Esther 9:16
in Esther 9The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces also assembled to defend themselves and rid themselves of their enemies. They killed 75,000 who hated them, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the other Jews that were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of them that hated them seventy and five thousand; but on the spoil they laid not their hand.
KJV
But the other Jews that were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,
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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)
Seventy and five thousand - The Septuagint gives the number as 15,000; and this amount seems more in proportion to the 800 slain in Susa.
This site's exposition
On the fourteenth day
on Esther 9:15-19
Susa's second day takes three hundred more, and the provinces kill "75,000 who hated them". Twice more comes the refusal: "they did not lay a hand on the plunder". The two campaigns set two dates for the feast, the villages resting on the fourteenth and walled Susa on the fifteenth.
This site's exposition
The rest of the Jews
The Septuagint puts the dead in the provinces at fifteen thousand. Barnes thought that figure sits better beside the eight hundred killed in Susa. Henry reported the Jewish tradition that the enemies killed were Amalekites, the old enemy of Exodus 17.
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 Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
If all these were Amalekites (as the Jews say), surely now it was that the remembrance of Amalek was utterly put out, Exod. xvii. However, that which justifies them in the execution of so many is that they did it in their own just and necessary defence; they stood for their lives, authorized to do so by the law of self-preservation, as well as by the king's decree.
But the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together,.... In a body, in their respective provinces and cities: and stood for their lives; defended themselves against those that attacked them: and had rest from their enemies; that selfsame day; all being destroyed by them, and none daring to appear against them: and slew of their foes 75,000 men; that is, in all the provinces put together: but they laid not their hands on the prey; See Gill on Est 9:7.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Thus the Jews smote all their enemies--The effect of the two antagonistic decrees was, in the meantime, to raise a fierce and bloody war between the Jews and their enemies throughout the Persian empire; but through the dread of Esther and Mordecai, the provincial governors universally favored their cause, so that their enemies fell in great numbers.
The words behind it
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּשְׁאָ֣ר | ushear | and [the] remainder of | H7605 → | |
| הַיְּהוּדִ֡ים | haiyehudim | the Jews | H3064 → | 75 times |
| אֲשֶׁר֩ | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בִּמְדִינ֨וֹת | bimdinot | [were] in [the] provinces of | H4082 → | 53 times |
| הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| נִקְהֲל֣וּ׀ | nikhalu | they assembled | H6950 → | 39 times |
| וְעָמֹ֣ד | veamod | and they made a stand | H5975 → | 521 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| נַפְשָׁ֗ם | nafsham | life their | H5315 → | 754 times |
| וְנ֙וֹחַ֙ | venoach | and they had rest | H5118 → | |
| מֵאֹ֣יְבֵיהֶ֔ם | meoyeveihem | from enemies their | H341 → | 282 times |
| וְהָרֹג֙ | veharog | and they killed | H2026 → | 167 times |
| בְּשֹׂ֣נְאֵיהֶ֔ם | besoneeihem | among [those who] hated them | H8130 → | 146 times |
| חֲמִשָּׁ֥ה | chamishah | five | H2568 → | 343 times |
| וְשִׁבְעִ֖ים | veshivim | and seventy | H7657 → | |
| אָ֑לֶף | ʾalef | thousand | H505 → | |
| וּבַ֨בִּזָּ֔ה | uvabbizah | and on the plunder | H961 → | 10 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָֽׁלְח֖וּ | shalechu | they stretched out | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יָדָֽם׃ | yadam | hand their | H3027 → | 1618 times |
וּשְׁאָ֣רand [the] remainder of
ushearH7605 →
הַיְּהוּדִ֡יםthe Jews
haiyehudimH3064 →75 times
אֲשֶׁר֩who
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בִּמְדִינ֨וֹת[were] in [the] provinces of
bimdinotH4082 →53 times
הַמֶּ֜לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
נִקְהֲל֣וּ׀they assembled
nikhaluH6950 →39 times
וְעָמֹ֣דand they made a stand
veamodH5975 →521 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
נַפְשָׁ֗םlife their
nafshamH5315 →754 times
וְנ֙וֹחַ֙and they had rest
venoachH5118 →
מֵאֹ֣יְבֵיהֶ֔םfrom enemies their
meoyeveihemH341 →282 times
וְהָרֹג֙and they killed
veharogH2026 →167 times
בְּשֹׂ֣נְאֵיהֶ֔םamong [those who] hated them
besoneeihemH8130 →146 times
חֲמִשָּׁ֥הfive
chamishahH2568 →343 times
וְשִׁבְעִ֖יםand seventy
veshivimH7657 →
אָ֑לֶףthousand
ʾalefH505 →
וּבַ֨בִּזָּ֔הand on the plunder
uvabbizahH961 →10 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
שָֽׁלְח֖וּthey stretched out
shalechuH7971 →845 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יָדָֽם׃hand their
yadamH3027 →1618 times
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 8:11By these letters the king permitted the Jews in each and every city the right to assemble and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province hostile…
it leads to
- Esther 3:13
And the letters were sent by couriers to each of the royal provinces with the order to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—and to plunder their possessions on…
- Psalms 37:14–15
The wicked have drawn the sword and bent the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.
- Ezekiel 39:10
They will not gather wood from the countryside or cut it from the forests, for they will use the weapons for fuel. They will loot those who looted them and plunder those who plundered…
- Psalms 146:6–9
the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He remains faithful forever.
- Esther 9:2–16
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…
- Esther 3:13
Through
Esther 9:2In 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…
it leads to
- Esther 8:17
In 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…
- Esther 8:11
By these letters the king permitted the Jews in each and every city the right to assemble and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province hostile…
- Psalms 71:13
May the accusers of my soul be ashamed and consumed; may those who seek my harm be covered with scorn and disgrace.
- Esther 8:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Esther
This page draws on 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 Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.