Esther 9:23
in Esther 9So the Jews agreed to continue the custom they had started, as Mordecai had written to them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;
KJV
And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;
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This verse in Esther 9
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThe Jews undertook to do as they had begun - They had already kept the fifteenth day, and some of them in the country the fourteenth also, as a day of rejoicing: Mordecai wrote to them to bind themselves and their successors, and all their proselytes, to celebrate this as an annual feast throughout all their generations; and this they undertook to do. And it has been observed among them, in all places of their dispersion, from that day to the present time, without any interruption.
This site's exposition
Mordecai recorded these events
on Esther 9:20-23
Mordecai's letters go to all the provinces to keep the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar every year. The feast builds charity into its joy, "sending gifts to one another and to the poor," as at Nehemiah 8:10-12. So "the Jews agreed to continue the custom they had started."
This site's exposition
So the Jews agreed to continue the custom
Albert Barnes reads Mordecai's first letter as a recommendation, and this verse as the people's acceptance of it. A second letter, with Esther's authority behind it, made the feast binding at verse 29. Adam Clarke traced its keeping without a break through the dispersion.
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
For those who always faithfully perform pious labors, and good works, and who generously give charity, are fighting for this so that they will be worthy to win entry to eternal life in faith, hope and charity, in accordance with the teachings of the Gospels …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
12 And the king said unto Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? now what is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: or what is thy request further? and it shall be done.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them.
How the passage was read
On Esther 9:20-32On Esther 9:20-32
The feast this book founds
These verses are the founding charter of Purim, the one feast instituted inside the canon's own narrative books. Its name comes from the “pur,” the lot Haman cast for Israel's destruction. The text itself names the three practices that still define the day: feasting and gladness, sending portions of food to one another, and gifts to the poor (9:22). To this day the whole book of Esther, called the Megillah (“scroll”), is read aloud in the synagogue, with the congregation drowning out Haman's name with noisemakers; the day is kept with costumes, feasting, food baskets to friends, and charity.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Megillah 1:1 (the scroll reading) · Esther 9:22 (the three practices, in the text itself)
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְקִבֵּל֙ | vekibel | and he accepted | H6901 → | 13 times |
| הַיְּהוּדִ֔ים | haiyehudim | the Jews | H3064 → | 75 times |
| אֵ֥ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | [that] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הֵחֵ֖לּוּ | hechelu | they had begun | H2490 → | |
| לַעֲשׂ֑וֹת | laasot | to do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| וְאֵ֛ת | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | [that] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| כָּתַ֥ב | katav | he had written | H3789 → | 224 times |
| מָרְדֳּכַ֖י | maredokhai | Mordecai | H4782 → | 60 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶֽם׃ | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
וְקִבֵּל֙and he accepted
vekibelH6901 →13 times
הַיְּהוּדִ֔יםthe Jews
haiyehudimH3064 →75 times
אֵ֥ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
אֲשֶׁר־[that] which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
הֵחֵ֖לּוּthey had begun
hecheluH2490 →
לַעֲשׂ֑וֹתto do
laasotH6213 →2628 times
וְאֵ֛תand <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
אֲשֶׁר־[that] which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
כָּתַ֥בhe had written
katavH3789 →224 times
מָרְדֳּכַ֖יMordecai
maredokhaiH4782 →60 times
אֲלֵיהֶֽם׃to them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Esther
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Esther and W. F. Adeney, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Expositor's Bible).