Esther 6:1-8:12
New Catholic Bible
Vindication of the Jews
Chapter 6
Mordecai Is Honored. 1 That night the king found it difficult to sleep, so he ordered the book of the chronicles of his reign to be brought in and read to him. 2 During the reading, the passage came up about Mordecai uncovering the plot to assassinate King Ahasuerus on the part of Bagathan and Teresh, two of the royal eunuchs who guarded the doorway.
3 The king asked, “How has Mordecai been honored and rewarded for this?”
The attendants said, “He has received neither honor nor reward.”
4 The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just come into the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gibbet that he had built for him.
5 His attendants replied, “Haman is waiting in the court.”
“Let him come in,” the king said.
6 When Haman came in, the king asked him, “What should be done for the man whom the king wants to reward?”
Now Haman thought to himself, “What man would the king rather reward than me?” 7 So he replied to the king, “For the man whom the king wants to reward, 8 [a]let there be brought in the purple robe that the king wore and the horse that he rode when the royal crown was placed on his head. 9 Then let the robe and the horse be entrusted to one of the noblest of the king’s officials. Let them robe the man the king wants to reward and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king wants to reward.’ ”
10 Then the king said to Haman, “Go, right away. Get the robe and the horse and do for Mordecai the Jew—who sits at the king’s gate—what you have suggested. Do not leave out anything you have proposed.” 11 So Haman procured the robe and the horse. He put the robe on Mordecai and had him ride through the city streets, proclaiming, “This is what is done for the man the king wants to reward.”
12 Afterward, Mordecai went back to the king’s gate. Haman, however, hurried home, with his head covered[b] in grief 13 and told Zeresh his wife and all his friends what had befallen him.
His friends and his wife, Zeresh, told him, “If Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of the Jewish race, you will not be able to overcome him but will surely suffer defeat, because the living God is with him.”
14 Haman Is Put to Death. While they were still speaking, the king’s eunuchs arrived and took Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared.
Chapter 7
1 So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. 2 And once again, on the second day as they were having wine, the king asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even if it is for half my kingdom, it will be granted you.”
3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. 4 For I and my people have been handed over to destruction, slaughter, and extinction. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have not said anything, because such distress would not be reason enough to disturb the king.”[c]
5 Then King Ahasuerus asked Queen Esther, “Who is it and where is the one who has done such a thing?”
6 Esther replied, “Our enemy is this wicked man Haman.”
In terror, Haman faced the king and queen. 7 The king got up in a rage, left his wine, and went out into the palace garden. But Haman stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life, since he feared that the king had already decided his fate.
8 So Haman threw himself upon the couch on which Esther was reclining. At that very moment the king was just returning from the palace garden to the banquet hall. The king exclaimed: “Will he also violate the queen while she is with me in my own house?”
The words were scarcely out of the king’s mouth when Haman’s face was covered. 9 Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs who attended the king, said, “There is a gibbet fifty cubits high at Haman’s house. Haman prepared it for Mordecai, who warned your majesty about the plot.”
The king said, “Hang him on it.” 10 So they hanged Haman on the gibbet he had prepared for Mordecai, and the king’s anger cooled down.
Chapter 8
The King’s Edict in Favor of the Jews. 1 That same day, King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther all the property of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai was invited to come into the king’s presence, for Esther revealed how he was related to her. 2 The king removed his signet ring, which he had taken back from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther placed Mordecai in charge of Haman’s property.
3 Then Esther spoke with the king again, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to revoke the evil plot that Haman, the Agagite, had set up against the Jews. 4 Then the king extended the golden scepter to Esther, and she arose and stood before him.
5 “If it pleases your majesty,” she said, “and seems the right thing to do, and if I have found favor with you so that you love me, let an order be issued to overrule the letters that Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote for the destruction of the Jews in all the royal provinces. 6 For how can I bear to see the evil that is about to fall on my people, and how can I behold the destruction of my race?”
7 King Ahasuerus then said to Queen Esther and to the Jew Mordecai, “Now that I have given Esther the property of Haman, and he has been hanged on the gibbet because he attacked the Jews, 8 you may write another edict in the king’s name on behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king’s signet ring—for no document that is written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”[d]
9 Then on the twenty-third day of the third month, Sivan, the king’s scribes were summoned. They wrote out all Mordecai’s words to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and nobles of the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. These words were written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also in the script and language of the Jews. 10 Mordecai wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed the letters with the king’s signet ring, and sent them via mounted couriers, riding speedy royal horses. 11 The king’s edict gave the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves as well as to destroy, kill, and annihilate, along with their wives and children, every armed group of any nation and province that should attack them, and to seize their goods as spoil.
