O^i^L

Gift of

Sf\^'JDA.'

A Book for every Bible Student.
The only Treatise of the kind in the English Language.
AN EXAMINATION OF THE ALLEGED
DISCREPANCIES OF THE BIBLE.
BY JOHN W- HALEY. M.A.
With an Introduction by Alvah Hovey, D.D., Professor in the Newton
Theological Institution. Crown 8vo. pp. xii and 473. Price, $1.25.

Emphaticall/a Commentary on the hard places of Scripture.
The book consists of two parts : Part I., about fifty pages, contains Dis
sertations on the Origin, Design, and Results of the Discrepancies. Part II.,
is given to the Explanation and Harmony of the Discrepancies, under the
following heads.
I. Doctrinal Discrepancie8, concerning God, Christ, the Holy Spirit,
the Scriptures, Man in relation to the Present, Man in relation to the
Future.
n. Ethical Discrepancies, on the Duty of Man to God, of Man to
himself, of Man to his fellow-men.
HI. Historical Discrepancies, pertaining to Persons ; to Places ; to
Numbers ; to Time ; Miscellaneous.
Three Indexes afford easy reference to topics and passages of Scripture.
The First Edition of this book was exhausted in a few weeks. A Second
Revised Edition is now ready.
" I have examined a part of the manuscript copy of the Rev. J. W. Haley's
work on the Apparent Contradictions of the Bible and the reconciliation of them.
The work is the fruit of lengthened and laborious research. It will be of great
use to every minister who will study it. Every minister ought to be familiar with
the principles stated in the work. I do not know any volume which gives to the
English reader such a compressed amount of suggestion and instruction on this
theme as is given in this volume. So far as I have examined it, I discover no trace
of a sectarian spirit in the manuscript." — Prof, Edwards A. Park.
" An excellent discussion of the subject." — Christian Observer.
" Sound learning, good common sense, exact statement, brevity, perspicuity, to a
remarkable degree characterize the work from beginning to end." — New Covenant.
" To those called to explain the scriptures it will be found helpful, as its solu
tions of difficulties are sensible and sound." — Presbyterian at Work.
" We earnestly commend it to the attention of all who desire for themselves,
or for the benefit of others, a more thorough, consistent, and assuring knowledge
of the Bible." — The Episcopalian.
" Mr. Haley has done Bible readers excellent service by the publication of this
volume." — Christian Union.
" Moreover, the book becomes to the most of ministers and other readers, as a
whole Ubrary in its references, quotations, and original discussion of the numerous
texts that sceptics have declared mutually contradictory." — Herald of Gospel Liberty.
"A volume w hich will be found extremely convenient." — Watchman and lie/lector
A-13

'SUPPLICIUM /ETERNUM."

THE HEREAFTER OF SIN:
WHAT IT WILL BE;
WITH
ANSWERS TO OEETAIN QUESTIONS AND OBJEOTIONS.
By rev. JOHN W. HALEY,
Author of " Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible."
Price 75 cents.
This work presents the penal aspects of sin. Part first discusses Fatnn
Betrlbution : Demand for it, and Nature of it. Certain elements
which it is reasonable to believe will enter into and constitute the punish
ment of sin in the world to come are considered.
I. The ever present knowledge of the lost that the blame is all their own.
II. A deep and abiding sense of shame and degradation.
HI. Remorse of conscience.
IV. The withdrawment of good and saving influences.
V. The self-perpetuating tendency of moral character.
VI. The hopelessness of their condition.
vn. The raging of unholy and unsatisfied passions and desires.
VIII. The society in which the sinner is placed.
IX. An unfailing sense of the displeasure of the Almighty.
Part second considers Questions and Objections. Eighteen of these
questions, embracing some of a popular and some of a more scholastic
and philosophical nature, are discussed. Each part contains numerous
references to the literature of the subject. The book is intended to relieve
the minds of that large class of persons who recognize the fact that the
doctrine of endless suffering is taught in the word of God, yet who find it
difficult or impossible to reconcile that doctrine with their own ideas and
feelings. " It is impossible for us to over-estimate the enormous peril to which every one
is exposed who is not warned and fortified against the specious arguments of scep
ticism and unbelief in regard to the doctrine of future punishment. This little
book of the TJev. Mr. Haley aims to furnish such warning and such scriptural and
philosophical fortification." — Lutheran Church Review, Jim. 1882.
" An able book, containing a clear and dispassionate discussion of a momentoas
subject. It stands unique in a field of its own." — Independent, Aug. -25, 1 881.
" Mr. Haley h.is set forth the teaching of God's Word in a very clear light, and
shows how it harmonizes with the conclusions of experience, science, and philoso
phy." — The National Baptist, Sept. 1, 1881.
" One is compelled, in reading it, to feel that its scriptural argument for the
eternity of punishment is unanswerable, and that this doctrine is in some form to
be accepted while the Scriptures are the sole lule of faith " — Christian Advocate,
Ian. 12, 1882.
"A clear, calm, accurate presentation of the subject  If we mistake tteijtji
ffiU prove to be one of the most acceptable and valuable treatises on tljp eagjist
•hat we have." — Golden Rule. A-U

THE

BOOK OF ESTHER,

A l^mv TEAE'SLATIOl^;

CRITICAL NOTES, EXCURSUSES, MAPS AND PLANS,
AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

BY
THE LOWELL HEBEEW CLUB.
EDITED BT
REV. JOHN W. HALEY, M.A.,
AUTHOB OF "ALLEGED DISCREPANCIES OF THE BIBLE," AND OF
"THE HEREAFTER OF SIN."

^

WARREN F. DRAPER.
1885.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1885, by
WAEEEN F. DRAPER,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
' '¦]^-. vc r.

PREFACE.

It falls to me as a kind of right to pen this preface. The
Hebrew Club, whose work appears in this volume, first met in
my study, and began its work somewhat at my suggestion.
What is said as to the personnel of the Club may satisfy the
curiosity of the reader, as well as encourage other ministers
similarly situated to combine for the more thorough study of
the Book of books.
Nine years ago we began to meet once a week to read the
Old Testament Scriptures in their original tongue. There is
something about this grand old language which attracts the
lover of sacred things, a heavenly rhythm which fills and
inspires his soul, and enables him to say, " I love thy law."
There is a divine sweetness in the very words in which that
law was written. After two years of such pleasurable work
we commenced to publish in one of our city newspapers the
results of our study, in the shape of a weekly exposition of the
International Series of Sunday-school Lessons. These exposi
tions, furnished by members of the Club in turn, continued
two and one half years, being generally read in this city, and
extensively copied into the newspapers of other cities.
Five years ago, having formed the plan of concentrating our
work upon the Book of Esther, we discontinued as a Club the
1

2 PREFACE.
exposition of the Sunday-school lesson. But a taste in the
community had been created for it, so that two of our weekly
newspapers from that time began to give scholarly and inter
esting elucidations of the lessons, — one by a member of this
Club (Rev. John W. Haley), the other by a clergyman of tlie
city, not connected with the Club. With regard to the mem
bership of the Club, it should be said that four parish ministers
have done the work. Professor G. Frederick Wright and Dr.
Selah Merrill met with us a few times. The former contributed
some valuable matter which will appear in the volume of Dis
courses on the Book of Esther, soon to be published ; the latter
furnished some matter which will be found in Excursus D (p.
122) in this volume. We have received suggestions on diffi
cult points from some of the best Heljrew scholars in Great
Britain and Germany, as well as in our own country. Among
them are Dr. James G. Murpliy, of Belfast, Ireland ; Professor
Geo. C. M. Douglas, D.D., of Glasgow, Scotland ; Dr. James
Strong, of Madison, N.J. ; Professor Willis J. Beecher, of Au
burn, N. Y. ; Professor A. Meyrowitz, New York City ; Rev.
Wm. H. Cobb, Uxbridge, Mass. ; Rev. T. W. Chambers, D.D.,
New York City ; Rev. E. S. Dwight, D.D., Hadley, Mass.
It is our purpose, if the Lord spares our lives and gives us
the needed strength, to do for the two books of Ezra and
Nehemiah what we have done for the Book of Esther. We
have the work under way for the former named book.
The text as it appears in this volume is in no sense the
revision of another translation, but a rendering of the Hebrew
de ¦novo. We are joint authors of the translation. As to the
other material, Rev. Owen Street. D.D,, contributed the Intro-

PREFACE. 3
duction, the notes on chapters v., vi., and vii., and Excursuses
A, E, F. He has been for twenty-seven consecutive years the
successful pastor of a large and influential church in this
busy city, and has been a centre of light and intelligence
here. He has contributed not a few articles to the press
of the day.
Rev. John W. Haley, M.A., recently the pastor of a Con
gregational church in this vicinity, and now a resident of
Amherst, Mass., for some time a Professor in one of our
Western Colleges, is the author of two well-known books, —
" Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible," and " Supplicium
Aeternum, or the Hereafter of Sin." He was made the editor
of this volume because of his known ability in such work.
He contributed the notes on chapters iii. and iv.. Excursuses
G, H, I, J, K, and the Indexes.
Rev. William P. Alcott contributed the notes on chapters
i. and ii., and Excursuses B, C, D, P. He has been for many
years a Congregational pastor, and has been accustomed to
make scientific studies his relaxation. During the year 1877
he was the travelling companion of Dr. Philip Sehaff in his tour
through Egypt, the Sinaitic region, Palestine, and Southern
Europe. He has contributed many articles to the press, and
edited the Natural History department of Schaff's Bible
Dictionary. The writer of this preface has been for fourteen years the
pastor of a Congregational church in this city. His contri
butions to this volume are the notes on chapters viii., ix., and
X., and Excursuses L, M, N, 0.
We have found great pleasure and profit in our work. All

4 PREFACE.
careful study of the word of God fits one better to be a herald
of the gospel of eternal life. We have discovered rich
treasures in this too much neglected portion of the sacred
word. That the Lord may own and bless our labors to the upbuild
ing of the church, to a truer understanding of the oracles of
God, to the honor of his name, and to the saving of souls, is
the fervent prayer of myself and all my associates in this
work. JOHN M. GREENE.
Lowell, Mass., November 1884.

CONTENTS.

PAQE
Introduction, .......... 7-27
Translation and iffotes, ........ 29-91
Excursuses,  92-18C
A. Persian Words and Names, ...... 92-94
B. Topograpliy and Buildings  95-109
C. Pavement and Components,  110-116
D. Letters and Posts of the Ancients, .... 117-122
E. Early Modes of Execution,  122-130
F. The Jews in Exile,  130-139
G. Signet Rings and Seals,  140-146
H. The Massacre,  146-149
I. Fasting,  149-151
J. The Golden Sceptre,  151-153
K. Fate of Royal Favorites,  153-154
L. Couriers,  155
M. Coursers,  156
N. Tribute  156-160
O. The Unwritten Name,  161-169
P. The Septuagint Esther  170-186
Hebrew Index  187, 188
English Index,  189-194
5

6 CONTENTS.
MAPS AND PLANS.
1. Plan of Persepolis (with explanations), . . . at the end.
2. Modem Snsiana, ........."
3. Plan of Mounds of Susa,  "
4. Persian Empire — Ancient,  "

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAQS

Tomb of the Prophet Daniel,  to face title.
The Golden Sceptre,  60
Diagram to illustrate the King's Gate and the Courts, . . 107
Modes of Execution — Impalement,  127
Signet-Rings and Seals,  142

INTRODUCTION.

I. THE BOOK OF ESTHEE, — ITS CLAIM TO A PLAOE AMOIfG^
THE SACKED WEITINGS.
This book comes to us with an external record that is above
suspicion. We receive it from those most vigilant and scrupu
lous guardians of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Jewish people ;
and with the most assuring commendation on their part. Their
learned rabbis are united in giving it not only a place, but a
very high place, among their sacred writings, — so high that
they included it among those scriptures that they distinguished
as the Hagiographa (the emphatically sacred books). And,
even among these, they assigned it the first rank, reckoning it
with those which they call by way of special empliasis nibw
(^Megillotli).^ It is sometimes called by a kind of supreme
emphasis ri|;an (JiorMegillah') , the " book of books." It may
be added as a further illustration of the high repute in which it
was held by the Jews, that it was a saying of Maimonides, that
" in the days of the Messiah, the prophetic and hagiographical
books will pass away, except the book of Esther, which will.
remain, with the Pentateuch."
This book is read through by the Jews every year in their
feast of Purim in the synagogues, and is indeed necessarily
associated with that observance. The one is to the other what
the Book of Exodus is to the Passover. It is more. For we
could make out from the Book of Psalms, and other scriptures,
on what basis of fact the Passover rests ; but there is no other
scripture, if the Book of Esther be supposed to be stricken out,
from which we could explain the observance of Purim.
1 As we should give it in modern phrase, " books that are books.''
7

8 INTRODUCTION.
The proof of the unquestioned and high standing of this book
in the Jewish canon of Scriptures is complete. It is so recog
nized by the Jewish writers from Josephus down to our own
times. This consideration is all the more weighty from the
fact that the Jewish scribes have kept the Hebrew text wholly
unadulterated by admixtures from the extensive additions that
have been' prefixed, suffixed, and interpolated by the writers of
the Septuagint. " Unto them [the Hebrew people] were com
mitted the oracles of God." ^ No one contends that the Book of
Esther was missing from that canon of the Jewish Scriptures
to which our Lord and his apostles continually made their ap
peal. This fact vindicates for it a place in the word of God as
held and published to the world by the early followers of Clirist.
The internal evidence is equally satisfactory. Like the
other books of the Hebrew canon, it deals with the fortunes of
the Jewish people, and is fully in keeping with their well-
known characteristics. Mordecai and Esther were Jews of
the clearest and most unquestionable type. The providence
of God, in the deliverance of his people, stands out in this
boolc in as distinct outline as in their rescue from the Egyp
tian bondage or from the Babylonian captivity. The record
is everywhere true, moreover, to the Medo-Persian dynasty
and character. It shows us just what the profane histories
show us, only with greater minuteness and fidelity.
It will be seen that we have found no occasion to enter
upon the discussion of the question whether the book may not
be poetic, or poetico-didactic, and hence fitted to be ranked as
an allegory, or a parable to illustrate some important truth in
morals or in providence. The absence of rhythm and parallel
ism, and the whole tone and manner of the book, as well as the
strong testimony to its historic character, forbid that we should
seriously consider such an hypothesis. We can only wonder
that the hypothesis has been saved from the unnoticed death
that befits a monstrosity in sacred criticism, by its association
with such names as Semier, Oeder, Corrodi, Hitzig, and Zunz.
To us, the book is a veritable history. The glimpses which
it gives us of the arbitrary character of the despotism under
I Bom. iii. 2.

INTRODUCTION. 9
which Mordecai and Esther lived ; the extent of the royal
harem ; the nature of the recorded festivities ; the approaches,
the architecture, and the furnishing of the palace ; and the
sudden elevation and downfall of those in high position, are
historic verities. Its Orientalisms are all true to ancient his
tory ; and its record of Xerxes corresponds exactly with all
that we know from other sources as to his character.
The promotion of Esther and Mordecai from a nation of
captives is closely parallel to that of Joseph in Egypt, and that
of Daniel and his companions in Babylon. The practical
teaching of the book, taken as a whole, is similar to that of the
Scriptures generally : it is that of dependence on God for deliv
erance from destruction ; his care and timely interposition for
his people ; and the certain downfall of the wicked. The com
mon objections that there is no suggestion of prayer in the
book, and that the name of God does not occur in it, are fully
answered in the Excursus on The Unwritten Name.^
n. OHEONOLOGIOAL DATA DEEIVED PEOM EXISTING
MONUMENTS AND PEOFANE HISTOET.
The date of the leading events of the narrative, or the pre
cise period covered by it, has not been declared by any author
of ancient times. Scholars have had before them in the book
of Esther very much such a study as if the statements it contains
had been dug up from the same chambers as the records that
have been published of the military exploits of Sennacherib or
of Nebuchadnezzar ; or found chiselled on some rocky tablet
similar to that of Behistun or the famous Moabite stone. The
questions at once arise, Where did these events come in ?
What fixed points in history did they precede or follow ? Does
history know anything of this monarch, or the characters asso
ciated with him in this book ? These were hard points for even
such giants of historical learning as Archbishop Usher, Dean
Prideaux, and Joseph Scaliger. After all their sturdy wrest
ling with the problem they came each to a different result.
Usher concluded that Ahasuerus could be no other than Darius
1 See Appendix, Excursus O.
2

10 INTRODUCTION.
Hystaspis ; Prideaux fixed upon Artaxerxes Longimanus ; while
Scaliger decided that he must have been identical with Xerxes.
We should have had much the same battle to fight with in
conclusive data, but for the aid derived within the present
century from the happily achieved mastery of the cuneiform
alphabet of the ancient Persians. It has now been satisfac
torily shown tliat the cuneiform orthography of the name
which the Greeks shortened into Xerxes answers to the Hebrew
name Achashverosh as found in the Book of Esther.
As we wish to present the proof of this to tlie eye we insert,
in our first Excursus,^ a carefully prepared schedule, differing
but little from that given by Canon Rawlinson, in whicli those
letters of the ancient Persian and Hebrew alphabets which are
found to be equivalents, or neai4y such, are placed side by
side. It will be seen that the Persian had nothing answering
to the Hebrew Lamedh, Tsad/ie, Ayin, or Qoph. But tbe Per
sians had, on the other hand, a number of letters for which the
Hebrews had no equivalent ; their alphabet amounting to forty
letters. We give in the fourth column of our schedule, in
English, Greek, Hebrew, and Persian, the three names that
must be considered in our present discussion. Such a com
parison as any one can make in a few moments will show that
the argument from the names is conclusive for Xerxes.
It will be seen that in the second name (Khshyarsha) the
combination Khsli represents only two letters ; the potent ele
ment of the first being k and of the second s, making the
combination simply equivalent to ks ; which, as every Greek
scholar knows, becomes in the inflections of that language
uniformly ^, in English x. Hence we find that the Greeks only
obeyed the laws of their own language in representing Khsh
by X in Xerxes. They represented the same two letters again
by X in Artaxerxes. The j/ar became, under their manipula
tion, simply er. How the remaining letters of the name came
to be represented by zes is not so apparent ; but it presents no
greater difficulty than the transformation of the Hebrew ')"i"i»»
(SJio-mcrorh) into the Greek 5'a/ta/3eta (Samaria), and other not
less striking examples in the Septuagint Scriptures.
i See Appendix, Excursus A.

INTRODUCTION. H
In comparing Khshyarsha with the Hebrew Achashverosh,
we shall see that the transliteration is much closer. The k
(^AlepK) ^ in the Hebrew is simply prosthetic, and designed to
aid the pronunciation. The tjn is an exact reproduction of the
Persian klish, the vowel point being a comparatively modern
addition. The 1 (vav) is in Hebrew words so frequently interchanged
with •< Qyod'), that we need feel no surprise at the substitution
of the former for the latter here. It is by this substitution
that the v in the Hebrew name as spelled in English replaces
the y in the Persian. The rsh of the one is precisely rsh in the
other. Of tlie last vowel in either case we need make no account,
as the Hebrews were not careful in giving the Persian vowels.
The Hebrew scholar will perceive that the identity of the name
as exhibited in the two languages is complete. Neither of the
other names (Daryvush or Artkhshtra) can be made to yield
Achashverosh. But we are still met by the difficulty that we have this same
name, Achashverosh, in Ezra iv. 6, apparently applied to Cam-
byses. This difficulty, however, counts for nothing, when we
call to mind that it was no unusual thing for Persian kings to
have two names ; and it is still more effectually disposed of by the
consideration that the reign of Cambyses is so far from meeting
the historical requirements of the case that no one has thought
of finding in him the Achashverosh of the Book of Esther.
This brings us back to Xerxes. There are eighteen instances
of the occurrence of his name in the inscriptions that have
been copied from Hamadan, Persepolis, and Van. It was one
of the three names upon which Grotefend began his great
deciphering experiment, in which, as he afterward found, he
was " building better than he knew."
Four of the inscriptions are very nearly identical. The fol
lowing passage occurs in each of the four : "I am Xefxes
[Khshyarsha] the king, the great king, the king of kings, the
king of the many peopled countries, the supporter of this great
world, the son of Darius the Achaemenian." This settles the
point that Khshyarsha was the son of Darius the Achaemenian.
' See any Hebrew IJexicon, under tc

12 INTRODUCTION.
An inscription by Artaxerxes (Ochus), several generations
later, contains tliis passage : " I am the son of King Arta
xerxes, Artaxerxes [being] the son of King Darius ; Darius
[being] the son of King Artaxerxes ; Artaxerxes [being] the
son oi King Khshyarsha ; Khshyarsha being the son of King
Darius ; Darius being the son of one named Hystaspes ; and
Hystaspes being the son of one named Arsames an Achaemen
ian." This, being prefaced with the declaration, '• Says Arta
xerxes, the great king, the king of kings," etc., gives us the
following well-known order of kings: Artaxerxes (Ochus),
Artaxerxes (Mnemon), Darius (Nothus), Artaxerxes, Xerxes,
Darius Hystaspis. Hence there is no escape from the conclu
sion that Khshyarsha is Xerxes.^
There is another process — that of " eliminating impossible
kings," as Rawlinson has happily phrased it — that brings us
to the same result. We begin with throwing out of the account
all who preceded Darius Hystaspis, as we are required to do
by the very first verse of the book.
We must have a sovereign who reigned from India to
Ethiopia. Darius Hystaspis was the first who carried the
Persian power into India.
1 Mr. Tyrwhitt in his elaborate endearor to show that Ahasuerus is Darius
Hystaspis, and Esther identical with Atossa, admits that " the name Hadassah or
Atossa is applied by certain Greek writers, not only to princesses descended from
Darius and his queen Atossa, but to persons of earlier Persian, and even of the
Assyrian annals. We have the ' Atossa, daughter of Ariaspes,' mentioned by
Hellanicus ; and in the pedigree of Cappadocian kings given by Diodorus we have
an ' Atossa, wife of Pharnaces,' who appears to have been father's sister to the great
Cyras ;  also Herodotus's Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, who married Cambyses,
and devolved as part of his goods and chattels to his successor, the pretended
Smerdis " (note p. 183). Atossa, the wife of Darius, and mother of Xerxes, was
daughter of Cyrus. And Herodotus says Xerxes was son of a king and a queen,
and not as was his competitor, son of a man who became afterwards king, and of a
woman who became afterwards queen. How then could Atossa be Esther 1 Tyr
whitt is compelled to make " daughter of Cyrus " « mere title, signifying nothing
whatever as to her paternity. He admits also (p. 4) " that the authority of the Sep
tuagint (if in such a matter it be of any importance), may be cited for identifying
the two names Xerxes and Ahasuerus ; since in the original Greek version of the
book of Daniel, the name Xerxes is put for the name Ahasuerus at the beginning
of the ninth chapter.'' " This," he adds, " the reader may see in Tischendorf 's
Septuagint, which contains the older Greek version, as well as in Theodotion's
Daniel, its substitute, in what we may call the received or vulgate version of the
Jewish Scriptures."

INTRODUCTION. 13
We must have a king who held, his court at Shushan, or
Susa. This was true of no one before Darius Hystaspis.
We must have one who was at leisure during the third year
of his reign for months of feasting, and who had his great
captains and military chiefs, representing the strength of the
whole Medo-Persian army at leisure to join with him in the
feast. This cuts off Darius Hystaspis. For he was not at Susa,
but at Babylon ; and his military forces, during this part of his
reign, were having serious work in hand, and his throne was
too insecure to admit of these six months' revels with his
generals and captains. The following brief calendar of the
first years of his reign, made up from the inscriptions as
compared with the existing histories, and accepted as the most
probable order of events by those who have specially devoted
themselves to the study, will show something of the strength
of this argument. Darius came to the throne B.C. 521. Be
tween this date and December B.C. 520 he sent an army against
Atrines, who had declared himself king, and whom he over
came and slew. At the latter date (B.C. 520) he gained a
second battle, on his march toward Babylon, at Zazana on the
Euphrates. From January B.C. 519 to September B.C. 518 he
was occupied with the siege ef Babylon ; obtaining possession
of the city at the latter date, and putting to death the rebel
king Nidintabelus. Before Darius was ready to leave Babylon,
another aspirant for the kingly power arose, and was recognized
as king throughout all Media. Armenia and Assyria were also
drawn into the rebellion. Two armies were sent to meet this
new peril. It was a most formidable revolt, and was not fully
quelled until Darius himself appeared in Media, in the summer
of B.C. 518. This carries us beyond the third year of Darius,
and leaves him still two or three years of hard campaigning
before the revolts were all quelled and the dangers that
threatened his kingdom were overcome.
We thus add, to the decisive argument from the name, the
clear proof of an alibi for the king, and show that both he and
his generals were otherwise employed, with the stern necessity
of revolution and war upon them, and of course could not have
been feasting at Susa, or Shushan. There can no longer be
any question as regards Darius.

14 INTRODUCTION.
Leaving the first of the three kings that have been suggested,
let us try the third. Artaxerxes Longimanus. As in the case
of Darius, the name is against the supposition. Both the Per
sian original and the Hebrew transliteration of it are in fatal
disagreement with the name which is given in the Book of
Esther. The character of this prince looks equally the other
way. As given by the profane historians, he appears " remark
able among the Persian monarchs for wisdom and riglit feel
ing." 1 And with this agrees the view we obtain of him in the
books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Tlie learned are by no means
agreed as to what kings are intended in Ez. iv. 6, 7, 23 by
Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes ; some insisting that they can be
no other than Xerxes and Artaxerxes Longimanus, and others
assuming that the one must be Cambyses and the other the
pseudo Smerdis. Whichever conclusion be followed, it will
not affect the argument that identifies Achashverosh with
Xerxes in the Book of Esther. Neither does it raise any
question as to who is intended by Artaxerxes in the seventh
chapter of Ezra and in the second chapter of Nehemiah. In
the seventh chapter of the former, containing " a copy of the
letter which king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest," we
have, beyond a question, the Artaxerxes who succeeded Xerxes,
i.e. Artaxerxes Longimanus. It was in his seventh year (Ez.
vii. 7) that the letter was given. And in this letter we find a
spirit of kindness and respect manifested for Ezra and his
people, and a spirit of reverence for Jehovah, that we can by
no means attribute to Ahasuerus.
We find in him the same temper and the same spirit thirteen
years later, when Nehemiah asks for leave of absence from the
palace, and for letters of credit and authority, that he may the
better rally his countrymen and secure the rebuilding of Jeru
salem. Certainly, this could not be the monarch to whom Haman
ventured to talk about the Jews as though he were wholly
ignorant of them ; speaking of them as a certain people scat
tered abroad and dispersed in all the provinces of the kingdom,
with laws diverse from all people. Still less could he assume
1 Bishop Cotton. See also Diod. xi. 71.

INTRODUCTION. 15
that this sovereign would take his word as decisive that it was
" not for the king's profit to tolerate them," and sanction, with
out inquiry, the deci'ee for their destruction. We are evi
dently looking at the wrong mam The story does not agree
with his character any more than the name with his name.
Thus we are brought back again, by the demands of the his
tory, to Xerxes. He is chronologically between the other two,
which disposes of the whole question of date. If the dates
assigned to them are severally admissible, his must certainly
pass unchallenged. The name is demonstrably one and the
same, and the character befits the history at every point —
unreasonable, imperious, tyrannical, reckless of human life,
inipious, capricious, and cruel. The story of his scourging the
lAlespont, as told by Herodotus, shows us the man, and pre
pares us for all that is told of him in the Book of Esther.^
Such a man, we should say at once, was only true to himself
injssuing a decree of wholesale slaughter at a word from his
favorite minister, and then, in another turn of his capricious
will, condemning that same favorite minister to instant death.
Having found this striking agreement of name, of epoch,
and of character, it is not a little remarkable that we should
find the sacred and profane histories assigning the same time
and place for the gathering of the military counsellors of
Xerxes. It is true the records look different ways ; one
1 " When Xerxes heard of what had happened (the destruction of his bridge by
a tempest), he was so enraged that he ordered three hundred lashes to be inflicted
on the Hellespont, and a pair of fetters to be thrown into the sea. I have been in
formed that he sent some executioners to brand the Hellespont with marks of igno
miny ; but it is certain that he ordered those who inflicted the lashes to use these
barbarous and mad expressions : ' Thau ungracious water, thy master condemns
thee to this punishment for having injured him without provocation. Xerxes, the
king, will pass over thee whether thou consentest or not,' etc. After thus treating
the sea, the king commanded those who presided over the construction of the bridge
to be-beheaded. These commands were executed by those on whom that unpleas-
ing ^ce was conferred." — Herod. Beloe's translation, p. 332. Keil points to the
similarity in the character of the Achashverosh of this book to that of Xerxes, " a
barbarous, whimsic^, debauched despot, ioelioed also to adopt senseless measures."
So Scaliger, Drusius, Pfeifier, Carpzov, Justi, Eichhorn, Jahn, Gesenius, Herzfcld,
Fue^?and,as Keil remarks, " almost all recent authors." Davidson says (Introd.
to Old Test. ii. 157) ; " The conduct of Xerxes was capricious, and in some cases
like that of a madman. His disposition was sensual and cruel. He was prone to
indulge in riotous living. His measures were often sudden and arbitrary."

Ig INTRODUCTION.
toward the great Grecian campaign, the other toward an
important crisis in the Jewish history. But this only makes
their agreement the more striking. Herodotus was a Greek ;
and, with his eye on Thermopylae and Salamis, he would very
naturally confine his record to the deliberations which contem
plated the conquest of Greece. He saw nothing of importance
in the gathering at Susa but what had a bearing on this.
The Jewish historian, on the other hand, cared very little
for these strifes between the uncircumcised heathen nations,
and still less for the discussions that prepared the way for
them. He saw the splendor of the feast, and traced the line
of incidents that led on to the crisis that was prepared for his
own people. For them he saw a Thermopylae wide as the
empire ; and all else dwindled to insignificance in the com
parison. Each account differs from the other precisely as we should
anticipate. It is enough that the time, the place, and the
assembly are the same. Still another coincidence we have:
the one account leaps over a chasm of four years, as it should,
inasmuch as Xerxes is absent from Shushan, and is too much
occupied with his Grecian war to meddle in the current of
Jewish affairs ; and the other fills up that period, as it should,
with the exciting incidents of the campaign.
But at the end of the four years the two histories meet again
at Susa, or Shushan, and show us Xerxes occupying himself
with his harem. The one writer is brought to this point by
the legitimate course of history, or because the tide of events
brings him there ; and the other is brought to the same point
because he finds there the next link in the chain which his
purpose requires him to exhibit. In either case it is perfectly
natural ; the coincidence was unknown to the authors, and of
course undesigned ; and it falls into line with the strong proof
already adduced that the Achashverosh of Esther is no other
than the Khshyarsha of the inscriptions and the Xerxes of the
Greek historians. We regard tliis as so thoroughly settled
that we do not hesitate to present the name throughout this
work in that very form in wliich it is best known to history.
We do no more violence to the Hebrew when we say Xerxes

INTRODUCTION. 17
instead of Achashverosh, than our received translation does in
another case, when it says Isaiah instead of Yeshayahoo, or
Abijah instead of Aveeyyahoo.
m. THE OHEONOLOGIOAL DATA FEOM HEBEEW SOUEOES.
The relations of the Medo-Persian empire to the Jewish
people began soon after the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, or
not far from B.C. 536. He found the Jews under the bondage
of the Babylonian captivity, and proclaimed their deliverance.
We cannot be too often reminded of the sublime miracle of
prophecy ^ antedating the event at least a century and a half,
calling Cyrus by name, and declaring specifically what he
would do. Josephus tells us that Cyrus was made acquainted
with this divine oracle and " wondered at it ; and a certain
zeal and ambition seized him to accomplish the things that
had been written." It is not unreasonable to regard this as
the very method by which " Jehovah stirred tbe spirit of
Cyrus "^ to issue the edict by which he conferred upon the
Jewish people the largest liberty of return, and generous sult-
sidies to aid them in the rebuilding of their capital and temple.
But this left them an equal liberty to remain where they were.
And very many had established themselves in situations and
employments which made it for their interest to remain.
It can scarcely be doubted that at the time of the events re
corded in the Book of Esther, there were many more Jews out
side of the bounds of Palestine than within those bounds. For
their combined number nothing better than a reasonable con
jecture can be offered. Such a conjecture, from which there
has been no marked dissent, makes them approximate a total
of three millions.
The chronological data on the Hebrew side may be pre
sented thus. Mordecai was old enough to act as the guardian of
Esther in her orphanage ; and the aspect of the record is that
of a guardianship assumed in her early childhood. She seems
to have obeyed him as a father. We may assume, then, that
when Esther was twenty years of age he was not less than
1 See Isa. xliv. 28 ; xlv. 1-7. ^ Ezra i. 1.
3

18 INTRODUCTION.
forty. Xerxes came to the throne B.C. 485. Esther became
his queen seven years later, B.C. 478, when she was presumably
twenty and Mordecai forty. Tliis will give us
Mordecai's birth B.C. 518.
The birth of his father Jair, adding 33 years, B.C. 551.
The birth of his grandfather Shimei, B.C. 584.
The birth of his great-grandfather Kish, B.C. 617.
The last mentioned (Kish) is said to have been carried to
Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar B.C. 598. This would make him
nineteen years old at that time. All these suppositions are
such as are ordinarily made in dealing with historic problems.
No one of them is overstrained or excessive. All are within
the bounds of an easy probability. Let us see now how the
case would stand with Esther. Mordecai assumed the care of
her as the daughter of his uncle, his father's brother. Or,
in other words, his father (Jair) was the brother of her father
(Abihail), and Shimei was the father of both. From that point
backward, of course, the ancestry was one and the same. It
is an entirely easy and natural supposition that Jair was twenty
years old when his brother Abihail was born. Esther might
then be the first-born in the family of Abihail ; though we
are under no necessity of supposing this. The lines of historic
possibility are elastic enough to admit of very considerable
departures from each of these estimates. The essential point
is that no historic probability is violated by placing Mordecai
and Esther under the reign of Xerxes.

17. THE BOOK OF ESTHEE AN IMPOETANT CONTEIBUTION
TO THE HISTOEY OF THE WOELD.
The Book of Esther is a substantial addition to our knowl
edge of the events that belong to general history. Its narra
tions have supplied the material for so much as is common to
it and the writings of Josephus and the Apocrypha. Where-
ever these enlarge the narrative, they cumber it, giving us
pure inventions, or at best improbable traditions. Occupying
thus a field that is distinctly and exclusively its own, it throws
much light upon the condition of the Persian empire at the

INTRODUCTION. 19
very time when it was at the culmination of its greatness. It
shows us the Persian court and society in some aspects that
appear in no other work. It enables the historian to repro
duce the very scenes in which the military advice that Xerxes
sought was given. We are shown the throne-room and the ban
queting hall. We learn that discussions of grave matters, and
even of points of established usage and law, could go on in the
latter. We learn that the assembly which Herodotus knows
only as a deliberative council was in fact a great gathering for a
long-continued feast ; that the prominent and characteristic
luxury, as is shown by the very name (a " drinking-festival"),^'
was wine. Indeed, Herodotus calls it an " invited gather
ing ; " ^ using very different language from that which he em
ploys when he speaks of the council of war which the king
summoned when he had reached the Hellespont. There, it is
said, " Xerxes sent a second time for the most esteemed of the
Persians;"^ a marked instance of an undesigned and un
conscious agreement on the part of the one historian with the
more explicit declaration of the other. The second allusion
makes the occult harmony the more striking. We learn, too,
from the Hebrew history, that a part of the king's object in
this great feast was to produce a wide impression of tlie mag
nificence and grandeur of his court. He who would rewrite
the history of Xerxes now may avail himself of the description,
that is here given of the adornments of that immense hall ; its
awnings, the most attractive that Oriental looms could pro
duce, fastened to marble pillars by silver rings, and its costly
pavements, and wine-cups of gold. It was at this feast ex
tended through half the year that Xerxes laid open his plan
for the subjugation of Greece. It was amid all this showing
of the resources and splendor at his command that the speeches
of Mardonius and Artabanus were made. It greatly relieves
the strain upon the credibility aud trustworthiness of Hero
dotus as a historian when we find ourselves warranted in bring
ing in the wine-cup to explain the persistence and power of a
1 In the Hebrew, '^F!'2? , nearly the same as the Greek avixTricnov.
^ aiWoyov MkXt]tov Ittoicto.
8 SfiJTepo |UeTo)rt|Ui|(aTO Ef'pfris Uepafow fobs SoKiiiurdTOus.

20 INTRODUCTION.
phantom ^ (which has been so naturally regarded as a trick of
Mardonius), and the vacillations of the monarch and of his
wisest counsellor.
This counterfeit phantom frightens Xerxes out of the conclu
sion of his second thought and his better judgment, and over
comes the maturer wisdom of Artabanus, his uncle. It is
this, in fact, that seems to turn the scale, and settle the point
that the great expedition shall be undertaken. Superstition is
potent in its way ; but that a phantom should have assailed
a man of the courage and wisdom of Artabanus with hot irons,
and alarmed him with the attempt to burn out his eyes, and
actually have succeeded in driving him, with a loud outcry,
from his couch and his room, and been regarded by him still
without question as a veritable apparition, is strongly sugges
tive of a brain from which the fumes of the wine-cup have not
wholly passed away.
History cannot afford to neglect such causes when dealing
with the great turning-points of imperial power, especially
when they afford an easy explanation of that which would
otherwise be insoluble ; still more when they impress with so
much emphasis the most important moral lessons that come
from the story of the past.
The incidents that are here contributed may well challenge
a comparison with any others that have been made known to
us from that distant age. Why should the deliverance of
Greece from the Persian yoke by Themistocles and Pausanias
be a more interesting event than the deliverance of the Hebrew
people by Mordecai and Esther ? In the one case it was only
a question of vassalage and of tribute ; in the other it was a
question of unsparing carnage — a doom of death from which
there was to be no exception and no reprieve.
This history, for which in some respects there is no parallel,
is supported, we may almost say, beyond the possibility of a
doubt. It is impossible that any reasonable mind should re
flect long upon what is implied in such an observance as the
feast of Purim, celebrated by the Jews all over the world, be
ginning some four or five centuries before Christ, and never
^ rh (yftpoy.

INTRODUCTION. 21
intermitted ; and see how every root and fibre of it is contained
in this book, and not find itself held fast by the demonstration
and the conviction that the events were real. If we should
find a collision between this and the declarations of profane
history, the latter must give way. But there is no such col
lision. There is simply, as in all ancient history, the task of
finding the true order and succession of the events, and locat
ing them as they seem to have occurred in the order of time,
or of cause and effect.
V. THE FIELD OF EVENTS 6E0GEAPHI0ALLT AND
ETHNICALLY CONSIDEEED.
The Book of Esther takes us out of the bounds of Palestine.
It has nothing to say of Jerusalem, Samaria, the Jordan,
Carmel, Lebanon, or Hermon. Its centre of operations is far
away in the land of Shinar, at the city of Shushan, or Susa, some
four degrees of longitude east of the site of the comparatively
modern Bagdad. From this seat of the royal power it gives
us an outlook through the hundred and twenty-seven provinces
of the Persian empire. It is a broad area. Previous history
had shown no empire so extensive. The great empires of an
earlier date were but satrapies or provinces when absorbed by
this. Egypt was but an outlying district. The renowned
kingdom of Lydia was not of itself sufficient for a satrapy.
The ancient kingdom of Syria, and those of Assyria, Armenia,
Babylonia, Media, Bactriana, and India were swallowed up in
this vast domain.
The map inserted at the close of this volume sets forth the
extent and the divisions of the Persian empire in the time
of Xerxes. It will be seen that this empire embraced frag
ments of the three great original branches of the human family.
Side by side, under one government and in one army, we see
the Aryan, the Semitic, and the Cushite races. It might well
be called a " world-empire." YI. THE WEITEE.
It is no drawback, as regards the value of the book, that the
writer ia unknown. This is true of a very considerable number

22 INTRODUCTION.
of the sacred books. We are thrown back on conjecture and
uncertain and conflicting traditions. As author of the Book
of Esther, Mordecai has been frequently suggested. Aben Ezra
and Clement of Alexandria have given the sanction of their
names to this suggestion ; and the hypothesis is supported by
the fact that the writer evinces a knowledge of the royal
chronicles and the archives of the empire, and an access to
them such as we must suppose Mordecai to have enjoyed. No
one had greater facilities for this than he. There is a precise-
ness of names and dates and the record of conversations that
seems to imply this access to the original sources of knowledge.
But there is nothing else to assure us that he was the writer.
In ix. 20 it is true that we are told that " Mordecai wrote these
things, and sent letters unto all the Jews " ; and we read in
verse 23, " The Jews adopted [i.e. as an ordinance or custom]
what they had begun to do, and what Mordecai had written to
them " ; and in verse 2G, " Now because of all the words of
this letter," etc. But this cannot be pressed as certainly
bearing on the question of the authorship of the book. All
that can be inferred is, that such letters, pertaining to the
observance of Purim, were known by the author to have been
written by Mordecai. The most that can be said is, that the
minuteness of the narrative agrees well with the hypothesis
that makes him the author of the book. But there may have
been a hundred others, as well or better qualified, to whom he
could have given the needed access to the public records. We
are told by the Rabbi Azarias that it was written by the high-
priest Joiakim. But the strong indications, amounting almost
to a certainty, that the book was written in the atmosphere of
tlie Persian court, are against this. Isidore and Augustine
ascribe it to Ezra. But all the marked peculiarities of the
book, except as regards familiarity with Persian affairs, forbid
the adoption of their opinion. It would seem that no one
could carefully compare the two books bearing the names of
Ezra and Esther without coming to the conclusion that they
were certainly written by different authors. Whether Ezra
wrote the whole of the book bearing his name, or not, there is
enough that is indisputably his to settle this point.

