THE
PULPIT COMMENTARY, EDITED DY THI!
VERY REV. H. D. M. SPENCE, D.D. DEAN 011' GLOUOBSTBB j
AND DY THE
REV. JOSEPH S. EXELL, M.A.
ESTHER. ~rp.asifion: Bv REV. GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A., CAIIIDBl'-' J'ROJ'B&SOB OF ANOIBNT HIST011.Y IN THE UNl'VmlSITY 011' OXFORD; AND OANON OF CANTERBURY.
Jomiletics EY REV. PROF. J. R. THOMSON, M.A.
Jomili:ta h,i m-arious Juf{r.ara: REV. PROF. P. C. BARKER, LL.B., M.A.; REV. W. DINWIDDIE, LL.B.; REV. PROF. D. ROWLANDS, B.A.; REV. W. CLARKSON, B.A.; REY. F. HASTINGS.
NEW EDITION.
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY LONDON AND NEW YORK 1906 THE BOOK OF ESTHER. -- INTRODUCTION.
§ I. SuBJEOT OF THE BooK.
THE Book of Esther relates an episode in Jewish history of intense interest to the entire nation at the time, since it involved the question of its continu- ance or destruction, but an episode which stood quite separate and distinct from the rest of Jewish history, unconnected with anything that preceded or fol- lowed, and which, but for the institution of the Feast of Purim, might as easily have been forgotten by the people as escaped perils too often are by individuals. The main scene of the narrative is Susa, the Persian capital; the dramatis per- sonc,e are either Persians or" Jews of the Dispersion." There is no mention, in the whole Book, of Palestine, or Jerusalem, or the temple, or the provisions of the law, nor any allusion to any facts in previous Jewish history, excepting two :-1. The captivity under Nebuchadnezzar (eh. ii. 6). 2. The subsequent dispersion of the Jews over all the various provinces of the Persian empire (eh. iii. 8). Thus the events related belong, primarily, not to the history of the Palestinian Jews, but to that of the " Jews of the Dispersion ; " and it is as indicating that those Jews were, no less than their brethren in Palestine, under the Di vine care, that the Book appealed to the hearts of the Jewish race generally, and claimed a place in the national collection of sacred writings. The events related may be thus briefly summarised :-At a feast held in the palace of Susa in the third year of Ahasuerus, that prince, in the wantonness of power, requires the presence of his queen, Vashti, unveiled (eh. i 1-11); she refuses (ibid. ver. 12); the king is furious, and his obsequious nobles counsel her divorce, which is forthwith decreed and published to the whole kingdom (ibid. vers. 12-22). Efforts are then made to supply Vashti's place; virgins are collected from all quarters, and the king's choice falls upon Esther, a Jewess, who had been brought up by her cousin Mordecai, a eunuch of the court (eh. ii. 1-20). Soon after this, two of the king's chamberlains form a plot to murder him, which is discovereu hy (i INTRODUCTION TO
Mordecai, communicated to the king by Esther, and frustrated by their execu- tion (ibid. Yers. 21-23). About this time, Haman, the king's chief minister, l)cing offended by the conduct of Mordecai, who does not pay him due respect, forms the design of exterminating the Jews, and obtains the king's consent to a decree authorising their destruction on a certain day. The day is fixed by Haman through a casting of lots, and is thereby determined to a date nearly twelve months in advance of the time at which the lots are cast (eh. iii.). Mordecai, informed of the impending massacre, requires Esther to intercede for her people ; and Esther, though aware that she does so at the peril of her life, consents (eh. i,.). Her plan is to bring the king and Haman together, to de- nounce him as having sought her life, and so to obtain his disgrace. She invites the two to a banquet; but when her opportunity comes, shrinks from making the disclosure which she had designed, and defers it to the ensuing day, for which she appoints a second banquet (eh. v. 1-8). Haman now, intoxi- cated with his good fortune, as he deems it, resolves to anticipate the decree, so fax as Mordecai is concerned, and to put him to death at once. He constructs a gallows, or erects a cross, in the court of his own house for this purpose (ibid. vers. 9-14), and proposes to hang Mordecai thereon before the second banquet. In the night, however, the king has been sleepless, and having ordered his attendants to read to him out of the Book of the Chronicles, has been reminded of Mordecai's discovery of the conspiracy against his life, and having asked what rewaxd he had received, has been told that" nothing had been done for him" (eh. vi. 3). Upon this he has Haman summoned, and compels him to be the instrument of doing Mordecai the highest possible honour (ibid. vers. 4-11). The banquet follows ; Esther denounces Haman ; the king, angry, but in doubt, quits the apartment ; Haman, eagerly imploring Esther's intercession, approaches too near her sacred person ; the king returns, and taxing him with rudeness towards the queen, orders him off to instant execution. He is con- ducted to his own house, and hanged on the cross on which he had intended to hang Mordecai (eh. vii 1-10). The king now·puts himself in the hands of Esther and Mordecai, and allows them to take the necessary steps to frustrate Haman's designs against the Jews. As the royal decree cannot be rescinded, it is determined to send out another, allowing the J ewe to defend themselves if attacked by their enemies (eh. viii.). This is done, and when the day deter- mined by the lot arrives, a struggle takes place; the Persian authorities are OJI the side of the Jews, and "help " them (eh. ix. 3) ; the result is, that every where the Jews are victorious: at Susa they kill 500 of their enemies, togethe1 with the ten sons of Ha.man; elsewhere they kill 75,000 (or, according to the Septuagint, 15,000). The king then allows them a second day,-one of venge- ance, as it would seem, at Susa,-in which they kill 300 more. The bodies of Haman's ten sons are i,xposed on gibbets; and the Feast of Purim is instituted and made of perpetual obligation (eh. ix. 5-32). With a brief account of THE BOOK OF ESTHER iii