Chapter E
A Copy of the Edict.[e]1 This is a copy of the edict:
“King Ahasuerus the Great to the governors of the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces extending from India to Ethiopia, and to all our loyal subjects: Greetings!
2 “Many people who have been the recipients of ever-increasing honors through the bountiful kindness of their benefactors tend to grow ever more arrogant.3 Not only do they plot to injure our subjects but, as their power tends to increase their insolent behavior, they even begin to scheme against their very benefactors.4 Not only do they make it impossible for others to experience gratitude, but they are so inundated in their own arrogance that the concept of goodness has become meaningless to them, and they even believe that they will escape the all-seeing God and his justice, which hates evil.
5 “In addition, it often happens that the deceitful schemes of friends who have been entrusted with the administration of public affairs6 influence their benefactors to become unwitting accomplices of theirs in the shedding of innocent blood. Thus, the sincere desire of rulers to achieve only the good of their subjects is thwarted by deceitful trickery.7 History is replete with stories of such evil, but never more so than at the present when we examine the evil wrought in our midst through the criminal deeds of those officials who disgraced their office of authority by their wicked conduct.8 From this moment on we shall direct all of our efforts to ensure the peace and tranquillity of all our subjects in the kingdom,9 revising our policies as necessary and giving equitable treatment in adjudicating matters that are brought before us.
10 “In this regard, Haman, son of Hammedatha, a Macedonian[f] without a trace of Persian blood or of the kindness that is part of our heritage, was the recipient of our hospitality.11 He so completely enjoyed the goodwill that we extend to all nations that we regarded him as our father before whom all should bow down, and we proclaimed him to rank second in line to the royal throne.12 However, unworthy of this dignity, Haman with unrestrained arrogance undertook to deprive us of our kingdom and our life.13 By acts of deceit he insisted that it was essential for us to order the destruction of Mordecai, our savior and constant benefactor, and of Esther, our innocent royal consort, together with their whole race.14 By such measures he sought to render us vulnerable and to transfer the sovereignty now enjoyed by the Persians to the Macedonians.
15 “However, we have determined that the Jews, who were marked for extermination by this thrice-wicked man, are no evildoers. On the contrary, they are governed by the most righteous laws16 and are children of the Most High, the living God of sovereign majesty who has ensured for us as well as for our ancestors the continuing prosperity of our kingdom.
17 “Therefore, I command you to ignore the letters sent by Haman, son of Hammedatha,18 for he who wrote them has been hanged, together with his entire household, at the gates of Susa. God, the ruler of the universe, has inflicted upon him the punishment he so richly deserved.
19 “Instead, post copies of this letter in every public place and permit Jews to be governed by their own laws.20 Furthermore, ensure that on the day scheduled for their annihilation, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar, they will receive your aid to defend themselves against their assailants in a time of oppression.21 For God, who rules over all things, has changed that day for his chosen people from a day of destruction to a day of joy.22 And therefore you, too, must include among your commemorative feasts this day as one for rejoicing,23 so that both today and in the future it may be for us and for all loyal Persians a memorial of deliverance and a reminder of destruction for those who plot against us.
24 “Any city or province that does not observe this edict shall be mercilessly destroyed by fire and sword. It will be made unaccessible not only to all people, but also to wild animals and birds forever.”
12 The day appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar.Footnotes
- Esther 6:8 The honors are rendered according to the customs of the Persians and Assyrians. It was thought that clothes were imbued with the personality of those who wore them (the same as for Elijah in 2 Ki 2:8-13) and hence, to wear the king’s clothes signified to share in the royal dignity. Ancient images show us the royal crown placed on the head of a horse.
- Esther 6:12 Head covered: a sign of mourning (see 2 Sam 15:30; Jer 14:4).
- Esther 7:4 Esther plays skillfully on the sentiments of the king and upon an ever-important subject: finances.
- Esther 8:8 The king cannot revoke a previous edict directly because of the irrevocable character of the laws of the Medes and Persians (Est 1:19; Dan 6:9). What he can do is empower Esther to issue a new edict in his name that makes the earlier edict ineffective (see Est 3:12-13).
- Esther 8:12 The author of the Greek text attributes to Xerxes I the reflection that sages were more apt to make concerning the manner with which the affairs of the people are conducted and concerning the injustice that threatens the action of a man in power. He is fond of explaining in detail the freedom that the Jewish communities should enjoy and connects the Book of Esther with the Feast of Purim.
- Esther 8:12 Macedonian: used here and in E:14 possibly by a Hellenistic redactor who knew how much the Persians despised the Macedonians who eventually conquered them. Hence, Haman was viewed as the representation of all the irrational hatred against Jews who found themselves in a foreign environment.