INTRODUCTION. 23
According to the Talmud, the Book of Esther is one of those
that were written by the scribes of the Great Synagogue. This
would bring the writing somewhere between the time of Ezra
and B.C. 300.1 pp_ -^-_ Schyltz says of this tradition that it
" evidently has reference not so much to the composition of
the book as to its authoritativeness and final editorial super
vision." With this understanding of it, the Talmud teaches
that the men of the Great Synagogue found the work already in
existence, and judged it to be worthy of their editorial sanction.
So far as these ancient opinions antagonize and destroy
one another, we must of course set them aside as of no real
authority, and only helpful as straws in the general current
of early thought. U.sing them in this way, we may interrogate
the book itself as affording the most trustworthy basis for our
conclusions. We shall not learn from it the name of the
author ; but we may learn that which is far more important —
something of his capacity and fitness for the work which he
undertook ; and we may assure ourselves that he wrote from
actual observation and personal knowledge. He was familiar
with tlie customs which he exhibits, and made faithful use of
the documents which he consulted. He was a Jew, and keenly
felt both the peril and the deliverance which he depicts, and
no less the fear and distress that were produced by the one,
and the exultation and joy that came with the other. We
are told that the opening sentence of the book shows that
it was not written until after the death of the monarch whose
deeds it narrates. But this is only what we should naturally
assume. One who was exactly contemporary with Esther
might have been not more than thirty-five years of age at the
time of Xerxes' death. And one who had received in the
susceptible days of his youth his impressions of the greatness
and splendor of the empire of Xerxes would very naturally
speak of him as " that Xerxes who reigned from India even to
Ethiopia;'''' not so much to distinguish hira from other kings
as to aggrandize him, throwing the emphasis on the words that
mark the extent of his dominion,
1 See Prof Plumptre's articles, "Scribes," and the "Great Synagogue,'' in
Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, iv. 2865-2873, 3139, 3140.

24 INTRODUCTION.
The information, then, which we extract from the book
itself, while leaving it among the anonymous books of the
Bible, is otherwise as definite as we could ask. The book was
written by a Hebrew who was competent as an author, con
temporary witli the events, familiar with the localities, char
acters, and customs of wliich he speaks, and favored with ample
opportunity to consult and to quote the public records and the
chronicles of the empire.
TII. STYLE OF THE AUTHOE.
There is a general agreement among critics as to the ex
cellence of the style in which this book is written. It is simple,
and precisely adapted to the work which the writer undertakes.
It is so perfect that no one thinks of the style. We look
through a medium so transparent that we have no sight of the
medium, but only of the objects and the events. There is no
tendency to verbosity or prolixity, yet there is no affectation
of conciseness. The writer condenses his statements within
the narrowest limits that are consistent with clearness of
diction, yet he is never so sparing of words as to be ob
scure. He does not attempt lofty flights or sublime periods,
but aims at distinct impressions, and a clear outline of events.
There is no pausing to draw sketches of individual character.
The characters are made to exhibit themselves in their words
and ill their acts. Yet the reader is at no loss in regard to
them. No two of them are alike. We could not interchange
tliem without ruining the history.
Much of the fascination of the book is due to the skilful
arrangement of parts. There is all the effect which we are
accustomed to ascribe to the elaborate weaving of a plot in a
drama, or in a work of fiction ; and we find a well-devised
denouement. Every thread and fibre is wrought into its place
in the fabric, and there is nothing irrelevant.
The Hebrew is very perfect and very pure ; admitting no
more Persian words than were indispensable to accuracy in
local delineations, — just enough to show that the writer knew
how to represent correctly the incidents and usages that had
no parallel in the old Hebrew commonwealth to which the

INTRODUCTION. 25
Hebrew language was originally accommodated. Names of
offices and the transmission of messages in a way unknown
before the days of the Persian empire, etc., required the intro
duction of new words, which the Jews of Shushan had already
learned to use. As regards the few words belonging to the
later Hebrew or Aramaic, they are barely sufficient to vindi
cate for the work the date to which we assign it. If there
were none, the omission would be, at least, embarrassing ; if
they were greatly multiplied, it would carry the date too far
foward to agree with other features of the work.
Vm. OUTLINE OF THE WOEK.
The Book of Esther is essentially historical. The events
gather about a crisis which may be characterized as the defeated
plot of Haman. Of course, we must be made acquainted with
the locality, the monarch, the individuals who have a prominent
part, and the circumstances that brought them into the line of
events. We are first shown the extent of the Persian empire
under Xerxes ; the great feast which he made for the dignitaries
of his realm, the splendor of the banquet-hall, and tlie display
which he made of his wealth and power ; then comes the feast
made by Vashti the queen for the women of the court ; then
the violation of the proprieties and usages of the Oriental
civilization by the monarch in his maudlin state, the refusal of
the queen to sacrifice the delicacy of her nature to his unrea
sonable demand, the king's appeal to his counsellors, and the
advice given and accepted that brought about the deposition
of the queen and her divorce from the king. Then follows
the proposition, which was accepted, to adopt measures to fill
the vacancy created by the removal of the queen. This brings
in Esther the Jewess, and makes us acquainted with her
pedigree, and also introduces Mordecai, lier cousin and guardian.
Esther falls into the conscription of virgins, and is chosen by
the monarch and made his queen. Meanwhile Mordecai gains
an official position, which is described as " sitting in the king's
gate." The kindred and nationality of Esther remain for the
present a secret. Mordecai discovers and reveals a plot against
4

26 INTRODUCTION.
the king's life; the conspirators are executed; and the whole
goes upon the record with Mordecai's name as informer.
Another important change is the advancing of Haman the
Agagite to the position of prime minister, or chief manager of
affairs under the king. A reverence is demanded for him
second only to that which was due to the monarch. Mordecai,
as a Jew, has some scruple in regard to this, and declines to
comply witli the demand. Haman is stung by his refusal, and
plots not only for his destruction, but for that of all the Jews
in the empire. Lots are cast to determine the time that will
be most auspicious for the execution of the plot, and the
sanction of the king is obtained to a decree for the extermina
tion of the Jews. This becomes known to Mordecai, and he
puts on sackcloth, and indulges in demonstrations of mourning
that become known to Esther. This leads to an interchange
of messages, in which he makes known to her the decree, and
urges upon her the great duty of interceding with the king for
her people. She points out the danger to herself, but accepts
the duty, and addresses herself to it, after a season of fasting
on the part of herself and of her people. She seeks an audience
with the king, is kindly received, and bidden to declare her
request. She goes no farther, at this interview, than to invite
the king and Haman to a banquet that she has prepared. At
the banquet she still sees reason for delay, and appoints an
other banquet for the following day.
Haman is flattered and pleased with this attention, but
exasperated by passing Mordecai on his way home, and re
ceiving no homage from him. This leads him to the deter
mination to secure the destruction of Mordecai at once. He
sets up a stake on his own grounds for the impalement,^ and
repairs in the morning to the palace to obtain the needed per
mission. Meanwhile, after a sleepless night, the king has
determined to render some honor to Mordecai for the timely
service by which he had before saved his life. Haman comes
in while the king has this in mind, and is met with the
question, " What shall be done for the man that the king
wishes to honor ? " Assuming that the question means no
1 See Appendix, Excursus E.

INTRODUCTION. 27
other than himself, he at once suggests an imposing public
demonstration, and finds, to his intense disappointment and
chagrin, that Mordecai is the man to be honored, and that he
himself is to conduct the demonstration. The banquet follows
immediately, and the queen exposes Haman's bloody plot, and
turns the tide of doom against him. The sentence is passed
at once, and he is impaled on the stake which he had preiiared
for Mordecai.
The course of things is now rapidly reversed. Mordecai
comes into Haman's place, and is allowed to devise a decree
that shall counteract, as far as possible, the decree of doom
against the Jews. They are granted full liberty to defend
themselves and to destroy their enemies. It is seen that the
power and good-will of the government is on their side. And
this, while it emboldens the Jews, disheartens their enemies,
and greatly diminishes the number of those who were disposed
to attack them. The day originally appointed for the slaughter
of the Jews becomes a day of deliverance, and of triumph and
joy. Thousands of those who were foolhardy enough to attack
them are slain, and the sons of Haman are impaled ; but the
Jews refrain from appropriating the spoil to which, according
to the usages of warfare and the special order of the king,
they are entitled. The anniversary days of this deliverance
are appointed by Mordecai, and accepted by the Jews, as per
petual feast-days, to take the name Purim — the name by which
the lot cast by Haman had been designated ; and the book is
closed with an emphatic statement of the prosperity and great
ness of Mordecai in the empire of Persia.

THE BOOK OF ESTHER.

CHAPTER L 1,2.
* And it came to pass in the days of Xerxes — that Xerxes
who reigned from India even to Ethiopia, [over] a hundred and
twenty-seven provinces — ^in those days when the king Xerxes
sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the
And it came to pass — "^fi^^ often introduces a narrative in the sense
of it happened. Some would render the expression " and it was," the
vav conversive not only marking the past tense, but also, as they urge,
showing that the narrative is connected with earlier Jewish history.
Days — indefinitely used, like our word time. Xerxes — the monarch
here brought before us is Xerxes the Great, the son of Darius Hys
taspis. Abundant evidence of this identification may be found in our
Introduction. When Xerxes came to the throne, in B.C. 485, he was
probably about thirty-five years old — certainly no older, possibly even
ten years younger. (See Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies, Vol. iii.
p. 445, note 23.) ( vv\ is allied to Hindu, the old native appellation
of the Indus River and the province it waters — western India, or the
Punjaub and Sinde. By Ethiopia the country south of Egypt is, of
course, intended. The Persian Empire, which had now reached its
extreme territorial magnitude, was divided into about twenty satrapies ;
but our text gives the number of jurisdictions or governments included
under these satrapies, which covered a region of probably nqt less than
two millions of square miles, or more than half the area of modern
Europe. (See Note on iii. 12 ; also Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies,
Vol. iii. p. 84. Upon 'nx^yi. , see remarks of Tayler Lewis, Lange's
Ecclesiastes, p. 34.)
2. When the king Xerxes sat — as we should say, when the king
was holding his court ; in Shushan — there were " thrones of the
kingdom " also at Ecbatana, Persepolis, and Babylon. The expression,
Shushan the castle, n^i^an yaw , which occurs ten times in Esther, is
29

30 ' ESTHER. [Chap. 1. 3, 4.
castle ; ^ [that] in the third year of his reign he prepared a
banquet for all his princes and his servants, (the inilitary
power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the
provinces [being] before him), * when he showed [his] riches,
the glory of his kingdom, and [his] splendor, the pomp of his
greatness, many days, [even] a hundred and eighty days.
further discussed in an Excursus. (See Appendix, Excursus B.)
This castle, or berSh, Tro'Xts of the LXX, burff of Luther's version,
seems clearly to have been the upper city, or royal quarter, upon the
" palace mound," or perhaps upon all three of the mounds ; for remains
of palaces have been found upon the eastern. (Loftus' Chaldea and
Susiana, pp. 401-404.) The western mound (see our plan) was un
mistakably the location of the protecting military stronghold.
3. In the third year of his reign — doubtless during the early spring
of B.C. 483. In his second year, Xerxes had marched into Egypt to
subdue a revolt, and, according to Ctesias, had caused a rising in Baby
lon to be suppressed, and the temple and many of the shrines of that
city to be destroyed. It can hardly be doubted, then, that the present
gathering of "his princes and servants " (Herod, vii. 8) was intended
to afford opportunity for consultation concerning the famous expedition
into Greece which he was now planning ; a banquet — literally, a
drinking-fea&t, a symposium. For such banquets the Persians in
Xerxes' day were famous (Herod, i. 133) ; for aU his princes and
his servants — these classes are further described by appositives, sug
gesting (1) the high military officers of the empire, (2) the civil
powers. Military power, i^n ; since it is not probable that the entire
force of Persia and Media was present at Susa, Bertheau thinks that
only tlie body-guard of Xerxes (see Herodotus vii. 40, 41) is intended.
Other scholars take the meaning to be that the host, or military force,
was present simply in its captains and leaders considered as represent
ing it. The nobles, literally the first men, are those of hereditary rank,
Persians ; princes of the provinces are the satraps and others invested
with authority, but not distinctively Persians; before him — before his
face, is emphatic by position, and seems to mean in his very presence.
4. For six months Xerxes kept " open house," and, with the osten
tation which was one of his chief characteristics, displayed his wealth
and luxury in prodigal hospitality to thousands of the officers of gov
ernment, who doubtless came and went as they had occasion. The
monarch enjoyed a brief and paltry satisfaction in the amazement of

Chap. I. 5, 6.] ESTHER. §1
^ And when those days were fulfilled, the king prepared for
all the people found in Shushan the castle, for both great and
small, a banquet seven days, in the court of the garden of the
king's palace. * [There were] white and violet awnings,
the gaping multitude — a happiness too soon turned into gall by one
whom the Oriental despises, a woman.
5. An especial closing banquet is now given to all the men who
are dwelling or visiting in the royal town. Literally it is a drinking, the
word being the same as in i. 3. But the LXX gives So^iji' in ver. 3, here
iroTov. A court, "^n, is an area, open above, but surrounded by walls,
colonnades, or perhaps, as in the present case, only by trees and shrubs.
This garden was the paradise of which the Pei-sians were so fond (Ge
senius' Lex, sub 6^^S ; Lange's Ecclesiastes, p. 32). in'^a, which
occurs only in Esther (i. 5 ; vii. 7, 8), and in Esther solely in the
present combination (with r;j), seems to be a form of Ti'^'z palace. So
the LXX (oiKov) suggests. It may therefore designate distinctively
the great pillared hall, the foundations of which have been discovered
upon the north mound (see on the topography of Shushan, Appendix,
Excursus B). Rawlinson supposes the locality of the feast to have
been the space around this magnificent structure, excluding its central
group of pillars, but including the porticos, and amounting to an area
of 62,949 square feet, or not quite an acr« and a half. But since we
have Fergusson with us (art. Shushan, Smith's Bible Diet.) we venture
to differ from one whose opinion carries great weight. Rawlinson's
locality would hardly be described as " the court of the garden." If
the ¦jP'^a were a palace like Sargon's, an interior court planted as a
garden would be supposable ; but the existing remains of ancient Per
sian palaces warrant no thought of such a court. This " court of the
garden of the palaoe " was probably upon the north mound, and east —
possibly west — of the great hall to which we have just referred (see
note upon "white marble," next verse).
6. The fact that there is no verb at the beginning of this verse
Bertheau explains thus : " Mere intimations and, as it were, exclama
tions of excited admiration enter into the account that is attempted to
be given, instead of quiet description." The same author adds : " The
n [initial letter with which the verse opens] was writtenjarge, perhaps
to indicate by the writing itself that a new description had been
begun." Bertheau holds that the opening words of this discourse
depict hcmgingi by which this part of the garden was separated from

32 ESTHER. (Chap. 1. 6.
fastened with cords of fine linen and purplo to rings of
silver and pillars of white marble ; couches of gold and silver
on a pavement of blue stone, and white marble, and alabaster,
other portions. It is, however, the more common opinion that awnings
are intended ; for, though the text gives us no light upon the matter,
the usages of the East and the freedom of the banquet seem to favoi
the latter view (Layard, Nin. and Bab., p. 530). The three materials
of the awnings are considered by most critics to be fine white linen,
cotton cloth, and blue stuff. Concerning the two latter translations
there can be no question. The blue was more exactly violet. Cotton
was not at that time a cheap fabric, and tbe Persian captivity probably
first made the Jews familiar with its use. (For the high estimation set
upon cotton in Babylon, see Ane. Mon., Vol. ii. p. 670.) The opening
word we prefer to regard, as Rawlinson apparently does (Pulpit Com.,
and Speaker's Com., in loco ; see A, V. also), as a noun equivalent to
whiteness, tchite cloth, or, in combination with the following word,
¦white cotton. For we have another word in the next clause, via,
which unquestionably denotes white linen, and the two words l!in and
]«ia occur in proximity in viii. 1 5 ; though CB'^3 , cotton, is not there
combined with "Vtn , as if the latter alone might then be a sufficient
designation, i^n occurs in only these two instances in the Bible ;
but the use of i:;n (and "iin, a later word) is not unfavorable to this
view- Why, indeed, should two kinds of white cloth be employed?
Bertheau escapes this difficulty by rendering OB^a " variegated mate
rial." But alternate strips of white and violet, the royal colors
(Speaker's Com., Esther i. 6), would certainly be a very probable com
bination, one which we find in Mordecai's robe of honor (viii. 15).
Thus understood, the A. V. is correct, if the word " green," for which
there is uo modern advocate, be omitted. In the next clause, vaa is
unquestionably fine white linen, 'jcais was the royal purple of an
tiquity — a color obtained from certain shell-fish, and doubtTess very
neai^our red (Smith's Bib. Diet., art. Colors). If (as we question
under ver. 5) the awnings were extended from the central pillars to
the porticos, sixty feet, remarkably strong cords, attachments, and
supports would indeed be needed. The material of the pillars is BC,
which was also one element of the pavement, and seems clearly to have
been white marble. If these pillars were of white marble, as we
think, this feast was not held under the porticos of the discovered hall,
the columns of which are of blue marble (see ttJiB, in discussion of

Chap. I. 6, 8.] ESTHER. 33
and red stone. ^And they gave drink in vessels of gold,
even vessels differing from one another ; and royal wine was
abundant, according to the hand of the king. ^ And the
drinking was according to the mandate : No compelling. For
thus had the king enjoined upon every official of his house :
Do according to the pleasure of each man.
the Pavement, Appendix, Excursus C). Conches — divans for reclin
ing at the feast, and possibly, though not probably, for " all the people
found in Shushan the castle, for both great and small " (ver. 5), to sleep
upon. These couches were perhaps low bedsteads of silver and gold,
such as Xerxes took with him on his Grecian expedition (Herod, ix.
80-82), or divans covered with glittering fabrics. The pavement was
not one of mosaics or small tesserae, but of slabs, or certainly of pieces
not much less than a foot square, such as compose all floors yet remain
ing from the ancient empires. The materials we believe to have beeh,
as nearly as they can now be determined and briefly indicated, blue
stone, and white marble, and alabaster, and red stone. Certainty is
as hopeless as recovery of the pavement. Though differing somewhat
otherwise, the A.V. margin seems to coincide with our text as to the
colors. (For the grounds of these renderings, see Excursus upon the
Pavement.) Few traces of conformity to the Hebrew are to be found
in the LXX translation of this verse and the next. The additions and
omissions are surprising, if not amusing.
7. Golden drinking vessels of the Assyrians, often representing the
head and neck of some animal, as a lion or a bull, have been found.
Similar goblets were common among the Greeks and Etrurians (Layard,
Nineveh and its Remains, Vol. ii. p. 303). This royal wine was very
possibly that of Helbon (Ezek. xxvii. 18, and Bible Diet.), of which
Plutarch (Life of Alexander) says that the Persian monarch used no
other. The remaining expression describes the free abundance of this
costly drink, as worthy of so rich and magnificent a king. " With
a liberal hand," or " in right royal fashion,'' would be a correct inter
pretation. 8-1 1. The edict for this feast, no compelling, must have occurred to
Xerxes when he was exceedingly clear-headed. It was all the more
needful because the king did not set an example of abstinence (ver.
10), and because the Persians at this period were hard drinkers
(Herod, i. 133). The language implies that compulsion was at least
sometimes employed. Abstinence on such an occasion might, but for
s

34 ESTHER. [Chap. L 9, 11.
^ Also Vashti the queen prepared a banquet for the women
in the royal house which [pertained] to the king Xerxes.
1* On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry
with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbonah, Bigtha
and Abagtha, Zethar and Carcas, the seven eunuchs who min
istered in the presence of the king Xerxes, ^^ to bring Vashti the
queen before the king, with the crown royal, to show the peoples
and the princes her beauty ; for fair in appearance was she.

this decree, have been esteemed an insult to tbe king. It seems there
were officers of Xerxes' realm whose religion or practices might forbid
the use of wine, at least to excess. But in our own days of light and
liberty are there not many occasions at which men are brought under
moral (immoral ?) compulsion to violate their preferences, if not their
principles ? Rather, if we must have modern symposiarchs, let them
adopt the motto of this feast, " No compelling." rrn — mandate — is
counted a word of the later Hebrew. It is the ordinary term for irre
versible statutes in Esther, Daniel, and Ezra, but occurs only once
elsewhere (Deut. xxxii. 2). On the other hand, fiisa, the ordinary
Old Testament word for law, is found but once in Esther, other syno
nyms not at all (see ii. 8). Vashti, whoever she was, plainly held the
recognized position of Xerxes' consort. This particular royal house
was evidently one department of the harem which, with its court and
various halls, would afford ample space for such a banquet (see ii. 3) ;
eunuchs, D"t3"'"iD, occurs often in the Old Testament, and is uniformly
rendered in the Sept. and Vulg. by the equivalents of our text. The
etymology and use of the word render its primary meaning unques
tionable. This meaning it certainly always involves in the Book of
Esther, in which it occurs twelve times. To serve as chamberlains of
the king and attendants of the harem were the common offices of these
persons, who were supposed to be especially trustworthy, morally as
well as physically, — an opinion not always well-founded (e.n;. ii. 21).
Upon the seventh day of indulgence the king reaches such a degree of
bonhomie as to command that the queen should be brought to the feast,
and her beauty be displayed to the peoples, tj^as, meaning the repre
sentatives of the many nationalities of the empire. Crown, "ira. This
word, only occurring in Esther, is used of the tiara of both king (vi.
8) and queen (ii. 17). rrnas is a common word for " crown," used in
the case of Mordecai (viii. 15). The present word doubtless means the

Chap. I. 12,14. ESTHER, i 35
^ But the queen Yashti refused to come at the command of
the king, which was given by the eunuchs. And the king was
exceedingly enraged, and his wrath burned in him. ^^^^d
the king said to the wise men who understood the times (for
such was the manner of the king towards all who understood
law and judgment ; " And next to him were Carshena, Shetliar,
Admatha, Tharshish, Meres, Marsena, Memucan, the seven
princes of Persia and Media, who saw the face of the king,
kidaris of the Persian monarchs — a tall, stiff cap, set with jewels.
No monument exhibits a Persian woman of this period ; but probably
the queen's kidaris differed from her partner's only in its details (Ane.
Mon., Vol. iii. p. 204). Ministered, ver. 10, means did honorary service.
The LXX makes the seven men " deacons,'' in the original sense ;
and in that version the first upon the list is Haman, which Mehuman
would resemble if the i3 be omitted. As for the six, it is difficult to
discover much relationship between the Greek and Hebrew names.
12. The law of Persian propriety, like that now ruling in the Orient,
forbade woman to unveil herself before the other sex in general. On
such an occasion as this it was the right of a lawful wife to refuse her
presence. Even at Belshazzar's feast in Babylon, where history shows
that this rule of modesty was less authoritative, it appears that the
queen mother (Nitocris?) was not present until the hand upon the
wall summoned her (Barnes upon Dan. v. 3, 4). Vashti's refusal tO'
obey the royal command was an act to be commended under any pos
sible interpretation of this passage. But it was a serious step. No
wonder that it should arouse the wrath of a Persian king, especially;
when under the influence of the intoxicating cup.
13, 14. Wise men who understood the times were probably adepts
in astrology, the science of sciences in ancient Persia. They were
magi, pre-eminent in that and all other wisdom. The latter part of
vs. 13 seems to suggest that the king was accustomed to consult such
men concerning important matters ; understood — therefore were
qualified to interpret (Josephus, Antiq. xi. vi. 1) ; law and judgment —
the latter, in contradistinction to the former, means unenacted equity,
or certainly justice in a more general sense, as taught by all himian
and divine laws.
The Persian king's cabinet usually consisted of seven counsellors
(Ezra vii. 14 ; comp. Herod, iii. 84 ; Ctesias 14). If there were other
advisers, as next to him might imply, these were their representatives.

36 ESTHER. [Chap. I. 15, 20.
[and] sat first in the kingdom) : ^^ According to law what is to
be done to the queen Vashti, inasmuch as she has not done
the bidding of the king Xerxes, given by the eunuchs ?
^^ And Memucan said before the king and the princes : Not
to the king alone has Vashti the queen done wrong, but to all
the princes and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of
the king Xerxes. " For the refusal of the queen will go forth
to all the women and make their lords despicable in their eyes,
when they shall say : The king Xerxes commanded to bring
Vashti the queen before him, and she came not. ^^ And this
very day the princesses of Persia and Media, who have heard
of the refusal of the queen, will reply to all the princes of the
king, and there will be contempt and strife enough. ^^ If it
seem good to the king, let a royal mandate go forth from him,
and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media — and it
shall not be changed — that Vashti shall not come before the
king Xerxes, and that her queenship the king will give to
another better than she ; ^^ and the decree of the king which
he shall make will be heard in all his kingdom, — for it is
Some of them may have been of foreign birth, but all had evidently
received Persian names. These seven were permitted to stand in the
presence of the king ; to sit, and sit first, before all other potentates of
the realm. At this point the frequent divergence of the LXX is
especially marked, in its giving only three names, and those apparently
of its own coinage — Arkesaeus, Sarsathaeus, and Malisear.
15-20. To king Xerxes' inquiry for the statute law which punishes
the disobedience of a wife, Memucan replies (in the LXX, Mowxaw,
a person not before mentioned in that text). Possibly less acceptable
advice had already been suggested ; or Memucan may have spoken
first because of seniority, or for some other reason — his name being
rhetorically placed at the end of the list in ver. 14. Memucan's words
are shrewd, bespeaking one wise in human nature, and in the peculiar
variety thereof found in an Oriental despot. He first artfully exag
gerates the offence of the queen into an evil which it was for the
interest of every husband in the empire to have at once checked. He
then suggests a decree which would have this effect, and finally describes
the beneficial results to be expected from its enactment. In ver. 18

Chap. I. 21, 22.] ESTHER. 37
vast, — and all the women will give honor to their lords, both
to great and small.
'^i And the counsel was good in the eyes of the king and the
princes, and the king did according to the counsel of Memucan.
^ And he sent letters into all the provinces of the king, into
every province according to its writing and to every people
according to its tongue, that each man should be ruler in his
own house, and should speak according to the language of his
own people.
Persia is placed before Media, because it had now assumed the prece
dence ; while in Daniel (vi. 8, 15, etc.) the order of the names is
adapted to the Median viceroy then upon the throne; speak, ver. 18,
is peculiarly emphatic, having a force that only an Oriental can fully
appreciate, equivalent to speak out, or indulge the power of the tongue
in reply or refusal. [The LXX, with its usual freedom, paraphrases
thus : " Shall dare in like manner to dishonor their husbands." — Ed.]
According as woman's sphere has been narrow, has she been skilful
to make her words more dreadful than the hottest assaults of war.
For it is vast, a sly flattery. Honor, ver. 20. " Here and in the
account of the honors paid to Mordecai the English word 'honor' is
not at all adequate to the translating of the Hebrew ; 'y^'^ retains its
meaning of costliness or preciousness, designating that which is valuable
because it is scarce — that which it is difficult to get and easy to lose.
The idea here is that the women will come to regard their husbands
as peculiarly valuable and rather precarious possessions, against the
alienation of which they need to guard with peculiar care." — Prof.
Willis J. Beecher.
21, 22. The counsel was unanimously approved, and the decree was
enacted. Vashti was put away, and all queenly possessions and rights
taken from her. The last clause of ver. 22 probably refers to domestic
trouble which arose from the diversity of nationajities and languages
common in the households of these polygamous Persians. But, what
ever the meaning, concerning the correctness of our rendering, in
which substantially the LXX and Vulgate have preceded us, there
can be no question.'
With reference to the diversity of languages, we cite one of our
earlier collaborators : " In the passages quoted the statement several
times appears : ' unto every province according to the writing thereof,
and to every people after their language.' Two quite different things

38 ESTHER. [Chap. II. 1-3.
II. ^ After these things, when the wrath of the king Xerxes
had subsided, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done
and what was decreed against her.
2 Then the young men of the king, his attendants, said : Let
young virgins, fair in appearance, be sought for the king.
^ And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his
are referred to in the words, namely, the language used, and the char
acter in which that language was written. Latin, Greek, Arabic,
Hebrew, Assyrian, etc., are not only different languages, but fiach has
a distinct character. In the hundred and twenty-seven provinces sub
ject to Persia we have no means of knowing how many different
languages were spoken, or how many distinct alphabets were used ;
probably the number was large, much larger than is known to history.
Think of the number of educated scribes required to carry on cor
respondence in the various tongues ! " — S. M.
Chap. II. 1. When the wrath of the kin? Xerxes had subsided —
doubtless his anger was brief in proportion to its violence ; and, as
these words seem to intimate, within a very few weelis he could
think more calmly of his former queen ; he remembered Vashti —
evidently she was a woman of power, as well as of beauty and
modesty. She had been more to Xerxes than he was aware, and now
to his sober judgment what she had done only enhanced her worth.
He remembered also what was decreed against her. "ij?? means cut
off, decided irrevocably. The question stirred itself within him. Did
not Vashti deserve honor, rather than punishment ? Xerxes, a heathen,
utterly selfish and sensual as he was, felt that he had done wrong.
2. Perhaps not young men distinctively. The word was used, as
our " boy " often is, for an attendant of any age. "i-n'rp denotes those
who do honorary service, such as chamberlains, lords in waiting; in
distinction from the D'"i3? servants or slaves who performed the more
menial duties. Xerxes' personal attendants saw the evidences of
remorse. All had reason to fear such a frame of mind ; while some
of them may have had special reason to dread a recall of Vashti. On
tliis account they propose to the king a plan, the details of which are
given in the following verses, nbina, a condition it was more needful
to specify in Persia than in our own country ; fair in appearance —
" beautiful," as we say.
3. For Shushan the castle occurring here and in ver. 5, 8, (see

Chap. II. 4-6.] ESTHER. 39
kingdom, and let them gather every young virgin, fair in
appearance, to Shushan the castle, to the house of the women,
to the care of Hege the king's eunuch, the keeper of the women,
and let tiieir precious ointments be given, * and let tlic maiden
who is pleasing in the eyes of the king reign instead of Vashti.
And the counsel was good in the eyes of the king, and he
did so.
^ There was a man, a Jew, in Shushan the castle, and his
name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the
son of Kish a Benjamite ^who had been carried captive from
i. 2), the house of the women is specified as a part of the royal
quarter (ver. 8). As a rule, in the East, a separate portion of the
house, or a distinct building within the same enclosure, is assigned to
the females of a family. Such was the custom from a very early age.
The remains of the palace of Sargon at Khorsabad are the best illus
tration of the Assyrian form of a domiciliary palace. (For details see
Fergusson, Palaces of Nineveh and Persepolis, pp. 239, 251 ; Ane.
Mon., Vol. i. p. 281.) It is altogether probable that the gynecaeum
of Xerxes at Susa consisted of one or more distinct edifices, as at Per
sepolis, of which see our plan; their precious ointments, ver. 9, 12.
4. '¦ Wicked men are ready to follow advice when it encourages
them in vUeness and sin. The attendants show their character in the
counsel they give, and Xerxes shows his character in that he is so ready
to comply with it." — J. M. G.
5, 6. One of God's chosen people now comes upon the scene:
aman, a Jew — as we should say, "a certain Jew." The name
Mordecai is probably connected with Marduk or Merodach, the As
syrian god. " It may have been given to his son by a Babylonian Jew
without thought of heathen derivation and meaning, or out of compliment
to some Babylonian friend or master." — Rawlinson. Some identify
Mordecai with Matacas, one of the most powerful of Xerxes' eunuchs
(see ver. 7). The Mordecai of Ezra ii. 2 ; Neh. vii. 7 is not the
person now before us; and recurrence of favorite names in the same
tribe or family is also seen in the case of Shimei and Kish, if we com
pare this passage with 2 Sam. xvi. 5 ; 1 Sam. ix. 1. These could not
have been the same persons with those of our text ; for relationship to
the famous king Saul, did it exist, would surely be mentioned in a
genealogical identification. Moreover, chronological considerations

40 ESTHER. [Chap. U. 7.
Jerusalem with the captives who were brought away with
Jeconiah, king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Baby
lon, made capUvo. '' And he was bringing up Hadassah, that
is, Es'.her, his uncle's daughter ; for she had neither father
nor mother. And the maiden was beautiful in form and fair
in appearance ; and at the death of her father and mother
Mordecai had taken her to himself for a daughter.
forbid that it should have been Mordecai who was carried captive with
Jeconiah, B.C. 598, more than one hundred years before this time, but
favor the alternative that it was Kish. The conjunctions 1, at the
beginning of ver. 7. and before iaa in ver. 5 afford further evidence
in this direction. We may be certain that who refers to Kish, and
not to Mordecai, and that all these persons are new to the sacred
record. Three important deportations of the .Jews are mentioned, as
follows: (!) During the reigns of Jehoiakim. B.C. 605 ; (2) Jehoiachin
or Jeconiah, B.C. 598 ; and (3) Zedekiah, B.C. 586 (2 Kings xxiv.,
XXV.). 7. Judging from its ordinary use, the verb last suggests " that Mor
decai took Hadassah in her infancy, and bore her on his arm with the
love and care of a father." It is (1) not mentioned that he had wife
or children of his own. This mere lack of evidence, with (2) his
adoption of a female cousin, and (3) " the ready access which he had
to the harem of Xerxes" (ii. 11, 22 ; viii. 7) lead Rawlinson to the
conclusion that Mordecai was a eunuch (Speaker's Com., Esther ii. 5).
We question whether these arguments are sufficient. The adoption
mentioned, even if Mordecai were an ordinary unmarried man, is not
surprising among Jews, wherever they were living. Certainly, the
third reason is not determinative, as is shown below (ver. 11, 22). A
probability in this direction, however, may be drawn from certain
scripture (2 Kings xx. 17, 18; Isa. xxxix. 7), and from the Persian
customs concerning those who served in the royal precincts, as Mor-
decai plainly did. Hadassah is a Hebrew name, from hadas, "the
myrtle," a beautiful and favorite shrub of the East. In the vocal ele
ments of this word Tyrwhitt finds Atossa, a favorite royal name of the
Persian court. Esther probably had the meaning in old Persian of
star, a word which has essentially the same consonantal elements with
Esther; a likeness obtaining also in acrrqp Greek, qtare Zend, and
sitareh modern Persian. Of similar derivation is Ashtoreth, the name
of the Assyrian goddess, from which, as some suggest, comes the name

Chap. II. 8-10. ESTHER. 41
* And it came to pass when the command of the king and
his law were heard, and many maidens were gathered to
Shushan the castle, to the cire of Hege, Esther also was taken
to the house of the king, to the care of Hege, the keeper of
the women. ^ And the maiden was pleasing in his eyes and
received kindness before him ; and he hastened to give her
her precious ointments and her portions, and to appoint her
from tlie house of the king seven selected maidens ; and he
changed her and her maidens to the best part of the house of
tbe women.
1" Esther had not declared her people and her lineage ; for
of Esther. Uncle — "ril, an uncle on the father's side, literally, a
friend. Esther's father, Abihail (ver. 15), and Mordecai's father, Jair,
were brothers. The heroino of our story was probably twenty years
old, and Mordecai could not have been less than thirty or forty, since
it appears that he adopted his cousin when she was young.
8. Unless the piety of the Jews had greatly declined, they could only
abhor an alliance with a heathen, even though king of Persia. But,
whatever his previous feeling, after escape became hopeless Mordecai
desired that Esther might win the prize, as we see from ver. 10. May
not Mordecai have had faith that Esther was to prove acceptable, and
as queen bring blessings to her captive race ? May he not have prayed
that God would thus bless their nation ? That the maidens were
brought to the king's house does not prove a palace like Sargon's ;
for the house of the women, however located, was royal property ; nor
is any wide separation between " the house of the king" and " the house
of the women " indicated by ver. 13. The Hebrew of Hege in ver. 3
is here and in ver. 15 Hegai, as in the A.V. Slight variations in the
spelling of proper names are now, and have always been, too common ;
command, '^^'n, seems to indicate a less formal decree than law (" man
date " ; see i. 8).
9. Pleasing, literally, ^oorf. aa; and aia occur continually. "Good"
covers a very broad range of approval in Hebrew, Arabic, and most
Oriental tongues. For the word m:n, portions (of food), compare ix.
19, 22, and concerning the custom, Dan. i. 5. It seems that seven
maidens were given to each candidate for royal favor ; but Esther's
were specially selected.
10. The knowledge that Esther belonged to a subject people might
6

42 ESTHER. [Chap. IL 11, 12.
Mordecai had enjoined upon her that she should not declare
[them] . 11 And every day Mordecai walked before the court
of the house of the women to learn of the welfare of Esther
and what was done with her.
12 And when the turn of each maiden came to go to the king
Xerxes, after she had been twelve months according to the law
of the women ; for so were fulfilled the days of their purifica
tion, six months with the oil of myrrh, and six months with
fragrant spices and with the precious ointments of the women,
have aroused prejudice, hence Mordecai's command. Her name being
Persian, no one in authority seems to have suspected her true nation
ality. There " is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak " (Eccl.
iii. 7). '' When the proper time came Esther made known the fact
that she belonged to a conquered race (vii. 4). We should never fear
to stand by the truth ; but there may be a wise choice in the times and
ways of announcing it." — J. M. G.
11. Probably Mordecai, since he lived in Shushan the ber ah (ver.
5), already served in some humble capacity at the gate of the king;
though it seems implied in iv. 2 that, unless clad in mourning, any
citizen might enter this gate ; court, etc., seem to indicate that the
harem buildings were grouped around an open square, or had an
interior open square, as at Khorsabad. All such buildings, being of
cheaper materials than stone, have perished ; but their arrangement
probably differed considerably from the pillared halls and palaces.
The supposition of a double entrance to the harem court, like that at
Khorsabad, might explain the hithpael, Tl^^n?, to walk up and down,
or its use may picture frequent passages between Mordecai's place of
official duty and his post of anxiety. But what reason is there for
supposing that any man might not walk before this harem entrance,
and seize opportunities to communicate with attendants on their exit
or entrance. " Mordecai's fatherly care is beautiful ; equalled only by
Esther's filial affection and obedience." — J. M. G. Indeed, every day
hardly does justice to the double emphasis of the original in its ex
pression of Mordecai's intense anxiety.
12. After she had been twelve months, or, after twelve months had
passed. Myrrh was especially valued for its purifying power and
fragrance (Ps. xlv. 8; Prov. vii. 17). Under spices cosmetics of less
note are comprehensively included. Ointments (ver. 3, 9), literally,

Chap. II. 13, 15.] ESTHER. 43
— 1^ in this manner did the maiden go to the king ; everything
which she asked was given her to go with her from the house
of the women to the house of the king, i^ At evening she
went, and in the morning she returned to the second house of
the women, to the care of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch, the
keeper of the concubines. She did not go any more to the
king unless the king was pleased with her and she was called
by name.
i^Aiid when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the
uncle of Mordecai, whom he took to himself for a daughter,
came to go to the king, she desired nothing but that which
Hege, the king's eunuch, the keeper of the women, appointed.
And Esther was receiving favor in the eyes of all who saw her.
furbishments, which were rubbed upon the person, especially after the
protracted Oriental bath. For all such purposes the service of the
seven selected attendants was necessary.
13. On this occasion the maiden was permitted, for at least once in
her life, to array herself in the most costly attire and ornaments which
the king's treasuries contained. The love of display might indulge
itself to the full ; and the differences of taste, ambition, and character
must have been singularly manifest. Concerning the two houses here
mentioned, see ver. 14 below. It can hardly be supposed that the
maiden might have ybr her own all the wealth in which she could array
herself. Even Xerxes' treasuries would soon have been depleted by
such license. The text records no more than that she was permitted
to array herself for this occasion in everything which she asked.
14. There were two, and probably three, "houses" or departments
in Xerxes' gynecaeum: (1) the house of the virgins; (2) the second
house, or that of the concubines ; and probably (3) a house for the
queen. The house of the concubines was under the control of
Shaashgaz, while Hege, who had special charge of the first house,
seems also to have had a general superintendency of the whole seraglio.
15. Daughter of Abihail (see ver. 7) ; did not ask for anything, etc.
It was the mark of unusual wisdom and self-restraint, if not of even
nobler qualities, that Esther in this supreme hour manifested no self-
will concerning her adornments, but left it to those whose judgment
was better than her own. Can we suppose that she was one of those
too rare women who are not wholly slaves to the love of display and

44 ESTHER. [Chap. II. 16-18.
I'^And Esther was taken to the king Xerxes, to the royal
house, in the tenth month, that is, the month Tebeth, in the
seventh year of his reign, i" And the king loved Esther more
than all the women. And she received favor and kindness
from him above all the virgins. And he placed the royal
crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.
1^ And the king prepared a great banquet for all his princes
to greed for dress and jewelry ? The tempter still leads our sisters
astray. For even a heathen and a sensualist perceives the superior
value of a woman who is modest and who respects herself too highly
— lives too far above such things — to suppose that men's preferences
are always determined by outward adorning. If it may be received, a
little of the wisdom of 1 Pet. iii. 3, 4 might be profitable for " the life
which now is," of which we have illustration in the narrative before
us ; was receiving favor probably refers to the judgment of those who
saw her arrayed for the king's presence.
16. Tebeth, which does not elsewhere occur in the Bible, much
resembles the tenth Egyptian month Tabi or Tubi, and nearly svn-
chronizes with our January; in the seventh year of his reign — the
six months' feast, at the close of which Vashti was disgraced, began in
Xerxes' third year, B.C. 483. In 481 he departed from Sardis on
his Grecian expedition. During the interval thus indicated the maidens
were gathered, and the plan recorded at the beginning of this chapter
had its inception. Returning from his disastrous defeat, Xerxes spent
the summer of 479 at Sardis (Amer. Cyclop., sub Xerxes). It could
hardly have been earlier than the end of that year that Esther was
taken to the royal house.
17. Loved Esther more than all of course means, more than he
loved any other one of the women. Concerning the crown he placed
upon her head, see i. 11.
18. Esther's banquet was a memorable one. Perhaps the words
denote the annual celebration, under this name, of the queen's corona
tion. Rest is the exact translation. Many think it means not merely
or chiefly a holiday, but a temporary release from taxation, and per
haps to some extent from military conscription or service. Such a
" rest " would be exceedingly opportune when the resources of the
empire had been exhausted by the Grecian expedition, and the loyalty
of the people might be somewhat strained by the disastrous result.

