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9:18 But the Jews <03064> who <0834> were in Susa <07800> assembled <06950> on the thirteenth <06240> <07969> and fourteenth <06240> <0702> days, and rested <05117> on the fifteenth <06240> <02568>, making <06213> it a day <03117> for banqueting <04960> and happiness <08057>. 9:19 This is why <03651> <05921> the Jews <03064> who are in the rural country <06521>– those who live <03427> in rural <06519> cities <05892>– set aside <06213> the fourteenth <06240> <0702> day <03117> of the month <02320> of Adar <0143> as a holiday for happiness <08057>, banqueting <04960>, holiday <02896> <03117>, and sending <04916> gifts <04490> to one <0376> another <07453>. 9:20 Mordecai <04782> wrote <03789> these <0428> matters <01697> down <03789> and sent <07971> letters <05612> to <0413> all <03605> the Jews <03064> who <0834> were throughout all <03605> the provinces <04082> of King <04428> Ahasuerus <0325>, both near <07138> and far <07350>, 9:21 to have <05921> <06965> them observe <06213> the fourteenth <06240> <0702> and the fifteenth <06240> <02568> day <03117> of the month <02320> of Adar <0143> each year <08141> <08141> <03605> 9:22 as the time <03117> when <0834> the Jews <03064> gave themselves rest <05117> from their enemies <0341>– the month <02320> when <0834> their <01992> trouble <03015> was turned <02015> to happiness <08057> and their mourning <060> to a holiday <02896> <03117>. These were to be <06213> days <03117> of banqueting <04960>, happiness <08057>, sending <04916> gifts <04490> to one <0376> another <07453>, and providing <04979> for the poor <034>. 9:23 So the Jews <03064> committed <06901> themselves to continue what <0834> they had begun <02490> to do <06213> and to what <0834> Mordecai <04782> had written <03789> to <0413> them. 9:24 For <03588> Haman <02001> the son <01121> of Hammedatha <04099>, the Agagite <091>, the enemy <06887> of all <03605> the Jews <03064>, had devised <02803> plans against <05921> the Jews <03064> to destroy <06> them. He had cast <05307> pur <06332> (that <01931> is, the lot <01486>) in order to afflict <02000> and destroy <06> them. 9:25 But when the matter came <0935> to the king’s <04428> attention <06440>, the king gave <0559> written orders <05612> that Haman’s evil <07451> intentions <04284> that <0834> he had devised <02803> against <05921> the Jews <03064> should fall <07725> on <05921> his own head <07218>. He and his sons <01121> were hanged <08518> on <05921> the gallows <06086>. 9:26 For <05921> this reason <03651> these <0428> days <03117> are known <07121> as Purim <06332>, after <05921> the name <08034> of pur <06332>. 9:27 Therefore, because of the account found in this letter and what they had faced in this regard and what had happened to them, the Jews <03064> established <06965> as binding <06901> on themselves, their descendants <02233>, and all <03605> who joined their company <03867> that they should observe <06213> these <0428> two <08147> days <03117> without <03808> fail <05674>, just as written <03791> and at the appropriate time <02165> on an annual basis <08141> <08141>. 9:28 These <0428> days <03117> were to be remembered <02142> and to be celebrated <06213> in every generation <01755> <01755> and in every <04940> family <04940>, every <04082> province <04082>, and every city <05892> <05892>. The Jews <03064> were not <03808> to fail <05674> to observe these <0428> days <03117> of Purim <06332>; the remembrance <02143> of them was not <03808> to cease <05486> among <08432> their descendants <02233>. 9:29 So Queen <04436> Esther <0635>, the daughter <01323> of Abihail <032>, and Mordecai <04782> the Jew <03064> wrote <03789> with <0854> full <03605> authority <08633> to confirm <06965> this <02063> second <08145> letter <0107> about Purim <06332>. 9:30 Letters <05612> were sent <07971> to <0413> all <03605> the Jews <03064> in the hundred <03967> and twenty-seven <06242> <07651> provinces <04082> of the empire <04438> of Ahasuerus <0325>– words <01697> of true <0571> peace <07965>– 9:31 to establish <06965> these <0428> days <03117> of Purim <06332> in their proper times <02165>, just as <0834> Mordecai <04782> the Jew <03064> and Queen <04436> Esther <0635> had established <06965>, and just as <0834> they had established <06965> both for <05921> themselves <05315> and their descendants <02233>, matters <01697> pertaining to fasting <06685> and lamentation <02201>. 9:32 Esther’s <0635> command <03982> established <06965> these matters <01697> of Purim <06332>, and the matter <0428> was officially <05612> recorded <03789>.

