Original Meaning

WITH THIS CHAPTER the author returns his original readers to their own time, many years after the events in Persia had happened. Xerxes has been assassinated in his bedroom. Esther and Mordecai have lived out their days. Purim was becoming an annual celebration on the Jewish calendar. The author tells the story of Esther and Mordecai to say, “See, this is why we celebrate Purim as we do!” He explains that Mordecai “recorded these events, and . . . sent letters to all the Jews . . . to have them celebrate annually” so that future generations could commemorate the momentous deliverance of their ancestors that permitted each successive generation to exist.

It is fitting that the fulfillment of God’s promise to the Jews in Persia should also be written down and commemorated. When the Lord promised to wipe out the memory of the Amalekites, he told Moses to write it down on a scroll “as something to be remembered” (Ex. 17:14). This gave the promise both divine authority and perpetuity. The events of the Esther story show a fulfillment of this promise many centuries later and far away from the place it was made, illustrating the efficacy of God’s Word. In contrast to the empty bravado of the world’s most powerful rulers, God is able to do just as he has said.

Purim joined the five Jewish feasts that were commanded by Moses in the Torah and celebrated miraculous events surrounding the formation of the nation of Israel as God’s covenant people. Purim commemorates the survival of that covenant nation, even though it was dispersed in the judgment of the Exile centuries later. By the time of Jesus, the feast of Hanukkah had also been introduced into the Jewish calendar to mark the deliverance of the Jewish people from religious and cultural annihilation in their own homeland under the tyranny of Antiochus Epiphanies in the second century B.C. That deliverance, led by Judas Maccabeus, also came not by miraculous intervention, but by God’s power working through ordinary events.

The authority on which Purim is based is unlike that of the feasts commanded by Moses in the Pentateuch. Mordecai was not a prophet or a miracle worker, nor did he rule as king in Jerusalem. He wore the signet ring of a Persian king, not the ephod of the high priest. Mordecai simply wrote letters to the Jews throughout Persia describing the remarkable events that had transpired in the palace at Susa, leading to the deliverance, and the people then responded collectively to their shared experience (see vv. 26–27):

Because of everything written in this letter [Mordecai’s] and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, the Jews took it upon themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed (emphasis added).

The celebration of Purim is therefore different from the feasts prescribed by the Torah. Rather than being imposed on the people from above as God’s commandment, Purim began as the spontaneous response of God’s people to his omnipotent faithfulness to the promises of the covenant.

Once established, Purim was to be celebrated annually on two consecutive days. This can be understood in one of two ways. Either all Jewish people everywhere were to celebrate on both days, because originally a part of the community had celebrated on each day, or Jewish people should celebrate Purim on the one day appropriate to their location. Today Jews around the world celebrate Purim on one day, Adar 14, except those living in one of the cities traditionally considered walled at the time of Joshua, which include Jerusalem, Hebron, and Jericho, where Purim is celebrated on Adar 15.1

In explaining the origin of the holiday, the author of Esther also explains the origin of its name, Purim (v. 26). It is derived from the word pur, which was not originally a Hebrew word. Pur refers to the “lot” or “die” (singular of “dice”) that Haman cast in divination to determine the day of death for the Jewish race (see comments on 2:19–3:15). This word occurs in the Old Testament only in the book of Esther and came into the Hebrew language as a loanword during the Persian period, with the Hebrew plural suffix -im added. The first time this foreign word is used (3:7), and again in 9:24, the author of Esther translates it into its Hebrew equivalent, goral, which the NIV renders “lot.” This implies that when the book of Esther was written, the author did not expect his readers to be familiar with the origin and meaning of either pur or purim.

Even though the word pur and its plural form purim occur only in the book of Esther, the equivalent Hebrew word, goral, occurs frequently throughout the Old Testament. Note, for example, Proverbs 16:33: “The lot [goral] is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” In ancient times, the goral was the means used for divination to determine the will of the gods. When Haman cast lots, he was seeking guidance from the gods. Ancient Israel also used this method to seek Yahweh’s will. For instance, Joshua used the lot to divide the Promised Land among the tribes, believing that in this way God would determine the allotment: “After you have written descriptions of the seven parts of the land, bring them here to me and I will cast lots [goral] for you in the presence of the Lord our God” (Josh. 18:6).

The Hebrew word goral has a second, related meaning, used to refer to the thing allotted by the roll of the dice. The English term lot happens to have a similar semantic range. The word can refer either to the means used to make chance selections (as in our word “lottery”), or to the share resulting from chance selection (as in the expression “my lot in life”). Continuing in Joshua 18:11, both the lots that are cast and the land allotted as the result of casting the lots are referred to with the word goral: “The lot [goral] came up for the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan. Their allotted [goralam] territory lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph” (Josh. 18:11).

In Psalm 16:5–6, David uses the word goral to refer to the circumstances of life that he recognized came from the Lord:

Lord, you have assigned me my portion [Heb., menoth] and my cup;

you have made my lot [goral] secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance.”