Chap. II. 19.] ESTHER. 45
and his servants, — Esther's banquet. And he granted a rest
to the provinces, and gave gifts according to the hand of the
king. ^® And when virgins were gathered tbe second time, then
Herodotus (iii. 67) ascribes such a release to Pseudo-Smerdis. Robes
of honor were common royal gifts (Cyropaedia viii. 3 ; Anab. i. 9,
§ 22) ; according to the hand of the king — see i. 7.
19. Another scene now comes before us. Its date is fixed by the-
words, and when virgins were gathered the second time — an event
doubtless well remembered by the early readers of Esther. Or there
may be reference to the fact that " requisitions for virgins were often
made to supply the harem of the king. The heart sickens at the thought ;
the whole nature revolts at the idea. Yet this is the world without the
gospel ; this is man when he can follow his inclinations." — J. M. G.
Sat in the gate of the king — had some official position there, evidently
humble ; hence Mordecai might more readily overhear the plot, but
would prefer to certify the king through Esther. In his official ca
pacity there would be additional indignity in his failing to bow before
Haman (iii. 2 ; Pulpit Com., v. 20). The expression gate of the king
— Ti^Hfi ISO — occurs eleven times in this book, sometimes in its pri
mary signification, at other times apparently meaning the court which
met there, and which was designated by its place of sitting. The gate
of an Oriental palace is not a mere entrance, but is ordinarily flanked
at least by recesses for guards, sometimes by towers containing rooms
below and overhead. It was often a place for holding courts, and even.
for royal audience. Hence Sublime Porte (gate) which originally
meant the chief entrance of the Sultan's palace, has come to denote
the government of the Turkish empire. In modern Persia Der-i-khanah
(gate df the palace) is the name of the h.ill of supreme justice and royal
audience (Ker Porter's Travels, Vol. ii. p. 750 ; Smith's Bible Diet., suh
Palace). To sit in the gate of the king may be a circumlocution for served
in the royal presence. Thus, although Daniel was one of Nebuchad
nezzar's highest officers, the expression is used of him. (Dan. ii. 49.
Ty\, here employed, is a Chaldee form for "lyd. See Xo. 1 under
latter, in Gesenius' Lex.) The LXX has avXri for gate in all these
cases, except in Esth. iv. 2, where it has Ttxikr], and where there is
doubtless reference to the propylon. In Cyrop. 1, 3, 2 ; 8, 3, 2. and
11; 8, 6, 7 at Bvpai is used for the Persian court. But that '• the
king's gate " means more than the royal presence sometimes, if not

46 ESTHER. [Chap. II. 20-22.
Mordecai was sitting in the king's gate, ^o Esther had not
declared her lineage and her people, as Mordecai commanded
her ; for Esther was doing the bidding of Mordecai as when
she was in tutelage under him.
21 During those days while Mordecai was sitting in the king's
gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, of the
keepers of the entrance, became enraged, and sought to lay
hands upon the king Xerxes. ^ And the matter was known
to Mordecai, a,nd he disclosed it to Esther the queen. And
always, in Esther, appears from vi. 10, 1 2, and probably from v. 9, and
most cases of its use. Here it seems to refer literally to a propylon,
like one of those whose remains exist at Persepolis — a small hall, the
roof or entablature of which was supported by four columns. Possibly
the propylon of the great hall, probably fronting that structure and
located near the present edge of the north mound, was this " gate " (see
plan of that mound and Excursus upon the Topography).
20. The record of ver. 10 still remains true, and is repeated to
account for the official insignificance of Mordecai. That queen Esther
should yet do the bidding of her humble guardian, as when she was
in tutelage under him, shows that she was a remarkable character.
Here, as elsewhere, the LXX officiously inserts the name of God.
21. Bigthan may have been the Bigtha of i. 10, and is called Big-
thana in vi. 2. On the variation of names, see ver. 8 above. Teresh
is not elsewhere mentioned. BD is literally the threshold, as appears
in Judg. xix. 27. It seems probable that these men kept the very
entrance to the king's own apartments, and hence, being provoked by
some matter to us unknown (though the LXX professes to give the
¦cause), they could hope to destroy him without much difficulty,
Xerxes was finally slain by domestic conspiracy, as was also Artaxerxes
•Ochus at a later day.
22. Josephus gives an account of the manner in which Mordecai
learned of the plot (Ant. xi. 6, § 4) ; but we find here no confirma
tion of his story ; in the name of Mordecai — but not revealing his
relation to her (viii. 1). His self-restraint, if not his unselfishness,
was probably the key to Mordecai's subsequent elevation. Had he
sooner made it known that Esther was his adopted daughter, it is
likely he would have failed to learn of this plot, and thus to save the
king's life. There is no evidence here, and it is improbable according

Chap. II. 23-111. 1.] ESTHER. 47
Esther told it to the king in the name of Mordecai. ^ And
the matter was examined and found out, and both of them
were impaled on a tree. It was also written in the book of
the daily affairs before the king.
III. 1 After these things the king Xerxes magnified Haman,
the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, and promoted him, and
to Oriental customs, that Mordecai had a personal interview with the
queen (ver. 7).
23. nVn, which is rendered hang in the A.V. as a rule, really means
to impale. The victim, usually being first put to death, was hung aloft
upon the point of a stake or pole, SS (lit. tree, hence timber, post, etc.).
Doubtless the common method was that represented in Nineveh and
its Remains (Vol. ii. p. 369 ; see also p. 374), in which the point of
the pale entered the chest below the breast-bone. Besides references
in Esther and Ezra to the Persian custom, there are allusions to im
palement among the Egyptians and Jews in Gen. xl. 19, 22; Deut.
xxi. 22, etc. (For the whole literature of the subject, see Excursus
upon Early Modes of Execution.) In the book of the daily affairs
— such journals were kept before the Jewish monarchs also, and our
scriptural books of Kings and Chronicles are probably based upon
these records. The Hebrew name of " chronicles " is exactly the ex
pression here, D'^B'n i~a^ ; before the king — either because preserved
in his presence, or, more probably, written under his inspection, that
they might be accurate and complete. Herodotus tells us (viii. § 5)
that the Persians inserted in these records the names of those who
should be honored.
Chap. III. I. Magnified — literally, greatened. This greatness was
not the result of the development of pure and noble principles from
within, but it was applied to Haman from without ; it was wholly external.
Manifestly such factitious and superficial greatness was but a poor sub
stitute for the genuine. A base and brutal soul like Haman's can be
ennobled by no such process. Read in the light of the subsequent
narrative, and taking into account the characters of the two men, the
statement that Xerxes " greatened " Haman has the sound of bitter irony.
Haman — supposed to mean celebrated, or else to be equivalent to
Mercury. Hammedatha — Gesenius takes the first syllable of this
name to be the Hebrew article. Fuerst thinks the name denotes
given hy Haomo — a Persian Ized or angel (Rawlinson, Ane. Mon., ii.

48 ESTHER. [Chap. HI. 2, 3.
6et his seat above all the princes who were with him. ^ And all
the servants of the king who were in the king's gate were Jjow-
ing and prostrating themselves before Haman ; for so had the
king commanded concerning him — but Mordecai neither bowed
nor prostrated himself.
^ And the servants of the king who were in the king's gate
324). The Agagite — the Septuagint has Bovyaw';, the Bugaean.
According to Ewald, in some mss. of the Septuagint the name appeared
as Furyaw';. The Targum asserts, and Josephus seems to imply, that
Haman, being a descendant of Agag (1 Sam. xv. 8), was an Amalekite.
This is possible, yet somewhat doubtful. Ewald maintains that there
is no proof that the author had any such derivation in mind. Still,
the opinion of Josephus and the Targumists is entitled to some con
sideration. No satisfactory explanation of the terms " Bugaean " and
" Agagite " has been discovered.
2. Bowing and prostrating — the verb s-a means to bow or fo
kneel, and nni3 to fall prostrate. This was the Oriental method of
doing honor to a superior. But among the Persians — since the
monarch was regarded as the incarnation of Ahura-Mazda, and there
fore entitled to divine honors — the act of prostration before him was
understood to imply worship or religious homage. Herodotus men
tions certain Greeks who, on being introduced into the royal presence
at Susa, and being pressed to prostrate themselves before the king, re
fused, alleging that " it was not their custom to worship a man, nor had
they come for that purpose" (vii. 136). Plutarch relates that similar
homage was required of Themistocles when he presented himself
before the Persian king. And Curtius (Alexander the Great, viii. 1 1)
says : " The Persians, indeed, not only from motives of piety, but
also from prudence, worship their kings among the gods." So that
homage paid to Haman as the king's representative would be an indi
rect method of rendering divine honors to a human being. The king
commanded — perhaps, as suggested elsewhere, Haman's notorious
character or base origin may, in the judgment of the king, have ren
dered such a special command necessary. Otherwise the populace
might have failed to pay homage to the new favorite. The Septua<Tint
renders the last clause of the verse : " But Mardochaeus did not worship
(TrpotreKui/et) him."
3. Transgress — the Hebrew word las properly denotes to pass
over or beyond, and hence corresponds precisely to the Latin trans-

Chap. HI. 4-6.] ESTHER. 49
said to Mordecai : Why dost thou transgress the king's com
mand ? * And it came to pass when they said this to him
day after day and he did not listen to them, that they made it
known to Haman to see whether the words of Mordecai would
stand ; for he had told them that he was a Jew.
® And Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow and prostrate
himself before him ; and Haman was filled with wrath. '' Now
it was despicable in his eyes to lay hands on Mordecai alone ;
for they had made known to him the people of Mordecai.
And Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mor-
gredior, and our word "transgress." It is worthy of note that this
verb "as, in giving rise to the name " Hebrew," has impressed itself
upon the people of IsraeL In Gen. xiv. 1 3 Abram is for the first time
designated as the " Hebrew," — "'^as', literally, the Over-incm, that is
" the man who came over " [the river] ; Septuagint Tepdrrj?, the immi
grant (see Gesenius and Fuerst). Hence the name " Hebrew " always
pointed back to the fact that the ancestors of that people bad come from
beyond the Euphrates.
4. Words of Mordecai — to see whether bis plea, or excuse, —
Jewish nationality, — would be accepted as valid. Certain Greeks
were excused by the same king Xerxes, on somewhat similar grounds,
from prostrating themselves before him (Herodotus, vii. 136) ; that he
was a Jew — being such, he was precluded by the law of Moses from
paying divine honors to a human being. Josephus evidently takes this
view ; for he puts into the mouth of Mordecai this prayer : ' I did not
worship faim, nor could I endure to pay that honor to him which I used
to pay to thee, O Lord." Besides, if Haman were known to be of the
acccursed race of Amalek (Deut. xxv. 17-19), that fact would, if pos
sible, increase Mordecai's repugnance to the thou^t of paying him
undue honors (see Discourses on the Book of Esther, by the Hebrew
Club; "Mordecai").
6. Despicable in his eyes — he felt that the affront would not be
sufficiently expiated by the slaughter of the offender alone. An insult
offered to the grand vizier of the empire demanded the sacrifice of the
entire race to which the culprit belonged. Nothing less would sate
Haman's vengeance, or soothe his wounded pride. The vengeance
and the pride were alike vast and clamorous in their demands. A Jew
had offered the insult, and the Jewish nation must pay the penalty.
7

50 ESTHER. [Chap. HI. 7, 8.
decai, that were in all the kingdom of Xerxes. ^ In the first
month, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of the king Xerxes
they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day,
and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the
month Adar.
^ And Haman said to the king Xerxes : There is a certain
7. The month Nisan — this, according to the Babylonian method
of reckoning, was the first month of the year. The former Hebrew
name was Ablb. It corresponded to the latter part of March and
the early part of April, according to the most probable reckoning ;
they cast — rather, " one cast '' ; the verb is impersonal. Very likely,
as Keil suggests, the casting was performed in Haman's presence by
some magician or astrologer who was skilled in such matters ; PuT,
that is, the lot — "Pur" is not properly a Hebrew, but a Persian,
word ; it corresponds to the Persian pare, and to the Latin pars, and
denotes ^ort, lot, fate. The precise mode of "casting the lot" is not
known. Have we a possible hint in Prov. xvi. 33 ? Among the
ancients great attention was paid to lucky and unlucky days. No
enterprise of importance was undertaken until a propitious day had
been fixed upon. This was determined by various methods — by
astrology, by inspecting the entrails of sacrificial victims, by watching
the flight of birds, by casting the lot, and the like. In the present
instance, Haman's first care was to select a propitious day for the con
templated massacre. He seems to have first fixed upon the day of the
month, namely, the thirteenth day. He then proceeded to determine
the month itself, which turned out to be Adar, the last month of the
year. He cast lots " from day to day, and from month to month " ;
that is, he tested the days of the month in succession — the first, the
second, the third, and so on — until he hit upon the lucky day ; and
so in regard to the month. By a comparison of dates we find that he
had an interval of some eleven months previous to the day of massacre
in which to prepare for the execution of his bloody purpose. We
cannot suppose that so long a delay was agreeable to his vengeful
disposition ; but his superstitious mind did not venture to strike the
blow previous to the arrival of the day supposed to have been desio'-
nated by the gods which he worshipped. That the divine hand,
unknown to Haman, guided the lot, and arranged for the long interval
in which the deliverance of the Jews might be wrought out, is certain.
8. Dispersed and separate — the first word relates to their disper-

Chap. III. 9.J ESTHER. 51
people dispersed and separate among the peoples, in all the
provinces of thy kingdom, and their laws are different from
every people's, and the king's laws they do not keep ; therefore
it is not fitting for the king to tolerate them. ^ If it seem
good to the king, let it be decreed to destroy them ; and ten
thousand talents of silver will I weigh into the hands of those
who manage the business, that they may put it into the king's
treasuries.sion throughout the empire ; the second describes their isolated con
dition in that dispersion. They were not only scattered broadcast ;
but they remained separate and distinct, not mingling with the other
subjects of the king ; the king's laws they do not keep — this charge
in the general sense was false. The Jews were, as a rule, loyal and
peaceable suVjects. The very spirit and genius of their law would lead
them to obey rulers and all in authority ; it is not fitting — there may
be some question whether the Hebrew word used here denotes moral
fitness. The A.V. implies the negative ; but the best modern author
ities seem to favor the affirmative. Still, it is doubtful whether moral
considerations would have much weight with either Xerxes or Haman.
9. If it seem good to the king — the Hebrew word aia, good, is
employed with great latitude and variety of meaning, as including
physical, mental, and moral good ; decreed, literally, written. It seems
that royal decrees were written or recorded, so that they might not be
misunderstood or tampered with ; ten thousand talents — this sum is
variously estimated at from £1,875,000 to £3,750,000 sterling; Pal
frey says from ten millions to more than twenty millions of dollars
(Lectures on the Jewish Scriptures and Antiquities, iv. 471). In
proof of the wealth of some Persian subjects, Herodotus (vii. 28)
mentions one Pythius, who offered to give the same Xerxes four mil
lions of gold darics. Haman might have possessed even greater
resources, isa, rendered " talent," denotes primarily a circle or some
thing round, then a mass of metal melted in a round form. This
money may have been uncoined silver, passing by weight instead of
by stamp. Yet it is well known that gold coins called " darics ' were
in use in the Persian empire previous to the time of Xerxes (Ezra
ii. 69; Neh. vii. 71, 72) ; IwiUweigh — bterally, I will shekel — the
noun shekel coming from the same root as the verb here used. This
looks as if the money was uncoined, and was to be weighed out or
paid by weight But the verb may have lost, to some extent, its pri-

52 ESTHER. [Chap. III. 10-12.
1" Then the king removed his signet-ring from his hand and
gave it to Haman, tlic son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the
adversary of tiie Jews, n And the king said to Haman : The
silver is given to thee, and the people, to do with them as is
pleasing in thine eyes.
1^ And the scribes of the king were called, in the first month,
on the thirteenth day of it, and it was written according to all
mary signification ; manage the business, literally, doers of the busi
ness, that is, probably, those who receive and disburse the king's funds
— the royal financiers or treasurers.
10. Eemoved his signet-ring — that is, the ring containing the royal
seal, which gave binding force to any document to which it was affixed.
Some have supposed that, instead of being a ring, the signet was really
a cylinder such as some of the Persian monarchs used. According to
Rawlinson, the signet-cylinder of Darius is still preserved in the British
Museum. In the case before us, however, the Hebrew word seems
clearly to indicate a ring (see Excursus on Signet-rings and Seals).
The royal signet was usually worn by the king's prime minister.
When Haman was raised to that position, the ring was committed to
him. So in the case of Mordecai (viii. 2) ; adversary — the Hebrew
word implies more than a mere feeling of enmity ; it denotes one who
is actively and effectively hostile — a persecutor — one who causes
distress and straitness.
11. The silver is given to thee — this may have been merely an
Oriental way of seeming to refuse, while actually accepting, the bribe
offered by Haman. As this occurred subsequently to Xerxes' disas
trous expedition against the Greeks, his treasury must have been in
a very depleted condition, and the offer of such an immense sum of
money would be peculiarly tempting. More probably the meaning is :
The silver of the Jews — their property — and the people themselves
are given to thee. If so, the king simply announced the confiscation
of the Jews' property, and its assignment to Haman. We are told
that in the East the goods of those who are put to death escheat to
the ruler, who either seizes them for his own use or else makes a grant
of them to some favorite.
12. The scribes of the king — these persons were generally in
readiness at the court to draw up edicts and to do any other writing
which the king might require ; satraps — Hebrew ta-'rQ-'^icnx, cor
responding to the Persian khshatrapa, or the Greek crarpa.Trri';. The

Chap. III. 13.] ESTHER. 53
that Hainan commanded, to the satraps of the king, and to the
pashas who were in all the provinces, and to the princes of
the people of each province according to its writing, and to
every people according to its tongue. In the name of the king
Xerxes was it written, and it was sealed with the king's signet-
ring. 1^ And letters were sent by the hand of couriers into
every province of the king :
satrap, or supreme civil governor of each department, was " charged
with the collection and transmission of the revenue, the administration
of justice, the maintenance of order, and the general supervision of the
territory." Each satrap was appointed by the king, and removable at
pleasure, but while in office was despotic, as being the representative of
the Great King. (See Rawlinson, Ane. Mon., iii. 418.) In the time of
Darius tlie Mede, there were one hundred and twenty of these officials
(Dan. vi. 2, in Hebrew text).' According to Herodotus (iii. 89), Darius
Hystaspis constituted twenty governments, which were known as " satra
pies." This immber seems to have varied, at different times, from
twenty to twenty-nine. (Rawlinson, Ane. Mon., iii. 418, Note.) How
is this apparent discrepancy to be resolved ? According to Herodotus,
the division of the empire into twenty departments was made for the
express purpose of taxation, the raising of a revenue. In this division,
proximity and similarity of language seem to have been disregarded ;
nations were grouped so that the money could be extorted most readily.
In the division mentioned in Esther i. 1, the various nations are dis
tributed according to geographical and ethnological lines, " according to
the races inhabiting the different provinces " (Keil). This hypothesis
obviates the difficulty ; pashas — Hebrew, nins ; Sanscrit, paksJia ;
Assyrian, pakha. These were inferior officials ruling the subdivisions
of the provinces. (See on viii. 9) ; princes — the native princes, or
head men among the conquered races, who were allowed some share
in the government. (See as above.) In the name of the king — every
edict, in order to be binding, must be issued in the king's name, and
sealed with the king's seal (Herodotus iii. 128).
13. The Persian system of conveying letters and other messages by
means of relays of fresh horses kept in readiness at suitable distances
; along the route, is fully described in Xenophon's Cyropaedia, viii. 6,
isec. 17, and Herodotus viii. 98. (See also Excursus D. : The Letters
and Posts of the Ancients.) The latter part of this verse, printed in
small capitals, seems to be a verbatim quotation from the king's decree

54 ESTHER. [Chap. III. 14, 15.
To DESTROY, TO KILL, AND TO CAUSE TO PERISH ALL THB JeWS,
BOTH YOUNG AND OLD, LITTLE CHILDREN AND WOMEN, IN ONE DAY,
ON THE THIRTEENTH OP THE TWELFTH MONTH, THAT IS, THE MONTH
ADAR ; AND [TAKE] THEIR PROPERTY FOR SPOIL.
1* A copy of the writing to be given as a decree in every
province, published to all the peoples, that they should be ready
for tliat day.
15 The couriers went forth, pressed on by the command of
the king ; and the decree was given in Shushan the castle.
And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city
Shushan was perplexed.
of extermination. From Herodotus (iii. 119), and other authorities,
we gather that it was tbe custom of the Persians and other ancient
nations to put to death not only criminals themselves, but also their
wives and children with them. Their property for spoil — Ewald
(Hist, of Israel, Vol. v. 233, Note 5) calls attention to the "noble con
trast " between the purposed rapacity of Haman and the forbearance
of the Jews (see chap. ix. 10, 15, 16) ; and is forcibly reminded of the
inscription, " Property is sacred," on the shops of the Paris, Berlin,
and Frankfort revolutionists.
14. This verse we take to be the certification of the scribe to the
authenticity and correctness of the foregoing excerpt from the royal
decree. It seems equivalent to the expression : "A true copy — Attest,"
which we see appended to modern documents. See a somewhat similar
attestation in Ezra iv. 11 ; vii. 11.
15. Pressed on by the command — why such haste, since some ten
or eleven months must elapse after the decree had been promulgated
in the remotest provinces before it would be put in execution ? Some
suppose that Ilaman and the king wished to give the Jews opportunity
to escape. This, however, seems improbable. Others think that Ilaman
feared lest, in case of delay, the king might waver or change his mind.
Or that the king wished to get the matter irrevocably settled and off
his hands, so as to think no more about it. The king and Haman sat
down to drink — what stolid, heartless brutality have we here ! After
having condemned an innocent people to die, the king and Haman
betake themselves to the wine-cup, and to their drunken orgies. We
are reminded of v/hat Suetonius relates of Nero, that clad in theatrical
garb, and looking forth from the tower of Maecenas upon the burning

Chap. IV. 1-3.] ESTHER. 55
IV. 1 When Mordecai knew all that was done, Mordecai rent
his clothes, and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went forth into
the midst of the city and cried out with a great and bitter cry.
^ And he came even before the king's gate ; for it was not
allowed to enter the king's gate in clothing of sackcloth. " And
in every province, wherever the word of the king and his
decree came, there was great lamentation among the Jews, and
fasting, and weeping, and wailing ; and sackcioth and ashes
were made the bed of many.
Rome kindled by his own hand, being pleased with the beauty of the
flame, he chanted over and over the " Fall of Troy." Perplexed — the
Jews no doubt had shown themselves a quiet, industrious, well-disposed
people. They had gained many friends. Besides, the extermination
of a whole people by such arbitrary slaughter must have seemed, as
it was in reality, a dangerous precedent. Who could tell what people
or race would next fall under the king's ban ? No wonder that the
capital was " perplexed." And how terribly laconic the latter word !
Chap. IV. 1. Knew — A.V. perceived. The matter may have
transpired through the publication of the edict ; or possibly the king's
scribes had mentioned it to other officials of the court, and so it had
become known throughout the palace before the edict appeared. Rent
his clothes ; put on sackcloth and ashes — each act expressive of grief,
together indicating intense anguish. Went forth — perhaps from his
house. Rawlinson thinks he quitted the environs of the palace, and
went forth into the city. It was not allowable to exhibit signs of
mourning within the palace. Cried out — literally, cried a cry great
and bitter. Orientals are much more demonstrative in expressing
emotion than are Occidentals. The former smite their breasts, tear
their hair and their garments, and utter loud and piercing cries, in token
of grief. (See Discourses on the Book of Esther, by the Hebrew Club:
" Mourning and its Expression.")
2. In his distress and alarm, Mordecai turned his steps toward the
palace, possibly with some indefinite purpose of seeking audience with
the king, or more probably with the hope of enlisting Esther's sym
pathy and assistance. His somber attire, however, debarred him from
entering the king's gate.
3. Were made the bed of many — literally, were spread as a bed
for many. Many persons caused ashes to be strewed upon the ground,

56 ESTHER. [Chap. IV. 4-7.
* Then the maids of Esther and her eunuchs came and told
her. And the queen was exceedingly grieved ; and she sent
garments to put upon Mordecai, and [bade] to remove his sack
cloth from him. But he did not receive [them].
6 Then Esther called for Hatacli, from among the eunuchs
of the king, whom he had caused to stand before her, and gave
him a commandment to Mordecai, in order to learn what this
was, and wherefore it was. ^ And Hatach went forth to Mor
decai into the sqiiare of the city, which is before the king's
gate. '' And Mordecai told him all that had befallen him, and
the amount of silver which Haman promised to weigh into the
treasuries of the king on account of the Jews — for their
and then putting on the coarse hair-cloth garment, either sat or lay upon
the couch of ashes. (Compare Isa. Iviii. 5). As the sorrowful news
respecting the edict spread throughout the empire many of the Jews
followed the example of Mordecai, and assumed the " garb of woe."
So terror and distress pervaded the kingdom wherever Jews were found.
4. The retinue of an Oriental queen would comprise not only maid
servants, but also eunuchs whose duty it would be to do errands and
convey messages at her pleasure. Though these attendants might not
be aware of Esther's nationality, they knew of her regard for Mordecai,
and her interest in his welfare. Hence, they tell her of his sorrow.
Exceedingly grieved — her grief and alarm were intense, almost
convulsive — so the word seems to imply. The thought of her beloved
kinsman in such a plight of woe was extremely distressing. With the
view to console and reassure him she sends him a change of raiment,
desiring him to substitute it for the sable garb he was wearing. The
offer is declined, and the messengers return to their royal mistress.
5. With increasing anxiety the queen despatches a special messenger
to learn the cause and meaning of Mordecai's alarming and extraor
dinary demonstrations of grief.
6. The square ¦ — a broad, open space, the Greek -irXaTcla, an area in
front of the king's gate.
7. Mordecai had learned all the particulars respecting the bargain
between the king and Haman. The immense sum of money promised
by Haman is mentioned by Mordecai in order to impress upon Esther's
mind a sense of Haman's eagerness and determination to extirpate the
Jews. Their enemy is willing to pay this immense sum, in order to
have the opportunity of glutting his vengeance.

Chap. IV. 8-11.] ESTHER. 57
destruction. ''And a copy of the written decree which was
given in Sliushan to destroy them he gave him to show to Esther,
and [cliarged him] to explain to her, and to enjoin upon her
to go to the king in order to make supplication to him and to
entreat before him for her people.
^ And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
1" And Esther spoke to Hatach and gave him a message to
Mordecai : n All the king's servants and the people of the king's
provinces know that, for every man or woman who shall ap
proach the king, into the inner court uncalled, his law is invari
able — to put him to death ; except only him to whom the king
shall extend the golden sceptre that he may live. And I have
not been called to go to the king these thirty days.
8. In order to impress the queen further with a sense of the immi
nent peril, Mordecai sends a copy of the royal decree, for her inspection.
At the same time he enjoins upon her the duty of interceding with the
king for the preservation of her people. This injunction must have
disclosed to Hatach Esther's nationality, even if it were previously
unknown to him. No doubt the royal scribes, writing at the monarch's
dictation, produced a considerable number of copies of the edict at the
same time, so that Mordecai would have no difficulty in pi'ocuring a
copy to send to Esther.
9, 10. Hatach, — or transliterated from the Hebrew, Hathak, —
seems to have been the queen's trusted and confidential messenger,
selected, no doubt, on account of his well-known integrity. " We are
not in so many words told that he was honest and true, but we instinc
tively feel it, and we see that it is involved in the narrative. The
queen begins to be in sore trouble. The darkness is deepening. Some
unknown but dire calamity is near. ' Send me Hatach — I need my
truest and my best — that I may know what it is, and why it is, and
what may be done to prepare for, or avert the evil day.' " (Alexander
Raleigh, D.Di, « The Book of Esther," p. 99.)
II. Esther adduces an apparently insuperable objection. It seems
that the palace had an outer and an inner court. Whoever, without
being summoned, intruded into the inner court was, according to a well-
known law, put to death, unless the monarch, as an act of clemency,
extended his golden sceptre toward the intruder, in which case the
law did not apply. Esther had not been summoned into the king's
8

58 ESTHER. [Chap. IV. 12-14.
12 And they told Mordecai the words of Esther.
1^ And Mordecai commanded to answer Esther : Think not
in thy soul to escape in the king's house, more than all the
Jews. 1* For if thou art wholly silent at this time, relief and
deliverance will arise to the Jews from another place, but thou
wilt perish and thy father's house. And who knoweth whether
for a time like this thou hast attained to the kingdom ?
presence for thirty days, hence she hesitated to present herself. Ac
cording to chap. vi. ver. 4, 5, and Herodotus iii. 140, any man might
present himself in the outer court, and seek and await audience with
the king. Why did not Esther avail herself of this privilege? To this
question we reply : 1. It might have been deemed an unseemly thing
for the queen to present herself in the manner of a common suppliant.
For her to do this might have deeply offended her capricious and des
potic lord. 2. She might have been unwilling to approach the monarch
in the customary manner, since in that case she would be required to
make known without delay the cause which had prompted her to seek
the interview. This she did not wish to do at the outset, until she had
propitiated the king. 3. It may be that ivomen were not allowed in
the outer court at all. In that case she would be cut off from access to
the royal presence by that way. Or there may have been some special
regulation for the government of the king's household, which was not
applicable to the people of the realm generally. As to the " golden
sceptre,'' see Notes on v. 2, and viii. 4 ; also Excursus on the Golden
Sceptre. 1 3. Think not in thy soul — do not entertain the idea that thy resi
dence in the king's palace will serve to protect thee ; thou shalt share
the fate of thy people.
14. Relief — literally, roominess or breathing-space. Mordecai is
confident that deliverance will come from some quarter ; the great, un
named Power which has so long watched over the Israelitish nation,
will rescue them from the snares of the destroyer. Though many —
Esther and her family among them — would perish in the impending
conflict, yet the Jews, as a people, would survive. Who knoweth
whether — a very timely and suggestive intimation that Providence
had, perhaps, raised Esther to the throne for this very juncture,  for
the express purpose of effecting through her the salvation of her beloved
nation. The patriotic heart of the young Jewess responded at once to
the suggestion.

Chap. IV. 15-V. 1.] ESTHER. 59
1^ Then Esther commanded to answer Mordecai ; I'^Go, assem
ble all the Jews found in Shushan, and fast ye for me ; and
neither eat nor drink three days, night or day ; I also and my
maidens will fast likewise. And thus will I go to the king,
which is not according to the law ; and if I perish, I perish.
1^ And Mordecai went away, and did according to all that
Esther commanded him.
V. 1 And it came to pass on the third day that Esther put on
royal apparel and stood in the inner court of the king's house,
in front of the king's house ; and the king was sitting upon the
royal throne in the royal house, opposite the entrance to the
16. Fast ye for me — of course, the idea of supplication to God
for the success of her attempt is implied in the strongest manner. (See
Exciirsus on Fasting.) Three days — the actual time need not have
been much more than thirty-six hours, if we reckon — according to the
well-known Jewish method — from the evening of the first to the
morning of the third day, and counting the two days named (compare
Mark viii. 31; Luke ix. 22). If I perish, I perish — this is not the
expression of sullen despondency, but of self-sacrificing courage, ready
to do its duty and abide the consequences, be they what they may.
17. From his connection with the royal household, no doubt well-
known to the Jews in the capital, Mordecai would obviously possess
sufficient influence among his people to induce them to assemble ; to say
nothing of the command of the queen to the same effect.
Chap. V. 1. The third day — i.e. reckoning from the day when
Haman's plot was made known to the queen. Royal apparel — this
marks the change from her garb of fasting, and equally her care that
nothing should be neglected that might favor the success of her errand.
Inner court — this implies an outer court which was accessible to
messengers from all parts of the kingdom ; to the great officers of state,
and to all who had any special business with the king, except the royal
household. For the latter, the queen included, the access must be by the
inner court. (See note, chap. vi. 4 ; and Excursus on the Topography
and Buildings.) It is probable that she entered the inner court from
a larger domestic court [see Excursus] that communicated with the
building or apartment which she occupied ; and by n door which was
not in sight from the throne-room. Having entered this inner court,

60 ESTHER. [Chap. V. 2, 3.
house. 2 ^nd it came to pass that when the king saw Esther
the queen standing in the court, she found favor in his eyes ;
and the king extended to Esther the golden sceptre which was
in his hand. And Esther approached, and touched the top of
the sceptre. ^ And the king said to her : What for thee. Queen
she came and stood in that part of it upon which the throne-room
opened by an avenue of pillars. As the king sat upon his throne, the
two were face to face, though separated by a considerable distance. It
was a critical moment. No one but God could tell what whim of the
monarch would be in the ascendant then. It was something that he
looked upon a winning face. ' It is a constant fact in nature that the
sight of a face will do what nothing else can do in the way of awaken
ing love, touching sympathy, securing trust, and evoking help  If
I am seeking a good thing, my face ought to be better than the face of
another for the getting of it  Personal presence is a power that
nothing else can equal  And for helpfulness in any kind of dif
ficulty we have all a King to go to.'' (Raleigh.) While Esther did not
overlook the importance of going in person to urge her suit, she did not
forget that profounder fact that " the heart of the king is in the hand
of the Lord."
2. The golden sceptre — we have many delineations of Persian
and Babylonian sceptre-bearers, copied from the old sculptured slabs
that have been exhumed during the last half century. The sceptre, as
thus represented, is described as " an instrument like a stick with a

rosette ornament at one end and a loop at the other." In some of the
representations we seem to detect a vague resemblance to a human
head. There may be an allusion to this in the statement that Esther
touched the head (bs<i) of the sceptre. From the dimensions, as very
uniformly shown, it is clear that it could not have been of solid gold.
This would have made it so heavy as to be unwieldy. It would re
quire more muscular exertion than Xerxes would be wilbng to put
forth, to hold out an instrument weighing thirty pounds, till the queen
could pass the whole width of the throne-room to touch it. Xenophon
tells us that three hundred sceptre-bearers, richly dressed, attended the
elder Cyrus on every occasion. (See on iv. 11; also Excursus on tbe
Golden Sceptre.)
3. What for thee 1 — This is entirely literal, and well exhibits the

Chap. V. 4, 5.] ESTHER. 61
Esther ? and what thy request ? even to half of the kingdom,
[ask] and it shall be granted thee.
* And Esther answered : If it seem good to the king, let the
king aud Haman come this flay to the banquet which I have
prepared for him.
^ And the king commanded : Hasten Haman to perform the'
word of Esther. And the king and Haman went to the banquet
which Esther had prepared. ® And the king said to Esther at
the banquet of wine : What is thy petition ? and it shall be
granted thee ; and what is thy request ? even to half of the
kingdom, [ask] and it shall be done.
spirit of the scene. What for thee, ftueen Esther, and what thy
request ? Even to half the kingdom, (ask) and it shall be granted thee.
— the conjunction 1 repeated in the same connection in ver. 6, makes
it evident that some word equivalent to ask must be supplied. The
high sounding magnificence of Oriental promises is well illustrated here..
(See also Mark vi. 23.)
4. Banquet — See note, i. 5. The king understood that this invita
tion to a banquet, couched in the form of a request, was simply prelim
inary to some petition of greater importance. This was in accordance
with Oriental usage. " In presenting a request to a superior, it is ex
tremely common to begin with an outlying, subordinate matter, and^
have the answer, the argument, or the battle over that. If the petition'
is received favorably, it will be easy to ask a little more, and so on
up to the thing really desired. Thus the entire matter is not com
promised, nor either the petitioner or the petitioned commi'ited finally,-
by the first refusal. Of course the one petitioned often sees through;
the whole from the start; but on the one hand it is a form, and on
the other hand it is a useful form — two good reasons for keeping
it up. Sometimes the petitioned cuts short the petitioner at the start,
and goes on from his own intuition to grant the whole desired favor.
An ancient example of the opposite course may be seen in 1 Kings
ii. 13-25." (Prof. Isaac H. Hall, in Sunday-School Times for July
9, 1881.)
5. Hasten Haman — this is not addressed to Haman for he was not
present. The verb is transitive, and Haman is the object. It was a
precept enjoining alacrity. Give notice at once to Haman, that he may
be in season. We might render. Cause Haman to hasten.

