Esther 9:20-32

Esther 9:20-32

[20] And Mordecai  wrote  these things,  and sent  letters  unto all the Jews  that were in all the provinces  of the king  Ahasuerus,  both nigh  and far,  [21] To stablish  this among them, that they should keep  the fourteenth  day  of the month  Adar,  and the fifteenth  day  of the same, yearly,  [22] As the days  wherein the Jews  rested  from their enemies,  and the month  which was turned  unto them from sorrow  to joy,  and from mourning  into a good  day:  that they should make  them days  of feasting  and joy,  and of sending  portions  one  to another,  and gifts  to the poor.  [23] And the Jews  undertook  to do  as they had begun,  and as Mordecai  had written  [24] Because Haman  the son  of Hammedatha,  the Agagite,  the enemy  of all the Jews,  had devised  against the Jews  to destroy  them, and had cast  Pur,  that is, the lot,  to consume  them, and to destroy  [25] But when Esther came  before  the king,  he commanded  by letters  that his wicked  device,  which he devised  against the Jews,  should return  upon his own head,  and that he and his sons  should be hanged  on the gallows.  [26] Wherefore they called  these days  Purim  after the name  of Pur.  Therefore for all the words  of this letter,  and of that which they had seen  concerning this matter,  and which had come  [27] The Jews  ordained,  and took  upon them, and upon their seed,  and upon all such as joined  themselves unto them, so as it should not fail,  that they would keep  these two  days  according to their writing,  and according to their appointed time  every year;  [28] And that these days  should be remembered  and kept  throughout  every family,  every province,  and every city;  and that these days  of Purim  should not fail  from among  the Jews,  nor the memorial  of them perish  from their seed.  [29] Then Esther  the queen,  the daughter  of Abihail,  and Mordecai  the Jew,  wrote  with all authority,  to confirm  this second  letter  of Purim.  [30] And he sent  the letters  unto all the Jews,  to the hundred  twenty  and seven  provinces  of the kingdom  of Ahasuerus,  with words  of peace  and truth,  [31] To confirm  these days  of Purim  in their times  appointed, according as Mordecai  the Jew  and Esther  the queen  had enjoined  for themselves  and for their seed,  the matters  of the fastings  and their cry.  [32] And the decree  of Esther  confirmed  these matters  of Purim;  and it was written  in the book. 

What does Esther 9:20-32 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The tables having been turned, the tables could now be spread. [1]
Evidently Mordecai issued the decree establishing the Feast of Purim some time after the slaying of the Jews" enemies ( Esther 9:20). His proclamation united the two days on which the Jews had defended themselves (Adar13,14) into one holiday. During the inter-testamental period the Jews called Adar14 "Mordecai Day" ( 2 Maccabees 15:36, RSV), but they discarded this special designation later. Modern Jews celebrate Purim on the evening of Adar14 (in March). It is their most festive and popular holiday. Esther is the only Old Testament book not found among the texts used by the Essene community at Qumran, probably because this community did not observe Purim. [2]
"Purim" is the plural form of the Persian word pur, meaning the "lot" (cf. Esther 3:7). The name "Purim" became a symbolic reminder to the Jews of how God used circumstances, specifically casting the lot (cf. Esther 3:7), to deliver them in473 B.C.
Probably Esther sent her decree ( Esther 9:29), confirming Mordecai"s previous declaration of the official Jewish holiday ( Esther 9:20-21), to encourage its firm establishment. Her letter evidently began, "Words of peace and truth" ( Esther 9:30). [3] There was probably considerable resistance within the conservative Jewish community to adding another national festival to those prescribed in the Torah.
"The book" ( Esther 9:32) must be the one in which Mordecai recorded all these events ( Esther 9:20), that most scholars have concluded may have been a source the writer of Esther used. This document was probably not the Book of Esther itself, assuming the writer of Esther was someone other than Mordecai. [4]