• Est 9:18-32 -- The Origins of the Feast of Purim

• Mordecai

  [ebd] the son of Jair, of the tribe of Benjamin. It has been alleged that he was carried into captivity with Jeconiah, and hence that he must have been at least one hundred and twenty-nine years old in the twelfth year of Ahasueru...
  [nave] MORDECAI A Jewish captive in Persia, Esth. 2:5, 6. Foster father of Esther, Esth. 2:7. Informs Ahasuerus of a conspiracy against his life, and is rewarded, Esth. 2:21-23; Esth. 6:1-11. Promoted in Haman's place, Esth. 8:1...
  

• Minister

  [nave] MINISTER An officer in civil government. Joseph, Gen. 41:40-44; Ira, 2 Sam. 20:26; Zabud, 1 Kin. 4:5; Ahithophel, 1 Chr. 27:33; Zebadiah, 2 Chr. 19:11; Elkanah, 2 Chr. 28:7; Haman, Esth. 3:1; Mordecai, Esth. 10:3; 8-9; Danie...
  

• Israel

  [nave] ISRAEL 1. A name given to Jacob, Gen. 32:24-32; 2 Kin. 17:34; Hos. 12:3, 4. 2. A name of the Christ in prophecy, Isa. 49:3. 3. A name given to the descendants of Jacob, a nation. Called also Israelites, and Hebrews, Gen. 4...
  

• Haman

  [nave] HAMAN Prime minister of Ahasuerus, Esth. 3:1. Plotted against Esther and the Jews, thwarted by Esther and Mordecai, hanged, Esth. 3-9.
  

• Esther

  [nave] ESTHER, called also Hadassah. Niece of Mordecai, Esth. 2:7, 15. Chosen queen, Esth. 2:17. Tells the king of the plot against his life, Esth. 2:22. Fasts on account of the decree to destroy the Israelites; accuses Haman to ...
  

• Retaliation

  [nave] RETALIATION. Ex. 21:23-25; Lev. 19:18; Lev. 24:17-22; Deut. 19:19-21; Psa. 10:2; Prov. 20:22; Prov. 24:29; Prov. 26:27; Isa. 33:1; Matt. 5:38-44; Matt. 7:1, 2; Luke 9:52-56; Rom. 12:17, 19; 1 Cor. 6:7, 8; 1 Thess. 5:15; 1 P...
  

• Servant

  [nave] SERVANT Distinguished as bond servant, who was a slave, and hired servant. Bond Laws of Moses concerning, Ex. 21:1-11, 20, 21, 26, 27, 32; Lev. 19:20-22; 25:6, 10, 35-55; Deut. 15:12, 14, 18; 24:7. Kidnapping forbidden, D...
  

• Purim

  [smith] (lots), the annual festival instituted to commemorate the preservation of the Jews in Persia from the massacre with which they were threatened through the machinations of Haman. (Esther 9:1) ... It was probably called Purim b...
  [nave] PURIM, a feast instituted to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews from the plot of Haman, Esth. 9:20-32.
  

• Festivals, Religious

  [ebd] There were daily (Lev. 23), weekly, monthly, and yearly festivals, and great stress was laid on the regular observance of them in every particular (Num. 28:1-8; Ex. 29:38-42; Lev. 6:8-23; Ex. 30:7-9; 27:20). (1.) The septena...
  

• Month

  [nave] MONTH Ancient use of, Gen. 7:11; 8:4. Twelve months reckoned to a year, 1 Chr. 27:1-15. 1. Abib (April). The Jewish calendar began with, Ex. 12:2; 13:4; Deut. 16:1. Passover instituted and celebrated in, Ex. 12:1-28; 23:1...
  