62 ESTHER. [Chap. V. 7-10.
7 And Esther replied and said : My petition and my request
— 8 If I iiave found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it seem
good to the king to grant my petition and perform my request,
let the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will pre
pare for them ; and to-morrow I will do according to the word
of the king.
9 And Haman went forth on that day joyful and glad of
heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, and
that be neither rose up nor moved on account of him, Haman
was filled with wrath towards Mordecai. i^But Haman re
strained himself, and went to his house. And he sent and
7, 8. The queen's reply began with a broken sentence. The thought
of the immense issues that were depending on her words may well have
caused some fluttering of the nerves, and some hesitancy and confusion
of speech. She began as though she were about to declare the whole
burden that was upon her soul. It is not impossible that such was her
intention. There are supreme moments when great wisdom comes in
an instantaneous flash of thought. A glance of the eye may have given
her a sense of the situation, that led her to change her intention upon
the instant that the word request fell from her lips. Whatever the
process of thought, she saw that her best hope was in delay. And so
she proposes a similar banquet on the morrow, with the promise that
she will then make a full disclosure of that which she has upon her
heart. Whence came that wisdom? We cannot well doubt, in the
light of what immediately follows, that an unseen guide was leading
her in a way that she knew not.
9, 10. Leaving the king and the queen, the narrative now passes to
Haman. The signal honor which he has received from the queen
elates him, and fills him with a selfish delight. But in a moment the
whole tide of his feelings is changed. Passing the propylon, he sees
Mordecai sitting unmoved as a statue, and withholding the homage that
is rendered him by others, and his equanimity is sadly disturbed. He
feels the rising impulse to speak out his indignation, or to take satis
faction on the spot. But he restrains himself. With difficulty he curbs
the rising passion till he reaches his home, where he may take counsel
of his friends, and of Zeresh his wife. He sends for them, and the
substance of his harangue is given.

Chap. V. 11-14.] ESTHER. 63
brought in his friends and Zeresh his wife. " And Haman
recounted to them the glory of his riches and the multitude of
his sons, and everything wherein the king had honored him,
and wherein he had exalted him above the princes and servants
of the king, i^ And Haman said : Yea, more — Esther the
queen brought in with the king to the banquet which she had
prepared no one but myself ; and also for the morrow am I
invited to her with the king ; i* but all this is no satisfaction to
me so long as I see Mordecai, the Jew, sitting in the king's gate.
1* And Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him : Let a
tree be made fifty cubits high ; and in the morning speak thou
to the king, and let Mordecai be impaled on it ; then go thou
with the king to the banquet rejoicing.
And the thing seemed good to Haman, and he caused the
tree to be made.
II. The multitude of his sons — we have no other word than
multitude to meet the case ; yet it is not quite the word we want. It
fails by excess. Ten men (see chap. ix. 7-10) fall very far short of
our idea of a multitude. Yet relatively, i.e. as sons in a single family,
they were many ; and this, as things went in that day, was no incon
siderable element of prosperity and strength.
13. No satisfaction — this is none too strong. He emphasizes the
nothingness that he finds in all the good fortune to which he points. A
single ingredient of bitterness has poisoned the whole. True, he has
no doubt that the king's decree already enacted will sweep away Mor
decai by and by. But how can he wait ? The misery of the situation
will consume him.
14. His counsellors have a speedy remedy ; and the preparation
may begin at once. A tree be made fifty cubits high — it is not
necessary to suppose that the stake or pole for the impalement was to
be made of this length. We have representations of the simple struc
ture (see Excursus on Early Modes of Execution) which they doubt
less had in mind, consisting of a stake fixed in a movable base or
pedestal. And this set upon some roof, tower, or other elevation
already existing in his grounds, with the addition, if necessary, of a
temporary scaffold, would meet all the demands of the text. The ele
vation would bring the execution fully into public view, and settle the
case against any similar offence from any quarter. He would need to

64 ESTHER. [Chap. VI. 1-3.
VI. 1 On that night the king's sleep fled, and he commanded
to bring in the book of records of the daily affairs ; and they
were being read before the king. " And there was found written
what Mordecai had told against Bigthan and Teresh, two of the
king's eunuchs, of the keepers of the entrance, who sought to
lay hands on the king Xerxes. ^ And the king said : What
strike but once. The preparation does not wait for the king's sentence.
This was regarded as in no degree doubtful. The carpenters are put
to their work without delay ; and it begins to be understood in Shushan
(see chap. vii. 9) what the unusual demonstration means.
Chap. VI. 1. On that night — the Hebrew makes the time very
definite ; that very night, i.e. the night immediately following the day
of the queen's banquet, and of Haman's conference with Zeresh and
his friends just narrated. The king's sleep fled — this is literal ; a bold
figure ! The king cannot command his own sleep. It is common to
speak of the " loss of sleep,'' as though we had lost something ap
pointed for us, and so properly our own. To Xerxes it seemed like
the escape and flight of a fickle servant that he could not pursue. It
was not an event that was in any way surprising or worthy of special
notice, except as connected in the chain of events. In this connection
it was vital, and gave token of the ordering of the divine hand. Book
of records — literally, book of remembrances, or remembrance book.
We have the same words, lacking only the plural form, in Mai. iii. 16.
The book which the king ordered to be brought was that which is
spoken of in chap. ii. 23, the book in which the diary of the empire was
kept. (See Ezra iv. 15, 19. " Historiographers were attached to the
Persian court, and attended the monarch wherever he went. We find
them noting down facts for Xerxes at Doriscus (Herod, vii. 100), and
again at Salamis (Herod, viii. 90). They kept a record something like
the acta diuma of the early Roman empire (Tacit. Ann. xiii. 31), and
specially noted whatever concerned the king. Ctesias pretended to
have drawn his Persian history from the Chronicles." — Rawlinson.)
2. What Mordecai had told — it is evident that the substance of the
information he gave was recorded. The record was sufficiently cir
cumstantial and vivid to make a deep impression on the king's mind.
Bigthan, or more correctly Bigthana. The third syllable of this
name, found here, does not appear in chapter ii. ver. 21.
3. The king felt that some fit acknowledgment of such an act of

Chap. VI. 4.] ESTHER. 65
honor and distinction have been conferred upon Mordecai for
this? And the king's young men, his ministers, replied : Nothing
has been done for him.
* And the king said : Who is in the court ?
Now Haman had come into the outer court of the king's
house to request the king to impale Mordecai on the tree which
he had set up for him.
fidelity was due to his own interests. Beyond question it was called
for by precedents which many about him would bring to mind. (" It was
a settled principle of the Persian government that ' Royal Benefac
tors ' were to receive an adequate reward. The names of such persons
were placed on a special roll (Herod. viiL 85), and great care was taken
that they should be properly recompensed. (See Herod, iii. 140 ; v.
11 ; viii. 85 ; Thacyd. L 138 ; Xen. HeL iii. 1 and 6, etc.). It is a
mistake, however, to suppose (Davidson) that they were always
rewarded at once. Themistocles was inscribed on the list B.C. 480, but
did not obtain a reward till B.C. 465. Other benefactors waited for
months (Herod, v. 11), or perhaps years (Herod, i. 107), before they
were recompensed- Sometimes a benefactor seems to have received
no reward at all (Herod, iii. 138.)" — Rawlinson.) No less would the
instinct that led him to provide for his own future safety demand it.
Who would take the risk of shielding him from a second peril, if this
should pass unrewarded .'' The form of the narrative is almost dramatic
Written in the style of the modern drama, it would read — Xerxes :
What honor and distinction have been rendered to Mordecai for this ?
Ministers: Nothing has been done for him. Xerxes: Who is in the
court? Ministers: Behold Haman is standing in the court. Xerxes:
Let him come in. \_£!nter Haman.] What shall be done to the man
in whose honor the king delights ? Haman [^Aside ; To whom would
the king delight to do honor more than to myself ?] : The man in whose
honor the king delights, let them bring, etc. Xerxes : Hasten, take
the apparel, and the horse as thou hast said, etc. [^Scene at Haman's
house]. Zeresh, and the wise men : If Mordecai is of the seed of the
Jews,  then thou shalt utterly fall before him. Certainly no
drama ever crowded more into so narrow a compass.
4. Outer Court — absolute certainty as to the location of the outer
and inner courts of the palace of Xerxes at Susa is in the present state
of our knowledge unattainable. But by comparing what is told us

66 ESTHER. [Chap. VL 5-8.
* And the king's young men said to him : Behold, Haman is
standing in the court.
And the king said : Let him come in.
^ And Haman came in ; and the king said to him : What
shall be done for the man in whose honor the king delights ?
And Haman said in his heart : To whom would the king
delight to do honor more than to myself ? "> Then Haman said
to the king : For the man in whose honor the king delights,
^ let them bring the royal apparel with which the king clothes
himself, and the horse upon which the king rides, and the
crown royal which is worn upon his head ; ^ and let the ap-
(1 Kings vii. 1-12) of the royal buildings erected by Solomon at Jeru
salem, the foundations uncovered by Botta at Khorsabad, the ruins of
Persepolis, and finally those that have been laid open at Susa, we arrive
at conclusions that give us what is certainly a possible and very intel
ligible explanation of the difficult points connected with the subject.
The outer court, which opened the palace to the approach of the public
officers and messengers of the king, was subject to no such restriction
as that which was laid upon the inner court, or court of the harem
(iv. 11). It was in view from the throne, though the larger portion of
it was seen obliquely across the intercolumnar spaces. (See Excursus
on the Topography and Buildings.) It is probable that the king dis
covered a movement on the part of the guards at the propylon that
showed that some officer of distinction had arrived, and' at the same
time caught a glimpse of Haman himself, but not with sufficient clear
ness to be sure that it was he. It has been supposed by some that the
king asked the question, Who is in the court, without any such dis
covery ; having a right to assume that some one or more of his min
isters would be at that time in the court. It is certainly an objection
to this, that Haman's presence there does not seem to have been antic
ipated by the king, and would not have occurred but for his special
errand. Moreover, the king's inquiry should have been, on this theory,
not Who is in the court ? but Is there any one in the court ? Not iB
but ia"'« should have been used. (See 2 Sam. ix. 3 ; 2 Kings xviii. 33 ;
Prov. vi. 28 ; Jer. xxiii. 24.)
8. Let them bring, etc. — Haman is here shown to be a man of
great readiness and versatility. True, his inventive powers were
quickened by the spur of personal ambition, and the thought of the

Chap. VI. 9-13.] ESTHER. 67
parel and the horse be given to the hand of one of the king's
noblest princes ; and let them array the man in whose honor
the king delights, and cause him to ride on the horse in the
public square of the city, and proclaim before him : Thus shall
it be done for the man in whose honor the king delights.
1" And the king said to Haman : Hasten, take the apparel
and the horse, as thou hast said, and do so to Mordecai the
Jew who sits in the king's gate ; let not a word fail of all that
thou hast said.
11 And Haman took the apparel and the horse, and arrayed
Mordecai, and caused him to ride on the horse in the public
square of the city, and proclaimed before him : Thus shall it
be done for the man in whose honor the king delights.
1^ And Mordecai returned to the king's gate.
But Haman hastened to his house, dejected and with his
head covered, i^ And Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and
to all his friends everything that had befallen him.
highest honors he could devise concentrated upon himself. But he was
not thrown from his balance. His ruling passion held him true to
himself. He made the most of his opportunity ; he pushed the priv
ilege of the moment to its utmost limit.
10. Do so to Mordecai — probably no more sudden or chilling
reverse ever befell any mortal. Not only does his charming vision of
the highest earthly glory to which he could aspire collapse at a breath,
but his sweet dream of revenge is gone ; and worse than all, the mag
nificent demonstration which he had devised for himself all goes under
his own superintendence to the honor of him whom he hated most of
aU men, and for whom he had been contriving a doom of shame and
of death. This sudden check to the flow of his spirits led him to
imagine something deeper than the king intended.
12. His head covered — he went through the required demonstra
tion, doubtless, as became a great minister of state upon whom a thou
sand eyes were turned. But when he had escaped from public gaze,
he could command himself no longer. He felt that he must hide his
tell-tale countenance from those he would meet, till he reached the
asylum of sympathy which he would find in his home.
13. Hast begun to fall — his counsellors, and even hia wife, have

68 ESTHER. [Chap. VI. 14- VH. 1-3.
And his wise men and Zeresh his wife s.aid to him : If Mor
decai, before whom thou hast begun to fall, be of the race of
the Jews, thou shalt not prevail over him, but thou shalt utterly
fall before him.
1* While they were yet talking with him, the king's eunuchs
approached, and hastened to bring Haman to the banquet which
Esther had prepared.
VII. 1 And the king and Haman came to drink with Esther
the queen. ^ ^n,j the king said to Esther, on the second day
also, at the banquet of wine : What is thy petition, queen
Esther ? and it shall be granted thee ; and what is thy request ?
even to half of the kingdom, [ask] and it shall be performed.
2 Then Esther the queen answered and said : If I have found
favor in thine eyes, 0 king, and if it seem good to the king,
let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my
no prop for him in his adversity. Their words have the effect, rather,
of an additional impulse downward. No less than three changes are
-rung by them on that word fall. " Thou hast begun to fall,  fall
ing, thou shalt fall before him" — so, when literally rendered. How
different their language from that with which they cheered him on his
way to the former banquet of the queen.
14. The king's eunuchs are at hand to escort him to Esther's second
banquet. He goes not " rejoicing " (see chap. v. 14), but with a death-
knell ringing in his ear.
Chap. VII. 1. To drink — it was a banquet of wine. Now let
Haman drink, and forget the dark cloud that had come over him.
Who can tell what new turn of affairs may render all bright again, and
help him on to the accomplishment of his desire. The queen's request
will come first ; what if it should prepare the way for his ? Twenty-
four hours often produced great changes in the determinations of
Xerxes. " The Persians," says Ebers, " always reflected in the morn
ing, when sober, on the resolutions formed the night before, while
drunk " (Egyptian Princess, Preface, p. 8). All is fair ; the queen smiles
as sweetly, and the king is as gracious as yesterday. How can any
deadly bolt break forth from such a sky ? Their hearts grow merry,
and the king renews his promise to Esther, and bids her as before
ask, even to half of the kingdom.

Chap. VII. 4-7.] ESTHER. 69
request ; *for we are sold, I and my people, to destroy [us],
to kill [us], and to cause [us] to perish. Yet if we had been
sold for bondmen and for bondwomen, I had kept silent —
although the adversary could not compensate for the king's
damage. ^And the king Xerxes answered and said to Esther the
queen : Who is this, and where is he, whose heart has filled
him to do thus ?
* And Esther said : The man, adversary, and enemy, is this
wicked Haman.
Now Haman was terrified in the presence of the king and
the queen.
¦^ And the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine
[and went] into the garden of the palace.
3, 4. My life, and my people — the queen's lips are unsealed now, and
three hot glowing sentences will tell the whole. Sold, destroy, kill,
perish — the very words of Haman's infamous decree ! Compensate
— literally, " the enemy could not be even, or level with," i.e. up to the
level of, the king's damage. Let the enemy exhaust all his resources,
and the king would still be a loser.
5. Who is this? — the king is evidently aroused. The words of
Esther have gone home to the mark. He throws out his pronouns in
a wild confusion of excitement, and then repeats them with the order
inverted. " Who is he, that one — and where is that one, he, whose
heart has filled him (with the audacity) to do so ? " — it is clear that the
identification cannot wait. It must be prompt and unmistakable.
And the queen is equal to the demand.
6. The man, adversary, etc. — the queen's blood is up. She sees
her advantage ; and she speaks with all the vehemence of one who has
deeply felt the monstrous injustice of Haman's plot. The collocation
of the words in the Hebrew leaves no doubt that they were accom
panied with a gesture of the hand ; her scorn and righteous indignation
flashed out, as it were, at her very finger's-end, as she pointed to him.
"The man, adversary, and enemy, is Haman, the wretch, this (one)."
Well might he be terror-stricken in that presence. He reads, in the
king's countenance and in his movements, the angry excitement that
has taken possession of him.
7. His wrath — a great heat of excitement enkindled by this

70 ESTHER. [Chap. Vn. 8, 9.
And Haman stood to plead with the queen Esther for his
life ; for he saw that the evil was determined against him by
the king.
8 And the king returned from the garden of the palace to the
hall of the banquet of wine, and Haman was falling upon the
couch on which Esther was. And the king said : Will he also
force the queen, with me in the house ? The command went
forth from the mouth of the king, and they covered the face of
Haman. ^And Harbonah, one of the eunuchs before the king, said :
Behold also the tree, which Haman made for Mordecai who
spoke [what was] good for the king, stands at the house of
Haman, fifty cubits high.
And tbe king said : Impale him on it.
sudden and unlocked for development. It was not wholly wrath, but
a complex feeling consisting in part of disappointment and chagrin
that his favorite minister should be caught in such a blunder, and such
a crime ; in part of a disquieting sense of his own thoughtless com
plicity in the plot ; and in part of a just indignation at the magnitude
and atrocity of the intended massacre. Garden of the palace —
properly, the garden of the Great Hall, or garden of the Bethan. (See
on chap. i. 5 ; also Excursus on Topography and Buildings.) Xerxes
leaves the banquet-hall for a moment that he may become sufficiently
the master of himself to know how to act. Haman seizes the moment
to implore the favor of the queen to avert the extreme sentence of
death. Already his case has become desperate. If only his life may
be spared, he asks no more ; and even this he presumes not to ask
from the king. He prefers the chance of appealing to the queen.
8. Was falling, etc. — in his extreme perturbation he hardly knew
what he did. We may suppose that having failed to obtain any sign
of help from Esther, he gave himself up to a frenzy of despair, and
in bowing low before her, seemed to the king at the first glimpse he
caught of him, to deserve the bitter insinuation to which he gave vent.
This was followed by the command (na'n is rendered commandment no
less than eight times in the A.V., in the Book of Esther), to cover
Haman's face in token of his doom.
9. Behold the tree, etc. — Harbonah was quick to discern the king's
mood, and to see that this was just the fuel that the fire required. In

Chap. vii. 10- VIII. 1.] ESTHER. 71
1" And they impaled Haman on the tree which he had set up
for Mordecai. And the wrath of the king subsided.
VIII. 1 On that very day the king Xerxes gave to the queen
Esther the house of Haman, the adversary of the Jews. And
Mordecai came before the king ; for Esther had made known
form, his words were only an appendix to the dark insinuation of
Xerxes, and a further justification of the doom he had pronounced.
But he well knew that the king would turn them to other account. It
was a covert suggestion. Impale him on it — this was as Harbonah
anticipated. No time was lost. Haman was hurried away to exe
cution ; and his own apparatus of death, lifted high in the air, on his
own grounds to give effect to the punishment he intended for Mordecai,
exhibited in the view of all the people his own lifeless body instead.
The Persians saw in this another illustration of the fickleness of fortune,
and of the sudden reverses that so often befell the men in power ; the
Jews saw a gracious answer to prayer, a striking manifestation of the
providence of God who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.
10. Wrath  subsided — see note ver. 7. It was a relief to Xerxes
to have done something that the case required. He was willing for the
moment to believe that he had done enough. The heat of his tempes
tuous excitement, finding vent in the execution of Haman, was abated.
In his calmer mood he could be approached again.
Chap. VIII. 1. On that very day — .when the downfall of Haman
began, it rushed to a speedy conclusion. Calamities come in clusters.
Justice seems often to be long collecting her forces; but when the
retribution begins, it falls like an avalanche. So it was in Haman's
case. On the very day that he was impaled, his house, i.e. his whole
estate, which we suppose was princely, passed over into the hands of
one of the people whose ruin he had sought to compass. The adversary
of the Jews — the Hebrew language discriminates carefully between
enemy and adversary. An " enemy," aij"!!* , is one whose heart is full
of evil purposes, longings, designs towards another ; an " adversary,"
'Ti'S , is one who enters upon active operations against another. The
former refers more to the mental state, the latter to the conduct.
Haman was both the enemy and adversary of the Jews. (See iii. 10;
vii. 6; ix. I, 10.) Mordecai came before the king — he before this
was sitting in the gate of the king, i.e. he was a courtier in the palace.
(See on chap. ii. 19.) Now he is elevated from the position of courtier.

72 ESTHER. [Chap. VHI. 2, 3.
what he was to her. ^ And the king took off his signet-ring
which he had withdrawn from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai.
And Esther placed Mordecai over the house of Haman. ^ And
Esther continued and spoke before the king, and fell at his
feet and wept, and besought him to avert the evil of Haman
or royal judge, to be grand vizier, or premier in the empire. He could
now come before the king — i.e. enter his immediate presence, and
transact business with him face to face. Daniel had occupied a similar
position in the government of Darius (Dan. vi. 2). What he was to her
— he was her cousin. She was Mordecai's uncle's daughter (ii. 7).
[May not the expression, " what he was to her," involve more than
the idea of mere relationship ? May it not include the kindness and
tender care which he had bestowed upon her in her orphanage and
loneliness ? Not only was he her cousiu ; he was her guardian and
guide and foster-parent as well. The knowledge of the manner in
which he had befriended the queen could hardly fad to predispose the
king in his favor. The fact that the verb is wanting in the original,
may allow some latitude in the choice of tenses, and permit us to read,
" what he had been to her." — Ed.J.
2. Signet-ring — " Signet," a diminutive of the word " sign," and
means a small seal, such as was put into a ring worn upon the finger.
It is thought that not one of the ancient kings of Persia could write
his name. (Rawlinson, Ane. Mon., iii. 229.) They used the signet-
ring for the signing of all documents. As the etymology of the
Hebrew word indicates — P??!? from SDD , " to impress into any soft
substance " ; hence, to impress a seal, to seal — the main idea of this
ring was that it served the purpose of signing one's name ; that is,
making a sign that would stand for one's name. (See on iii. 10 ; viii.
8, 10 ; also. Excursus on Signet Rings and Seals.) How easily might
such ignorant kings as the above be imposed upon by their more learned
scribes. Esther placed Mordecai over the house of Haman — he
whom Haman had plotted to destroy, was now on the pinnacle of honor
and power. " Man proposes, but God disposes." Wickedness can
not prosper, even in this world. Haman passed away, and Mordecai
sits in his place, and is clothed with power for the saving of the people
whom their wicked adversary' would annihilate.
3. Continued, spoke, fell at his feet, wept, besought — here are
five verbs describing the actions of Esther, and they disclose what a
world of deep and mingled emotions had taken possession of her soul.

Chap. VIII. 4, 5.J ESTHER. 73
the Agagite, and his machination which he contrived against
the Jews.
* Then the king extended to Esther the golden sceptre.
And Esther arose and stood before the king ; ^ and she said :
If it seem good to the king, and if I have found favor before
him, and the thing appear right to the king, and I be pleasing
They reveal also the nobler and heroic elements of character. She
was playing no part, but was a real person in actual life. Many
a one that had undergone what had been laid on her would have
ceased now that Haman's body hung on the gibbet and Mordecai was
in the seat of power. But this courageous woman rested not until
all the work was done. She carries her people on her heart, and is
ever ready to face danger in their behalf. These five verbs are more
eloquent of heroic daring, and of love for truth and right, than Caesar's
veni, vidi, vici. There is no self in these words of Esther. In her
position she was safe. But her people were not safe ; the church of
God was not safe ; therefore she wept and besought in their behalf.
The word rjD;, rendered continued — literally added, often has the
force of an auxiliary verb, and, in its relation to the verb following,
may be rendered "again," "further," "still more.'' E.g. Gen. iv. 2 ;
viii. 12 ; xxv. 1 ; Judges xi. 14. His machination wliich he contrived
— literally machinated ; the verb and noun come from the same root.
aairi means to contrive, devise, invent. The Hebrew language has no
stronger word to imply that Haman, a man of great powers, put his
whole thought and ingenuity into the plot of ruining the people of
God. But "the foolishness of God is wiser than men" (1 Cor. i. 25).
"If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. viii. 31.)
4. The golden sceptre — the sceptre was a sign of office. It was a
rod or staff borne in the hand as an evidence of authority and power.
The Roman magistrates had the fasces, i.e. an axe tied up in a bundle
of rods, borne before them as a sign of their authority. The sceptre
is frequently referred to in Jewish history. The heads of tribes bore
it as well as the kings (Gen. xlix. 10). The word translated sceptre,
isnia, is often rendered "tribe." The Persian kings had golden
sceptres, probably a wooden staff covered with a plating of gold. The
inclination of it towards a subject indicated favor ; kissing or touching
the top of it was a sign of submission and homage. (See notes on v. 2 ;
also Excursus on the Golden Sceptre.)
5-7. And she said : If it seem good to the king, etc. — these
10

74 ESTHER. [Chap. VIII. 6-9.
in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters, tbe machi
nation of Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which
he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the
king; ^for how can I look upon the evil which will befall my
people ! and how can I behold the destruction of my kindred !
"' Then Xerxes the king said to the queen Esther and to
Mordecai the Jew : Behold, the house of Haman have I given
to Esther, and him have they impaled upon the tree ; because
he laid his hands upon the Jews. ^ Write ye also, in the king's
name, concerning the Jews as seems good in your eyes, and
seal with the king's signet-ring ; because a writing that is
written in tbe name of the king and is sealed with the king's
signet-ring may not be reversed.
^ And the king's scribes were summoned at that very time,
speeches of Esther are well worthy of notice, as showing her to be a
woman of no mean endowments. None but a truly heroic soul could
have uttered such words as these, and with such effect. These speeches
themselves afford an argument in favor of the genuineness and authen
ticity of this book. If they were uttered by Esther, and recorded by the
scribes who wrote down all that fell from the lips of the king and those
in his presence, and were engrossed in " the book of daily records," we
may well expect to find in these extracts from that book a true reflection
of the genius, the character, and intellectual ability of this remarkable
woman. Put these speeches beside those of any heathen woman of an
tiquity, and see how they tower up in all that constitutes womanly nobil
ity. fa'S^^z^how in the world? An intensive form of the word.
8. A writing that is written in the name of the king, and is sealed
with the king's signet-ring may not be reversed — the Persian kings
claimed to be divine ; and the people compelled the monarch to maintain
such a state as they thought became a god. " He was required to live
chiefly in seclusion ; to eat his meals for the most part alone ; never to
go on foot beyond the palace walls; never to revoke an order once given,
however much he might regret it ; never to draw back from a promise,
whatever ill results he might anticipate from its performance. To
maintain the quasi-divine character which attached to him it was neces
sary that he should seem infallible, immutable, and wholly free from
the weakness of repentance.'' (Rawlinson, Ane. Mon., iii. 225, 226.)
9. And the scribes — this is the longest verse in the Bible. The

Chap. VIII. 9.] ESTHER. 75
in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the twenty-
third of it ; and it was written according to all that Mordecai
commanded, to the Jews, and to the satraps, and tha pashas,
and princes of the provinces which [extend] from India to
Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, — to each
province according to its writing, and to each people according
to its tongue, and to the Jews according to their writing and
according to their tongue.
word rendered "scribe," ^sb, occurs only in one other place (iii. 12)
in this book. Among the Jews, the position of scribe was one of
great importance. Jonathan, the paternal uncle of David was a coun
sellor, a wise man, and a scribe. That he was a scribe seems to have
been the climax of honor. Ezra is a very prominent character in
Jewish history, and is distinguished by the appellation of the " scribe."
Among the Persians, the honor attaching to this term must have been
even greater than among the Jews, because fewer of the people in
proportion could wield the pen. The Persian writings remaining to
us are found only in cuneiform inscriptions cut into hard material.
They are rock tablets, inscriptions upon stone buildings, and mottoes
or legends on vases and cylinders. There is no doubt that besides
these cuneiform characters there were smaller cursive letters which
were made with the pen, and were in use for common writing upon
parchment. " Ctesias informs us that the royal archives were written
on parchment ; and there is abundant evidence that writing was an art
perfectly familiar to the educated Persian.'' (Rawlinson, Ane. Mon.,
iii. 266.) To the satraps, pashas, and princes of the provinces —
the satraps, Heb. n''5B'i^onx , were the rulers of the provinces, and
were imperial magistrates, representing the king in the provinces.
Their authority was purely political and civil, the king making the
military commanders always amenable to himself. The number of the
satraps and the extent of their jurisdiction varied at different times.
(See Lange's Commentary on Daniel, p. 139 ; Herodotus, iii. 89 ; Raw-
hnson, Ane. Mon., iii. 418 ; Xenophon, Cyropaedia, viii. 6 ; also see
on iii. 12.) The pashas — Heb. n'^ns, were inferior to the satraps.
They are called " governors," " captains," or deputies," in king James's
version. At the time of Ezra, Palestine was unde, the govern
ment of a pasha (Ezra viii. 36). Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah,
was appointed by Cyrus the nno , pasha, of Jerusalem (Ezra v. 14).
We cannot tell just the nature and limits of their authority, only that

76 ESTHER. [Chap. VIII. 10.
1" And he wrote in the name of the king Xerxes, and sealed
with the king's signet-ring, and sent the letters by the couriers
upon horses — the riders upon coursers and mules the offspring
it was civil and inferior to the authority of the satraps. They were
imperial officers also. Some think that the word fine is derived from
pa, foot, basis, or support ; and shah, ruler ; it being implied that the
pashas were the support of the king or ruler. The princes of the
provinces — the Hebrew for princes, Di"iir , is derived from "I'^iU , to
rule, or have dominion over. The Ci'iis were inferior to the satraps
and the pashas ; they were not imperial officers sent from the court, but
were natives clothed with a degree of local power and jurisdiction
under the eyes of the higher imperial magistrates. According to their
writing, and according to their tongue — writing means the written
alphabet of the people, including the size and shape of the letters, the
order of their arrangement, the material on which they wrote, etc. ; the
tongue means the particular dialect or speech of each province. It
might have been translated : According to their written alphabet, and
their speech, or spoken dialect. Tliis shows how great pains was taken
to communicate the knowledge of the decree.
10. He wrote in the name of the king Xerxes — what unlimited
power was put into the hands of Mordecai ! He could write what he
would, affix to it the royal seal, and it would become the law of the
realm. Haman had sought to destroy the people of God ; but his plot
had been turned to the elevating of them to a place of eminence in the
nation. Is not this to be the fate of all evil ? Will not God overrule
it for good ? And sealed with the king's signet-ring — this was the
signet-ring which the king had removed from the hand of Haman, and
put upon the hand of Mordecai (viii. 2). Seals were in ancient Persia
employed, as we have seen, to authenticate public documents. They
had the owner's name or some other device engraven upon them.
Such seals were made of burned clay, of copper, of silver, gold, or
often of precious stones. The seal was often in the form of a cylinder,
which was rolled upon the moist clay, illustrating the words of Job,
"it is turned as clay to the seal" (xxxviii. 14). (See notes on iii.
10 ; viii. 2 ; also. Excursus on Signet Rings and Seals.) By the hand of
— this expression •yfz means what we express by the preposition by.
It occurs frequently in this book (i. 12 ; i. 15 ; iii. 13). Couriers — the
English word courier is from the Latin currere, to run. English post
is first the stopping-place, then the couriers who stopped, then the

Chap. VIII. 11, 12.] ESTHER. 77
of mares ; " in which [letters] the king granted to the Jews
who were in any city :
To ASSEMBLE AND STAND FOR THEIR LIVES ; TO DESTROY, TO
KILL, AND TO CAUSE TO PERISH ALL THB FORCE OF PEOPLE AND
PROVINCE ASSAIUNG THEM ; [tO DESTROY] LITTLE CHILDREN AND
WOMEN ; AND [tAKE] THEIR PROPERTY FOR SPOIL,  1^ IN ONE
DAY, THROUGHOUT ALL THE PROVINCES OF THE KING XeRXES ;
on the thirteenth op the twelfth month, that is, the month
Adar.
message itself; finally the manner of conveying the message. A
courier is a runner. The Hebrew word y"^ means to run. It is some
times used figuratively : " that he may run (y^) that readeth," i.e. may
read rapidly, or seem to run over the page. The nis'n were servants
that ran before the chariot of a prince, called running footmen. They
were also the royal messengers of the Hebrews in the times of the
kings. But they were especially the mounted state-messengers of the
Persians. They carried the royal edicts to the provinces, and re
turned to the king with despatches of importance. (See Excursus on
Couriers ; also, on " Letters and Posts of the Ancients.")
II. To assemble and stand for their lives — the king did not
reverse his decree issued for the total destruction of the Jews, but
he simply granted them the privilege, given by God himself to all his
creatures, of self-defence. The king saw the injustice and dreadful
wrong perpetrated in securing the decree to annihilate the Jewish
people, and doubtless he meant that self-defence should now receive its
utmost latitude of interpretation. (See a full discussion of this prin
ciple in Discourses on the Book of Esther, by the Hebrew Club:
" On Self-Defence.") The decree is printed in the text above in small
capitals ; the official subscription follows in italics.
12. On one day, throughout all the provinces of the king Xerxes
— the slaughter was to continue but one day. The proclamation
(iii. 13) gave authority for the slaughter of the Jews only on the
thirteenth of the month Adar. Any attempt upon their lives after
that would be unlawful. It should be observed that the lives of
subjects were so completely in the hands of despotic rulers in ancient
Persia, that permission must be given by royal edict for men to defend
themselves against violence and death. Were it not for this edict the
Jews would have been expected to be passive under the hand of the
executioner. What a cruel oppressor man is 1 What danger in irre-

78 ESTHER. [Chap. VIIL 13-16.
^^A copy of the writing to be given as a decree in every
province, published to all the peoples; even for the Jews to be
ready on thai day to be avenged on their enemies.
1^ The couriers — riders upon coursers and mules — went
forth, hastened and urged on by the word of the king. And
the decree was given in Shushan the castle.
1^ And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in
royal vesture of violet and white, and a great crown of gold,
and a mantle of fine linen and purple ; and the city Shushan
rejoiced and was glad, i^ To the Jews there were light and
sponsible power put into the hands of men ! No wonder that David
said : " Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are
great; and let me not fall into the hand of man" (2 Sam. xxiv. 14).
Hastened and urged on by the word of the king — these two participles
show with what earnestness and resolution the king had espoused the
cause of the Jews. When the edict for their destruction was given
(iii. 15), we were told that " the couriers went forth, pressed on by the
word of the king," Sin^ , to impel, to urge. In the verse before us
(viii. 14), they are hastened and urged, ifia , to hasten, and r)n^ , to
impel, to urge. More urgency was put into the sending forth of these
second messengers than had attended the going forth of the first.
15. And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king, etc. —
what a change from the sackcloth and ashes to " the royal vesture of
violet and white, and a great crown of gold, and a mantle of fine linen
and purple." God often lifts those who are in the dust to places of
great honor and power. If our cause is just and right, we shall not
wait long before help will come from on high. If God seems to delay,
it will only be that the triumph may be the more signal when it comes.
The city Shushan rejoiced and was glad — this would indicate that
the people of Shushan, who were now almost wholly Persians, sym
pathized with the Jews both in their sorrow and their joy. There
were many things in the religions of the two nations that were in
close affinity, many things in their character and habits ; so that God
seems to have laid a good foundation for the superstructure of Jewish
elevation which was soon to follow. The people in the chief city
of the nation were their friends. The Jews by their more pure and
elevated character seem to have made friends among the various
peoples wherever their lot was cast.

Chap. VIII. 17-IX. 1.] ESTHER. 79
gladness, and joy and honor. ^ And in every province and in
every city whithersoever the word of the king and his decree
came, there were joy and gladness to the Jews, a banquet and
a good day. And many from the peoples of the land became
Jews ; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.
IX. 1 Then in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar,
on the thirteenth day of it, when the word of the king and his
17. And many from the peoples of the land became Jews — not a
very commendable motive prevailed upon them : " for the fear of the
Jews fell upon them." Fear is a true and worthy motive, however, if
not abused. It should always have an inferior place in influencing
intelligent, voluntary beings. If it had been said that " many became
Jews " because they were convinced that the Jews were a nobler people
in their life and character, their religion and hopes; or because they
thought their cause a just one ; or because they desired to express
their hatred of the policy that had sought the destruction of three
millions of innocent subjects, we should hold them in higher esteem.
The same principle holds now in regard to the conversion of souls from
the world, to the life, fellowship, and service of God. IMen may turn
from the service of the world and sin, through /ear of the consequences
of such a course. The end will be bad, and they will flee from it
Such persons often come into the life of God, walk in heavenly places
here, and enter into joy beneafter. But fear is not the noblest motive
by which to influence a soul to choose God and eternal glory. How
much better to yield to the love of God, or be drawn by the attrac
tiveness of virtue or holiness, or the beauty and loveliness of Christi
The man who says he will follow and serve God because such a life is
right, because it is a duty that he owes to the Author of all good, often
becomes one of the truest and most efficient workers for God ; yet
there is no power like love to lift one out of self and set him on the high
places of the spiritual kingdom. Where year is the predominant motive
in the beginning of a life with the people of God, it is apt soon to relax,
and the fervor dies, and the life languishes or becomes extinct
Chap. IX. 1. And in the twelfth month — it would appear from
this that nearly nine months intervened between the issuing of the decree
for the saving of the Jews and the time appointed for their destruc
tion (viiL 9). This would give the Jews ample time to complete all

80 ESTHER. [Chap. IX. 2, 3.
decree came to be executed ; on the day when the enemies
of the Jews expected to have dominion over them (but
it was turned, so that the Jews themselves had dominion
over those who hated them) ^the Jews assemliled in their
cities throughout all the provinces of the king Xerxes to lay
hands on those who sought their harm. And not a man
stood in the face of them ; for the fear of them fell upon all
the peoples.
2 And all the princes of the provinces, and the satraps, and
their arrangements for self-defence. Just eleven months intervened
between the giving of the destructive decree (iii. 12), and the time for
its execution (iii. 13). This shows in a remarkable manner the provi
dence of God in the care of his people. In the first month, the thir
teenth day of it, the decree went forth for the destruction of all the
Jews (iii. 12) ; in the third month, twenty-third day, the decree permit
ting the Jews to stand in self-defence was sent forth (viii. 9) ; in the
twelfth month, the thirteenth day, came the dreadful work of slaughter
(ix. 1). But it was turned, so that the Jews themselves had dominion
over those who hated them — God often reverses the most skilfully
laid plans of the enemies of his people. " He putteth down one, and
setteth up another " (Ps. Ixxv. 7). Men may not see the real agent
in the work ; they may make the cause impersonal, and say, " it was
turned," when finally they will see that " God turned it so that,'' etc.
2. The Jews assembled in their cities — what a day that must have
been to the Jewish people ! What prayer was offered that morning,
and during the days previous ! They stood simply on the defensive
as the words show : " to lay hands on those who sought their harm."
Not a man stood in the face of them — with God and right on their
side the Jews were mightier than the mightiest of their foes. This is
true in any cause. The word " stood " means successfully stood. We
know that many did attack the Jews and seek to destroy them, but not
one of them killed his man. God prepared the way for this victory
by inspiring all the peoples with fear and dread of those who were
manifestly the people of God.
3. What an illustration this verse furnishes of the Saviour's words :
" To him that hath shall be given and he shall have abundance.''
When the Jews were friendless, '¦ none so poor as to do them rever
ence " ; but now that the king is on their side multitudes flock to their

Chap. IX. 4-9.] ESTHER. 81
pashas, and the managers of the king's business, helped the
Jews ; for the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. * For Mor
decai was great in the king's house, and his fame went into all
the provinces ; and the man Mordecai became greater and
greater. ^ And the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the
sword, and slaughter and destruction. And they did according
to their pleasure to those who hated them. ^ And in Shushan
the castle the Jews slew and caused to perish five hundred
men ; ' and Parshandatha and Dalphon and Aspatha, ^ and
Poratha and Adalia and Aridatha, ^ and Parmashta and Arisai
standard. This is human nature as truly to-day as it was five hundred
years before the birth of Christ Managers of, etc. — See on iii. 9.
4. The English wordyhme means what is said about one; from the
Latin for, Greek ^rjpiL In Hebrew the word sc':: (rendered fame)
means that which is heard about one. It is the same idea, only viewed
in the one case from the point of the speaker, in the other from the
point of the hearer.
5. And the Jews smote all their enemies — we need to keep in
mind that the Jews stood strictly on the defensive (viii. 11). The
record shows that they made no attack on any, but simply repelled
the violence of them who sought to destroy them.
6. In Shushan the castle the Jews slew and caused to perish five
hundred men — this is not an incredibly large number when we
remember that the estimated population of Shushan at the time of
which we speak was half a million. (Keil's Commentary on the Book
of Esther, p. 309). It shows too how furiously their enemies attacked
them ; and that had self-defence been denied the Jews they would have
been exterminated as a people.
7-9. Here we have the names of the ten sons of Haman. Canon
Rawlinson tells us that " excepting Adalia they were all readily trace
able to Old Persian roots." Bishop Wordsworth says : " The names
of the ten sons of Haman were written in the Hebrew manuscripts of
this book in compact perpendicular columns, as if they were hanging
one over another ; and the reader of this book in the synagogue is
required to pronounce all the names at one breath. The Targum says
that they were all suspended in one line, at stated intervals, one above
the other" (Wordsworth's Commentary on Esther, p. 382).
11

g2 ESTHER. [Chap. IX. 10-12.
and Aridai, and Vajczatha, i* the ten sons of Haman, the son
of Hammedatha, the adversary of the Jews, they slew ; hut on
the spoil they laid not their hands.
11 On that very day the number of those slain in Shushan
the castle came before the king. I'-^And the king said to
Esther the queen : In Shushan the castle the Jews have slain
and caused to perish five hundred men and the ten sons of
Haman ; in the rest of the king's domains what have they
done ? And what is tliy petition ? and it shall be granted
thee ; and what is thy request further ? and it shall be
performed. 10. But on the spoil they laid not their hands — this shows the
magnanimity and unselfishness of the Jews. According to the decree
(viii. 11) the Jews were allowed "to take the spoil of them for
booty '; but three times it is recorded (ix. 10, 15, 16) that "on the
spoil they laid not their hands." They were allowed also "to destroy,
to kill, and cause to perish little children and women,'' as well as " the
force," i.e. the military force, of the people ; but the record expressly
declares that they put to death only men (ilia's;, ix. 6, 12, 15). We
can see how this would come out of the fact that the Jews stood on the
defensive, and that only the armed force of the people, i.e. the men,
would be the assailants. The Jews may also have fought behind forti
fications, and thus have been protected. We have no evidence that
the Jews had any desire to destroy the women and children. It was
the edict of the heathen king, the counterpart of his previous decree
(iii. 13), which gave them the liberty. But they were the people of
God, and as such morally far above their oppressors. The Jews
acquired no moral right to the property of the men whom they slew.
The wives and children of the slain men needed the property all the
more that the husband and father had been taken from them. It was
not plunder that the Jews sought, but self-protection, the right to exist
unmolested. 11. Here we see the dispatch with which the information was
collected, as well as the general interest felt in it.
12. The king is disposed to do all in his power for the relief of the
imperilled Jews. There is no evidence that he ever cherished ill-will
towards them. He was simply an instrument in the hands of the
wicked Haman. Now he becomes an instrument in the hands of those

Chap. IX. 13-16.] ESTHER. 88
1^ And Esther said : If it seem good to the king, let it be
granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do to-morrow also
according to the decree of this day ; and let the ten sons of
Haman be impaled upon the tree.
1* And the king commanded it to be so done ; and the decree
was given in Shushan ; and the ten sons of Haman were im
paled. 1^ And the Jews who were in Shushan assembled also on the
fourteenth day of the month Adar and slew in Shushan three
hundred men ; but on the spoil they laid not their hands.
i^But the remainder of the Jews who were in the king's
who seek to save the people of God. This verse is important as show
ing that the idea of further slaughter originated not with Esther, but
rather with the king himself. He suggests here that something more
is needed, and asks what it shall be.
13. This is not so much Esther's counsel, as the counsel of those
Jews who understood the situation and could tell from a statesman's
point of view what was needed. There was no thirst for blood in
Esther's heart. Her whole character as delineated in this book is
averse to this ; but she was made of stuff stern enough to demand fur
ther bloodshed if it were needed to stay the unrighteous blotting out of
her people and God's church. This verse also shows that the right
of self-defence was granted the Jews only as a special favor. There
could be nothing wrong in asking that the privilege of self-defence
might extend over all the days of the king's reign. It is what subjects
in all Christian civilized society enjoy. As to impaling Haman's sons,
that was intended to strike terror into the adversaries of the Jews.
Nothing could have been better fitted to check the work of slaughter.
They had been slain ; now let them be hung up as a warning to all
who had their spirit, and were doing their fell work. These sons seem
to have had the spirit and purpose of their father, to " kill, destroy, and
cause to perish " all the Jews. Doubtless Esther made this request at
the prompting of Mordecai and such wise Jews as were in conference
with him.
15. And slew in Shushan three hundred men — it appears then
that the whole number slain by the Jews in Shushan was only eight
hundred. 16. In all the provinces, with an estimated population of one hundred

84 ESTHER. [Chap. IX. 17-20.
provinces assembled, and stood for their lives, and rested from
their enemies ; and slew of those who hated them seventy-five
thousand (but on the spoil they laid not their hands) i' on the
thirteenth day of the month Adar ; and they rested on the
fourteenth of it, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
1^ But the Jews who were in Shushan assembled on the thir
teenth of it and on the fourteenth of it, but rested on the
fifteenth of it, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
18 Therefore the provincial Jews who dwelt in the country
towns were making the fourteenth of the month Adar a rejoic
ing and a feasting, and a day of gladness and of sending portions,
every one to bis neighbor.
-° And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all
millions, seventy-five thousand of the Jews' enemies were slam. There
is no mention of the killing of even one Jew. Perhaps a remarkable
providence preserved at this, as at other times of danger, the people of
God. Possibly here, as occurs often in the Sacred Scriptures, only the
number of enemies who were slain is given ; no mention being made
of the loss of the victors. The Septuagint says that fifteen thousand
was the number slain by the Jews. The larger number seems the
more probable.
18. But rested on the fifteenth — the word n'^s is not the word
which means the Sabbath rest ; it means primarily to take breath ;
then it means to have rest, as from vexation, trouble, calamity, anxiety.
No words can describe the solicitude and fear which must have filled
the Jews in anticipation of the dreadful day fixed upon for their destruc
tion. But now it was all over ; God had appeared as their helper, and
their troubles were at an end. Sweet deliverance and rest were now
their portion. In commemoration of their happy state on this day, they
make it a day of " feasting and gladness." They did not celebrate the
slaughter. There was no reminder of the day on which the destruction
of their enemies occurred ; but the days on which rest and quiet came
to them had a lasting memorial. Even now the Jews signalize those
as the red-letter days in their calendar.
19-22. In order to secure throughout the kingdom uniformity in
the celebration of the Purim festival, Mordecai wrote letters to all tho
provinces, enjoining upon the Jews to make both the fourteenth and
the fifteenth days of the month Adar seasons of rejoicing and festivity.

