Esther 8


Esther 8 is the eighth chapter of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, The author of the book is unknown and modern scholars have established that the final stage of the Hebrew text would have been formed by the second century BCE. Chapters 3 to 8 contain the nine scenes that form the complication in the book. This chapter contains the effort to deal with the irreversible decree against the Jews now that Haman is dead and Mordecai is elevated to the position of prime minister.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language and since the 16th century is divided into 17 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes Codex Leningradensis.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Alexandrinus.

Esther saves the Jews (8:1–8)

The death of Haman does not change the fact that the irreversible decree to destroy the Jews, written in the king's name and sealed with his ring, still stands. The king gave Haman's household to Esther and gave Mordecai Haman's signet ring, but he refused to regard it as his problem, even as Esther tearfully begged the king to "avert the evil design of Haman the Agagite". Thus, Mordecai and Esther together had to come up with a solution, after receiving the king's permission to "write whatever like about the Jews".

Verse 1

The king may see the giving of Haman's house to Esther as suitable compensation because Haman has wronged her in two ways:
  1. plotting her death, along with the death of her people
  2. attacking her person in the second banquet.

    Verse 2

The second part of verse 2 displays a shift of the focus to Esther, as she is now the one who makes decisions.

Verse 3

The change of tone of Esther's petition before the king indicates her awareness that the gift of Haman's house to her and the signet ring to Mordecai won't do any good after the thirteenth of Adar as long as the decree to annihilate the Jews still stands.
Esther only mentioned Haman as the sole enemy of the Jews and avoided implicating the king in this plot.

Verse 6

Esther used the same two terms — 'people' and 'kindred' as she reversed the act of concealing her identity previously in, when she entered the harem.

Verse 8

The narrative starts with an elaborate description of the system to dispatch the letters conveying the solutions, then of the content which reveals Mordecai's ingenious ploy: a second decree without contradicting the first one but effectively annulling it by authorizing the Jews to defend themselves against those executing the first decree. Both Jews and non-Jews throughout the empire saw the second decree as a bloodless victory for the Jewish cause and the Jews were clearly perceived to have the upper hand that many non-Jews spontaneously converted to Judaism.

Verse 9

This second edict can be compared and contrasted to the first one as recorded in :
Esther 3:13Esther 8:11
First edictSecond edict
Order" to

to destroy, kill, and annihilate		Permission'' to

to destroy, kill, and annihilate
Undisguised aggressionSelf-defense
Violence against

general Jewish population		Violence in response to

"any armed force...that might attack" the Jewish population

Verse 15

This verse can be compared and contrasted to :
Bible verseEsther 3:15Esther 8:17
After the issue ofFirst edictSecond edict
CelebrationThe king and Haman sat down to drinkThe Jews had … a feast and a good day
ConfusionThe city of Susa was in uproarMany people of the land became Jews