As king of Israel, David spoke not only of his own personal life, but also the national life of the people whom he ruled as a theocratic king and warrior of Israel. David recognized that the destiny of Israel was secure only because the Lord had secured it.

Therefore, the name of the feast, Purim, is a double entendre, signifying that the lot, or destiny, of God’s people would not be determined by Haman’s casting of lots before his gods. Only Yahweh determines the roll of the lot, and only Yahweh determines the lot of his people.

Furthermore, the custom of sending “presents of food” (Heb., manot) to friends and neighbors on Purim also symbolizes what God has destined for his people. The Hebrew word manot (sing., manah) translated “presents of food” in the NIV of 9:22 is the same word translated “portion” in Psalm 16:5 (see above). In the parallelism of this verse, manah in the first colon is used to refer to the same destiny as goral in the second. But the Hebrew word manah also has a second meaning, to refer to choice morsels of food. For instance, in 2 Chronicles 31:4, Hezekiah commands that portions of food be given to the priests and Levites so they can minister before the Lord without having to work the fields: “He ordered the people living in Jerusalem to give the portion [manah] due the priests and Levites so they could devote themselves to the Law of the Lord.”

Therefore the use of the word manah in Esther 9:22 forms another double entendre, as the Jews send these “portions” of food (manot) to one another to celebrate their “portion” or destiny (manah) allotted by God.

Bridging Contexts

PURIM CONTINUES TO be celebrated by the Jewish people around the world today. For them the significance of the holiday and the book on which it is based have continued in unbroken tradition from generation to generation. However, the Holocaust of this century has for many Jews all but extinguished its joy. The book of Esther was treasured by Jews imprisoned in the Nazi death camps precisely because it promised the survival of their race despite Hitler’s attempts to annihilate them. The hope of those who died in the death camps was realized. The Jewish people did survive, yet ironically many Jews of the subsequent generations have found it difficult to believe that God’s presence and power are manifested in history as they grapple with the theological implications of Auschwitz. In A History of God, Karen Armstrong explains their unavoidable logic: “If this God is omnipotent, he could have prevented the Holocaust. If he was unable to stop it, he is impotent and useless; if he could have stopped it and chose not to, he is a monster.”2

Nevertheless, like the group of Jews in Auschwitz who put God on trial, found him inexcusably guilty and worthy of death, but still went to evening prayer, Jews continue to celebrate the significance of Purim year after year. This indictment of God is poignant, for when God did come into the world two thousand years ago, he was put on trial, judged guilty and worthy of death by human reasoning, and executed. The divine Messiah of the Jews took up the moral agony of Auschwitz and every other atrocity ever perpetrated against the human race. He agreed that God had to do something about such unimaginable evil and was willing to take it on himself so it could be destroyed on Calvary. Where is the evidence of his achievement? In Jesus’ resurrection, which empties physical death of its power over everyone who takes refuge in him as the Messiah. The mortal has been clothed with immortality. Death has been emptied of its horror and swallowed up in victory (1 Cor. 15:54–55).

After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the significance of Purim as a celebration of the power and presence of God extends beyond the boundaries of human history. The covenant promise that was expressed before Christ in the protection and survival of God’s chosen nation is reexpressed after Christ’s resurrection as protection and survival of the body of Christ (i.e., the universal church, including Jews who come to recognize that Jesus is the Messiah; see Matt. 16:18). God promises those who are in Christ not only protection and survival collectively as a people throughout the generations of human history, but individually after physical death and after the last day of history.

Contemporary Significance

PURIM TODAY. PURIM is still celebrated joyously to commemorate the inviolability of the Jewish race by those who live only a generation or two from a modern expression of Haman’s evil. There has perhaps been no other generation of readers who could so closely identify with those to whom the book of Esther was originally written. Today we read the book of Esther in the dark shadow of the Holocaust, deeply grieved that one-third of the Jews in the world were murdered during this century. One need not be Jewish to feel terror when such immense evil grasps the reins of a government. One need not be Jewish to feel thankful that Hitler did not succeed. Both Jew and Christian should feel the same horror at the threat of genocide against other races in other parts of the world yet today. Jesus, the Messiah of the Jews, is Jesus, the Christ of all nations.

On Purim, joyful singing celebrates God’s power to determine the destiny of those who are his:3

Song 1

He defeated the designs of heathen nations

and set to naught their cunning plots,

when there rose against us wicked Haman

the arrogant branch of Amalek’s stock.

Glorying in his wealth he dug his own pit

and his high position ensnared him.

He sought to trap and was trapped instead;

he planned destruction but was himself destroyed.

Haman revealed his ancestors’ hatred

and stirred up his kinsmen’s enmity of their brothers.

He remembered not the mercy of Saul,

through whose compassion for Agag the foe was born.

The wicked planned to destroy the righteous,

but the impure was caught in the pure one’s hands.