'Chap. IX. 21-24.] ESTHER. 85
the Jews, the near and the distant, who were in all the prov
inces of the king Xerxes, 21 to enjoin upon them to celebrate
the fourteenth day of the month Adar and the fifteenth day of
it every year, ^ as the days on which the Jews rested from
their enemies, and the month which was turned to them from
sorrow to gladness, and from mourning to a good day ; in
order to make them days of feasting and gladness, and of
sending portions, every one to his neighbor, and gifts to the
needy. '^ And the Jews adopted what they had begun to do and
what Mordecai had written to them. ^Because Haman, the
son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the
Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had
cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume and exterminate them.
This shows a tender regard for the people on the part of the prime
minister. A holiday was a godsend to them. He did not seek to grind
the faces of the poor, to rob them of privileges aud opportunities ; but
he did all in his power to multiply favors to them. The festival was
probably called Purim, i.e. lots, in irony, as setting off in derisive speech
the superstitious carefulness with which Haman had used lots to bring
about their destruction. Many of the proudest names in the history
of the church have had a similar origin, e.g. Methodist, Puritan, and
probably the word Jew itself.
23. And the Jews adopted — iap means to receive, admit, or adopt.
Here it means that the Jews accepted and made as a law to govern
them in all their future conduct, what Mordecai had written to them.
Previously they had begun to observe the fourteenth day as a time of
gladness and rejoicing. This seems to have been in obedience to a
previous decree. But now, when Mordecai wrote to them, they also
observed the fifteenth day. How much is implied in the word bsjr ,
" adopted," we cannot tell. Whether anything is meant more than
that they acquiesced in the appointment of Mordecai is uncertain. We
have no knowledge of national or legislative action on the part of the
Jews in their captivity.
24. The lot — the lot has performed an important part in human
history. The promised land was divided among the twelve tribes by
lot (Num. xxvi. 55) ; Haman cast lots for a day on which to exter
minate the Jews ; the crucifiers of Christ cast lots before the cross

86 ESTHER. [Chap. IX. 25-27.
^ But when it came before the king he commanded, by the
letters, that his wicked device which he had devised against
the Jews should return upon his own head ; and they impaled
him and his sons upon the tree. ^^ Therefore they called these
days Purim, after the name Pur.
Now because of all the words of this letter, and of what they
had seen concerning the matter, and what had come to them,
2" tlie Jews ordained, and took upon themselves, and upon their
children, and upon all who should join themselves to them,
upon his raiment (Matt, xxvii. 35) ; the apostles cast lots for a suc
cessor to Judas (Acts i. 26). The lot is an appeal to God, that he will
determine for us what our own wisdom or diligence cannot decide.
The lot should not be resorted to on trivial occasions, or when our own
efforts can solve the difficulty. The word Is'iJ means a small stone, or
pebble, such as was used in casting lots. Then it means that which
falls to one as his portion, or share, or fate, as decided by the lot. The
English word " lot " means part or portion, and seems to carry the
idea that our destinies are put into the box, and God chooses out the
one suited to each individual.
25. But when it came before the king — the A.V. supplies the
word Esther as the subject of the verb N3, which word has not occurred
since ver. 13. There is no authority for this. The Hebrew is plain :
in the coming of it ( i.e. the matter of destroying the Jews) before the
king, he commanded, etc. The word N3 is in the construct infinitive,
governed by the preceding a, and the suffix n- is its subject The
substance of the king's command is : that his wicked device which he
had devised against the Jeics should return upon his own head. The
nest clause is not a part of the king's command, but a fact added by
the historian.
26. Purim — as to the origin and meaning of this word, see note on
iii. 7 ; and as to the festival itself, see Discourse on the " Feast of
Purim.'' Tlie first 'js b? is causative, introducing the reason why the
Jews "called diese days Purim." The second la is introduces an
inference or explanation, like the English now in " now Barabbas was
a robber" (.John xviii. 40).
27. We see in this verse a remarkable instance of national sohdarity.
The Jewish nation, in its present and prospective members, was one
community. One life, one interest, one fate, has awaited that people
wherever they have lived. In many respects the Jews are the most

Chap. IX. 28, 29.] ESTHER. 87
without fail to keep these two days, according to the writing
in respect to them, and according to the time appointed for
them each year ; -^ that these days should be remembered and
kept in every generation, every family, every province, and
every city ; and that these days of Purim should not fail from
the midst of the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from
their race.
2® Then wrote Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail,
and Mordecai the Jew, with all authority, to establish this
remarkable people that have ever lived upon the earth ; and the cause
of it, humanly speaking, is their national unity. The Jews in the time
of Esther pledged themselves and their successors to a specific course of
action. They did it not from low, selfish, worldly considerations, but
out of resard to God and the interests of religion. Their children
have accepted the action of their ancestors as their own, and faithfully
complied with all its requisitions. Such a national unity as this can
not but be most powerful in moulding and shaping the character and
destiny of a nation. The Jews, though they have been scattered to
the four winds and oppressed beyond measure, are still a mighty and
unified people, their hearts throbbing with one life-current, and their
wills subject to one Lord and King. National unity founded in reli
gion finds a signal illustration in the Jews.
29. This second letter of Purim — here we have an added fact
with respect to the Purim festival. The dangers and trials, the perils
and agonies, through which Esther had passed in rescuing her people
from the jaws of the more than fierce lion, she would not allow to pass
into oblivion. As a reminder of these dangers she wrote another
letter, Mordecai approving and with the great seal authorizing it, and
sent it to the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces. This letter is
called the second, the one mentioned in verse 20 of this chapter being
considered the frst. This second letter appointed " fasting and cry-
in c" as a part of the Purim festival. The fourteenth and fifteenth
days of the month Adar were to be days of joy and gladness. Just
when the fasting and crying were to occur we are not told in the
text; but the facts that the modern Jews observe the day which
Haman had fixed upon for the extermination of the Jews, i.e. the thir
teenth of Adar, and the reasonableness of it, make it very probable
that the thirteenth of Adar was the day for expressions of sorrow
and mourning, while the fourteenth and fifteenth that immediately

88 ESTHER. [Chap. IX. 30, 31.
second letter of Purim. ^o _^ii,j he sent letters to all the Jews,
to the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of
Xerxes, messages of peace and truth, ^i to ordain these days of
Purim in their appointed seasons, according as Mordecai the
Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined upon tbem, and as
they had ordained for themselves and for their children the
followed were days of unbounded joy. We can see how this would
keep the whole matter of their danger and deliverance most vividly
before them, and thus preserve, in the national heart, gratitude to
God the great deliverer. Days of fasting and prayer, humiliation
and sorrow, are a good preparation for seasons of feasting and glad
ness. 30. And he sent letters — Esther was the author of the letter, but
Mordecai as the grand vizier gave it its legal authority and stamp, and
sent it forth into the provinces. Messages of peace and truth — this
letter was not a summons to battle ; it did not prescribe methods for
slaughter and bloodshed ; but it went forth as the herald of peace and
the harbinger of truth. Fasting and prayer, humiliation before God
and contrition for our sins, are among the best promoters of peace and
discoverers of truth. The first meaning of nsit is firmness or stability,
i.e. the truth is the firm and abiding thing.
31. As they had ordained for themselves and for their children —
!iB*p means to confirm or establish. The same verb, in the Piel con
jugation, in the earlier parts of this verse is rendered " to ordain ''
and " had enjoined." "':i is a stated or appointed time, such as the
regular sacred seasons or festivals. In the A.V. the word appointed
is erroneously printed in italics, as if it was a word supplied. There
seems to have been a perfect unanimity of sentiment between Esther
and Mordecai on the one hand, and between them and the Jewish
people on the other, as to the whole matter of the Purim festival. It
is not improbable that the idea of a time for "fasting and crying" —
Hebrew, fastings and their crying — as commemorating the fastings of
Esther before going to the king, had occurred to the people, and been
observed by them, before Esther proposed it. Dri5sn riaisn •^'i^a?
implies that the people talked about this matter and expressed them
selves freely on it, even before Esther and Mordecai took it up. It
would be a natural expression of gratitude from the popular heart
after so great a deliverance. Wherever it had its origin it was fixed
" with all authority," i.e. with all the strength and force of law.

Chap. IX. 32-X. 1.] ESTHER. 89
matters of the fasting and crying. ^^ ^jj^ the edict of Esther
established these matters of Purim ; and it was written in the
book. X. 1 And the king Xerxes laid a tribute upon the land and
32. The edict of Esther — this edict, contained in ver. 29-31, is
the command to observe a season of " fasting and crying " as a part of
the Purim festival. It is called Esther's edict as being in her honor,
and as having officially originated with her. Written in the book —
i.e. the book of the records of the kings of Media and Persia. This
is another way of saying that these matters were decreed and recorded,
so that they became in the highest sense official. Keil says : " ^SSfi ,
the book in which this decree was written, cannot mean the writing of
Esther mentioned in ver. 29, but some written document concerning
Purim which has not come down to us, though used as an authority by
the author of the present book." (Keil's Commentary on the Book
of Esther, p. 378.) Bishop Wordsworth says : " It was written in
the book which the reader has now before him." (Wordsworth's Com
mentary on Esther, p. 384.) He quotes Serarius, Havernick, and Dr.
Pusey, as holding the same view. Professor Schultz, in Lange's series,
says : " It was written in the book indicated in v. 20, in which Mor
decai wrote concerning these events, and which is not identical with
our Esther-book, but may have served as one of its sources." (Lange
on Esther, p. 92.) Bertheau says: "A writing on the special subject
of the Purim festival, which has been lost" Canon Rawlinson says :
" the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia." (The
Bible Commentary on Esther, p. 497.)
Chap. X. 1. Laid a tribute upon the land and the islands of the sea
— this was made necessary by the exhaustive drain upon the exchequer
which the Grecian expedition had made. Da means tribute-service, i.e.
tribute to be rendered by personal service in the army or on the public
works. vSolomon made such a levy (1 Kings v. 13). Joshua also ex
acted such a tribute-service of the Canaanites (Josh. xvii. 13). The
word eg means also taxes in a general sense, such as money, pro
duce, or anything for the support of the government (1 Kings xii. 18 ;
2 Chron. viii. 8 ; 2 Sam. xx. 24 ; see Excursus on Tribute). Al
though as one result of his Grecian expedition Xerxes had lost the
islands of the Aegean sea, yet he would be unwilling to confess it, and
he would doubtless lay a tax on them. It is alwavs easier to impose
taxes than it is to collect them. 12

90 ESTHER. [Chap. X. 2, 3.
the islands of the sea. ^ And all the deeds of his power and
his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai to
which the king advanced him, are they not written in the book
of the chronicles of the king of Media and Persia ? ^ For Mor-
2, 3. In these verses is set forth the greatness of Xerxes for the
purpose of showing to what an elevation Mordecai, as the head and
representative of the Jewish nation, had been raised. The book
opened with the almost total obscuration of God's people ; it closes
with them as the brightest star in the galaxy of nations which composed
this great kingdom. Thus the providence of God is the more manifest
in caring for, delivering, and promoting them who trust and love him.
Book of the chronicles — i.e. the book which contained the record of
all state and official matters. Probably the Book of Esther, as we have
it, was to some extent copied from that " book of chronicles." The
omission of the name of God from the book, and of the mention of
such religious practices as were distinctively Jewish, can be explained
upon this hypothesis. Media and Persia — these words occur five
times in this book ; in four of which they stand as Persia and Media
(Esther i. 3, 14, 18, 19). The explanation is that the Median supremacy
antedated the Persian, and in the " book of chronicles " Media stood
first ; but the common parlance and correspondence of Xerxes' day,
when the Persians were the dominant nation, reversed the official order,
as we find it four times in chapter i. In that chapter we have popular
history ; in chapter x. we have official record (see Tyrwhitt's Esther
and Ahasuerus, Vol. i. 15, 16). In the book of Daniel, which antedates
the book of Esther by a century or more, the Persians were not in
the ascendency, and we find in every case the Medes and Persians,
or the Medes alone. Acceptable to the multitude of his brethren —
Mordecai was a universal favorite with the Jews. He was so mani
festly raised up by God for the deliverance and promotion of his nation,
that the Jews everywhere felt that they honored God in honoring his
instrument. Gratitude also for what Mordecai had done in their
behalf, would incite them to respect and affection. Seeking good for
his people — Mordecai set a good example for all rulers. He did not
seek self in honor or wealth ; the good of the people was his aim. This
is true patriotism. It is a virtue too rare in the world. The apostolic
rule is, " in honor preferring one another" (Rom. xii. 10). How greatly
dishonesty, trickery, corruption of all kinds, would be diminished in the
church and in the world if this injunction were followed. Those who

Chap. X. 3.] ESTHER. 91
decai the Jew was next to the king Xerxes, and great among
the Jews, and acceptable to the multitude of his brethren, seek
ing good for his people, and speaking peace to his race.
do follow it, however, get to themselves more of real honor and lasting
fame than they could receive in any other way. " Godliness is profit
able unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of
that which is to come " (1 Tim. iv. 8). Speaking peace to his race —
157^ means here his race, or all the Jewish people. Mordecai was a
speaker or preacher as well as actor. He was not a dumb man, never
having anything to say for God or the church ; but one of his distin
guishing characteristics was that he spoke peace (oibo) to his race.
oibd is one of the grandest and sweetest words in the Hebrew language.
It was used in salutations. ?jl? Dibia (peace be to you) was the Jewish
benediction, cib^ means welfare, health, prosperity, and all that is
good. Mordecai was not a fault-finder, a censurer, but he spoke words
of cheer, hope, encouragement, and prosperity to his race. These are
the closing words in the historical part of the Old Testament, and they
seem to be a kind of prophecy of him who was to come bringing peace
and salvation to all nations. " For he is our peace, who hath made
both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition. And
came and preached peace to you who were afar off, and to them that
were nigh " (Eph. ii. 14, 17).

ANCIENT PERSIAN ALPHABET.

Vers.

Heh

Xou*

fVf

^

a.

Aa-^cios , Darius^

ty

:n

b

Wmi Bdryivesh,

<rr

>

^

'Y7#r^rr<--r£<rre<.

Vr

n

d

Daryvush, op

fr

1

V

Daryv^u^^.

r--r

r

z

^^S'l'/S.^^^sueruf,

«rr

n

kh

v; 7 7.7 Ii; n X ,

^Yrr

([3

t

AkkSiSh ve rosk.

Y<>-

^

y

€rr^j<-rry^i^'ri^,

K--1^

D

k

Khshya.rskl. .

a

m

AfT:a^L<^^vjS,

^<

:i

n

Arta.xeryes,

r^

t»

S

-^^IDWriill^.o.

^

s

P

Kf)^ Ti;nr)SK

-«-:^T

-)

V

Arta.khsha.shii., or

^

Tii

sh

A ri3.khska.sta,.

y<r

n

th

*m ^r ^yy^ «ff ^^r ffr

<Ty

1

ti

Aril<hsh.ir3L.

Ty

tr

-r^
Wo»V
!«'
92
EXCURSUSES.

EXOUESUS A.
PERSIAN WORDS AND NAMES.
We present in this Excursus so much of the cuneiform alphabet of
the ancient Persians as is needful to illustrate the argument ou pp. 10-
12 of the Introduction, and to set forth what is known of certain words
of Persian origin in the book. The fourth column of the schedule (see
opposite page) pertains entirely to the argument in the Introduction,
but carries its own explanation in itself.
In referring the words which follow, to a know»n, or in some cases
to a supposed origin, we have condensed Canon Rawlinson's account of
them from his notes appended to Ezra and Esther, in the work famil
iarly known as the Speaker's Commentary.
" D''53ri'";B partemim, which is found only in Esth. i. 3, and Dan.
i. 3, is the plural of cnia , which was the Hebrew mode of expressing
the Persian T^C* ^f t||l "ill fratama, first [the vowels must be
supplied]. Fratama corresponds to the Sanscrit jora^Aoma ; the Zend
frathema; the Greek ttpGtos; the Latin primus. Daniel and Esther
use the word of the ' first ' men in the kingdom. Compare the Latin
use of the word primores." — Rawlinson.
0-s Paras, Persia. Esth. i. 18. This was written S ^'^ ^^ |[^
Parsa. OB-iS karpas, which occurs in Esth. i. 6, and nowhere else, con-
jecturally in the Persian literation jt: ^I £• T^ cognate to the
Sanscrit karpasa, cotton, Greek Kapjracros, Latin, carbasus or carbasa.
-irs kether, " crown," = •({J[ << ^ '-]l| khshatram (Esth.i.Il;
ii. I7;vi. 8). Compare Greek Kirapts or x/Sapis. Khsh = x, ch^^g^^
to k by the omission of the sibilant.
n!is pur, "the lot," Esth. iii. 7 ; ix. 24, 26, 28, 29, 31, 32, evidently
a Persian word, probably written ^ \[y ,^| or, perhaps f^ \W " {(

94

EXCURSUSES.

The word has not yet been found in the old Persian. It is twice
(iii. 7 ; ix. 24) accompanied by its Hebrew equivalent hyii goral.
-,5rns pathshegen. Esth. iii. 14; iv. 8; viii. 13, "copy," or "tran
script," has no possible Semitic derivation, and seems to represent a
Persian word ^ ^ ^\\] Y^ ^^ 52( patithagana, derived, ap
parently, from the preposition patiya, "to," and thab "to speak,"
which is well-known in old Persian. The "(Jta shegen, in l^ilJrS path
shegen, reminds us of the German sagen, singen, and the English say
and sing, which are probably cognate.
D-'D'npdrix akhashteranim, Esth. viii. 10, 14, not "camels," as in the
A. v., but an adjective, signifying royal, formed from the old Persian
khshatram [see under irs kether, " crown," above], which would yield
the adjective (^ ^ T? fit ^K khshatrana, which with N pros
thetic, corresponds with ¦,ni^:JriN|, the singular of cninirns akhash
teranim. •jS-iTOnst akhashdarpan, \\)| ^^ n »i HI khshatrapa, Gr. a-aTpaanj';
satrap, ascertained from the Behistun inscription. There is, as usual,
the prosthetic N, and the tr of the Persian becomes dr in the Hebrew.
Esth. iii. 12 ; viii. 9 ; ix. 3.
13S genez, Esth. iii. 9 ; iv. 7. The term does not occur in the in
scriptions ; but there can be little doubt that it existed and was written
^1[|*' |>->-ToY /TT" yyy ^^,-1 gaza. It was probably pronounced
gauza rather than gaza.
N'lax iggera, or as in Esth. ix. 26 and 29, n'lr.x iggereth. Assyrian
igirtu ; its Persian form was very probably ni /Iff*' ^f agara, and
its pronunciation angara, Gr. ayyapo<;. Letter was perhaps its primitive
meaning (compare modern Persian angareh, an account book) ; but from
this it was transferred to the letter carriers, and then to the entire sys
tem of posts established throughout the empire by Darius Hystaspis.
The ayyapeviiv of Matt. v. 41, obtains its meaning from this system.
carQ pithgam, Esth. i. 20. This word compared with the modern
Persian paigam, and the Armenian patkam, appears to point to an old
Persian noun patikama, ^ ^iTf TT T"* fff ••TtT w'hich must have had
the sense of " command," " edict." The first element of the word
would be the preposition patiya, " to," which becomes pati in com
position. The other is perhaps kama, " wish," or " will."

EXCURSUSES. 95
EXOUESUS B.
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND BUILDINGS.
I. SHUSHAN.
The site of that once famous capital, the Susa (Xovo-a) of the Greeks,
has unquestionably been found upon the east bank of the Shapur, a
small tributary of the E)izful, flowing between tbe latter river from the
east and the Kerkhah on the west. These three rivers were respec
tively the Eulaeus, Coprates, and Choaspes of the ancients. Here,
one hundred and twenty-five mUes north from Mohammerah at the
mouth of the Tigris, and about two hundred miles east by south from
the_site_of ancient Babylon, in lat. 30" 10' N.,' and long. 48° 26' E.,
from Greenwich, at a spot now called Sus or Shus by the natives,
there are extensive traces of the ancient Shushan.
At a very remote age this dty was the capital of the country of
Elam (Gen. xiv. 9) called Kissia by the Greeks, and at present known
as Khusistan or Susiana, a province south of Assyria and west of
Persia proper. The conquest of Shushan about 660 B.C. by Asshur-
bani-pal, a late king of Nineveh, is recorded on a prism in the British
Museum. Here the Assyriologist reads : " I overwhelmed Elam
through its extent  Shushan his royal city I captured." Loftus
(Chaldea and Susiana, p. 428) errs, however, in giving a ground-plan
of Madaktu as being Shushan. (Compare Ane. Mon., Vol. ii. pp.
208, 209). From the dominion of Assyria this province was trans
mitted, with the supremacy, to the Babylonian empire. That royal
buildings existed here during the new monarchy, is seen from the
records of profane history, as well as from the residence of Daniel at
Shushan.' Cyrus the Persian, conquering all these countries, and extending
his empire greatly to the westward, must soon have found Shushan
the most central spot from which to rule his vast realm. Passing over
the immediate successors of Cyrus, Darius Hystaspis, as a part of his
broad plans for the organization of the empire, distinctly recognized
Shushan as the capital, and constructed some of those palaces and
works to which the Book of Esther incidentally refers.
The Achaemenian monarchs of Persia doubtless often found refuge
from the annual extremes of temperature in the warmer climate of
1 Dan. viii. 2. The river Ulai (Eulaeus) is to be identified with the Shapur, part
of which anciently ran on the east of Shushan, where a dry channel is now dis
coverable (Loftus, pp. 424-430). There seems to be a reference to this bifurcation
in Dau. viii. 16.

96 EXCURSUSES.
Babylon, or the cooler air of Persepolis and Ecbatana. But, on the
whole, in no spot could so much of the year be comfortably spent as
in Shushan ; in no other locality was the water so excellent, and the
soil so fertile (Journal of London Geographical Society, Vol. ix. pp.
70, 71). Susa seems, therefore, to have been the ordinary residence
of the court, and is believed by some to have exceeded in magnificence
both Persepolis and Ecbatana. (For evidence on these points see
Rawlinson's Herodotus, Book V. chap. xlix. p. 25G, note.)
Describing early spring in this vicinity, Loftus says, " nowhere have
I seen such rich vegetation as that which clothes the verdant plains of
Shush, interspersed with numerous plants of a sweet-scented and delicate
iris " (Chaldaea and Susiana, p. 346). The flower of which Mr. Loftus
speaks {Iris sisyrynchium, L.), abundant in Palestine also, is one of
those called "lily'' by the Orientals. It is true that by the word
shoshiin (Hebrew), or susan (Arabic), they mean any large, bright
flower. (Tristram's Natural History of the Bible, stib Lily.) But the
purple of this iris is the royal color of Persia. Hence it is not strange
that some have thought the name of the city Shushan to be of She-
mitic origin, and taken from this little shoshan, so abundant upon her
plains. If Shushan means a lily, very possibly this is the reference.
But, as others suppose, Shushan is a Pehlevi word, meaning " pleasant,"
and the neighboring city built by Shapur is called Shuster, in the
signification oi more pleasant (Ker Porter's Travels, Vol. ii. p. 411).
Of the mounds which now mark the site of Shushan four are
especially noticeable. Coming from the west, the traveller crosses the
Shapur, a small stream flowing southward, and finds himself at the base
of the smallest but loftiest of these hillocks, its extreme altitude above
the river being one hundred and nineteen feet, and the circuit at the
summit two thousand eight hundred and fifty feet. This mound doubt
less represents the citadel of Shushan. Close by, on the northeast,
rises " a considerable square mass " of some four thousand feet in
circuit. Upon this have been discovered foundations of a magnificent
hall of columns erected by Darius Hystaspis. To the southeast of
these mounds and separated from them by narrow valleys is a great
platform of sixty acres, which reaches elevations of from forty to
seventy feet, and is three thousand feet long on the east side. These
three mounds together form a diamond-shaped block of about four
thousand five hundred feet in the length from north to south, and three
thousand broad ; having its angles nearly to the cardinal points, and
including above one hundred acres of surface. (Rawlinson's Pulpit
Commentary ou Esth. ix. 6.)

EXCURSUSES. 97
Eastward from this upper city is a lower platform of very irreg
ular shape, about equal in area to the other mounds taken together.
These mounds are all embraced in the compass of three miles ; but
lower elevations are traceable to the east, and within a circuit of seven
miles. Upon the northern mound the excavations of Sir F. Williams and
Mr. Loftus, in 1851 and 1852, laid bare the foundations of a hall of
thirty-six jillars, flanked on three sides at a distance of sixty-three
and one-half feet by double rows of pillars, twelve in each group. The
arrangement will be seen from our plan of the north mound. It will
be observed by comparison with the plan of Persepolis, that the num
ber of columns and their arrangement is precisely the same as in the
famous Chehl Minar, the great hall of Xerxes. This latter structure,
according to Flandin and Coste's survey, covers an area of three hun
dred and fifty-seven and a half feet by two hundred and fifty-four and
a half, as against three hundred and forty-five by two hundred and
forty-four, the dimensions of the hall at Susa, given by Mr. Loftus.
Trilingual inscriptions found upon pedestals ascribe the erection of
the Susanian edifice to Darius Hystaspis. It was doubtless a hall for
state occasions, in distinction from a palace, or place of royal residence ;
bearing to some royal abode the same relation as the Hall of Xerxes
to the Palace of Xerxes at Persepolis (Ane. Mon., Vol. iii. pp. 285,
295). In Mr. Norris's translation of the inscriptions upon the pedes
tals this structure is called a " temple," and mention is made of the
eflSgies of the gods erected therein, which plainly indicates at least a
semi-religious use. The sculptures at Persepolis represent Darius as
a pontiff-king (Ker Porter, Travels, Vol. i. pp. 677, 678).
II. THE BERAH.
The expression Shushan the berah (Shushan the palace, A.V.),
occurs ten times in Esther, — Shushan without this adjunct, nine times.
A careful examination of this Hebrew word (n'^'^a) will show that its
original idea is that of a fortified place, equivalent to the /8api? of the
Greeks, and the burg by which Luther renders the word. Birs, e.g.
Birs Nimroud, may be a cognate word (Babylon and Persepolis, Rich,
p. 73, note). In Nehemiah (ii. 8 ; vii. 2), the fortress of the temple
is called " the berah." Later the meaning of this word was extended
to include such palaces of religion and royalty, with their gardens, areas,
and dependent buildings, as were included within walls capable of
defence. In this sense the sacred edifice at Jerusalem is called m'a in
1 Chron. xxix. 1, 19. Likewise Josephus speaks of the temple as a

98 EXCURSUSES.
fortress ; for we read (Bell. Jud. v. 5. 8) " the temple was a fortress
that guarded the city, as was the tower of Antonia a guard to the
temple." In the Book of Esther, at least, berah must be capable of a broad
application, for it includes the residence of the king, the seat of his
government, the place where the representatives of the nation are
gathered for consultation and feasting. It contains a royal garden,
the buildings of the harem ; and it is within its limits that five hun
dred enemies of the .Jews are slain (ix. 12). But if we are forbidden
too narrow an understanding of berah, we must also avoid error in the
opposite direction. For it seems antecedently unlikely that the term
was a])plied to the whole city, for which " Shushan " alone is used
seven times, and " the city Shushan " twice, as an equivalent, in these
ten chapters. Occurring sixteen times in the whole Old Testament,
certainly in no instance does rr'i^a require so broad a meaning as capital
or metropolis. While, therefore, the reasons given forbid our restrict
ing the word to a single building, as has generally been done, it should
be understood as used, like " Windsor Castle," for a more or less ex
tensive area, enclosed with walls, and including gardens, besides palaces,
temples, and other buildings. Castle is a rendering not beyond objec
tion, but used in the broader sense just explained it is the best word
we have found.
This fortified royal precinct may have been the palace-mound on the
north ; or more probably still, the diamond-shaped space represented
by the three considerable mounds already described ; since traces of
palaces have been found also upon " the great platform " (Loftus, pp.
352, 401-404, 414). The well-known parallelogram at Persepolis,
including its various terraces and numerous buildings, may illustrate
such a herah, though perhaps protected mainly, or entirely, by retaining
walls and scarped faces of rock.
The fortified palace of Babylon is believed to have included various
buildings now represented by three immense mounds and numberless
smaller elevations, and enclosed by walls the present remains of which
are more than six miles in circuit (Ker Porter, Vol. ii. pp. 346, 371,
374). If, according to another view, these walls of Babylon were of
later construction, still a very large area upon which the great mounds
now stand was covered with palaces, temples, and fortifications. This
was " the royal quarter " (Ane. Mon., Vol. ii. p. 530 and note).
A similar area in Shushan, evidently encompassed by a wall of
brick, protected by the lofty acropolis at the western angle, and by
towers at intervals, and perhaps divided by inner walls, would have

EXCURSUSES. 99
afforded room for the various palaces and buildings of government
with their gardens, and for the residence of the officers in waiting upon
the royal court with their families and servants. This was Shushan
the castle, the upper town, the royal quarter — " Shushan the palace "
of the A.V. Here Daniel dwelt (Dan. viii. 2), and at the western
foot of the acropolis on the bank of the Shapur is his traditional grave.
Here Nehemiah also found a temporary residence (Neh. i. 1). When
"the great king" sojourned at Shushan, doubtless many thousand
people dwelt within this space, just as during the feasts at Jerusalem
prodigious multitudes, living as Orientals can, were able to find roomi
in the holy city. Ctesias tells us (Barnes upon Dan. v. 1) that the
king of Persia furnished provisions daily for twenty-five thousand'
men, all of whom we presume were never at one time resident in
the upper city.
Very imposing must have been the appearance of these palace-
crowned heights as the traveller approached them over the great plains
in the midst of which they stand (Loftus, p. 347 ; Herodotus, v. 49 ;
also notes upon the latter citation in Rawlinson's ed.). It is further
manifest that a castle so lofty and commanding must have proved a
stronghold not easily captured, as history records (Poly bins, v. 48 end;
Conquest of Elam, in History of Asshur-bani-pal. — Geo. Smith).
m. THE BETHAN AND THE BAYITH.
Upon the berah, the -position and architectural character of only
one building have been clearly determined. The great hall upon the
north mound was, as has been stated above, almost precisely like the
Chehl Minar at Persepolis, except that it was a little smaller. In this
fact we find encouragement for the otherwise reasonable opinion that
all the buildings erected by Darius and Xerxes at Persepolis and
Susa, so far as designed for the same purpose, were similar in their
character, and arranged according to the same generic laws of utility
and conventionalism. Therefore, from the ruins existing at the eastern
capital, we may draw very probable inferences concerning what has
perished at Susa.
That the effect of the magnificent groups of columns which formed
the great hall or Chehl Minar at Persepolis, was not destroyed by
intercolumnar walls seems evident. No remains of stone or brick
partitions have been found either in this hall or upon the foundations
of the similar one at Susa. Mr. Fergusson believes that there were
such walls constructed of sun-dried brick (Palaces of Nineveh and
Persepolis, pp. 144-146), but this theory is sufficiently disproved by

100 EXCURSUSES.
considerations presented in Ane. Mon., Vol. iii. pp. 308-312. (See
Loftus, p. 374.) It need not be questioned that the Chehl Minar was
a hall of audience, used for state occasions, and that the throne was
not at the rear of the front group of pillars, — where, with his views,
Mr. Fergusson is obliged to place it,' — but in the midst of the great
central cluster. The general effect of this arrangement is well
described by Mr. Rawlinson (lb. p. 312).
The edifice whose foundations have been discovered at Susa was,
like its counterpart at Persepolis, a hall for state occasions, and not a
pal.ice, — this latter term being reserved for a royal residence. We
may confidently believe that somewhere upon the Susanian berah there
were one or more domiciliary palaces, similar in architecture to those
of Darius and Xerxes at the other capital. Stone being much less
easily obtainable at Susa, it is possible that these structures were of
more perishable material than the Persepolitan : or, if not, the very
scarcity of their material exposed them to destruction by subsequeht
populations. Moreover, a difficulty in the way of their preservation
was the absence of a rocky platform beneath them ; as well as their
exposure to a more vigorous vegetation, — the power of vegetation
being, at its weakest, very destructive of the works of man.
Loftus observed traces of a palace upon the great mound (English
ed., pp. 401-404) ; and Strabo says (Book xv. c. iii. § 21, Bohn's
translation), " The following, mentioned by Polycletus, are perhaps
customary practices : At Susa each king builds in the citadel (ewl to?
o.Kpa%) as memorials of the administration of his government, a dwell
ing for himself, treasure-houses, and magazines for tribute collected (in
kind)." It is therefore altogether improbable to suppose that Xerxes
dwelt in the hall which his father Darius built, and that neither of
these monarchs built here a domiciliary palace, as both did at Perse
polis, and as Polycletus says was the practice of each of the Persian
kings at this very Susa.
To the Persepolitan palaces (see our plan) we must now turn for a
moment. Numerous inscriptions attribute the erection of one of them
to Xerxes (Ane. Mon., Vol. iii. p. 293, note 7), aud enough of the
original partitions of stone remain to determine its general arrange
ment. Upon the doors and their jambs are toilet-scenes and other
domestic representations, which satisfactorily prove the character of
this palace. A similar ruin bears the name of Darius, and the domi
ciliary character of the structure it represents is, in a like manner,
1 See his Plan in Ane. Mon., Vol. iii. p. 307 ; also Smith's Bible Dictionary, sub
iShushan, Hall of Xerxes.

