Esther 8

Esther 8 is the eighth of the ten chapters of the Book of Esther. After Haman is hanged on the gallows in Esther 7, this chapter describes how the decree he devised to destroy the Jews is countered.

Outline

• Verses 1–2: King Ahasuerus gives the house of Haman to Esther. The king gives Mordecai the ring he had taken from Haman, and Esther sets Mordecai over the house of Haman.
• Verses 3–6: Esther falls at the king's feet, weeping, and asks that the decree written by Haman be revoked.
• Verses 7–8: Because a decree written in the king's name and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked, the king permits a new decree to be written on behalf of the Jews.
• Verses 9–14: On the twenty-third day of the month Sivan (the third month), a decree is written as Mordecai commands and sent to the 127 provinces from India to Cush. It permits the Jews, on the single day of the thirteenth of the month Adar (the twelfth month), to gather together, protect their lives, and strike down those who attack them.
• Verses 15–17: When Mordecai goes out in royal apparel, the city of Shushan rejoices, and the Jews in every province hold a feast. Many of the people of the land become Jews.

Key Verses

• Esther 8:6: "For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people?" This verse reveals Esther's heart as she steps forward on behalf of her people.
• Esther 8:8: "...may no man reverse." This explains why a counter-decree was issued: the earlier decree could not be annulled.
• Esther 8:17: "...the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day." This leads into the establishment of Purim in chapter 9.

People and Places

• Ahasuerus: King of Persia, commonly identified as Xerxes I.
• Esther: The queen, a Jewish woman by birth.
• Mordecai: Esther's cousin and adoptive father, who in this chapter succeeds to Haman's position.
• Haman: The son of Hammedatha the Agagite, already executed.
• Shushan (Susa): The royal capital of Persia.
• India and Cush: The eastern and southwestern extremities of the empire's 127 provinces. Cush (rendered "Ethiopia" in the KJV) refers to the region of the upper Nile.

Points for Reflection

• As in the other chapters of the book, the name of God does not appear. For this reason, many interpreters read the reversal of events as the hidden providence of God.
• There is a tradition of reading the designation "Agagite" in connection with Agag, king of the Amalekites, in 1 Samuel 15.
• The permission to retaliate in verse 11 is frequently discussed as an ethical problem. Some interpreters regard it as self-defense against attack, while others draw attention to the record in Esther 9 that the Jews did not lay their hands on the spoil.
• Interpretations of "became Jews" in verse 17 are divided between those who see it as genuine conversion and those who hold that people merely posed as Jews out of fear.
• The Septuagint version of Esther adds the full text of the new decree to this chapter. The Catholic Church accepts these Greek portions as Scripture, while Protestants regard only the Hebrew text as canonical.