Esther 9:19
in Esther 9This is why the rural Jews, who live in the villages, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting. It is a holiday for sending gifts to one another.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore do the Jews of the villages, that dwell in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.
KJV
Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.
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This verse in Esther 9
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The Jews of the villages ... - Rather, “the Jews of the country districts, that dwelt in the country towns,” as distinguished from those who dwelt in the metropolis.
This site's exposition
gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also
on Esther 9:15-19
Shushan's second day, three hundred more, and the provinces' one day, seventy and five thousand of those that hated them, and twice more the refusal: on the prey they laid not their hand; they laid not their hands on the prey. The text calls it standing for their lives, defense under the decree's exact terms, and the two calendars fall out of the two campaigns: the villages rest and feast on the fourteenth, walled Shushan on the fifteenth, which is why Purim is kept on two days to this hour. The chapter's arithmetic of dates is the feast's founding charter.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
When the whole nation of Israel was about to perish, blessed Esther defeated the tyrant's anger simply by fasting and praying to God. By faith she changed the ruin of her people into safety. Those days are feast days for Israel; they used to call a feast when an enemy was slain or a conspiracy against the people was broken up and Israel was delivered. That is why Moses established the Feast of the Passover: because Pharaoh was killed and the people were delivered from bondage. So then, especially when tyrants were slain, temporal feasts and holidays were established in Judea. Now, however, the devil, that tyrant against the whole world, is slain. Therefore, our feast does not relate only to time but to eternity. It is a heavenly feast! We do not announce it as a shadow or a picture or a type but as the real thing.
In the face of all this, brothers and sisters, what should we do but give thanks to God, the king of all? Let us start by crying out the words of the psalm, "Blessed is the Lord, who has not let them eat us up." Let us keep the feast in that way that he has established for our salvation—the holy day of Easter—so that we, along with the angels, may celebrate the heavenly feast. Remember that Israel, coming out of affliction to a state of rest, sang a song of praise for the victory as they kept the feast.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Now, the Scripture tells us that some of the Jews carried out the killing of their enemies on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and stopped their slaughter on the fourteenth day when they held this festival; but that others carried out the …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
a day of . . . feasting . . . of sending portions one to another--The princes and people of the East not only invite their friends to feasts, but it is their custom to send a portion of the banquet to those who cannot well come to it, especially their relations, and those who are detained at home in a state of sorrow or distress.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The Jews of the villages - They joined that to the preceding day, and made it a day of festivity, and of sending portions to each other; that is, the rich sent portions of the sacrifices slain on this occasion to the poor, that they also might be enabled to make the day a day of festivity; that as the sorrow was general, so also might the joy be. It is worthy of remark that the ancient Itala or Ante-hieronymian version of this book omits the whole of these nineteen verses. Query, Were they originally in this book?
The words behind it
22 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּ֞ן | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| הַיְּהוּדִ֣ים | haiyehudim | the Jews | H3064 → | 75 times |
| הַפְּרָזִ֗ים | haperozim | the rural villagers | H6521 → | |
| הַיֹּשְׁבִים֮ | haiyoshevim | who were dwelling | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בְּעָרֵ֣י | bearei | in [the] cities of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| הַפְּרָזוֹת֒ | haperazot | the open regions | H6519 → | |
| עֹשִׂ֗ים | ʾosim | [are] observing | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֵ֠ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| י֣וֹם | yom | day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| אַרְבָּעָ֤ה | ʾarbaah | four- | H702 → | 318 times |
| עָשָׂר֙ | ʾasar | teen | H6240 → | 338 times |
| לְחֹ֣דֶשׁ | lechodesh | of [the] month | H2320 → | 284 times |
| אֲדָ֔ר | ʾadar | Adar | H143 → | 8 times |
| שִׂמְחָ֥ה | simchah | joy | H8057 → | 94 times |
| וּמִשְׁתֶּ֖ה | umishteh | and a feast | H4960 → | 46 times |
| וְי֣וֹם | veyom | and a day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| ט֑וֹב | tov | good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| וּמִשְׁל֥וֹחַ | umishloach | and [the] sending of | H4916 → | |
| מָנ֖וֹת | manot | portions | H4490 → | 13 times |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| לְרֵעֵֽהוּ׃ פ | lereehu | to neighbor his | H7453 → |
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּ֞ן-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
הַיְּהוּדִ֣יםthe Jews
haiyehudimH3064 →75 times
הַפְּרָזִ֗יםthe rural villagers
haperozimH6521 →
הַיֹּשְׁבִים֮who were dwelling
haiyoshevimH3427 →1079 times
בְּעָרֵ֣יin [the] cities of
beareiH5892 →1090 times
הַפְּרָזוֹת֒the open regions
haperazotH6519 →
עֹשִׂ֗ים[are] observing
ʾosimH6213 →2628 times
אֵ֠ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
י֣וֹםday
yomH3117 →2304 times
אַרְבָּעָ֤הfour-
ʾarbaahH702 →318 times
עָשָׂר֙teen
ʾasarH6240 →338 times
לְחֹ֣דֶשׁof [the] month
lechodeshH2320 →284 times
אֲדָ֔רAdar
ʾadarH143 →8 times
שִׂמְחָ֥הjoy
simchahH8057 →94 times
וּמִשְׁתֶּ֖הand a feast
umishtehH4960 →46 times
וְי֣וֹםand a day
veyomH3117 →2304 times
ט֑וֹבgood
tovH2896 →538 times
וּמִשְׁל֥וֹחַand [the] sending of
umishloachH4916 →
מָנ֖וֹתportions
manotH4490 →13 times
אִ֥ישׁeach
ʾishH376 →1663 times
לְרֵעֵֽהוּ׃ פto neighbor his
lereehuH7453 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Esther 9:22as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to…
it leads to
- Psalms 30:11
You turned my mourning into dancing; You peeled off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
- Isaiah 14:3
On the day that the LORD gives you rest from your pain and torment, and from the hard labor into which you were forced,
- Psalms 30:11
Through
Esther 8:17In every province and every city, wherever the king’s edict and decree reached, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many of the people of the land themselves…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 11:25
No man will be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the fear and dread of you upon all the land, wherever you set foot, as He has promised you.
- 1 Samuel 25:8
Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on the day of a feast. Please give whatever you can afford…
- Esther 9:2
In each of the provinces of King Xerxes, the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who sought to harm them. No man could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen…
- Psalms 18:43
You have delivered me from the strife of the people; You have made me the head of nations; a people I had not known shall serve me.
- Deuteronomy 11:25
Through
Revelation 11:10And those who dwell on the earth will gloat over them, and will celebrate and send one another gifts, because these two prophets had tormented them.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 18:17
When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”
- 1 Kings 18:17
Through
Deuteronomy 16:14And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 8:9–12
Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or…
- Nehemiah 8:9–12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Esther
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Athanasius of Alexandria, FESTAL LETTERS 4; Athanasius of Alexandria, FESTAL LETTERS 8; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther and Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Esther.