EXCURSUSES. 101
attested. These two palaces are similar in plan, but Xerxes', the
later, is larger, and is peculiar in one respect, — it is without any
rooms behind its central hall. This fact finds explanation in the
peculiarity of its position. At the time of its erection the platform
being crowded, it was necessary to place the building so near the
southern edge that there was no room for such apartments, desirable
though they evidently would be. It is therefore likely that Xerxes'
palace at Susa was without this peculiarity, and was, in general
arrangement, like the Persepolitan abode of Darius.
We are now prepared to introduce the narrative of Esther. The
feast with which it opens was " in the court of the garden of the king's
palace." " Palace " here, is bethcin, a word which occurs only in Esther.
Fuerst counts it of Old Persian origin. But, if so, its obvious resem
blance in Hebrew to bayith, the ordinary term for palace in Esther
and the Old Testament, renders likely the relationship of these two
words. Bethan perhaps designates a bayith of special size or mag
nificence. Can we doubt that such a feast as this would be held near
the finest building at Susa, the palace of royal audience ? May we
not very safely identify the bethan with the great hall of Susa ? and
thus locate " the court of the garden " near this edifice, on the east or
the west side, — of which conjectures the former seems to us preferable.
This word, bethan, occurs in only one other passage, — in chap. vii.
7, 8. Esther's banquet was held in a bayith, which may have been
a portion of the seraglio building or a separate edifice. This hall or
hayith, whatever and wherever it were, evidently opened directly
into the garden of the bethan ; for we read that the king in his wrath
against Haman (literally) arose into " the garden of the palace " {be
than). The king stepped out into the cool air of the adjacent paradise
to calm his mind, and consider what should be done with his grand
vizier. This house of the banquet, then, was within, or adjacent to,
the garden of the bethan ; perhaps in the rear of the great hall, and
we may suppose that the garden encompassed at least three sides of
that imposing edifice. The word under consideration does not again
occur in Esther, and there is no reason to suppose that any other of
the recorded events had direct connection with the hall of Darius.
Bayith is found more than twenty times in Esther, where it plainly
denotes the king's palace or residence, or the various departments or
buildings of the royal seraglio (e.g. ii. 13, 14). AVith the possible ex
ception of Xerxes' second feast (i. 5) which was in the garden of the
bethan, every event of the book in which the king is present is located
in a hayith, and apparently with one or two exceptions in the same

102 EXCURSUSES.
bayith, the palace or residence, a building doubtless much like the
palace of Darius at Persepolis in its general arrangement.
For reasons given above, the hall of Esther's banquet must have
been located not far from the bethan. Whether this hall {bayith) were
a part of the harem or were a separate building, — a kiosk perhaps,
— Oriental customs and proprieties lead to the conclusion that it
was not far from the houses of the women, and these again not far
from the king's house. Thus, none of these buildings were far from
the bethan ; and if this latter be the hall of Darius, as we have con
cluded, all these residences were upon the north mound or near it,
being connected with it, perhaps, by bridges, if upon the edge of adja
cent mounds, as however seems unlikely. The palace of Xerxes was
probably in the rear of the columnar hall, whose site has been recovered,
or else to the right or left of such a position (Loftus, p. 376).
Since the foundations of one remarkable hall have been discovered
at Susa, it has been the common practice to locate therein most of the
royal scenes of this book. This is natural, pleasant, desirable, if con
sistent with likelihood. But we submit that both philological and
archaeological considerations forbid. Indeed, our conception of the
magnificence of Xerxes is lowered, if we imagine the great hall to
have been at the same time the palace of state, of feasting, and of
residence. IV. THE KING'S GATE AND THE COURTS.
Most palaces of ancient Assyria and Persia were fronted at some
distance by smaller structures caReA. propylons. Ruins of four of these
are found upon the platform at Persepolis, showing that they there
consisted of a square hall enclosing a group of four pillars. Such a
propylon undoubtedly faced the Hall of Darius at Susa, standing upon
the north edge of the mound at a distance of one hundred and fifty
feet, or more, and perhaps located as in our plan of the north mound.
Without doubt there was also a propylon in front of the palace of
Xerxes. Probably at Susa the gateway was not through the propylon, but
beside it, as illustrated in Mr. Fergusson's plan of Solomon's palace,
found in Smith's Bible Dictionary, under Palace, — the hall of judg
ment there, being a propylon beside the main entrance. The structures
of which we are speaking, in Persia at least, were doubtless intended
for court-rooms, and for places of occasional royal audience.
'• The gate of the king," as mentioned in Esther, was (A) a place of
official duty (ii. 19, 21 ; vi. 10, 12). We observe (vi. 10) that the king

EXCURSUSES. 103
knew where Mordecai was to be found. (B) Guards (iv. 2) were
stationed here. (C) A number of the king's servants (iii. 2) were to
be found at this gate. (D) It was the ordinary way to and from the
royal presence, for the prime minister (iii. 4 ; v. 9, 13), and apparently
the only public entr.ance (iv. 2) to the royal grounds. (E) It faced
upon the street, or " square,'' of the city (iv. 1, 2, 6).
That this "gate" was a propylon, or rather included a propylon,
and often designated the court held therein is universally agreed. "To
sit in the gate of the king " plainly indicates some official position in
this supreme tribunal. This gate may be identified with that pcopylon
which doubtless stood upon the north edge of the north mound, and
which might well have served as the entrance to the berah, and the
royal precincts in general. Or the chief propylon and gate of the
palace may have been located upon the eastern edge of the royal
grounds. For, wherever the palace stood, it need not necessarily
have faced as did the hall of Darius, nor need its propylon have stood
exactly in front. None of the propylons at Persepolis are true to such
a position, — convenience or other considerations evidently drawing
them to one side or the other. That of the Hall of One Hundred
Columns perhaps stands behind its principal (Ane. Mon., Vol. iii. p.
297). It may have been considered more important to secure a nearly
central position for the gateway than for the court-room.
Having considered a different view, " the gate of the king " as used
in Esther still seems to the writer always to indicate the same, and a
definitely known locality. Of course, when the monarch was at Per
sepolis or Ecbatana his supreme court would accompany him, and
occupy new quarters near the palaces of those places. But while at
Susa, is it not natural that the court should have its fixed place of
session either in the northern propylon or in the propylon of the
palace, which propylon was so located as to stand near some edge,
probably the eastern, of the berah? (See note on ii. 19 ; and Fergus-
son's art. Shushan, in Smith's Bib. Diet.).
The most difficult of all our problems now remains to be briefly
considered : What were the outer and inner courts of the king's house
to which there is reference in iv. 11 ; v. 1, 2 ; vi. 4, 5 ? If we could
understand these courts to be respectively, the front porch and the
inner columnar hall of such a palace as Darius's at Persepolis, all
would be plain. In that palace the throne was located against the
centre of the rear wall. If Esther had entered such an inner columnar
hall she would have stood over against the king's house (v. 1)- For,
while in a general sense, the whole palace was his house, in a secon-

104 EXCURSUSES.
dary and specific sense the apartments to the rear, which were espe
cially his residence, were his house (Fergusson, Palaces of Nineveh
and Persepolis, 119). The king sat upon his throne opposite the
entrance (doorway. nrB) through which the queen had just passed.
He extended toward Esther the sceptre and she drew near, passing
up the central columnar aisle. So in vi. 4, the king in the stillness
of morning, though he could not see Haman in the outer court, would,
in such reverberating halls, hear him impatiently moving about the
pavement, or perhaps questioning the guards, and this with special
ease, since the doorways were closed by nothing more impervious than
hangings. A serious objection to this view is the probability that these halls
were roofed, and hence would be called by a ^ew porches (n''abs),or
were something other than courts, which ordinarily, if not always, imply
spaces open to the sky. But it may be that court had come to be
loosely used as the best word aflfbrded by the meagre supply of archi
tectural terms. The great height of these columnar rooms, and their
uses, might have led to the employment of this term. Certainly the
inner hall was not a portico, and house (rr^a) could not be used for
every part of these structures when distinction was necessary. If we
believe, with Loftus and others, that these columnar groups were roof
less, the difficulty vanishes. A second supposition might be that the
buildings were arranged somewhat as in Sargon's palace at Khorsabad.
(Ane. Mon., Vol. i. p. 281 : History of Art in Chaldea and Assyria,
Perrot and Chipiez, Vol. ii. pp. 20-27.) There must have been at
least this difference in detail, however, that " the king's house " and his
throne (v. 1) were opposite the entrance to the "inner court." Such
an ex'planation, of course, assumes an Assyrian rather than a Perse
politan style of palace. The difficulty of obtaining stone at Shushan,
and the greater proximity of Assyrian types might account for such
an anomaly in architecture. It is, moreover, probable that the Persian
kings when dwelling at Babylon were able to endure residence in
palaces very unlike those at Persepolis in respect to arrangement;
why not so at Susa ?
Mr. Fergusson's view (art. Shushan, Smith's Bib. Diet.) is, that
the inner court extended from the north portico of the hall of Darius
to the propylon facing that hall, and that the outer court was out
side this propylon, upon a platform now crumbled away. This view
assumes that the throne was placed in the northern portico of the
hall ; and, — unless we make this hall a royal residence, — encounters
difficulty in the case of Haman (chap. vi.). It demands au entirely

EXCURSUSES. 105
different conception of the topography from that presented in this
excursus. On the whole, of all the views he has examined, the writer prefers
the one first given ; unless we may combine that with the second, and
suppose that there were Persian palaces grouped in Assyrian arrange
ment with courts between. In this case the expression " opposite the
entrance " (v. 1), still seems to demand that the central columnar hall
be tbe inner court.
The following explanation is that of my co-laborer, Dr. Street,
which I present in his own words, leaving the reader to take his choice
of these various hypotheses.
We have in the book of Esther the proof of a royal seraglio of
great extent. The queen had her establishment, magnificent enough
to admit of her giving a banquet for the king and his retinue of
attendants ; then there was the first house of the women, and the second
house of the women, and the king's house. All these pertained to the
king's private, or domestic, or family establishment. These buildings
would naturally, almost certainly, enclose a court (ii. 11). This court,
we may assume, was large enough to include the space known as the
inner court of the king's house. This latter space was very probably
a nook, or rectangular recess, or projection of the great domestic court,
so laid out as to present a field for an outlook from the throne that
would be worthy of the royal magnificence ; beautiful in its array of
fountains and palms and flowers, of every hue and every fragrance.
This inner court of the king's house aflTorded a way of access to the
king that was designed for use. Two ways of using it are made known
to us. First, it was used at the call, or summons, of the king (ii. 14,
and iv. 11). Secondly, it might be used without such summons, but
at great risk of life. The intruder, whoever he might be, — any one
who ventured by the way of that court, uncalled, — was met by the
executioners who were always at hand, and were required by law to
do their work of death at once, unless the king interfered by holding
forth the golden sceptre.
This was the law for the inner court. It was not the law for the
outer court. One point more. The queen had no access to the king
but by the way of the inner court. We gather from this that the inner
court was the way, and the only way, of communication between the
monarch and his harem. He could send for any member of it at any
time (iv. 11), so that the law created no obstruction for him. On the
other hand, they were so numerous that it was necessary to create
14

106 EXCURSUSES.
obstructions for them, br the king would be annoyed beyond endur
ance.' This restriction could not be regarded as a hardship in such a
condition of society, for there was a system of domestic police in the
harem. Each of the two houses of the women had their keepers, and
there were eunuchs of high aud low degree ; and all disagreements
could be disposed of within the establishment. If individuals wanted
any favor, or redress of grievances, they had only to apply to those
who were set over them. There might be extreme cases in which
they would prefer to risk everything, even life itself, in an appeal
to the king. Such cases were provided for in the well-understood
regulation that gave a dim hope of the reaching forth of the golden
sceptre. It was necessary, moreover, to create a formidable barrier against
disguised assassins who might otherwise avail themselves of this way
of approach to the king. For the seraglio was by no means cut off
from communication with the outside world (ii. 11, and iv. 4r-10).
The harem was the monarch's little private realm, governed by a
special code suited exclusively to that realm. Hence, there was one
law for this smaller domestic realm, and another for the kingdom.
The king's family was in this respect as far as possible like any other
family of distinction.
But why should this law of the harem be made known (iv. 11)
through all the empire ? We answer, both for the king's safety, and
for the safety of his subjects. Messengers were constantly arriving
from the most distant provinces, and plots were as likely to be matured
there as nearer the capital ; and there was always the possibility of
blunders that might cost many an innocent man his life. The very
form in which the law is stated shows that it was possible for intruders
to find their way into the inner court. The inner court pertained to
the ornamental grounds of the palace, and was a part of the setting
that gave effect to its magnificence. Of course it must be open to
view, and the easy possibility of abuse must be remedied by some such
provision of law as is here set forth. It remains to suggest how the
inner court may have been topographically situated with reference to
the outer court.
The accompanying diagram (p. 107) with a few words of explana
tion will make the view which is here advocated plain.
We are at liberty, taking the palace of Xerxes at Persepolis as our
model, in part, to assume either a northern or western portico for the
king's morning receptions. We follow Loftus in supposing that portions
1 See an incident, entitled " Besieged by a Harem," in Loftus, p. 394.

EXCURSUSES.

107

n

\ Oo
L.^ Oo
^^ O o
J o o
C^ Po
^ 1

OOoo °o
°°ooo°°

A- Oo
o O
Oo
oo
oo
Oo

I

1

1 fjl

(ID

1

---r-

¦ —

^1

\ ^---^

.J *<

1
L

E

7-'i
f ;
' 1

^ ('

I

-<,

1 i

 1 i— .

La

1 — ^
/ c

1
.._ 1
7 1
1

/f
>*^

.ihj:

""' 1

^^^¦^^^^ ^

^'*^iii.»x'js ;
_.sr
-™oa ,
L. EXPLANATION.
The dotted line around the mound represents the original edge before it
had been washed or worn away. The dotted lines enclosing G, H, and K, are
the conjectural boundaries of the courts named below.
A the Great Hall of Xerxes or the Bethan (i. 5).
the palace of Xerxes (ii. 16).
the first house of the women (ii. 13).
the second house of the women (ii. 14).
the queen's house (v. 4 and vii. 1).
the propylon, or king's gate (v. 9).
F 2 the propylon of the great hall.
G the outer court (vi. 5).
the inner court (v. 1).
the garden of the Bethan (vii. 7, 8).
the court of the house of the women (ii. 11).
place of the throne in the throne-porch. — Fergusson.
supposed position of the queen in the inner court when the golden
sceptre was extended.
B C
DEF
H
IK
»t
108 EXCURSUSES.
of these structures were not provided with massive roofs, but arranged
for woven canopies instead. A large use was also made of hangings
and curtains. The inner court was probably separated from the outer
by a row of wooden pillars with their hangings of hyssus. The posi
tion of the twelve pillars indicated in the above diagram,' may .show
the area of one of the porticos of the palace or king's house which we
assume after Fergusson (p. 183, Palaces of Nineveh and Persepolis)
to have answered to the modern throne-room. The throne (*) would
have an outlook into both courts ; the queen entering the inner court,
and taking her position at (t) would be over against, or in front of the
king's house ; and the king on his royal throne, in the royal house, would
be opposite, or looking toward the gate, or entrance of the house, nns
is variously rendered "entrance," "entry," "entering in," "door,'' and
" gate.'' It is once used to denote the mouth of a cave, and more than
sixty times to denote the way of admission to a tent or tabernacle.
There is no reason why we should not understand it here of an open
ing or entrance between the rows of pillars, before which hangings or
curtains of byssus, attached by silver rings to the front pillars were
partly gathered back, as at the entrance of a tent. Esther would be
face to face with the king ; and diagonal glances across the inter
columnar spaces would show the figure of Haman as he walked up and
down in the outer court.
The only difficulty that remains is that of locating the buildings on
the berah. In this we have nothing to restrict us in the present state
of our knowledge but the requirements of the narrative, the ascertained
position of the great hall, the form of the berah, and the probabil
ities derived from the known arrangement of the palaces at Persepolis.
All writers are agreed in assigning to the royal buildings a place on
the berah at a suitable distance in a southerly direction from the great
hall. If we assume that the palace of Xerxes and its propylon were
the most easterly of the group, placing the propylon, as at Persepolis,
considerably to the east of the north and south line drawn through the
centre of the palace, we shall meet all the requirements of the narra
tive, and the dimensions of the berah are ample. It may perhaps
render some things easier of explanation if it be borne in mind that
the king's gate is probably a generic phrase denoting either of the
propylons that were in use at any given time ; that pertaining to the
great hall being used only on special occasions of public interest and
display. Mordecai's place as sitting in the king's gate would be either
in the one or the other as the occasion demanded.
I Copied from the northern portico of the palace of Xerxes at Persepolis.

EXCURSUSES. 109
As to propylons, there is so general an agreement among authors
at the present time in assuming a propylon for the great hall, and
another for the palace of Xerxes, and in making the latter identical
with Ti^sn ii"C the king's gate, that this point need not be argued here.
In the architecture of Jerusalem where there is no evidence that any
propylon existed, Bonomi assumes that the king's court was identi
cal with the king's gate; "the gate of judgment, the porch for tbe
throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment" (1 Kings
vii. 7). "It was in a court or gate of this kind, called rin {teragn),
gate, in the royal abode of Babylon, that in after times the prophet
Daniel sat where Nebuchadnezzar had made him "jB-ttSn, the Sultan, or
ruler over the whole province, PD'^ia, medinet, of Babylon, and the
"["'tSD'a"! , Rab Signeen (Grand Signer), the chief of the (princes)
governors over all the wise men "^aisn. Hakims, of Babylon" (Dan.
ii. 48, 49).
" Most of these words," says Bonomi, " are now current in the
country ; so that if we were to write them in Arabic characters, an
Arab could read and comprehend them" (p. 176 ; p. 155, revised ed.).
" The propylaeum (at Persepolis) stands at the distance of forty-
five feet from the head of the stairway, and symmetrically with the
centre of it ; but it is not in the centre of the great hall, nor nearly
so (Fergusson, Palaces of Nineveh and Persepolis, p. 106).
" From what we know of the buildings at Persepolis, we may assert,
almost with certainty, that the ' king's gate ' where Mordecai sat, and
where so many of the transactions of the Book of Esther took place,
was a square hall (wood cut No. 5), measuring probably a little more
than one hundred feet each way, and with its roof supported by four
pillars in the centre ; and that this stood at a distance of one hundred
and fifty or two hundred feet from the front of the northern portico,
where its remains will probably now be found when looked for "
(Fergusson, in Smith's Bible Diet., iv. 3026).
Note. — As to the meaning of the word berah, see " Hebrew Language viewed
in the light of Assyrian Research," by Dr. Friedrich Delitzsch (Williams and
Norgatc, 1883), pp. 22, 23, note.

110 EXCURSUSES.
^ EXOUESUS 0.
THE PAVEMENT AND ITS COMPONENTS.'
fiBS^ (LXX, Xi$6a-Tpu)Tov) doubtless means a pavement of some
sort. But its particular nature is of importance towards the translation
of the following words. It will hardly be denied that, if not in all
instances, at least as applied to Solomon's Temple (2 Chron. vii. 3), it
means a pavement of stones of considerable size. If this were so in
the case before us, such materials as pearls are out of the question, and
the varied coloring of a mosaic need not be insisted upon. Floors of
slabs and large bricks have often been found at Nineveh, Babylon,
Persepolis, and other locations in Assyria and Persia (Ane. Mon., Vol.
i. pp. 279, 282 ; Ker Porter's Travels in Persia, Vol. i. pp. 587, 699 ;
Layard, Nineveh and its Remains, Vol. i. p. 343 ; Vol. ii. pp. 120, 261 ;
Loftus, Chaldea and Susiana, p. 396). It appears that the Babylonian
palaces were mainly paved with burnt brick, since stone was scarce, as
at Susa. Such pavement slabs as have been found at the former city
are about twenty inches square (Ane. Mon., Vol. iii. p. 388, and foot
note). An illustration of the beautiful designs sometimes chiselled
upon them may be found in Ane. Mon., Vol. i. p. 279.
Layard tells us (Nineveh and its Remains, Vol. ii. p. 183) that the
Persians closely imitated the Assyrians in all their customs. More
over, there was beauty to the ancients in a pavement of polished slabs
(e.g. .Josephus, Bell. Jud., v. 5, 8). In the case before us, admiration
would 'also be excited by the fact that all the stones of Susa, like those
of Babylon, must have been conveyed over alluvial plains from a dis
tance, — thirty miles in the case of Susa (Loftus, p. 376). The writer
cannot learn of the discovery or unequivocal record of a tessellated
pavement (i.e. one of small pieces) constructed so early as Xerxes. It
is not probable that such a refinement existed among the Jews previous
to their conquest by the Romans who especially delighted in that sort
of work, having developed an art which they received from the Greeks
(Pliny, Nat. Hist., xxxvi. 60 (25)).
We have picked up from the soil of Jerusalem numbers of the
tesserae said to have paved the courts of Herod's temple, and perhaps
also Gabbatha (.John xix. 13). If similar geometric solids were used
to cover the ample area of Xerxes' court, why has not one of the vast
number necessary ever been found ? Or, if this flooring were a true
mosaic of precious materials, why has no fragment ever attracted notice
Esther i. 6.

EXCURSUSES. Ill
in the excavations ? But that all slabs whenever uncovered should be
carried away for building purposes is exactly what occurs in the case
of every Oriental ruin.
Further, unless this were a pavement of the Assyrian type, three of
its materials could not have been white or nearly so (see the renderings
of Fuerst and Gesenius in our Table), nor hardly two of them, as most
commentators understand. When Orientals attempt colored designs,
their taste for brilliancy forbids a lavish use of pale tints (Layard,
Nineveh and Babylon, pp. 166, 167, 507, 531 ; Loftus, pp. 396, 397 ;
Ane. Mon., Vol. ii. p. 557 ; Fergusson, Palaces of Nineveh and Per
sepolis, pp. 124, 353, especially 154; Fergusson's History of Archi
tecture, Vol. ii. pp. 552, 558).
Shdsh. — Passing to the materials of the pavement, let us first con
sider the second, ia;r , the only one of the four whose name occurs else
where, either in Esther or the other books of the Old Testament. The
LXX gives us no aid here. Indeed, in some clauses of the present
description, it seems to have abandoned the labor of translation, and
with free fancy given its own picture of a beautiful Oriental banquet
ing hall. Nearly all scholars unite in rendering shdsh, " white marble"
(see Table at close of this Excursus). True, from the generic manner
in which the Hebrews employed scientific terms, there is opportunity
to argue for some other material or color. Thus, a cognate word,
yrid , lily, must mean in Cant. v. 13, some flower of a red color, and
doubtless often denotes a purple iris (Gesenius, Lexicon sub voce) ;
being evidently used generically for flowers of various brilliant hues.
'cq itself was the material — probably a white limestone — of which
Solomon's Temple was largely built (Smith's Bib. Diet., art. Marble).
And here, the material being the same with the pillars mentioned
above, — if the feast was held within the porticos already discovered at
Shushan, — the term seems necessarily to mean blue limestone (blue
marble A.V.) ; for the columns discovered at Shushan, with the slabs
on which they stand, are of this material (Loftus, p. 376 note ; Rawlinson,
in Speaker's Com. and Pulpit Com. in loco). If, then, the feast were
held in the discovered palace, OT in this place means blue limestone, as
Rawlinson holds.
But we consider the court of the garden to be some other locality
(see i. 5 in commentary), in which pillars of white marble were tem
porarily or permanently erected. And in this connection, it is interest
ing to observe that the tombs of Daniel, and of two Moslem saints
near Shushan, are " built of bricks, with small capitals of white marble
from the ruins " (Loftus, p. 346). Major Rawlinson also observed the

112 EXCURSUSES.
same or similar capitals (Journal of London Geog. Soc, Vol. ix. pp.
69, 70). When we remember also what extensive use was made of
white marble in other Persian architecture of about this period (e.g. at
Persepolis and Morgaub), and observe the general agreement that this
rendering of white marble comports best with the strict etymology of
the word, we need hardly question further the meaning of IIJB.
We pass now to words concerning which Rawlinson himself observes,
" to identify the stones, or even their colors, is difficult."
Balhat. — The first of the four is ana , which the LXX and Vulgate
translate " emerald-like stone," and conformably to this, Bertheau, Keil,
and Lange think it may be " malachite " or " serpentine " ; Rawlinson,
some "green stone, probably"; the A. V., "red marble"; Fuerst,
" alabaster " ; Gesenius, " white marble " or " imitation marble." As
to " malachite," even if sufficient quantities were then obtainable, it
may be questioned whether it would not be too brittle for a pavement
(Appleton's Am. Cyclopaedia, art. Copper). "Serpentine," — verd-
antique, — when polished y«i^«« the appearance of very beautiful mar
ble of a mottled green, but is deceitful in its wearing properties (Dana's
System of Mineralogy, 1869, p. 468). It is found in Persia, and might
have been used in large pieces, and of the specific minerals suggested
seems the most probable. The mineral relics of Shushan, which Loftus
mentions as found upon or near the mounds, are white marble capitals
(p. 346), a slab of red sandstone (p. 408), vases of Oriental alabaster
(p. 409), a piece of polished basalt (p. 408), slabs and columns of blue
limestone (pp. 408, 376), a column base of coarse yellow limestone
(p. 404), and a trough of the same (p. 415).
As a contribution to the discussion of the subject, the following sug
gestions are made. Ofia is generally referred to a root meaning to lie,
to feign. Hence the rendering false, or imitation, stone (Gesenius).
But /a/se stone might mean painted slabs or tesserae. The application
of color to bas reliefs, and other stone surfaces in ancient Assyrian
architecture is well-known. Moreover, the Persians at this time must
have been familiar with the painted walls of Egypt.
Again, it might be argued that tsfia means painted brick, njab being
the generic word for brick, whether sun-dried or burned, it would not
be strange to find a specific word for the burned and painted article.
Enamelled brick, though used abundantly for walls, would hardly be
mingled with unglazed stone in a pavement (Fergusson, Nineveh and
Persepolis, p. 124). Champollion and Rossellini have given specimens
of ancient Egyptian floors of painted tile or brick (McClintock and
Strong's Cyclopaedia, art. Brick), and Cambyses' conquest, and the

EXCURSUSES. 113
intercourse with Egypt which it opened, must have familiarized the
Persians with such structures, while Xerxes' army (note on i. 3) may
have brought anew to Persia the art, if not the artisans. Pavements
of burnt brick, we have already observed, were the rule in the palaces
of Babylon, and the chambers at Khorsabad were floored with the
unburned variety (Fergusson, Nineveh and Persepolis, p. 111). If
painted, these bricks would not have been unworthy the royal courts
of Persia. Indeed, Loftus (p. 396) uncovered a pavement of brick
upon the northern mound of Shushan which he describes as " evidently
connected with the palace, probably a court " ; and bricks of every sort,
principally derived of course from the ancient walls, are abundantly
scattered over the mounds. Rawlinson tells us (Ane. Mon., Vol. iii. p.
311, and note) that no enamelled brick of Achaemenian times has been
found in Persia. But this does not forbid the use of painted brick in
a single pavement at Susa.
According to our ideas of royalty, malachite better comports with
the palaces of Xerxes than painted brick ; yet we must not let our
visions of royal magnificence run away with us, but should remember
that these ancient monarchs were very familiar even with walls and
floors of adobe. And that the first of the four materials of this pave
ment should be the least costly would not be strange.
But our latest conviction is that the word refers to blue limestone.
Attention has already been invited by this excursus (p. Ill) to the
fact that slabs of such stone are found upon the mounds, and that the
columns of the great hall were not only of this material, but rested
upon blocks of it. Moreover, as seen in Esther viii. 15, blue in its
different shades was a favorite color with the Persians, — indeed a
royal color. (See History" of Art in Chaldaea and Assyria, Perrot
and Chipiez, Vol. i. p. 289.)
No other of these four terms seems so likely to denote a material
which would almost certainly have been employed. There is, it must
be confessed, at present little philological ground for this interpretation,
or, indeed, for any other ! The word may represent some Persian
name, or refer to some " deceitful " peculiarity of working (e.g. cherty,
Loftus, p. 343), or to the fading of the color common in this material ;
but, as stated above, bahat seems likely to have been blue limestone.
Bar. — The second element of the pavement, shdsh, we have con
sidered. The third was ^-i. Michaelis, as the A.V. (margin), renders
this " alabaster " ; most authorities " pearly-stone," " pearl " or " mother-
of-pearl." The word is commonly derived from "i-'n , to shine (Fuerst)
or to glance, glitter (Gesenius). Many kinds of alabaster are pearly,
15

114 EXCURSUSES.
bright, even glittering, at least when freshly quarried. Layard reminds
us (Nineveh and its Remains, Vol. ii. p. 313) that alabaster was "the
common pavement stone of the Assyrians." It is still thus used for
the halls of Bagdad. Not to find a material, so abundandy employed
in the palaces of Nineveh and Babylon, among the materials here
mentioned would be surprising. We therefore believe "I'n to have been
alabaster, in some form.
To some it may occur that this stone was "oriental alabaster," —
scientifically stalagmite, a variety of calcite, and not alabaster at all.
For stalagmite when polished discovers a beautiful undulatory zoning
which considerably resembles the flight of the swallow, a bird called
•1',^'n in Hebrew, from the verb fyj , now before us, in the sense of to
circle. The veining of " oriental alabaster " might well entitle it to
the name *T|i in this meaning. Pliny says of alabastritis, which we
identify with " oriental alabaster " : " that which is of a honey color is
the most esteemed, co\ered with spots curling in whirls, and not trans
parent" (Pliny, Nat. Hist., xxxvi. 12. Compare Dana's System of
Mineralogy, 1869, pp. 640, 679). The vases of this material which
Mr. Loftus found upon the mounds of Shushan (p. 409) are pronounced
by Dr. Birch to have been formed from the stone of the celebrated
quarry at Tel-el-Amarna in Egypt, but it seems unlikely that pavement
slabs were obtained from such a distance.
Sochereth. — r"^rb yet remains. Some excellent authorities derive
this word from Tfo , in the sense of ^nia , to be black, and render it
" black stone " or " black marble." (See Lange and Bertheau, in loco.)
Fuerst, however, prefers " red marble," taking "ino in the unused
meaning, to be red, for which he suggests cognates in Arabic. Gese
nius, followed by others, derives rrrp from rtnnb, a shield, and the
latter from "no in the employed sense, to go about, to surround, —
" stone with shield-like spots," " spotted marble." According to such a
view, although it has not been suggested by these authors, this material
might be the " stone full of shells " having " a very pleasing appear
ance " of which Layard found six polished slabs at Kouyunjik (Nineveh
and Babylon, p. 446 ; Nineveh and its Remains, Voh ii. p. 276), and
which Xenophon described as forming the walls of Mespila (Nineveh)
to the height of fifty feet (Anabasis, iii. 4, 10; Ane. Mon., Vol. i. pp.
321, 322), which, moreover, is sufficiently abundant in that locality to
be the common building stone of Mosul (Ainsworth's Travels in the
Track of the Ten Thousand, p. 140).
If this were a dark mineral we may remember that Layard found at
Khorsabad a small structure entirely constructed of black marble

EXCURSUSES. 115
(Nineveh and Babylon, p. 130), a material of which portions are often
: found in the Assyrian ruins. Or this dark stone may have been basalt,
which abounds in the Koordish Hills and elsewhere in Western Asia.
' The pavement of the temple at Khorsabad, as well as the whole edifice,
is of this material (Fergusson, Nineveh and Persepolis, pp. 294, 295).
A polished piece of basalt was found by Loftus (p. 408) at Shushan,
and various monuments of this same rock were observed by Layard
(Nineveh and its Remains, Vol. ii. p. 316). The "black stone " with
which Josephus tells us Solomon paved the royal road to Jerusalem,
" to manifest the grandeur of his riches and his government," was
probably basalt, which abounds in the Hauran, and is to-day every
where counted one of the best materials for this purpose (Josephus,
Antiq., viii. 7. 4 ; Smith's Bib. Diet., sub Marble).
A slab of red sandstone found upon the mounds (Loftus, p. 408)
suggests the availability of that material. Such stone would be more
easily worked than basalt, would contribute a more cheerful tone to
the pavement, and would consort with Fuerst's derivation of the word.
Red was a favorite color with the Assyrians. (Perrot and Chipiez,
ut supra. Vol. i. p. 280.)
We therefore suggest that these four materials were, in the order of
the text, blue stone, white marble, alabaster, and red stone. One advan
tage of this rendering is, that all these materials have in some shape
been found upon the mounds, and are thus proved to have been, in a
measure, available. They are all suitable for such a purpose. It may
have been a wonder enough to see a pavement all the components of
which must have been brought from a great distance.
As in the discovered temple of Shushan pillars of blue limestone
rest upon slabs of the same, so it is possible that in this summer palace
the pillars of white marble rested upon slabs of the same, while the
other materials formed the remaining pavement. That much of this
material should not be discoverable, after the slight explorations yet
made, is due to the fact that for many centuries subsequent to the
reign of Xerxes there were towns upon these mounds largely built of
the ruins, which towns were successively destroyed by conflagration or
otherwise, thus causing the gradual crumbling of some material and the
burial of other. And now for many centuries of our era, every con
siderable fragment of stone found in all these plains has been eagerly
carried away for the construction of neighboring villages.

A. V.

1 1

HEKf.KW.
A.V.
Ma KOI N
Fuerst.
Gerkiiius.
LXX.
Vulgate' P.eutheau.
Keil.
Latjge.
Rawlinson.
DflD
Ked
Porphyre
Alabaster.
A species of marble used
(Tiiafiayh'nov \i$ov,
emerald-like
Smarg-
Malachite,
Malacliivp,
False stt)ne,
Green,
Bahat.
marble.
for pavements; either per
dino.
or serpen
or serpen
malachite,
probably.
haps white marble, or imi
stone.
tine, per
tine, prob
or ser]u'U-
tation marbU' ; so called as
haps.
ably.
tine per
lc'i;^iiing tlu* appi'a ranee of
haps.
marble; deri\od from an
ob.-^dlcte verb cognate
either with an Arabic word,
to lie, io fcirpi, or with
Aramaic or iicbrcw words,
to be white, shiniuff.
lU^ZJ
r.hip
Marble.
Whifp marble.
Wliite marble. Same
TTivvivov,
(Want
White
White
White
White.
Shaih.
marble.
fnim shush, to
.'<hine,fof/fitter, to tighten.
derivalioii us Kiiorst.
pearly (stune).
ing).
marble.
marble.
marble.
^¦n
White
Alabastei
A pearl, perhaps
CoiQmonly taken as a
Vlapivov \l6ov,
Parian stone. (By
somB this term is
Pario
Mother-of-
Pearl-like,
A pearly
Pearl-
Dar.
marble.
pearl stone, or
pearl ; peihaps a species of
lapide.
pearl, per
haps.
perhaps
stone, per
colored.
mother-of-
marble resembling pearl;
perhaps a kind of alabaster
mother-of-
haps moth
pearl, from
supposed to repre
sent the sAfiitAjWhile
pearl.
er-of-pearl.
T^j
caWedmotfier-of-pearl stone;
to shine.
OT, possibly, mother-of-pearl,
itself. Same derivation as
Fuerst.
irtpvlvov represents
the ddr, there be-
inga transposition.
See Smith's Bible
I>ict., sub Marble,
note a.) We follow
the natural order.
ri'inb
Black
Stone of
A sort of pre
A species of hfack marble.
{Wanting).
(Want
Black
Black;
Black mar
Spotted, or
Soche reth.
marble.
blue
cious red mar-
or, better, marble marked
ing).
stone or
black mar
ble with
black.
color.
hie fur laying
with round spots like
black
ble with
scutifurm
outpavemcnts.
shield-^, spotted or shielded
marble.
shield-like
spot^. very
From "IflD ,
viarhle Tnrtuiso .'^hell
spots.
likely.
would hardly be inter-
From sahar
iii., an unused
root =to be red.
C'tffrnates in
?l)or-^ed in a |>avoment with
= shahar,
various kinds of marble.
dark.
Arabic.
From, or allied to, tTinb,
a shield.
a
a w
CO COHCO
EXCURSUSES. 117
EXOUESUS D.
THE LETTERS AND POSTS OF THE ANCIENTS.i
There is reference in the Book of Esther to the first postal service
worthy of the name concerning which we have any definite knowledge.
(See i. 22 ; iii. 13, 15 ; viii. 10, 14; Rollin's Ane. Hist., Bk. 4, chap.
4. art. 1, sec. 4.) Jeremiah (Ii. 31) refers to some such system among
the Assyrians, and it is likely that from the earliest ages kings and men
of power made provision for the rapid conveyance of their messages.
In Palestine and other mountainous countries this was done by fleet
footmen. Some rulers provided themselves with a, corps of those who'
were qualified by nature and practice to become such messengers..
Pliny (as quoted in Dunglison's Physiology, Vol. ii. p. 249) says that
excision of the spleen was performed on runners as beneficial to their
wind. There is record of those who travelled on foot from Tyre to Jeru
salem, one hundred miles, in twenty-four hours ; and we read that some
could accomplish so much as one hundred and fifty miles during the
same period of time. (Barnes on Job ix. 25.) These professional
footmen were well known in the time of Job, whose language is: "Are
not my days swifter than a post (lit. runner) ? " Saul, the first Hebrew
king, had an organized body of " footmen " (margin, as original, run
ners), in which respect he doubtless followed the usual custom of kings.
Under our English reading " guard " we find these runners to have been
a regular corps in the armies of succeeding Hebrew monarchs. Hence
the allusion of Jeremiah : " If thou hast run with the footmen, and
they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses ? "
Among nations richer in swift beasts, and dwelling in a less moun
tainous country than the Jews, the runner, doubtless from earliest
times, ran with other legs than his own. But the only word used in
the Bible for such couriers, whether mounted or not, is the one of
which we have spoken, and which is often translated " posts." This
latter English term, coming from the Latin, originally meant the house
or station whence relays of horses were obtained, and where couriers
might lodge. Such an original meaning of the word is almost lost to
us, though remaining in the expression " military post."
The Persian postal system was established by Cyrus the Great dur
ing a reign continuing from 559 to 529 B.C. It was greatly improved
by Darius, to whom some even ascribe its origination. (Rawlinson,
Ane. Mon., Vol. iii. p. 426.) Herodotus (viii. 98) gives the credit to
1 Esther i. 22; iii. 13, 15.

118 EXCURSUSES.
Xerxes. This latter monarch in the earlier years of his reign devoted
himself to the thorough organization and the general improvement of
his realm. He perceived that the peace and permanency of his rule
would be greatly enhanced by quick communication between himself
and all parts of his vast empire, that he might thus have prompt and
frequent reports from every officer of his government, and be able
speedily to transmit his own directions and decrees. Thus only he
could have " well in hand " an empire of twenty satrapies and one
hundred and twenty-seven districts, extending from India to Ethiopia.
Accordingly, he established post-houses along the chief lines of travel
at intervals of about fourteen miles, according to the average capacity
of a horse to gallop at his best speed without stopping. At each of
these there were maintained by state a number of couriers and several
relays of horses. One of these horsemen receiving an oflScial docu
ment rode at utmost speed to the next post-house, whence it was taken
onward by another horse, and perhaps by a new courier. Ballantine
(Midnight Marches Through Persia) states that at the present day a
good horseman of that country will often travel one hundred and
twenty miles or more each day for ten or twelve days consecutively.
(Upon this general subject, besides references already given, see Cyro
paedia, viii. 6.)
Such was the method of transmitting messages existing in the time
of Xerxes and Esther, and in our day still employed by the govern
ment of Persia, and, under substantially the same form, in thinly settled
regions of Russia, and other countries. This system was adopted with
some improvements by the Greeks and Romans, and transmitted to the
nations of western Europe, with whom in the course of centuries it
developed into the inexpressibly useful form in which it has been
enjoyed by us.
But in ancient times the postal system was intended only for the use
of the monarch and those " whom he delighted to honor," and not for
his people, who derived no direct benefit from it. It is true that good
roads, bridges, ferries, and inns were established ; that by guard-houses
these routes were kept free from brigands which infested the empire
(Herod, v. 52) ; and that travellers might journey upon these highways;
but it does not appear that they could obtain the use of the post-horses,
even when the government was in no need of them. And above all,
the post itself was only for the king. It soon became a law of the sys
tem that a courier might impress man or beast into his service, and it
was regarded a serious ofEence to resist such impressment. This priv
ilege of couriers was subsequently, as is well-known, a part of the

EXCURSUSES. 119
Roman system, reference to which is found in the familiar instruction
of our Saviour, '¦ Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with
him twain" (Matt. v. 41; xxvii. 32; Mark xv. 21). The messages
of the king were thus " hastened and pressed on " at any inconvenience
to the people ; but common men must send their letters by caravans,
by special messengers, or in any way they might.
The main post-road in Xerxes' day was that from Susa to Sardis,
a distance of about fourteen hundred miles (Herod, ibid.). Besides,
there was a branch to Ecbatana, and a main line to Babylon, with less
important routes to all the localities of the empire.
It may not be amiss to give a brief reference to the postal system of
modern Persia. In this there are four routes radiating from Teheran,
the capital, as follows : (1) Northwest to Resht on the Caspian, and to
Tabriz. (2) Southeast to Yezd. (3) South to Shiraz. (4) West to
Hamadan, the supposed site of (southern) Ecbatana, and reputed by
the inhabitants to contain the tombs of Esther and Mordecai.
On these routes, at average distances of about fifteen miles, are post-
houses, square enclosures of stone or mud, " where several horses are
kept stabled, ready to carry at short notice any messenger or traveller
to the next post-house " (Ballantine, Midnight Marches Through Per
sia, pp. 118, 119). For one "keran" (some twenty cents) for each
"farsakh' (about three miles), any person may travel, "chapar," or
post, on these routes. The " farsakh '' (parasang ?) according to the
Zendavesta, is the distance a far-sighted man can distinguish a white
camel from a black one. Another and more probable definition is,
" as far as a loaded mule can travel in an hour," the common Oriental
measure of distance.
The station is called the " menzel " or " chapar-khanneh," — post-
khan or inn, and its keeper the " chapar-chee." Over the door by
which the court of the khan is entered is a single small room, forming
a second story. This room is the " bala-khanneh,'' — the upper inn,
and from its name comes our English word balcony. Here the traveller
may lodge when " chaparing," as such journeying is termed in Anglo-
Persian. Of course only saddle-horses can be used ; for, says Arnold
(Through Persia by Caravan, p. 116), " on the most frequented road in
the empire no carriage can travel except with a sufficient number of
men to lift it over places which are otherwise impassable."
Letters or epistles in the Hebrew Scriptures are designated by
iseveral words of which the following is a brief account.
nSD , literally, a writing ; the ancient and generic word. In the first
age there was little distinction between books and letters. The former

120 EXCURSUSES.
were few and brief, of the nature of records, and in nothing but in
style and absence of address difEered from the latter. The difference
never became so great in Old Testament times that any distinguishing
word was necessary, though " roll " or sometimes the plural of "iBO
would suggest what was longer than a mere letter, which the connection
would also sufficiently indicate.
Examples of the use of this word follow. It is to be observed, how
ever, that the dates do not indicate when the word was used, — which
would be shown by the time at which each book was written, — but
they show when these letters were written. The first letter is the ear
liest mentioned in any human records, except those of Egypt.

