s orders, the couriers, riding the king’s horses, hurried out, and the edict was announced in the citadel of Susa.
Dressed in royal blue and white garments, wearing a large golden crown and a purple and fine linen cloak, Mordecai left the king’s presence. The city of Susa was filled with joyful celebration.
For the Jews, it was a period of glory, joy, respect, and victory.
Wherever the king’s edict was read in each province and city, the Jews rejoiced and feasted. Many people of other nationalities were seized with fear of the Jews, and they embraced Judaism.
Commentaries
Triumph of the Jews.
The downfall of Haman is evident. Still, the Jewish reader wants to emphasize the rise of Mordecai and the people, highlighting their turnaround for trusting in the Lord. The question of Haman’s deadly decree stays unresolved; it seems that, even in death, he continues to threaten the Jews with the law that outlives him. The decree, signed in the king’s name and sealed with the royal seal, appears like a grimace from the executed man—a form of revenge even after death. King Ahasuerus responds to this concern by issuing a law that nullifies the one threatening the Jews.
The Edict Reaches All the Provinces.
With the letter authorizing the king to repeal Haman’s law, salvation also comes to all the Jews of the empire, a salvation celebrated with joy. With these festive notes (16-17), we would like to close the book and read no more, especially since we are familiar with what is to come, having read it on another occasion. However, we are not the owners of the book to put the word “END” at will. All we can do is draw, with faith and Christian maturity, on the highest standards of justice with which we must read any biblical passage and ask ourselves to what extent it aligns with the image of God as love, justice, and mercy revealed to us in other texts, or to what extent it completely negates that image.