Est. 9: Kill With Joy

Esther 9:13 "'If it pleases the king,' Esther answered, 'give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day's edict tomorrow also, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged on gallows.'"

So the Jews were able to overcome this edict, now that they were allowed to defend themselves. With Xerxes wrapped around Esther's finger, and with Mordecai growing in power, what did they have to fear? The Persians who would be killing them were extremely afraid of them. And perhaps this speaks back to why Haman wanted the Jews wiped out. Maybe it wasn't just because Mordecai infuriated him so. He feared the Jews, and his fear contributed to wanting them exterminated. It makes a little more sense, and makes Haman seem a bit less paranoid.

So not only do the Jews go to town on the thirteenth, Esther requests that the king give them the 14th to do this killing as well. The most troubling thing to me in this episode is that God isn't consulted in this. He is not mentioned anywhere in Esther approving this killing, especially, the second day of it. The terror fomented by Haman is visited twice on his own people. This seemed like vengeance for vengeance's sake. I wonder what the significance is of them not taking the plunder. Like was it symbolic of them just getting rid of a threat. They weren't there to be theives. This wasn't conquest, it was self-defense?

So to celebrate this killing...or...this liberation...it was time to party. The Jews begin a festival known as Purim. In verse 22, this commemorates "the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration." They observe it by feasting and giving gifts to the poor.