David's,

B.C.

1035,

2 Sam. xi. 14, 15.

Jezebel's,

B.C.

899,

1 Kings xxi. 8-11.

King of Syria's,

about B.C.

894,

2 Kings V. 5-7.

Jehu's,

B.C.

884,

lb. X. 1-7.

King of Babylon's,

B.C.

712,

lb. XX. 12.

King of Assyria's,

B.C.

710,

lb. xis.l4 ; Isa. xxxvii.l4.

Jeremiah's ; also Shemaiah's, B.C.

599,

Jer. xxix. 1, 25, 29.

The following derivatives of ans , the usual verb to write, occur in
2 Chronicles in the sense of a letter, — the first being the letter of
Hiram, the Phenician king :
ansi, B.C. 1015, 2 Chron. ii. 11.
ansa, b.c. 889, 2 Chron. xxi. 12.
ana , b.c. 710, 2 Chron. xxxii. 17.
When the Persian influence began to be felt, and especially when
the Jews became acquainted with the Persian postal system and
adopted it, at least in part, new words for letters and for the different
kinds of letters came in. The following are examples of these Hebrew
words for " letter,'' of later times and of Persian origin.
rrnSN , a writing carried by a post. This word occurs in Esther (ix.
26, 29) ; six times in Nehemiah ; twice in 2 Chronicles. In its Chaldee
form N^sx , it is found three times in Ezra. The word doubtless
originated, as Gesenius suggests, from "iSX , a courier, which is derived
by him from "i5X in its second meaning to gain, hence to hire for wages.
But, as the idea of impressment rather than hiring for wages was prom
inent in the ancient system, why not derive the word from the first
sense of "ijX , to gather, to scrape together ? Fuerst, however, with less
probability, derives n"i!)N from 'isx or "li, to roll, hence what is rolled
up, a letter or message.
The Greek word dyyapevui, to compel, to press into service (Matt. v.

EXCURSUSES. 121
41; xxvii. 32; Mark xv. 21, already noticed in this Excursus), and
ayyapos, an impressed courier, seem more naturally to come from -isx ,
as above, and not from y^ , a courier (2 Chron. xxx. 6, etc.), according
to Fuerst's opinion.
"("t^iCS , Hebrew and Chaldee, a letter, occurs five times in Ezra.
nsne , Hebrew and Chaldee, is another word, probably of Persian
origin, sometimes used in the same sense. Its primitive meaning seems
to be a decree sent by post, but it also signifies an answer or a letter. It
is found in Esther i. 20, also in Ezra and Daniel.
The materials upon which the ancients wrote, differed somewhat with
peoples and ages. While public inscriptions and briefer records were
usually placed upon stone or metallic or clay surfaces ; for books, clay
cylinders, waxed tablets, papyrus rolls, and parchment (or skins) were
more often used. (Ane. Mon., Vol. i. pp. 263-268.) The latter was
mainly employed in Western Asia for letters and all missive documents.
In Persia, Ctesias states that it was the ordinary writing material.
(Diod. Sic, ii. 32. § 4.) The root idea of the word ^SD , a book or
letter, seems to be to scrape or shave, indicating that among the prim
itive Hebrews also, parchment was the common article thus used.
Paper from the papyrus was employed in Egypt very anciently,
but is not likely to have been often transported to such a distance as
Persia ; and though the plant may have fcH-merly been more abundant
in the Jordan valley than now, probably little material was ever manu
factured from it to the eastward of that stream. Concerning the mak
ing and use of such paper, we may consult Pliny's Natural History
(xiii. 22-27). Surfaces for writing were sometimes provided by means
of box-wood, palm-leaves, or linen. " Charta bombycina " has been
used in Persia for many centuries, but is not known to have been
employed under the Achaemenian monarchs.
An alphabet of cursive characters, better adapted to the pen, prob
ably existed in Persia and other countries, in addition to the cunei
form or other alphabet for the chiseL The pen was usually of reed,
with a metallic pointed style for wax, and still harder tools for stone
or plaster or metal ; and the prevalent ink was a mixture of gall and
lampblack. Interesting translations of letters upon papyrus, written in the time
of Rameses IL, may be found in Brugsch's History of Egypt (London,
1881), Vol. ii. pp. 102-104, 108-114. (See also The True Story of
the Exodus, compiled from the work of Henry Brugsch-Bey, by F. II.
Underwood, pp. 82, 176-7.)
The following copy of an ancient letter has been furnished by Dr.
16

122 EXCURSUSES.
Selah Merrill, to whom this Excursus is otherwise indebted. The last
sentence of the quotation is worthy of special notice.
" Areus, king of the Lacedemonians, to Onias, sendeth greeting. We
have met with a certain writing whereby we have discovered that both
the Jews and the Lacedemonians are of one stock, and are derived
from the kindred of Abraham. It is but just, therefore, that you, who
are our brethren, should send to us about any of your concerns as you
please. We will also do the same thing, and esteem your concerns as
our own, and will look upon our concerns as in common with yours.
Demoteles, who brings you this letter, will bring your answer back to
us. This letter is foursquare ; and the seal is an eagle, with a dragon
in its claws " (Josephus, Ant. xii. 4, 10. Less perfectly, 1 Maccabees xii.).
Letters mentioned in the Old Testament seem to have been com
monly in the form of rolls. The modern Persians make up their
letters in the same form with a length of six inches, pasting a bit
of paper around them, and sealing them with an impression of ink.
(Schaff's Bible Diet. ; see further upon this subject, Ane. Mon., Vol.
ii. p. 370 ; iii. pp. 157, 266 ; Smith's Bible Diet., art. Writing ad fin. ;
art. Paper, in Encyclopaedia Britannica, etc.)
EXOUESUS E.
EARLY MODES OF EXECUTION.i
Our discussion of this subject to meet the demands of the Book of
Esther has additional interest from the fact that the argument is appli
cable to the entire Scriptures of the Old Testament. We find there, it is
true, numerous executions of criminals and captives by stoning, by the
sword, and with axes, as well as by various barbarous and exceptional
methods — by means of saws and harrows of iron, aud by passing the
victims through the brick-kiln. But these modes of death we do not
now propose to consider.
We address ourselves at once to the question. What is meant by
those words in the Hebrew Scriptures that are rendered " hang " in our
English Bibles ? It has been assumed that hanging necessarily means
hanging by the neck ; and so the Hebrew ys^ , becomes a gallows ; aud
we are shown the spectacle of Bigthan and Teresh, and Haman and
his ten sons hanging by the neck in the most approved style of modern
times. Indeed, Jewish tradition has improved upon the simplicity of
the original idea in the case of Haman's sons, and reports them as
hanging, one corpse below another, in three perpendicular lines.
1 Esther i. 23; v. 14 : vii. 10.

EXCURSUSES. 123
And it is said to be for the purpose of conforming the record to this
traditional arrangement that the Jewish copyists have given the names
in three perpendicular columns, in the MSS.
The reader of the Book of Esther, as given in our authorized trans
lation, would have no doubt that the common method of execution
under the reign of Xerxes was by the halter. The reader of Hero
dotus, on the other hand, especially if he depends on any English
translation extant, will infer that the criminal was nailed to a cross, as
by the Romans several centuries later. Neither of these impressions
is correct. The argument by which this is made apparent will com
mend itself to the Greek and Hebrew scholar with considerable force.
And for this reason we insert a glossary of all the words in these lan
guages that have any special pertinence to the discussion. Our account
of the use of these words in Greek authors and in the Bible will be
easily understood by all.
Glossary. — crraupos, a stake or pole ; o-Taupoo), to impale ; Trdo-o-aXos,
a pin or peg ; Traa-a-akevoi, to pin up or hang on a peg ; (tk6Xo\^, a
sharpened pole ; o'KoXoTri^o), to fix on a pole ; ys, a tree, anything of
wood, a stake ; ir^ :^ Trao-craXoi;, a pin or peg, a tent-pin ; fibn and xbrj ,
tu hang by impalement or otherwise ; Sp^ = dyao-KoXoTri'^cti/, to hang
upon a stake.^
'SiTo.vpo';. — This is the word commonly rendered cross. But any
one who will be at the trouble to refer to Liddell and Scott's Lexicon,
will find that the crravpos makes its first appearance in Greek literature
as a stake split from an oak or other large tree, and driven down to
form the support of lake dwellings ; as in Herodotus (v. 1 6), where
we find this use of it repeated in three successive instances ; or as in
Homer, Od. xiv. 11, where Eumaeus, the swineherd, is said to have
driven them down thick and close to keep in the swine ; or II. xxiv.
253, where they are driven down to form a palisade around the mil
itary hut of Achilles. This is the earliest use of the oraupo's. Next
we see it in use as a stake for the impaling of criminals.
Sraupo'd). — This is simply the noun a-Tavp6<; thrown into a verbal
form ; just as we make a verb of the noun pen when we say, " I penned
these lines."
Thus <jTavp6ui from o-raupos, a stake, means to stake or to drive down
stakes in the manner of a palisade. This ia its first meaning, — it pre
sents the process. Secondly, it declares the effect as regards the area
1 Gesenius in his Thesaurus defines as follows : yS , arbor, hasta, lignum ; spec.
de palo ligneo (Thes. p. 1057). in; , clavus, paxillus qui parieli injigitur {Thea. p.
643). S'J?J , Hiph. in palo suspendit ; pah affixil (Thes. p. 620).

124 EXCURSUSES.
inclosed, — the visible result of the inclosing process ; or in other words,
it means to stake out, or palisade a place. This is called aravpuia-K.
In a similar way it was used to denote the staking out of a criminal, i.e.
impaling him. Herodotus, commonly uses this verb with the prepo
sition avd, up, prefixed ; making it to stake up, or elevate on a stake, by
impalement. In the New Testament, on the other hand, where we
find forty-seven instances of the use of this verb {a-Tavpouy), the prefixed
preposition dvd occurs but once (Heb. vi. 6), and then with an entirely
different meaning, denoting repetition, instead of elevation. Another
marked proof of the change which the intervening centuries had
wrought. The o-Tavpoio-is of the Roman practice was the nailing of the living
victim prostrate to the cross, the latter not having yet been set up.
The dvaa-rdvpuKm of the time of Herodotus was the impalement of the
victim (frequently after death by the sword) on an upright stake ; thus
giving to the preposition dvd, up, its original sense. Three hundred
years after the time of Herodotus, when Polybius wrote of the usages
he had observed among the Romans, he used this same word (crravpo';)
to denote their way of putting criminals to death on a cross. It was
the best word he could find for such a use.
As the stake was driven into the ground, or when this was impos
sible, provided with a base or pedestal to keep it upright, so the cross
was set in a hole that had been dug in the ground. The resemblance
was quite sufficient to warrant the use of the word. There was in
either case an upright stake with a human victim fastened upon it.
This accour.ts for the new use of the Greek words aravpo^ and crravpoui
— a use which the New Testament writers and Josephus found already
established, and, of course, adopted.
As there are more readers of the Greek Testament than of the
Greek of Herodotus, a hundred of the former to one of the latter,
there is almost in that proportion an unreadiness to accept the fact that
xrravpds ever meant anything else than a cross. Hence, a learned
writer, with a sublime unconsciousness that he is maltreating the Eng
lish language, opens the truth to us in the statement that " the first
form of the cross was a simple stake." '
' Zoeckler has fallen into the same infelicity of language in his important work,
" The Cross of Christ.'' While he recognizes to the full the fact of the ancient
impalements, he speaks of them as crucifixions. He makes a cross of a simple
stake, and of almost every sort of thing to which a human victim could be at
tached, from the o-ans to which Artayktes was pinned, to the rock to which Pro
metheus was both pinned and chained.

EXCURSUSES. 125
Ilatro-aXos. — This is defined in our lexicons as a peg on which to
hang clothes, arms, etc. Our only concern with it in this discussion is
as the origin of the verb iroo-o-oXeuo).
UofraaXivu) is formed from Trdo-aaXos as (rravpoto (above) is from
oTttupos. And it means to peg or to pin, or fasten to anything by
pegging or pinning, or to hang up on a peg. Herodotus uses this verb
when he tells us of the hanging up of a tripod, won in the Grecian
games, on a peg in the house of the victor (i. 144). The meaning is
as plain as when Homer hangs up or takes down armor or cloth-
ihg from a Trdo-croXos. Herodotus uses it with the prepositions 8id,
through, or irpos, to, prefixed. In the case of the tripod he has it
irpoo-7ra(To-a\ruo-£ toi/ TptVoSa. He pegged it to his house, i.e. to the
wall of his house.
SkoXoi/i. — Anything pointed, say the lexicons ; a sharpened pole
or stake for fixing heads on, or for impaling. From this is formed the
verb (TKoXoTTi^w, commonly used by Herodotus with the prefixed pre
position dvd, up. He uses it interchangeably with dvaa-Tavpom. (vii. 238,
and ix. 78.) Enough should be said of these and two or three other
specimens to show how the translators of Herodotus have misled us.
The first reads cKcXeuo-e dTroTap.ovra'; ttjv K€cj>a\i^v dva(TTavpC><rai. The
other, AeovtSeo yap aTroOavovTos iv ®epp,oirv\.e(Ti' MapSovtos re Kai Ecpfes
djroTayu.di'TE? ttjv Kt<j>aXijv dvecrTavpoxrav Mopodvioi' yap dva<jKoXoirlarai
TtTtjtiopr/o'eat  AeoviBrjv.
The first, Rawlinson carelessly renders " Xerxes ordered his head
(the head of Leonidas) to be struck off, and the trunk to be fastened
to a cross." The true translation is " he ordered them to cut off his
head and fix it upon a pole." The second is in part a recapitulation
of the same incident by one who is urging Pausanias to retaliate by
treating the slain Mardonius in the same way. Rawlinson translates
it : " When Leonidas was slain at Thermopylae, Xerxes and Mardonius
commanded that he should be beheaded and crucified. (Do thou the
like by Mardonius and thou wilt have glory in Sparta, and likewise
through the whole of Greece.) For by hanging him on a cross thou
wilt avenge Leonidas, who was thy father's brother." A close and
literal translation would render it : " For when Leonidas had fallen at
Thermopylae, Mardonius and Xerxes, having cut off his head, fixed it
upon a pole. Having done the like to him, etc  For having thus
impaled Mardonius (i.e. his head), thou wilt avenge Leonidas," etc.
The second narration of the incident is, of course, to be interpreted
by the first. Placed side by side their meaning is clear, and they
answer for us the question in what sense does Herodotus use the word.

126 EXCURSUSES.
This makes it certain that Astyages impaled the magi (Herod, ii. 128) ;
that the punishment from which the Egyptian physicians sentenced by
Darius (iii. l."2) were rescued was impalement; and that the doom
(iv. 43) conditionally revoked by Xerxes, and afterwards inflicted, was
the same.
The case as regards ¦n-acraaXano is equally clear, and yet the trans
lations are equally misleading. Herodotus tells us twice in different
books (referring in both instances to the same occurrence) of pegging
or pinning a man to a plank. Beloe translates it, " crucified him."
Aud Rawlinson renders it, " he nailed him to a plank and left him
hanging.'' There are no nails here. The ^Xoi of the Greek authors
had no such meaning. This meaning did not make its appearance till
the Roman customs required it. The word was not used at first to
denote a means of fastening anything. It meant simply a stud, or an
ornament on a shield, and became afterwards the name for a nail, from
the resemblance which a nail-head bore to it. But the word is not
here. We have simply ^iuvTa wpos crovi'Sa SieTrao-o-dXevo'ai' (vii. 33),
crav&a TrpomracraaXevcravTes dveKpfp,a(Tav (ix. 120). The first of these
should be translated " they pinned him through alive to a plank " ; the
participle ^uivra showing that it was a case of marked severity and bar
barism. The second passage should be translated " having pinned him
to a plank they hung him up."
There are four examples of the use of Traa-a-aXevo}, in the Prometheus
of Aeschylus, which Burges has strangely rendered rivet in every in
stance. There is a riveting of fetters in immediate connection with it,
but it is expressed by other words. Thus, 55, 56, "With this hammer
strike (i.e. rivet the fetters) about his hands with strength, and pin
(Trao-o-aXe'ue) him to the rock.'' 64, 65, " Now drive or pin (irao-craXcvc),
the merciless tooth of an adamantine wedge right (SiaynTrd^) through
his breast.'' 113, " In fetters, being pinned" (Trao-o-aXeuros Hiv). 19, 20,
" I unwillingly shall pin {irpoirTroxrcrdXeva^in) thee, unwilling, in thy
brazen fetters to the solitary crag." So Herodotus, as we have seen,
represents the Elaians as pinning Artayktes through to a plank. A
hole is of course presupposed in either case, whether bored in the rock
or the plank to receive the pin.
The way is now prepared for the following summary : The punish
ments inflicted by Xerxes succeeded those with which the Assyrians and
the Babylonians and the eastern nations generally were familiar. These
are exhibited on the marbles and bronzes that have been e.xhumed from
the mounds of Assyria. There has not yet been shown any example
of hanging by the neck, or of fastening to a cross. There are abundant

EXCURSUSES.

127

examples of impalement, of which the most ancient, those of the Balowat
Gates (850 b.c), show the impalement to have been per anum}

In connection with these are shown the barbarous amputation of
hands and feet, and the impalement of heads. A little later we find
numerous impalements from below the breast. One slab shows us
three of these, another fourteen. Darius is said
to have impaled three thousand of the nobility
of Babylon when he took that city.
ys . A tree. This word has more meanings
than our word tree. We have our axle-tree, our
whiffle-tree, our saddle-tree, our cross-tree, and our
boot-tree, as well as our trees of the forest, living
and dead. But the Hebrew Scriptures in their
1 The stake was in some instances made to traverse the body along the spine,
nearly the entire length of the latter. The method of accomplishing this in
modern times as practised by the Khan of Khiva, has been to make use of two
carriages, binding the victim to the one, and securing the stake to the other, and
thus readily applying any amount of force that might be required. In some in
stances cords were bound around the legs of the victim, and thus he was drawn
down upon the stake. Instances of impalement by the Turks in Bosnia, are given
on the best authority as late as 1876. — Cross of Christ, by Zoeckler, pp. 61, 62.
2 From bronzes of the Balowat Gates, copied from facsimile sheets published ia
!London. ' Copied from Bonomi.

128 EXCURSUSES.
more than three hundred instances of the use of yS , show us more than
one hundred examples appropriated to living trees ; more than one
hundred translated wood, equivalent to lumber as we use the word,
twenty-five denoting fire-wood or wood for the altar, nineteen translated
in the authorized version timber, eight translated sticks, six translated
staves, five translated stocks or idols of wood, three translated staff (or
shaft of a spear), one translated staff (for walking), one translated
yokes, two translated bars, one translated boards, one translated pfcnAs,
one translated ax-helve, and sixteen which should be translated stake
for impalement.
Besides this word ys , and rtn , there are no others used in the Book
of Esther to express capital punishment. The showing from the lan
guage employed by Herodotus, and from the exhumed monuments
would settle the case for this book. But as the entire showing for the
Old Testament is to the same effect, and comes within a narrow com
pass, and has never been exhibited in any such connection before, we
give exhaustively all that remains.
in; . A pin or peg, commonly of wood, nearly equivalent to Trdo--
oraXos, though more specifically used to denote the tent-pin ; the instru
ment with which Jael pinned Sisera through the head to the earth
(Judges iv. 12). The more general use is indicated in the parable of
the vine (Ezek. xv. 213), in the questions, " What is the vine-tree,
more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the
forest ? Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work ? Or will men
take a pin (ir;) of it to hang (nibrl; inf. of rtn) any vessel thereon?"
Its association in this instance with nbp , and the prompt resort to it
by Jael to pin Sisera to the earth, suggests its use in certain cases
where it is not mentioned (e.g. 2 Sam. xxi. 12).
The following are all the cases in which the word appears in the
Hebrew Scriptures : (a) Ex. xxvii. 19 ; (6) xxxv. 18 ; (c) xxxviii. 20,
and 31, twice ; {d) xxxix. 40 ; (e) Num. iii. 37 ; {f) iv. 42 ; {g) Deut.
xxiii. 13 (14) ; (/*) Judg. iv. 21 (twice) and 22 ; {i) v. 26; {k) xvi.
14, twice ; {I) Ezra ix 8 ; {m) Isa. xxii. 23, 25 ; {n) xxxiii. 20 ; (o)
liv. 2 ; {p) Ezek. xv. 3 ; {q) Zach. x. 4. Of these, all that precede g are
pins connected with the tabernacle furniture ; gr is a sort of wooden
trowel for digging in fhe earth ; /(, i, m, o, are tent-pins ; I, n, q, and we
may add^, are pegs for hanging clothing, etc.
rtti . Denotes to hang, without reference to mode, and is the verb
most commonly used for hanging by impalement. There are twenty
examples of this use, including one of xbn ; one of hanging by the hair
of the head (the case of Absalom), and seven of the hanging up of

EXCURSUSES. 129
things inanimate. One of the earliest examples is that of Pharaoh's
chief baker, where hanging by the neck is out of the question, as he
was first beheaded.
The examples in which nbn is used otherwise than in connection
with capital punishment, are Cant. iv. 5 ; Ezek. xxvii. 10 and 11, where
it presents to us the hanging of shields, bucklers, and helmets on the
wall ; and Ezek. xv. 3 in the question concerning the vine, " Will men
take a pin of it to hang anything thereon ? " Also in 2 Sam. xviii. 10,
where we are told of Absalom hung by the hair of his head in the oak ;
Lam. V. 12, where princes are said to be hanged up by their hand ; and
Job xxvi. 7, where it is said he hangeth the earth upon nothing. There
are nineteen examples of its use to denote hanging by impalement, of
which nine are found in the book of Esther.
To these may be added the single ' instance of the use of Sfbn in
2 Sam. xxi. 12, obviously cognate to nbn , with the same meaning. It
should be borne in mind that the suicide of Ahithophel by self-strangu
lation " is declared by a very different verb, viz. p:n , 2 Sam. xvii. 23.
And in Nahum ii. 12 (13) the participle (piel) of the latter verb is used
where the people of Nineveh are presented under the figure of a raging
lion that strangled enough for his lionesses.
y^;; . 1. To be out of joint, dislocated as a limb (Gen. xxxi. 25).
(Jacob's thigh.) 2. To be alienated from any one (Hiph). To hang
up on a stake, to impale, ava<jKoXoiTll,uv, in which punishment the limbs
were dislocated or broken, used in Num. xxv. 4 and 2 Sam. xxi. 6, 9, 13.
(Gesenius.) The last three instances pertain to the case of Saul's
descendants ; a judgment executed upon his family to complete the
punishment of his wickedness.
Of Saul it is distinctly declared (1 Sam. xxxi. 9) that he was
beheaded. The same was probably true of the others who were im
paled with him ; fastened (verses 10 and 12) to the wall of Bethshan.
This fastening is described (2 Sam. xxi. 12) as a hanging; where xbn
is used. Doubtless this was a case for the "in; , equivalent to Trdo-o-oXos.
They pinned him to the wall.
Thus we see that the word rendered tree, stands for almost anything
that is made of wood, and is the word that would naturally be used, as
it is, to denote a stake for impalement. The word rendered pin, or
peg, like the Greek irdo-o-oXos, is used for a certain class of executions
1 The participle (paul) of this word is used Deut. xxviii. 66, and Hosea xi. 7.
But these examples are not pertinent to the discussion.
2 It is remarkable that in the case of Judas also, a word (kirl\y^aTo) denoting
self-strangulation, rather than the usual word for hanging, is used.
IT

130 EXCURSUSES.
or post mortem exposures. And the three words rendered "hang'' (say
ing nothing of that employed with reference to self-strangulation, but
never used in respect to public execution) are applied in cases where
decapitation had taken place, and where other circumstances show that
impalement, and not hanging by the neck, must have been intended. If
we would read the Old Testament aright, we must understand every
case of hanging on a tree, except that of Absalom (caught by his hair)
as denoting impalement on a stake, instead of suspension by a halter.
EXOUESUS F.
THE JEWS IN EXILE.i
It is proposed in this Excursus to give some proximate idea, from
the data we have, of the condition of the Jewish exiles in the time of
Xerxes. The participle which Haman applies to them, iJSa , rendered
in the Septuagint Biea-nap/jiivov, from the same root as the familiar
Siaa-TTopd used in the Apocrypha and the New Testament, shows the
tendency to become cosmopolitan already manifesting itself among that
wonderful people. Haman says they were dispersed among all the
provinces of the empire. This dispersion must have been in a great
part voluntary, as they had passed out of the condition of bondmen to
be bought and sold. They had the same liberty, both civil and reli
gious, as the other nationalities of the empire. The predicted misery^
of their doom of expatriation had been hard to bear while the power of
Babylon remained unbroken, but almost immediately afterward their
status was essentially changed. The conquerors were naturally their
deliverers and friends. AVherever the Medes and Persians found dis
affection or hatred of the Babylonish power there they found their
allies and helpers, and were predisposed to favor them. , The Jewish
people have always shown a marked ability to make the best of the
most adverse circumstances, and still more to turn to account every
change that has been made in their favor.
When Cyrus issues his decree giving them permission to return to
the land of their fathers, these sons of the captives do not present the
appearance of bondmen just escaping from their chains. They are men
capable of patriotism, and of every high and noble feeling. They have
prospered even in their captive state, and much more in the circum
stances of their emergence from it. It is a delightful picture that is
sketched by the prophet Isaiah,' where he presents the daughter of
Zion as lifting up her eyes like one awaking from a dream, and saying
1 Esther iii. 8. ^ Dent, xxviii. 66, 67. ^ jga. jjjx. 21.

EXCURSUSES. 131
in her heart, " Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my chil
dren and am desolate ; a captive and removing to and fro ; and who
hath brought up these ? Behold I was left alone ; these, where had
they been?" It was the first generation of the captives, — those who
felt the strong tie of home and native land from which they had been
torn away, — that ¦' hanged their harps on the willows by the rivers of
Babylon, and wept as they remembered Zion.'' Their children knew
no other home but the land in which they were born, except as the
religious instruction, and the history with which they were made
familiar, and nursery hymns, brought the past and the distant to their
minds. With many in the second and third generation even this im
pression was deep and strong enough to create a yearning for the holy
laud and the temple-service. As a religious feeling it never died out
till the temple was finally destroyed by the Romans. As a sentiment
it is living still, as is attested by the wailing-place of the Jews which is
kept in weekly remembrance. When the strength of this feeling was
put to the test by the several appeals that were made in the times of
Zerubbabel and Ezra there were many thousands to respond, and their
caravans were as armies of the ransomed of the Lord. But there was
a larger number whose engagements and interests had already become
a tie of sufficient strength to hold them to a permanent home in other
lands.' It has been estimated that those who returned to Palestine in
connection with the three above-mentioned rallies were to those who
preferred to remain in their scattered and distant homes about in the
proportion of one to six.
When we come to inquire into the condition of this larger portion
outside of Palestine as regards their outward prosperity, and their in
tellectual, moral, and spiritual state, there are some points that may be
easily established. We should infer from the whole subsequent history
of the Hebrew nation that they were prompt to discover every oppor
tunity to rise above poverty and want, and to find in every employ
ment that was open to them an avenue to sure and steady gain. It
has been the story of Jacob and Laban, over and over again, through all
the ages, and all over the world. What we might regard as thus infer-
entially certain in the time of Xerxes is very clearly shown by the
' Ewald says, " Very many of the sons of Israel, especially of the second gen
eration, without wavering in their fidelity to the commands of Jahveh, had allied
themselves with the new fatherland upon which they had been cast in Chaldea,
and elsewhere, so that they did not avail themselves of the permission which was
given them to return. Great numbers of individuals also, in smaller or larger
groups, had already been thrown among the heathen before the great dispersion
and the destruction of Jerusalem." — History of Israel, Vol. iv. pp. 33, 34.

132 EXCURSUSES.
stipulation of Haman, in which he engaged to pay into the king's
treasury a large sum of money to be derived from the confiscated
estates of the Jews. Doubtless he understood the case well enough to
be sure that he could pay the ten thousand talents, and yet be a large
gainer by the transaction. The same thing could be shown from the
testimony of the post-exilic prophets, and their numerous complaints
of the tendency on the part of their brethren to overdo in their zeal for
commercial thrift. As it was with the returned exiles, so it was with
those who did not return. In this matter of unfailing industry and
shrewd bargaining the Jews of that day are proved to have been true
to the national instinct and history, and their condition, of course,
became, as Haman saw it, one of growing prosperity.
We are impressed with the obvious fact of their ready absorption as
a part of the acknowledged population of the land. They seem to
have been brought upon a common level with the other nationalities of
that highly composite empire. There is no hint of a disposition to
raise any question in regard to this in any quarter, until it was raised
by the malicious and vengeful spirit of Haman. But we are not to
think of them as the less a distinct people ; they kept themselves as
separate from the Gentile world as at any period of their history. The
more they felt the loss of the peculiar privileges of their native land,
the more they clung to such as remained. Our knowledge of their his
tory subsequent to the times of Esther and Mordecai throws back a
strong light upon those earlier times. The writings of Daniel, the
hints that are scattered through the post-exilic prophets and psalms, the
apocryphal books, those of the Alexandrine Jews, and the later Rabbis
and Josephus, the New Testament, the early Christian fathers, and
the allusions that have been traced in the Greek and Roman classics,
all yield a testimony more or less distinct in regard to the condition of
the Jews in the first half of the fifth century before Christ. We
certainly know that they brought their sacred books previously written
safely through that stormy period, that they kept alive the venerated
traditions pertaining to the beginnings of their national life and their
ancestral glory, and that they cherished the steadfast hope that God
would redeem his people.
This opens to us a glimpse of what the diaspora were doing at this
very time for themselves and for the world.' It would be a great mis-
1 We may here quote the profound remark of Ewald (Vol. iv. p. 28). "In so
far as we may still speak of a people of Israel, this expression must now be
taken in tho sense which it ought really to have had from the beginning, but to
which it has never yet corresponded, viz. that of the messenger of the true God

EXCURSUSES. 133
I take to suppose that they were so absorbed in the strife for worldly
gain that nothing more or better could be said of them. The stock that
' could yield such men as Daniel and his three companions, and Zerub
babel and Haggai, and Nehemiah and Ezra, and the faithful men who
labored with them, did not fail to produce thousands of inferior lights, —
less luminous, but not less true, — and their influence reached and mod
ified the current of religious thought around them. At first, as was
natural, we find them bowed down under the sense of their own calam
ities, and dwelling in bitterness upon the wrongs which they had suf
fered at the hands of their oppressors. " 0 daughter of Babylon,''
they sang, " happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served
us." ' Indeed, we may trace something like a progression in their
psalms of the period of the exile from the simple consciousness of
wrong and outrage and the yearning for justice, as in Ps. lxxix, to the
longing for deliverance, as in Ps. Ixxx., and to the testimony of praise
as a means of enlightening the heathen among whom their lot was
cast, as we see in Ps. xcvi. : " Declare his glory among the heathen,
his wonders among all people ; for Jehovah is great, and greatly to be
praised ; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the
nations are nothings ; ^ but Jehovah made the heavens  O worship
Jehovah in the beauty of holiness ; fear before him all the earth ; say
among the heathen, Jehovah reigneth." The people who could utter
such a testimony for Jehovah in their very songs among the heathen
must have exerted an important influence upon them. Much has been
said of the waning of idolatry in the Gentile world in the centuries
immediately preceding the Christian era ; but it has not been common
to ascribe this with sufficient distinctness to the direct and indirect
testimony of the chosen people of God.
This brings us to another fact of great importance pertaining to the
period of the exile, — the change which it wrought upon the Jews them
selves. Every reader of the Old Testament must have been deeply
impressed with the constant disposition on the part of the Hebrew peo
ple from the days of the Egyptian bondage to drift into the idolatry
which prevailed around them. It required the stern prohibitions of the
decalogue, and the constant admonitions of the prophets, and the frequent
judgments of God to restrain them, and even these were insufficient.
But now came the final and efficacious remedy. It was one of the
to the heathen, and his instrument for leading them to himself. This alone must
henceforth be held fast as its highest mission; and only in this new and glorified
life can it retain any true life at all."
1 Ps. cxxxvii. 8. " tJ-'i-iiN

134 EXCURSUSES.
marked results of their captive state. This old tendency to idolatry was
overcome and brought to an end. The prophets complain of it no more.
The sins which they are called to rebuke are of quite another type.
The subject race did not take warmly to the religion of their con
querors. As they saw it in its naked deformity, with no intermixture
of their own traditional feasts and historic associations, it became repul
sive to them, and only rendered the desolateness and homesickness in
which they pined the more intense. And when they passed from the
Babylonian to the Persian control they found themselves almost as
remote from idolatrous practices as in the best days of David and Solo
mon. The followers of Zoroaster, whatever else they may have been,
were not in the ordinary sense idolaters. If Cyrus, in spite of his early
training yielded to some of the idolatrous usages of Mesopotamia, it
was only the compliance of a politic ruler, and not the impulse of con
science or the zeal of conviction. We see what the inherited sentiment
of the Persians was in the iconoclastic fury of Cambyses.' What was
begun in the disgust of the Jews at the idolatry of Babylon was com
pleted in the sympathy which they found among a people whose
monotheism was older than the days of Abraham. We may well pause
and admire that Providence that had preserved through all these cen
turies, far away from Palestine, beyond the land of Shinar, in the heart
of Asia, this simple faith in the one living and true God. Egypt with
all its splendors of art and power, the Phoenicians with their extended
commerce, Assyria with its far-reaching prowess and control, and all
the cities of Mesopotamia under the Babylonian power, had fallen into
the grossest and most revolting polytheism. The Hebrews before the
exile were only the too apt pupils of their idolatrous neighbors. It was
the constant and too often unsuccessful labor of the prophets to hold
them back, or to recover them from this apostasy from the God of
their fathers. But here, so far away in the bosom of tbe continent,
dwelt a people that without the advantages of the Hebrews, without
their oracles or their prophets, clung with persistence to the one cen
tral truth which the latter were so willing to cast away. And now
when the final cure of the evil was to be wrought out for the Jews in
their exile, they find themselves in contact with a people who have for
ages — indeed, we may say from the first — given little or no counte
nance to idolatry. This must have been an important factor in the
remedy which divine providence had prepared for the healing of that
old spiritual disease of the chosen people.
It is natural that the inquiry should be raised, what, if anything, was
1 See Herod, iii. 29 and 38.

EXCURSUSES. 135
gained to the Hebrew mind, in respect to knowledge, clearness of
understanding, penetration of divine themes, and mental furniture in
the widest sense, by this more intimate contact with the Gentile world ?
In this inquiry we may include both their contact with the Zoroastrians
and magi of the east, and afterward with the Greek philosophers of the
west. We are at no loss to discover a growing care for their own
sacred writings and a deeper reverence for the truth. As the super
stitions of the other nations lost power over their minds they were
drawn to deeper meditation upon the neglected treasures of heavenly
wisdom that were stored up for them in the books of Moses and the
prophets. The powers of good and evil became more sharply defined, .
and acquired a new vividness and reality. Possibly something was
contributed from tbe Oriental exaggerations of the influence and power
of the spirit that worked for evil, so that the personality and work of
Satan entered more distinctly into their faith. They studied the reve
lations of the prophets, and caught the foregleams of the future which
they contain, and especially of the promised Messiah. If there were
in Mesopotamia and Persia remains of the old Eden prophecy, and of
oracles now lost that were kindred to those that Balaam was inspired
to utter, these might have reacted upon the Hebrew thought ; while
this in turn created a deep and widespread undercurrent of expectation,
such as disclosed itself in the journey of the magi at the time of the
Saviour's birth.
Authors from the time of the Christian fathers, and even that of the
classic heathen writers, to our own day, have too easily contented them
selves with noting the fact of the decay of heathenism. They point
out the growing scepticism and want of confidence in the deities whose
temples rose in every city, and whose myths filled so much of the early
literature ; but they make too little of this one potent cause. Here was
a widespread, almost world-wide, testimony against the polytheism of
the world. It was more. It was the exhibition of a grander faith. It
put multitudes upon questioning that which they had never questioned
before, and upon doubting that which they had never doubted before.
It was the solvent that entered quietly into the old systems, and weak
ened their coherence. It was the leaven that gradually changed the
popular thought.
The Loss of the Temple. — Among the changes to which we see the
Jewish people endeavoring to accommodate themselves was the loss of
their temple. What was to become of their central national service, —
those daily offerings in which they had seemed to be serving God in a
national sense ? Every Jew felt that it was a service of the whole peo-

136 EXCURSUSES.
pie, and that he had a part in it. But now that their temple was gone,
and the holy city in ruins, it seemed that an essential part of their ritual
and of their national life had been stricken out. They felt themselves
cut off from setting up another Jerusalem, and building another temple
in the land of strangers, even if their captive condition had left this in
their power.
It was but once, so far as we can gather from history, that they
undertook this,' and then it proved a failure. The most that the
devout Jew could do was to imagine a temple where the temple once
stood, or to think of its ruins as a remnant of the temple, — a rudi-
mental remnant, from which it was one day to spring into being again,
— and turn his face with Daniel toward the poor remains. It was
something gone ; something stricken out of their divinely appointed
round of service ; and a prop on which their spirits had leaned in exile
taken away. They must live in the faith which the prophecies of a
restoration inspired. This state of things continued till the rebuilding
of the temple by Zerubbabel.
The Synagogue System. — One of the products of the period of exile,
was the synagogue worship. Some germs of this we discover at an
earlier day. The men who were trained in the schools of the prophets
must have had some way of communicating with the people. The cul
tivation which they received suggests regular and systematic work.
Some of the movements of Elisha suggest a periodical service held
among the people. It would be a very natural device to resist the
spread of the Baal worship and the teudency to religious declension.
It would be all the easier for the exiles to make the synagogue a rally-
ing-point and a means of edification if they had made trial of it before.
In some way they had learned and could sing the songs of Zion.
They had their harps to accompany the song. If they refused to sing
these songs for the amusement of the heathen, it does not follow that
they never used them in worship. We should infer, on the contrary, that
it was from some such use that the heathen learned that they had them.
There was some way and some place for gathering the Jews together
in Shushan for religious purposes, as Esther very well knew, and as
1 From several curious statements in Josephus (see Ant. B. 13, chap. 3, sec. 2
and 3; Wars, B. 1, chap. 1, sec. I, and Wars, B. 7, chap. 10, sec. 3), it appears
that Onias, tho son of Onias III., and legitimate heir of the high-priesthood, hav
ing been excluded from that dignity, took refuge in Egypt. Coming into favor
there with Ptolemy Philometor and Cleopatra, he obtained permission to build in
Lcontopolis, in the nomc of Heliopolis, a temple similar to that at Jerusalem. Onias
availed himself of this permission, and built the temple and became its priest; and
the Mosaic ritual was celebrated there in the Greek language for many years.

