Esther 8:15-17

D. Multitudes Rejoice

TEXT: Esther 8:15-17

15

And Mordecai went forth from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan shouted and was glad.

16

The Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honor.

17

And in every province, and in every city, withersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness and joy, a feast and a good day. And many from among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews was fallen upon them.

Today's English Version, Esther 8:15-17

Mordecai left the palace, wearing royal robes of blue and white, a cloak of fine purple linen, and a magnificent gold crown. Then the streets of Susa rang with cheers and joyful shouts. For the Jews there was joy and relief, happiness and a sense of victory. In every city and province, wherever the king's proclamation was read, the Jews held a joyful holiday with feasting and happiness. In fact, many other people became Jews, because they were afraid of them now.

COMMENTS

Esther 8:15-16 Passions: Mordecai was apparently given royal robes to wear signifying his appointment by the king to the position once held by Hamanprime minister. The king probably gave him robes from his own palace wardrobes. A great crown of gold was given Mordecai. The Hebrew word for crown here is -atereth and not the word kether which is used in Esther 2:17 to designate Esther's royal crown of office. Mordecai's crown was one which would be plainly inferior to the king's crown, but great enough to symbolize his high office. Whereas the city of Susa had formerly been upset and perplexed at the edict of Haman (Esther 3:15) to slaughter the Jews, now the city shouts its gladness that the Jews will be able to defend themselves. The Hebrew word tzahalah is translated shout and is often translated to neigh like a horse. The majority of men are possessed of a fundamental sense of justice and right. Only a very few (like Haman) take pleasure in the sufferings of others and are so perverted they have no sense of justice. Most of the people of Susa, even though Persian, would be glad that the Jews would have, at least, the liberty of self-defense.

As for the Jews, there was great rejoicing. The word orah means light in the literal sense but can also mean happiness, prosperity, truth or passion in the figurative sense. It probably means happiness in this context (cf. also Isaiah 58:8).

Esther 8:17 Proselytes: The Hebrew text uses the word rabbim (from the root ravav) and is translated many from among the peoples. became Jews.. One commentator says, It can only have been a small minority of the population in each city that took this view (becoming Jewish proselytes). However, the word rabbim means myriads, much, abundance, great, vast, so many of the peoples did become Jewish proselytes. Jewish commentators are reluctant to admit that many uncircumcised Persian subjects from all over the empire actually became Jewish proselytes. One Jewish commentator writes, The Hebrew verb is a denominative from Yehudi, -Jew.-' Since nowhere else, either in the Bible or in Rabbinic Hebrew, is this verb used to denote proselytization, it may be argued with some reason that a better translation is -took the part of the Jews.-' However, the Hebrew word mitheyehedim is a participle; a participle is a verbal adjective. That is, a participle actively modifies the noun of the sentence. This participle indicates that the many were becoming Jewish. This being the case, many who were proselyted to Judaism in Esther's day may have been the ancestors of many who today call themselves Jews. Ezra (Ezra 2:59-63) found of the approximately 50,000 Jews who returned to Palestine after the exile at least 652 who could not prove they were Jews. According to the book, The Thirteenth Tribe, by Arthur Koestler, pub. Random House, (the author himself a Jew), most East-European Jews today are descended from the Khazars. The Khazars were Caucasians of southern Russia who were proselyted to Judaism about 900 A.D. According to Jacob Gertenhaus (in Christianity Today, 3-13-70), no Jew today can trace his ancestry beyond 200-300 years backward. Exclusive genetic purity of the Jewish race began to disappear as a result of the Assyrian and Babylonian exile. The many Gentiles who became Jewish proselytes here in the days of Esther is a case in point! Most Jews today are no more genetically pure Israelite than Americans are genetically pure Englishmen!

To be sure, the motive for these myriads of people who became Jewish was not the best. The two edicts from the royal throne made it very apparent that there was about to be a time of struggle and bloodshed. The Jews would have the government's authority on their side (cf. Esther 9:3). Most people would reason that the Jews would probably be victorious and they could be expected to take revenge upon all who had not been sympathetic to them. So many thought the most practical thing to do was to become Jewish.

We may learn the following lessons from this chapter:

1.

Civil power may be used for good.

2.

The Jews would not have been delivered if Esther and Mordecai had not used some ingenuity of their own in composing a counteracting edict.

3.

Sometimes those expensive (royal stables) trappings of government, which seem so impractical, may be of very crucial usefulness.

4.

The Lord does not always work miracles to protect the oppressed, sometimes he uses letters, languages, couriers, kings and queens and commoners.

5.

Even pagan emperors and peoples recognize the need for the sanctity of human life against unwarranted and unjustified homicide.

6.

Not all Jews today were born Jewsmany may be descendants of proselytes.