Mordecai’s merit overcame Saul’s error,

while Haman’s transgression compounded Amalek’s sin.

He hid his cunning schemes within,

devoting himself to planning evil.

He stretched out his hands against God’s holy ones,

lending his wealth to blot out their memory.

When Mordecai saw that evil was abroad,

and Haman’s edicts were proclaimed in Shushan,4

he put on sackcloth and arranged for mourning,

ordained a fast and sat in ashes.5

“Who will arise to atone for error

and win forgiveness for our ancestors’ sins?”

A flower blossomed from the palm tree,

Hadassah [Esther] arose to stir those asleep.

Her servants hastened to give Haman wine

that he might drink the venom of serpents.

He rose through his wealth and fell through his wickedness;

upon the gallows he built himself was hanged.

All the world was struck with amazement

when Haman’s pur became our Purim.

The righteous escaped from the hands of the wicked,

and instead the enemy was destroyed.

The Jews vowed to celebrate Purim each year

for You, God, accepted Mordecai and Esther’s prayer,

while on the gallows Haman and his sons met their doom.

Song 2

The Rose of Jacob was radiant and joyful

when men saw Mordecai arrayed in purple.

Their saviour You have been,

their hope in every generation.

You have shown that all who hope in You

will not be disappointed,

and all who trust in You will never be put to shame.

Cursed be Haman, who sought to destroy me,6

blessed be Mordecai the Jew.

Cursed be Zeresh, the wife of my foe,

blessed be Esther, who was a shield for me,

and may Harbonah, too, be remembered for good!

Purim is still celebrated by sending gifts of food to friends and loved ones. The book of Esther in its entirety is read in the synagogue on Purim. During that reading, noisemakers are used; people cheer at Mordecai’s name and boo and hiss at Haman’s. The Talmud prescribes drinking and celebrating on Purim until one can no longer tell the difference between “Mordecai be blessed!” and “Haman be cursed!” (Megillah 7b). It is a holiday that the Jews continue to celebrate as a sign that they will never be destroyed as a people.

The significance of the holiday and the message of the Esther story were not lost on the Nazis, who would kill on the spot any Jew in the prison camps possessing a copy of the book of Esther. Yet the incarcerated Jews wrote copies of it from memory. The story of Esther was most precious to the Jews facing mass death, because in it they found assurance and hope that they, not their enemy, would triumph against all expectation.

The Christian’s hope as seen in Esther. The book of Esther is part of the spiritual heritage of Christians bequeathed to us by Jesus Christ. Its significance has been transformed by his resurrection. Shortly before his death Jesus said, “Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19, emphasis added). Because of his resurrection, Christians can face death with the assurance that we ourselves will not be defeated by the grave but will triumph over it against all human expectation. The deliverance of the Jews in Persia foreshadows the redemption of those from all nations who enter into God’s covenant through Jesus the Messiah.

Throughout history the book of Esther has been read not as an isolated episode in Jewish history, but as symbolizing the final salvation of God’s people at the end of time. The recurring forces of evil that first found expression in the Amalekites will ultimately and finally be eliminated by God as he has promised. The book of Esther forms a link between the covenant at Sinai, when Israel was formed as God’s chosen nation, and the eschatological destiny of God’s people.

Even the date on which Purim is celebrated hints at its eschatological significance. Holidays commemorating warfare and strife are celebrated on day of the battle itself (e.g., Bastille Day in France [July 14], Boston Massacre Day [March 5], Cinco de Mayo in Mexico [May 5], and Revolution Day in the former Soviet Union [Nov. 7]). Although the fateful day of the battle in Persia was Adar 13, Purim was to be celebrated not on Adar 13, but on Adar 14 and 15. As F. Bush points out,

the festival does not celebrate victory in battle, and the joy prescribed is not malicious glee over the slaughter of their enemies. The festival commemorates, rather, the fact that they “gained relief from their enemies” and that life was “transformed for them from sadness to joy and from mourning to a holiday.”7

The first occurrence of Purim was a spontaneous celebration of the joy of finding oneself still standing on the day after an irrevocable death decree was executed. The day of death had come and gone and God’s people were still alive! Thus, Purim is in this sense a Sabbath, a joyous rest after evil and the threat of death have passed. It symbolizes the eschatological joy of God’s people, a joie de vivre in the most ultimate sense.

The eschatological reality of this joyful hope was first realized in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who appeared to John with the words of a powerful victor, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades” (Rev. 1:17–18). Jesus spoke these words at a moment in history when another mighty empire, Rome, had turned its force against the infant church in terrifying forms of persecution. Jesus assured his people through John’s apocalyptic vision that the church would survive, against all odds. He encouraged with a promise, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).

Christ reveals a new destiny, a destiny beyond death, where God “will wipe every tear from [our] eyes! There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, because the old order of things has passed away.” The Lord then says, “I am making everything new! . . . Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true” (Rev. 21:4–5).