From Sorrow to Gladness
20 Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21 to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar yearly, 22 as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending presents of food to one another, and gifts to the needy. 23 The Jews accepted the custom that they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them, 24 because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast “Pur”, that is the lot, to consume them and to destroy them; 25 but when this became known to the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked plan, which he had planned against the Jews, should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. 26 Therefore they called these days “Purim”, from the word “Pur.” Therefore because of all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and that which had come to them, 27 the Jews established and imposed on themselves, on their descendants, and on all those who joined themselves to them, so that it should not fail that they would keep these two days according to what was written and according to its appointed time every year; 28 and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor their memory perish from their offspring. 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 He sent letters to all the Jews in the hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus with words of peace and truth, 31 to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had decreed, and as they had imposed upon themselves and their descendants in the matter of the fastings and their mourning. 32 The commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.
A festival is established by letter rather than by command from heaven, and its name is taken from the enemy's dice.
Mordecai wrote these things, and the establishment of Purim is described as correspondence — letters to all the provinces, near and far, enjoining an annual observance.
What is being commemorated is stated in verse 22 with a phrase that could stand as the book's title: the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a holiday. Turned is the operative word, and the book has used the same idea of the day itself Esther 9:1.
The observance has four parts, and the last two are the notable ones: feasting, gladness, sending presents of food to one another, and gifts to the needy. A deliverance festival with charity written into its founding charter.
Verse 23 records that the Jews accepted the custom — the festival is adopted rather than imposed, which is unusual among the appointed times of Scripture. No command from Sinai stands behind it, no sacrifice is prescribed, and no priest has a role.
And verse 26 gives the name's origin, which is the book's final irony. They called these days Purim, from the word Pur — from the lot Haman cast to choose a date for extermination Esther 3:7. The festival is named after his dice. The one thing in the story that was decided by pure chance supplies the name for the celebration of its failure.
Verses 29 to 32 add a second letter with both names on it, Esther's and Mordecai's, and note that her commandment was written in the book. The queen who once could not enter a room uninvited now issues decrees that are archived.
settled What this mark means