Therefore the Jews of the villages that dwell in the country towns make the fourteenth of the month Adar a day of joy and feasting, and a good day, and on which they send portions one to another.
The fighting is over, and the village Jews keep their feast a day earlier than the capital does. Why the different date, and how did one escape from slaughter become a festival kept every year?
The day celebrates the quiet that followed the fighting, not the fighting itself. One writer notes that the Jews took no plunder, so the fighting gained them nothing but safety:
H. L. RossierThe people, however, "laid no hand on the plunder" (vv. 10, 15, 16), in keeping with what Scripture had laid down about Amalek or the enemies of Israel. It is only a matter of carrying out God's judgment, with no profit for those who carry it out. The king's capital, where the plot against the Jews was hatched, came under God's judgment for one day longer than the other cities of the kingdom. Everywhere the fourteenth and fifteenth days become days of joy and feasting and rest.
The villages kept a different day from the capital. Mordecai later joined both days into one festival:
Leslie M. GrantThe Jews at Shushan, however, having spent two days destroying their enemies, rested on the 15th day of the month, making it a day of feasting and gladness (v. 18). Those in the surrounding villages had done this on the 14th day of the month (v. 19). So Mordecai wrote letters to all the Jews: both the 14th and 15th days of that month would be holidays for the Jews from then on every year, a time for giving gifts to one another and to the poor (vv. 20-22).
The gifts are not an extra detail. One writer shows how gladness makes people generous:
J. G. BellettIn various Scriptures we find that the more joy we have in God, the more large-hearted we shall be toward one another. It is the very character of joy to enlarge the heart. As in Nehemiah 8, where the prophet tells the people, "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." And all the people went their way … to send portions and to make great rejoicing. A man who is happy himself can afford to look around and make others happy with him.
The festival born from this day was named after Haman's dice. God is never named in the book, yet the naming quietly concedes who overruled the throw:
Leslie M. GrantVery likely the Jews were familiar with Solomon's proverb, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD" (Proverbs 16:33). Haman had expected demonic power to back him up; but no doubt the Jews recognised that the Lord had stepped in with His own clear decision. Yet, while the Jews surely did recognise the Lord's hand in this, God still did not let anyone mention His name openly.
A day of gladness is fragile. One writer contrasts the holy feast with what later custom made of it:
William KellyThe Talmud lays down that at the feast of Purim a man should drink until he cannot tell the difference between "Blessed be Mordecai" and "Cursed be Haman." "Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?" Judaism, and Christendom where Christ is ignored, are each sinking into the driest ditch of paganism. Both dare to approve a drunken carnival in place of what had been a holy feast.
These feasting villagers were the Jews who never went back to rebuild the temple. One writer compares them with those who did:
F. B. HoleThe people who, despite their defects, had cared for God's interests and rebuilt His temple were marked by affliction and reproach. Meanwhile those who did not concern themselves, staying in their comforts, have "feasting," "gladness," and "a good day." … Worldly prosperity and celebration is not necessarily a sign of His approval, even when it is the fruit of God's care and dealings behind the scenes. Nor is affliction a sign of His disapproval.
Commentators read the lasting festival as a preview. The one feast this book gives is tied to a deliverance still ahead:
H. L. RossierThe memorial of these days is kept up from age to age. Only one feast, the feast of Purim, is mentioned in this book: it is a new feast that will last forever in memory of the deliverance of the earthly people of God. … So ends this account, which brings us to the dawn of the glorious time that follows deliverance.
- Rest — The day marks the end of the fighting, not the fighting itself. The Jews took no plunder, so they gained nothing but safety.
- Gladness — Rest turns into feasting. Village and capital each kept the day they stopped fighting, and Mordecai's letters joined both dates into one festival kept every year.
- Giving — Joy enlarges the heart, so portions travel from house to house; a happy man can afford to make others happy with him.
- Remembering — The Jews named the feast after Haman's lot. It is a quiet admission that every decision of the lot is the Lord's, even where His name goes unspoken.
- Guarding — A holy feast can decay into a drunken carnival. Easy comfort is no proof of God's approval, so the gladness needs guarding as much as the memory does.
And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews near and far that were in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus,
The fighting is over, the enemies have fallen, and the Jews have rested — and now Mordecai takes up a pen. What he writes, and where he sends it, turns one rescue into a feast a whole people would keep for generations.
Mordecai's letters reached Jews near and far. One writer follows the letters and what came of them.
William KellyAnd Mordecai writes and sends letters to all the provinces, and so the joy is spread throughout the whole earth. Not only that, but the Jews, as we are told, founded a feast upon this remarkable intervention of the providence of God.
Mordecai fixed two days in the year. The names he gave them describe a reversal.
Michael HardtVerse 22 uses language full of meaning. The Jews were to celebrate the 14th and the 15th day "as the days on which the Jews rested from their enemies" and "the month that was turned to them from sorrow to joy", and "from mourning into a good day".
(The ESV renders verse 22 as the days the Jews "got relief from their enemies," and the month "turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday.")
The king has slipped into the background. Mordecai writes, and the people do what the writing says.
H. L. RossierThe king of the nations now appears only as one who depends on Esther and Mordecai. From here to the end of the chapter, only they are in question. It is Mordecai who, like the future Messiah, orders joy and rest. "The Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written to them." They submit to the written word of a man who had been unknown and ignored by everyone, including themselves. God had now raised him high in the sight of all.