• Pur, Purim

  [ebd] a lot, lots, a festival instituted by the Jews (Esther 9:24-32) in ironical commemoration of Haman's consultation of the Pur (a Persian word), for the purpose of ascertaining the auspicious day for executing his cruel plot a...
  

• Feasts

  [nave] FEASTS Ancient customs at: Men alone present at, Gen. 40:20; 43:32, 34; 1 Sam. 9:22; Esth. 1:8; Mark 6:21; Luke 14:24; women alone, Esth. 1:9. Men and women attend, Ex. 32:6, with vs. 2,3;Dan. 5:1-3. Riddles propounded at,...
  

• Banquet

  [ebd] a feast provided for the entertainment of a company of guests (Esther 5; 7; 1 Pet. 4:3); such as was provided for our Lord by his friends in Bethany (Matt. 26:6; Mark 14:3; comp. John 12:2). These meals were in the days of C...
  

• ABIHAIL

  [isbe] ABIHAIL - ab'-i-hal ('abhichayil; in some manuscripts 'abhihayil, when feminine, but best reading is the former: "father, or cause, of strength"): Five persons in the Old Testament are called by this name: (1) A Levite and t...
  [smith] (father of , i.e. possessing, strength). Father of Zuriel, chief of the Levitical father of Merari, a contemporary of Moses. (Numbers 3:35) (B.C. 1490.) Wife of Abishur. (1 Chronicles 2:29) Son of Huri, of the tribe of Ga...
  

• Adar

  [ebd] large, the sixth month of the civil and the twelfth of the ecclesiastical year of the Jews (Esther 3:7, 13; 8:12; 9:1, 15, 17, 19, 21). It included the days extending from the new moon of our March to the new moon of April. ...
  

• Babylon

  [nave] BABYLON City of Built by Nimrod, Gen. 10:10. In the land of Shinar, Gen. 10:10; 11:2. Tower of, Gen. 11:1-9. Capital of the kingdom of Babylon, Dan. 4:30; 2 Kin. 25:13; 2 Chr. 36:6, 7, 10, 18, 20. Gates of, Isa. 45:1, 2...
  

• Book

  [nave] BOOK Genealogies kept in, Gen. 5:1. Law of Moses written in, Num. 5:23; Deut. 17:18; 31:9, 24, 26; 2 Kin. 22:8. Topography of Palestine, recorded in, Josh. 18:9. Chronicles of the times kept in: By Jasher, Josh. 10:13; 2 ...
  

• Casting Lots

  [nave] CASTING LOTS Lev. 16:8; Num. 34:13; 36:2; Josh. 17:14; 18:6, 8, 10; 21:8; 1 Chr. 6:65; 24:31; 25:8; 26:13, 14; Neh. 10:34; 11:1; Esth. 3:7; 9:24; Psa. 22:18; Prov. 1:14; 16:33; Isa. 34:17; Ezek. 24:6; Joel 3:3; Obad. 11; Jon...
  

• Lot

  [nave] LOT, The Prov. 16:33; 18:18; Isa. 34:17; Joel 3:3. The scapegoat chosen by, Lev. 16:8-10. The land of Canaan divided among the tribes by, Num. 26:55; Josh. 15; 18:10; 19:51; 21; 1 Chr. 6:61, 65; Ezek. 45:1; 47:22; 48:29;...
  

• Poor

  [nave] POOR Atonement money of, uniform with that of the rich, Ex. 30:15. Inexpensive offerings of the poor, Lev. 5:7; 12:8; 14:21, 22. See: Beneficence; Giving; Liberality; Orphans; Poverty; Widow. Also See: Rich; Riches. Uncl...
  

• The book of Esther says that Mordecai was a Benjamite in one place and a Jew in others. Which was he?
  In Esther 2:5-6 we are told: 2:5 Now there happened to be a Jewish man in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai. He was the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjaminite, 2:6 who had been taken into ex...

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