The letter that founded the feast never names God. One writer sets that silence beside what the feast later became.
William KellyHere again the book keeps the character stamped on it. Even now He is not named — the One whom it would normally and naturally be the highest duty to proclaim. Yet man's own word shows the full difference: the Talmud lays down that at the feast of Purim a man should drink until he does not know the difference between "Blessed be Mordecai" and "Cursed be Haman." Judaism, and Christendom where Christ is ignored, each sink into the driest ditch of heathenism. Both dare to approve a drunken carnival where there had been a holy feast.
A feast can carry the Lord's name or the people's. One writer asks whose feast this is.
Leslie M. GrantSo the history here speaks of Purim as a feast of the Jews, not a "feast of the Lord." Leviticus 23:1 speaks of "The Feasts of the Lord." But John 2:13 calls the Passover "the Passover of the Jews," and John 7:2 calls another feast of the Lord "the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles." Why? Because it was not primarily the Lord's honour the Jews sought, but their own enjoyment. What sad disrespect for the Lord's feasts!
What Mordecai wrote did not fade with the generation that lived it. One writer follows the feast forward, past its own history.
H. L. RossierThe memory of these days is carried on from age to age. This book mentions only one feast, the feast of Purim. It is a new feast, and it will last forever in memory of the deliverance of God's earthly people. There is perfect harmony between Esther and Mordecai and the people. What Esther and Mordecai establish, the people establish for themselves. So ends this account. It brings us to the dawn of the glorious time that follows deliverance, and leads us, as a prophecy, to the threshold of the millennial reign of Christ.
- Written. Mordecai writes the rescue down. The whole nation then submits to what he wrote.
- Sent. The letters go out to Jews near and far in every province. Joy felt in one city spreads through them all.
- Named. The days carry the name of the change itself: rest from enemies, sorrow turned to joy, mourning turned into a good day.
- Unnamed. One name is missing from the letter: God's. The holy feast later sank into a drunken carnival.
- Kept. What one man wrote became a memorial no generation dropped. Writers see in it the dawn of the rest and joy that follow deliverance.
to establish [this] among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
as the days on which the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month that was turned to them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.
Mordecai's letter sets aside two days for a scattered people. The reason he gives is the reversal itself: enemies gone, the month changed, mourning turned into a holiday. He tells the Jews to do more than feast. They are to send food to one another and gifts to the poor.
The days take their name from the relief the Jews got when the fighting stopped. Older translations call this relief rest, and one writer sees in it a picture of a rest still ahead for Israel:
Michael HardtAt last the time of Jacob's trouble (Jeremiah 30:7) will be over. The Jews, long scattered and persecuted, will "rest from their enemies." Israel will enter its sabbath rest.
This was a reversal at the point where hope had run out:
The Christian's FriendThe Jews had the sentence of death in themselves; but there is One who raises the dead, and turns the shadow of death into the morning.
One writer notes that such giving already had a long history:
Walter ScottThe sending of presents or gifts on occasions of public joy is an old and widespread custom (Proverbs 19:6; Esther 2:18; Esther 9:19-22).
Another writer traces the giving back to what joy does to a person:
J. G. BellettMany scriptures show that the more joy we have in God, the more large-hearted we will be toward one another. It is the very nature of joy to enlarge the heart… A happy man can afford to look around and make others happy with him.
The feast took its name from Haman's lot. Notice also what the record leaves unsaid:
Leslie M. GrantThe Jews set up a two-day feast at this time and called it Purim, after Pur, the lot Haman cast with the aim of destroying the Jews. Very likely the Jews knew Solomon's proverb, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord" (Proverbs 16:33). Haman had expected demon power to back him up. But no doubt the Jews recognised that the Lord had stepped in with His own clear decision. The Jews certainly did recognise the Lord's hand in this. Yet God still did not allow His name to be mentioned publicly at all.
The book of Esther never names God. Later Jewish teaching turned the day into something Mordecai's letter never described:
William KellyYet man's own word makes the whole difference plain. The Talmud lays down that at the feast of Purim a man should drink until he cannot tell the difference between "Blessed be Mordecai" and "Cursed be Haman."… Judaism, and Christendom where Christ is ignored, both sink into the driest ditch of heathenism. Both dare to approve a drunken carnival where there had been a holy feast.
This is the only feast the book records, and the account closes by looking forward:
H. L. RossierThe memory of these days carries on from age to age. This book mentions only one feast, the feast of Purim. It is a new feast which will last forever in memory of the deliverance of the earthly people of God… So this account ends. It leads us to the dawn of the glorious time that follows deliverance, and it brings us in prophecy to the threshold of the millennial reign of Christ.
- Rest first. The verse dates these days from the moment the fighting stopped. One writer links that rest to Israel's coming sabbath rest, after the time of Jacob's trouble ends.
- Reversal, not repair. They had the sentence of death in themselves. Then they met the One who raises the dead and turns the shadow of death into morning.
- Joy that spreads. Sending gifts on a day of public joy was an old and widespread custom. Joy in God enlarges the heart, and a happy person can afford to make others happy too.
- Named by the enemy's lot. The feast carries the name of the lot Haman threw — a silent confession that every decision of the lot is from the Lord, even while God keeps His own name out of the public record.
- Guarded or wasted. The same feast later became a drinking carnival. A holy memory decays wherever people ignore God. Yet its true horizon is the reign of Christ.