EXCURSUSES. 13Y
Mordecai proved when, in compliance with her wish, he assembled them
for fasting and prayer. In the time of Malachi, under the admonitions
of the prophet, we are told " they that feared the Lord spake often one
to another " ; and this was specially commended, and became a means
of discerning between the righteous and the wicked ; between them that
served God, and them that served him not This strongly suggests the
synagogue assembly.
The 74th Psalm, which it would seem must have been written soon
after the wasting of Judea by the Chaldeans, — complains that " they
have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land." The objec
tion that has been made to this translation begs the question. The
obvious sense of the original assumes that there were structures, not in
one place, but in many places, where assemblies were held ; and that
these were structures that could be burned.' We need not insist that
they had attained to the full character of synagogues in the later sense
of that word. But we see here the beginning, — the upspringing of
the synagogue system. It would take time to get it firmly rooted and
established. But these pre-Messianic centuries were the period in which
it was especially needed ; and these were the centuries in which it was
done. The day came in which there were, according to Josephus,
four hundred synagogues in Jerusalem. The existence of seven syna
gogues in Rome has been definitely established, and probably there
were others. Indeed, it may be laid down as the almost universal fact,
that there were synagogues wherever there were Jews.^ Each of these
was a centre not only of common religious interests, but of much beside.
They were intimately connected with each other and with their com
mon centre, Jerusalem. Every Jew, however far away, regarded him
self as a member of the chosen people, and endeavored to keep the
bond of union fresh and strong. He paid yearly his temple-tax, sent
1 Compare all the renderings of ^S'^'O in the Old Test., viz. " times," " seasons,"
" set times," " appointed times," " feasts,'' " assembly," " congregation," " place
of assembly," " solemn feast," " solemnities," " solemn day," etc., some two hun
dred examples in all ; only one of them represents anything that could be burned.
It is only what we should expect, that when we find the word requiring to be
translated "congregation, or assembly," in more than one hundred instances, it
should sometimes be put for the place or building in whicli the assembly is accus
tomed to be gathered ; the container being put for the thing contained, precisely
as we use the word church in common speech for that which contains a church. The
expression "all the synagogues of God in the land," )'^^J3 3N ''l-i."'- ''^ must be
severely wrested to be made to signify simply the temple at Jerusalem.
^ The proseuchae, or "praying places," near the shore of the sea or some river's
side were rudimental anticipations of synagogues to be built whenever the resident
Jews should be of sufficient number to undertake it. See Greek of Acts xvi. 13.
18

138 EXCURSUSES.
offerings and gifts to Jerusalem, and once, at least, in his life went up to
visit the holy city and to keep the feast. The Supreme Council in Jeru
salem sent annually the calendar of festivals to the congregations of the
dispersion, communicated to them important decisions, and took care that
they received information of all events which concerned the Jewish people.
Tlie Great Synagogue. — Correlated to the synagogue system, was
what was called the Great Synagogue ; a body of men at Jerusalem to
whom the Jewish writers ascribe an important part in the editing of
the sacred books, and in forming and guarding the institutions and
traditions of their nation. They tell us that it began in the time of
Ezra. Doubtless, its rudiments appeared about that time, as it is very
certain that the work which he undertook is afterwards found to be in
their hands for its further accomplishment. The following are some
of the things which we find ascribed to them : " The gathering and
sifting of the sacred books, so far as they had been rescued from the
great catastrophe of the exile ; their threefold division ; the introduction
of a new alphabet, as well as of vowel-signs and accents ; the sepa
ration of the Pentateuch into sections ; the establishment of an order
of worship for the synagogues ; the adoption of various liturgical forms,
particularly the eighteen so-called benedictions ; stricter rules for the
observance of the Sabbath and other festival days ; the change by
which the year that had begun with Nisan was made to begin with
Tisri ; the abolition of slavery for native-born Israelites ; the more rig
orous observance of the Sabbatic year ; sharper and more extended
regulations in regard to things clean and unclean ; and a new exalta
tion of the virtue of alms-giving." '
Change of Language. — We come next to a change which, though
not strictly religious, had an important bearing uppn the oracles of
religion, and the clearer conceptions of mankind on this great subject:
the change that passed upon language. This, as regards the matter
in hand, was twofold. The Hebrew was becoming a dead language,
and a modified Chaldaic, written in the same characters, was taking its
place. Still, the written Hebrew Scriptures continued to hold their
place, as they do in the synagogues to this day ; a marvellous illustra
tion of the profound remark of Dr Peabody, that a dead language, if
used in any way, cannot be, like those of modern times, a constantly
dying language ; but is all the more a living language, because it is
dead. Or to strip the representation of its paradoxical form, a dead
language is not subject to change. It locks up its treasures and holds
them. You may question it in any century, the first or the nine-
1 Condensed from Bissell on the Apocrypha, pp. 10, 11.

EXCURSUSES. 139
teenth, and it gives the same answer. This is what the Hebrew has
done. Meanwhile, like the Latin, it has been kept in constant use.
And the Jews have now their weekly papers published in the Hebrew
language for the use of the learned Rabbis, and such other of the
Jewish people as have kept up their knowledge of the ancient tongue.
When the Syro-Chaldaic — which differs about as much from the
Hebrew as the modern Greek does from the ancient — became the
language of the Jews of Mesopotamia and of Palestine their learned
men began to write their Targums, or paraphrases of the text of the
Old Testament, giving us what may almost be called a translation of
the Hebrew Scriptures into another language. The Jewish historians
connect this with the early practice — of which some trace appears in
the Book of Ezra — of appointing men to explain the sacred text as
it was read in public, verse by verse. That which was thus delivered
was not at first allowed to be written, and was never allowed to be read
from a manuscript, for fear the people might confound it with the
sacred text. Thus the reading of the text was by one man ; the ex
planation by another. This explanation, as the language changed,
approximated to the idea of a translation, but was more diffuse. There
can be but little doubt that the " meturgeman," ' as this official was
called, derived his material from some other meturgeman, and he from
another ; and all mainly from some respectable and competent original
source ; for the meturgeman was not held in very high respect, and this
for no other reason than that it was found necessary to make him a small
compensation ; and " no sign of blessing," it was said, " could rest upon
the profit made by their calling, since it was money earned on the Sab
bath." If these men stumbled, or missed the mark, they were liable
to be stopped and silenced in the most ignominious and public manner.
This shows that the more intelligent of the people became pretty familiar
with their deliverances, and that they were very much alike. The time
came that their learned Rabbis felt it to be important to commit their
utterances to writing. And this writing bears the name of Targum,
from same root as meturgeman. This is the centre or core of a vast
body of Jewish literature, known as the Midrash — expounding ; which
again is divided into the Halachah — the rule to go by, and the Hag-
gadah — the poetry of Jewish thought ; " flashes of fancy, darting up
from the divine word." The Targums have been of great service in
translating and interpreting the Hebrew Scriptures into other languages,
besides the valuable use which they subserved for the Jewish people
when they were a part of their vital and working machinery.
*¦ oa-ira Ezra iv. 7.

1 40 EXCURSUSES. EXOUESUS G.
SIGNET -RINGS AND SEALS.'
The use of " sea's " in some form dates back to remote antiquity,
and has been very general, especially among Oriental nations. We
propose to set forth succinctly certain facts, gleaned from various
sources, respecting this use. Obviously, among semi-civilized and bar
barous peoples a knowledge of chlrography is not likely to be generally
diffused. The man who is called upon to affix his signature to some
document is in many cases unable to write his name. Hence, he is
under the necessity of making his " mark," or of employing some
equivalent device. Very generally the seal has served the purpose of
signature. What a recent authority says of modern Oriental usage is
equally true of the ancient : " The signature of a letter or document
is not written, but stamped with a seal " (Van Lennep, Bible Lands,
p. 392). So important is the seal that never, except under extraor
dinary circumstances, does its owner part with it ; carrying it constantly
in his bosom, fastened by a string around his neck or attached to his
clothing. In other cases it is worn, in the form of a signet-ring, upon
his finger.
In former times seals were used to make impressions in wax or in
clay, which subsequently hardened, but more recently the seal is used
with ink, in much the same way as type. Many of the clay disks
which had been stamped as above, and afterwards burned, are to be
found among the ruins of ancient cities, and most of them well pre
served. They were evidently fastened to the original document by
means of a string, which has long since — with the document itself —
turned to dust.
Besides its use for forming signatures, the seal was employed for
protecting that which was designed to remain closed. The mouth of the
lions' den into which Daniel had been cast, and the tomb which held our
Saviour's body, were each secured by the seal of the ruler against being
opened by unauthorized hands. The ancient Egyptians are said to have
sealed the doors of the tombs of their ancestors, whose remains they
guarded with care and veneration. In these cases a lump of clav was
carefully affixed to the door and stamped with the seal ; this hardening,
the door could not be opened without destroying the seal-mark, and
thus revealing the sacrilege.
The form of the seal itself was various. In Knight's Pictorial Bible,
on Gen. xli. 42, may be seen neat representa<^ions of ancient seals
1 Esther iii. 10, 12 ; viii. 2, 8, 10.

EXCURSUSES. 141
or signets. The Encyclopaedia Britannica (Vol. xiii. pp. 676, 677)
gives a fine engraving representing a signet-ring which has a square
revolving bezel, on which are four serpents interlaced. Among the
forms most in use before the adoption of the ring-seal were cylinders,
squares, and pyramids. The cylinders were of various sizes. Layard
describes them as varying in size from about two inches to a quarter
of an inch long, and as being quite circular, or barrel-shaped, or
slightly concave. These cylinder-seals were pierced longitudinally, and
often made to revolve upon a metal axis attached to a handle, much
like a common stone roller for levelling the walks in a garden.
(Nineveh and Babylon, pp. 602-609, Putnam's edition.) The seal
was rolled over the moist clay or other material, leaving a distinct and
well-defined impress. Mr. Loftus (Chaldea and Susiana, p. 254)
observes, "The Chaldeans were not contented with a simple impres
sion, but rolled the cylinder over the entire written document, thus
preventing all chance or possibility of forgery." Sometimes the cylin
der-seal was suspended by a string passing through it, and tied about
the owner's neck, who carried the seal in his bosom.
Layard mentions some fourteen different kinds of stone of which
these cylinders were made (Nineveh and Babylon, loc. cit.). Rawlin
son says they were made of serpentine, meteoric stone, jasper, chalce
dony, or other similar substance. They are round, or nearly so, and
measure from half an inch to three inches in length ; ordinarily the
diameter is about one third of the length. A hole is bored through the
stone from end to end, so that it could be worn upon a string ; some of
the earliest were fastened about the wrist in this manner. Rawlinson
gives an engraving of a cylinder seal of this character. (Ane. Mon.,
Vol. i. p. 93, Dodd, Mead, and Co.'s edition.) The square and pyra
midal seals seem to have been applied by hand, as occasion required.
The ring-seal probably came into use latest of all. It consisted of a
ring, to one side of which a seal was attached, — the seal being some
times stationary with the inscription upon the outer side only ; at other
times it was so cpnstructed as to revolve upon its axis, and possessed
several inscriptions, which might be used at the option of the wearer.
Sometimes the seal was a flat oval disk having inscriptions upon the
two opposite surfaces, at other times it was in the form of a cube with
inscriptions upon the four sides.
We give, on the following page, cuts representing the different seals
and signet-rings already described. We have gathered them from
various sources, and trust that they will assist the reader in gaining
clear ideas of the subject. The authors to whom we are chiefly indebted
are named above.

142

EXCURSUSES.

SIGNET-RINGS AND SEALS.
1. Disk seal of chalcedony, with Persian inscription.
2. Disk seal of chalcedony, with Phoenician inscription.
3. Conical seal of sapphire chalcedony, with Assyrian inscription.
4. Cylinder signet, through which a string was passed, and fastened
around the wrist or neck.
5. Roller signet, with handle of metal.
6 and 7. Signet rings, with fixed bezels.
8 and 9. Signet-rings, with revolving bezels. No. 9 is the famous signet-
ring of Horus, described by Wilkinson (see p. 145 infra), and containing
£20 worth of gold.

EXCURSUSES. 143
In sketching concisely tbe use of the seal among ancient nations, we
shall follow a geographical rather than a chronological order.
Among the Romans there was a simple custom of antiquity, derived
from the Etruscans, of wearing an iron signet-ring upon the right hand.
Even after the introduction of gold rings, old families continued to
wear the primitive iron signet-ring (Guhl and Koner, Life of the Greeks
and Romans, p. 497).
The Romans, following the Egyptians, engraved first, animals, then
the portraits of heroes and princes ; later, frequently, indelicate figures
and symbols. Roman rings were often of immense value ; that of
the empress Faustina is said to have cost $200,000, that of Domitia
$300,000. Among both the Greeks and the Romans, the seal was usually
set in a ring, whence annulus came to be a Latin name for seal (Am.
Cj'clop., Vol. xiv. pp. 336, 337, 735.) The ring of a Roman emperor was
a kind of state seal ; and the emperor sometimes allowed the use of it to
such persons as he wished to be regarded as his representatives (Dion
Cassius, lxvi. 2). The keeping of the seal-ring {cura annuli) was
entrusted to a special officer (Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman
Antiquities, art. Annulus). The Romans seem to have worn one
signet-ring at least ; and, judging from the statues, generally on the
fourth finger. At the beginning these rings were of iron, and the
golden ones were among the distinctions of the higher classes. Later,
vain persons, in order to display their wealth, covered their hands with
rings. (Becker's Gallus, p. 429, note.) It was the custom to breathe
on the seal before using it, in order to prevent the adhering of the wax,
(Gallus, p. 38.) The pope's "bull" derives its name from the Latin
word bulla — primarily a round object, a bubble, a boss or stud, an
ornament worn upon the neck ; hence, later, a seal. The seal of a
papal bull is of lead or gold, stamped on one side with the effigies of
St. Peter and St. Paul, and on the other with the name of the reigning
pope. It is attached to the document by strings. (" Bullae dicuntur a
sigillo vel plumbeo vel aureo, exhibente hine SS. Apostoloi-um Petri
et Pauli imagines, illinc vero nomen Pontificis, quod inhaeret funiculo
serico vel cannabis." J. P. Gury, Compendium Theologiae Moralis,
Vol. i. p. 114. Romae, mdccclxxxii.).
There can be little doubt that the use of tbe ring and the custom of
sealing was introduced from the East — where it was common — by
the way of Greece, into Rome. In the time of Solon every Grecian
freeman wore a signet-ring of gold, silver, or bronze, and the right was
enjoyed by all classes of the Athenians. This legislator made a law
against the forgery of seals. Important documents, although intended

144 EXCURSUSES.
to be sealed up, were yet attested by a seal beneath the writing (Becker,
Charicles, 150. Note 6). The free Greek, if not of the lowest class,
wore a ring, not only as an ornament, but as a signet to attest his sig
nature, or for making secure his property. No trace of this usage is
found in Homer (Becker, pp. 193-200, Note 6). According to Phny,
Alexander the Great sealed all important documents in Europe with
his own ring ; in Asia with that of Darius. When he gave his ring to
Perdiccas, he was unders.tood to nominate him as his successor (McClin
tock aud Strong's Cyclopaedia, Vol. ix. p. 31).
In ancient Egypt signet-rings and rings for ornament were worn by
all classes. They were of gold, silver, or bronze ; those of the latter
metal were generally signet-rings. The lower classes generally wore
ivory or blue porcelain. The rich had plain circlets of gold, bearing
either a scarabaeus, or a stone engraved with the name of some deity
or king, or with a sacred emblem and legend. The Egyptians wore
the signet-ring on the fourth finger of the left hand (American Cyclop.,
Vol. xiv. pp. 336, 337). In that elegant and elaborate work, A His
tory of Ancient Art in Egypt, by Perrot and Chipiez, Vol. ii. p. 387,
are to be seen two unmistakable engravings of signet-rings — one of
them a curious double one — copied from the originals in the Louvre.
One signet-cylinder in the Alnwick Museum bears the date of Osirtasen
I., between 2000 and 3000 B.C. The seal of Sabacho, king of Egypt
(b.c. 711) has been found ; also the supposed seal of Sennacherib
(Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, pp. 154-160). Among the Egyptian
antiquities in Di. Abbott's collection, formerly at Cairo, but since
removed to New York, is a very remarkable ring which was doubtless
the seal of Cheops, or Suphis, the builder of the Great Pyramid. It is
of fine gold, and weighs nearly three sovereigns. It was found in a
tomb at Ghizeh, and is in excellent preservation. The details are
minutely accurate and beautifully executed. The hieroglyphics within
its oval make the name of that Pharaoh whose tomb was the pyramid.
So there can be no reasonable doubt as to the identity of this ring
(Smith's Bible Diet., art. Seal ; Ebers, Egyptian Princess, Vol. i. p.
291, and note). Many of the rings discovered in Egypt are believed
to be more than four thousand years old. Wilkinson gives a series of
drawings of such rings' (Ancient Egyptians, Vol. iii. p. 374 ; see also
Lepsius, Denkmaler, x. pi. 42). In 1824, in a tomb near Memphis,
was found what is thought to be the signet given by Pharaoh to Joseph.
This seal has two tablets, turning upon a swivel, and, with the ring, is
massive and of very pure gold. The carving is bold, sharp, and very
excellent. The seal has the cartouch of Pharaoh ; and one line of the

EXCURSUSES. 145
engraving has been translated " Paaneah," part of the name — or accord
ing to Brugsch, title — given by the king to Joseph. Gen. xli. 45
(Edwards, History and Poetry of Finger-Rings, pp. 153, 154),
In Gosse's Monuments of Ancient Egypt (pp. 201, 202), we find an
engraving and description of a signet-ring of great beauty and value.
Sir Gardner Wilkinson estimates that it contains gold to the value of
twenty pounds sterling. It consists of a massive ring of gold, bearing
an oblong, square plinth of the same metal, an inch in length, and more
• than half an inch in its greatest width. The seal evidently turns on its
axis. One side bears the hieroglyphic name of Horus, with reference to
the time of Amunoph IIL, b.c. 1 400 ; the three others contain respectively
a crocodile, a scorpion, and a lion with the legend '• Lord of strength."
This signet-ring on account of its value, its style of engraving, and its
use as a seal, happily illustrates such passages of Scripture as Gen. xli.
42 ; Ex. xxviii. 11, 21, 36 ; 1 Kings xxi. 8 ; Jer. xxii. 24 ; Haggai ii.
23. Among the Hebrews the ring seems to have been almost indis
pensable as an article of dress. It was probably handed down from
father to son as a mark of rank and authority. The Jews wore the
signet-ring on the right hand, on the middle or little finger.
Sometimes, in imitation of the Babylonians, they wore a simple seal
or signet (=r;in) which was suspended from the neck, over the breast
(Gen. xxxviii. 18; Cant. viii. 6; Haggai ii. 23). Sometimes merely
the owner's name, at other times an additional sentence was engraved
upon the seal. A monarch — as we learn from numerous passages of
Scripture — by entrusting his seal to a favorite conferred upon him
high power and dignity, in fact made him the representative of him
self (Gen. xli. 42). Seal-rings were named rn'yaa from a verb which
signifies to impress into any soft substance, as clay ; hence, to seal. The
engraving of a signet-ring was often executed in the most skilful man
ner (Ex. xxviii. 21, 36 ; xxxix. 6, 14, 30).
Herodotus, speaking of the Babylonians, says that every man has a
seal and a staff curiously wrought (i. 195). And 3Ir. Layard informs
us that the gems and cylinders often found among the ruins evince that
the Assyrians were very skilful in engraving on stone. Many of their
seals are most delicately and minutely ornamented with various sacred
devices, and with the forms of animals (Nineveh and Remains, Vol. iL
p. 320). So Mr. Loftus, describing the baked clay tablets, found by
him at Warka, the ancient Erech, and the impressions which they pre
sent, says that " many are very beautiful, and shew the perfection
attained in the art of gem engraving in Babylonia at that early period"
(Chaldea and Susiana, p. 229). The men in Chaldea generally carried
19

146 EXCURSUSES.
an engraved cylinder in agate or other hard stone, which was used as a
seal or signet, and was probably worn around the wrist. At all events
the signet-cylinder always occupies this position in the tombs. Some
times we find signet-seals of a disk-like form, with inscriptions on the
two sides, and a protuberance at one edge, to which probably a string
was attached for convenience in transportation. The signet-cylinder
of Darius Hystaspis is still extant, bearing a trilingual inscription,
" Darius, the Great King,'' and representing that monarch as engaged
in a lion-hunt in a palm-grove (Rawlinson, Ane. Mon., Vol. i. pp. 106,
107 ; Vol. iii. pp. 226, 342). The intention of king Xerxes in com
mitting his signet-ring first to Ilaman, and afterwards to Mordecai, is
sufficiently obvious. Each in succession became the prime minister of
the empire, clothed with authority second only to that of the king him
self, and having power to issue edicts and decrees in the king's name,
and to affix thereto the royal seal.
EXOUESUS H.
THE MASSACRE.i
Some have objected to the credibility of the nan-ative, on the ground
that no ruler would issue such an arbitrary and sanguinary decree,
sanctioning the butchery of vast numbers of his innocent and unoffend
ing subjects. But, surely, he has read history to little purpose who
has not noted the excesses and enormities of despotic power, — tramp
ling, as it often does, upon reason, justice, and mercy, — as well as the
fact that religious fanaticism easily kindles into unbridled and bloody
fury. The pages of Oriental, not to say Occidental, history present
many examples of shocking barbarities perpetrated by the tyrant or
the fanatic. According to Diodorus Siculus this same Xerxes, other
wise known as Ahasuerus, put the Medians foremost in the battle of
Thermopylae on purpose that they might all be killed, because he
thought that they were not fully reconciled to the loss of their national
supremacy (Smith's Bible Diet., Vol. i. p. 776). We might mention
Mithridates, king of Poutus, who, being at war with the Romans, issued
secret orders to the satraps and other officials of his realm, to slaughter
upon a given day all Romans present, without distinction of age or sex.
In consequence, eighty thousand persons perished in a single day. So
we might cite the atrocides perpetrated by Timour Lenk, or Tamerlane,
who in his march against Delhi, massacred one hundred thousand cap
tives ; and who, having stormed the city of Bagdad, piled ninety thou
sand corpses in the public places of the city. This same tyrant, at the
1 Esther iii. 11, 13.

EXCURSUSES. 147
capture of Ispahan, A.D. 1387, put to death all the inhabitants, , except
the artists and scholars. More than seventy thousand heads were laid
at his feet, and by his order were piled in the public squares, in the
form of towers. At Sebsewar he piled up two thousand of the people
alive, with their heads outward, and their bodies built up with mortar
like stones or bricks (American Cyclopaedia, art. Timour ; Van Lennep,
Bible Lands, pp. 686, 687).
As examples of despotism might be mentioned the case of Ferdinand
V. of Spain, who in 1492 banished three hundred thousand — some say
eight hundred thousand — Jews from his dominions ; also that of Louis
XIV. of France, who about the year 1 685, having put to death with
" frightful barbarities " some thousands of Protestants, drove out many
thousands more ; so that France lost at that time half a millicn of
her best and most industrious inhabitants (American Cyclopaedia,.
art. Louis XIV. of France). We might refer also to the notorious
massacre of the Huguenots in France, on St. Bartholomew's Day,
Aug. 24, 1572. At that time, in Paris and other French cities, not
less than thirty thousand — some say one hundred thousand — innocent
persons were slain in cold blood. When the news reached Rome, the
cannon of St. Angelo were fired, a solemn Te Deum was sung, and
the Pope, Gregory XIIL, caused a medal to be struck, bearing on one
side his own portrait, and on the other a representation of the massacre,
with the legend : Hugonotoeuji Steages, " Slaughter of the Prot
estants " (see Schaff-Herzog Cyclopaedia, art. Bartholomew's Day ;
Dowling's History of Romanism, pp. 587-590 ; Edgar's Variations of
Popery, pp. 271, 272; American Cyclopaedia, Vol. ii. pp. 347-349).
If such diabolical atrocities could be sanctioned by so-called Christian
rulers, what might we not expect from the heathen Xerxes ? And the
three examples last cited occurred in lands nominally Christian, and in
comparatively modern times.
The massacre of the Mamelukes in Cairo, in 1811, by Mehemet AH ;
and the more dreadful butchery of the Janizaries in Constantinople
in 1826, by the command of Mahmoud II. are dreadful examples of
Oriental ferocity. Of these Janizaries it is said that — burned alive in
their barracks, cannonaded in the At Meidan, where they made their
most desperate defence, massacred singly in the streets during three
months — twenty-five thousand perished, and the remainder were driven
into exile (American Cyclopaedia, arts. Mamelukes, and Janizaries).
The devastation of Scio and other islands of the Aegean by the
Turks, in 1821 and later, is an instance of savage fanaticism worthy of
Haman himself. The men were put to the sword, the cities and villas

148 EXCURSUSES.
burned, the beautiful plantations ruined, the women and children were
taken captive, and sold in Smyrna and Constantinople as slaves. Within
two or three months the Christian population of Scio was reduced from
nearly one hundred and four thousand to two thousand.
Another massacre was that of the Nestorians by the Koords in 1843.
At that time not less than ten thousand men were slain, and a much
larger number of women and children were reduced to slavery. The
Koords proved no less treacherous than bloodthirsty. About a thousand
of the fugitives of all ages took refuge upon a rocky platform very dif
ficult of access. The Koordish leader, Beder Khan Bey, discovered
their retreat, and being unable to capture them by storm, hemmed them
in, until hunger and thirst aggravated by the sultry climate constrained
them to yield. The terms proposed by the Koord, and sworn to upon
the Koran, were that their lives should be spared on condition of the
surrender of their arms and property. Thereupon the Koords were
admitted to the platform. After they had deprived their prisoners of
means of defence they commenced an indiscriminate slaughter ; until
weary of using their weapons, they hurled the few survivors from the
the rocks into the river Zab beneath. Of the whole number only one
escaped (Layard, Nineveh and its Remains, Vol. i. pp. 165-167).
A more dreadful instance of the same character occurred so recently
as 1860, when the Christians of Mt. Lebanon in Syria were butchered
by the Turks and Druses. The Turkish garrisons at first simply looked
on ; then they urged the Christians to take refuge in the castles, on
condition of delivering up all the weapons they possessed. The Turks
swore by the Koran that no harm should be done them. But no sooner
were the Christians thus entrapped than the Druses were called in and
the work of carnage begun. Every one of the hapless victims was
shot down or had his throat cut ou the spot. During those dreadful
days of blood, the streets of Deir-el-Kamr, Hasbeya, and Zahleh flowed
ankle-deep with human gore !
The attention of the civilized world was aroused ; and the allied
European powers interposed, and sent a commission to investigate and
report. The following is the substance of the report : " Eleven thou
sand Christians massacred ; one hundred thousand sufferers by the civil
war ; twenty thousand desolate widows and orphans ; three thousand
Christian habitations burned ; and property to the value of ten millions
of dollars (gold) destroyed" (Van Lennep, Bible Lands, pp. 743-746;
Porter's Giant Cities of Bashan, Appendix ; Churchill's Mt. Lebanon,
Vol. iv. p. 219 ; American Cyclopaedia, art. Druses). It is refreshing
to add that the ringleaders in these atrocities were afterwards executed.

EXCURSUSES. 149
and a Christian governor appointed in Lebanon. Manifestly, in the
lurid light of such examples as the above, the murderous edict and
heartless conduct attributed to Xerxes are perfectly credible, and
entirely consistent with his character as depicted in history.
EXOUESUS L
FASTING.'
The custom of fasting has been more or less conspicuous in many
of the religions which have prevailed in the world. Among the reli
gious observances of the Greeks and Romans fasting, though not
entirely unknown, held a less important place than elsewhere. In
Egypt we find nothing of compulsory general fasts, though a rigorous
temporary abstinence was required of persons about to be initiated into
the mysteries of Isis and Osiris. In the remote East the custom of
fasting obtained more generally. Climate, the habits of a people, and
their creed, gave it at different periods different characteristics ; but it
may be pronounced to have been a recognized institution with all the
more civilized nations, especially those of Asia, throughout all historic
times. We find it in high estimation among the ancient Parsees of
Irania. It formed a prominent feature among the mysteries of
Mithras ; and found its way, together with these, over Armenia,
Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia Minor to Palestine, and northward to
the wilds of Scythia. The ancient Chinese and Hindoos carried fast
ing to an unnatural excess. The Pavaka, by the due observance of
which the Hindoo believer is supposed to be purified from all his sins,
requires, among other things, an uninterrupted fast for twelve days
(Chambers' Cyclopaedia, art. Fast). The Mohammedans, during the
ninth month, Ramadan, fast rigorously every day, from sunrise till the
stars appear at evening.
In the Scriptures fasting assumes a new and higher significance.
Here it is purely an act of piety. The Bible represents fasting in the
true sense as the accompaniment of supplication, as being in itself an
act of prayer. Apart from its relation and reference to the Divine
Being, the mere act of fasting has in the Bible no significance. Of its
sanitary value we hear nothing ; in its Scriptural aspect it appears as a
religious act, a penitential act, a prayer in itself. Such being the case,
we cease to wonder that there is no direct mention made of "prayer"
in the book of Esther. A Jew would no more think of fasting without
prayer — without putting up a petition to Jehovah, than he would think
1 Esther iv. 3. 16 ; ix. 31.

I'O EXCURSUSES.
of eating without drinking, or of sleeping without reclining. Fasting
was invariably attended with prayer, though prayer was not in every
case accompanied by fasting. It is clear that fasting in the scriptural
sense comprises : 1. Abstinence from food and drink for a longer or
shorter period. Without this abstinence there is no proper " fast."
2. Abstinence from all earthly pleasures (Dan. ix. 3 ; x. 3). 3. Absti
nence to the extent of afflicting the body more or less. This physical
suffering, this refusal to gratify the demands of appetite, is not to be
regarded as a penance, but as an act of self-denial subordinating the
lower nature to the higher, the physical to the spiritual part of man.
Generally speaking, fasting viewed as a religious mortification or
humiliation, was intended : (i.) As an expression of penitence and
humility before God, in view of one's sins. It was not a self-inflicted
jmnishment for sin, but an expression of sorrow on account of sin
(1 Sam. vii. 6 ; Neh. i. 4). (ii.) It was often a prayer for the removal
of some present affliction or calamity under which the individual or the
nation was suffering (See Judg. xx. 26 ; Josh. vii. 6, where fasting
is evidently implied), (iii.) At other times the object was to deprecate
some imminent evil, to avert some impending judgment of God (2 Sam.
xii. 16 ; 1 Kings xxi. 27 ; 2 Chron. xx. 3 ; Jonah iii. 5-10). (iv.) Often
fasting was preparatory to seeking by prayer some special blessing
from God (Matt. xvii. 21 ; Luke ii. 37 ; Acts x. 30; xiii. 3; xiv. 23;
1 Cor. vii. 5).
Among the Jews but one day of fasting seems to have been observed
by Divine command — that of the Day of Atonement (compare Lev.
xvi. 29 ; xxiii. 27 ; Num. xxix. 7). During the time of the Captivity,
the Jews observed four other annual fasts, — on the seventeenth of the
fourth month, in memory of the capture of Jerusalem (Jer. Iii. 6, 7) ;
on the ninth day of the fifth month, in memory of the burning of the
Temple (Zech. vii. 3 ; viii. 19) ; on the third of the seventh month, in
memory of the slaughter of Gedaliah (Jer. xli. 2) ; and on the tenth
day of the tenth month, as a memorial of the inception of the attack
upon Jerusalem (Zech. viii. 19). To these was added the fast of
Esther, observed on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar.
At a later period other fasts were added, so that the Jewish calendar
includes at present some twenty-eight fast-days for each year. John
Allen, in his Modern Judaism (pp. 384, 385), mentions six principal
fasts (see also pp. 400-419. and Rabbi David Levi's Ceremonies of
the Jews, pp. 70, 71, 85, 120, 125 ; Jewish Ceremonies, by Gamaliel
lien Pedahzur, pp. 34—68). The latter very rare and curious work
8]3ecifie3 and describes nine fast-days, and refers to several others.

EXCURSUSES. 151
The Pharisees, as appears from Luke xviii. 12, were accustomed to
fast twice in each week. These fasts are said to have occurred on
^Mondays and Thursdays, — because the tradition was that Moses
ascended Mount Sinai the second time to receive the law, on a Thurs
day, and descended upon Monday (Schaff-Herzog, Cyclopaedia, art.
Fasting). The Talmudic treatise entitled Taanith, gives very minute
directions respecting the proper method of fasting.
It would be beside our purpose to give a sketch of the custom of
fasting as it has obtained in the Christian church. We close with the
remark of Calvin : " Holy and legitimate fasting is directed to three
ends. For we practise it, either as a restraint on the flesh, to preserve
it from licentiousness ; or as a preparation for prayers and pious medi
tations ; or as a testimony of our humiliation in the presence of God,
when we are desirous of confessing our guilt before him " (Institutes,
Bk. iv. chap. 12, sec. 15). EXOUESUS J.
THE GOLDEN SCEPTRE i
After what has been said in the Notes on chapters iv. 11 ; v. 2 and
viii. 4, little need be added. Our word " sceptre" is derived from the
the Greek a-nrj-TTTpov, and that from o-KrfTTTeLv, to lean upon. Hence it
denotes primarily a staff, or walking-stick, upon which one leans.
Then it came to signify a wand, or baton, as a badge of authority,
borne by kings, chiefs, and other dignitaries. In the Iliad and Odyssey,
there is frequent mention of the sceptre. It is represented as of gold
or gilt, or as "studded with golden nails" (see Iliad, Bk. 1. lines 15
and 246; Odyssey, Bk. 11. lines 91, 569). Professor Felton in his
Notes on Iliad 1, 15, says : "The epithet golden, means only that the
sceptre was set with golden studs or nails.'' On the contrary, Mr. Bevan,
in Smith's Bible Diet., sub voce, says that the sceptre of the Persian
monarchs was " probably of massive gold." Mr. Layard found at
Nimroud a portion of a carved ivory staff which was probably used as
a sceptre (Nineveh and Babylon, Vol. i. p. 195). It has been sup
posed that the form of the sceptre was derived from the shepherd's
crook or staff, but this may be doubtful, since Diodorus Siculus (iii. 3)
represents the sceptre of the Egyptian kings as resembling not a
shepherd's crook, but a plough ! Wilkinson (Ancient Egyptians, Vol.
i. p. 276) gives a curious representation of the sceptre of an Egyptian
queen, which somewhat resembles a drooping lily, with stamens of great
magnitude. 1 Esther iv. U ; \ ii; viii. 4.

152 EXCURSUSES.
According to Rawlinson (Ane. Mon., Vol. iii. pp. 203-206) the
sceptre of the Persian kings which is frequently represented in the
hands of the monarch upon the monuments, was a plain rod about five
feet in length, ornamented with a ball or apple at its upper end, and at
its lower tapering nearly to a point. The king held it in his right hand,
grasping it near, but not at, the thick end, and rested the thin end on
the ground in his front. When he walked he planted it upright before
him, as a spearman would plant his spear. When he sate he sloped it
outwards, still, however, touching the ground with its point. (See rep
resentation of monarch, ji. 203, op. cit.) The same author in Pulpit
Commentary, Notes on Esther, says that the Persepolitan sculptures
uniformly represent the king with a long tapering staff in his hand,
which is probably the " sceptre " {sharbith) of Esther. According to
Ker Porter the Persepolitan bas-reliefs represent Darius in the midst
of his court, either walking or enthroned, but always bearing in his
hand his sceptre, a slender rod or wand about equal in length to his
own height, ornamented with a small knob at the summit. Dr.
Jamieson in his Commentary, says that in the Assyrian alabasters
found in Nimroud and Khorsabad, the king's sceptre appears as a
slender rod, without any knob or ornament. In the Khorsabad reliefs
the rod is painted red, doubtless to represent gold; proving that the
" golden sceptre was a simple wand of that precious metal, commonly
held in the right hand, with one end resting on the ground, and that
whether the king was sitting or walking.
Among the Greeks the royal sceptre {a-K^iTTpov) was a staff adorned
wnth a knob or a flower, which, as early as Homer's time, was the
attribute of gods and of rulers descended from the gods. The sceptre
was a valued heirloom in royal families. The sceptre serving as the
emblem of judicial power, also employed by ambassadors and heralds,
was somewhat shorter, and was styled pd(38os (see Guhl and Koner,
pp. 184, 185). The Hebrew word B21B (later, t:">n";'^), seems to have
much the same latitude of meaning as the Greek word mentioned
above. It denotes primarily a stick or staff, a rod for chastisement, a
walking-stick, a shepherd's crook, then a sceptre. In Lev. xxvii. 32 ;
Ezek. XX. 37, and apparently in Micah vii. 14, it refers to the crook of
the shepherd. It is, however, worthy of note that the Septuagint, in
the last three cases, employs pd/3Sos instead of o-Krj-iTTpov.
King Saul seems to have used his spear for a sceptre or ensign of
authority (1 Sam. xviii. ID ; xxii. 6). Indeed, according to Justin (Lib.
43, c. 3) kings in olden times were accustomed to use the spear in this
way. Dr. Jahn (Archaeology, sec. 226) agrees with Rawlinson above

EXCURSUSES. 153
cited, as to the form and dimensions of the sceptre, and thinks that the
use of this emblem of authority was first suggested by -the pastoral
staff borne by shepherds ; or by those staves which in ancient times
persons of high rank carried for show and ornament (Gen. xxxviii. 18;
Num. xvii. 7 ; Ps. xxiii. 4). And Ezek. xix. 11 : " She had strong
rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule,'' seems to intimate the
primitive origin and simple form of the sceptre. It should be added
that, according to Botta and Bonomi, the Assyrian sceptre, as repre
sented upon the sculptures at Nineveh, was shorter than that described
above, and of a different form. The reader will find on page 60 infra,
an accurate representation of the shorter sceptre, though according to
Bonomi, some regard it as intended to represent a mace instead of a
sceptre. Even Rawlinson regards such figures as representing maces,
and designates tbem by that name (Ane. Mon., Vol. i. pp. 458, 459).
EXOUESUS Z.
FATE OF ROYAL FAVORITES.i
Few mortals have had a more varied experience of the vicissitudes
and fickleness of fortune than have royal favorites of both sexes. As
few have climbed to more dizzy heights of pride and power, so few
have plunged into darker and deeper abysses of woe ; and in many
cases the downfall has been as sudden and unlooked-for as the eleva
tion was rapid and dazzling. The pages of history abound with
examples, many of them as startling and tragic as that of Haman. We
need not cite the downfall of Pharaoh's chief baker (Gen. xl. 22), and
the suicidal end of Ahithophel, the favorite of Absalom (2 Sam. xvii.
23). We are told of Cambyses that, in order to show the steadiness of
his hand and his skill in archery, he sent an arrow to the heart of his
young cup-bearer, son of the favorite Prexaspes (Herod, iii. 34, 35).
Pythius, a Lydian, was the man who freely offered to give Xerxes two
thousand talents of silver, and some four millions of gold darics. Yet
the cruel king, upon a trivial offence, ordered that the son of this
" royal benefactor " should be cut in two, and that the army should
pass between the severed halves (Herod, vii. 27-29, 38, 39). Parmenio
was Alexander's most trusted general ; his son Philotas had been one
of the monarch's most intimate and favored friends. The father and
son were accused of treason. Philotas was stoned, and Parmenio
assassinated by order of Alexander. Clitus, the foster-brother of the
same tyrant, had saved Alexander's life at the Granicus, yet was after-
1 Esther vii. 7-10.
20

154 EXCURSUSES.
wards slain by him in a drunken revel. Herod the Great, as we know,
put to death his beautiful and beloved wife Mariamne, and his two
sons Alexander and Aristobulus, and ordered the execution of his
eldest son, Antipater. Herod Antipas, with his paramour Ilerodias,
was condemned to perpetual banishment by order of Caligula. Herod
Agrippa, son of Aristobulus, was thrown into prison by Tiberius, where
he lay till the next reign. For a long period, Sejanus was the favorite
of Tiberius, and managed the affairs of the empire according to his
own corrupt liking ; but the emperor at last became suspicious of the
favorite, and caused him and all his family to be slain. Nero, after
having put to death his mother Agrippina, and his tutor Seneca the
philosopher, killed by a kick Poppaea, his paramour. He afterwards
condemned to death his most successful general, Corbulo, — " a sentence
which the old soldier anticipated by suicide." Tigellinus, a most in
famous and despicable creature of Nero, was probably the vilest and
bloodiest of royal favorites that ever pandered to the vices and humored
the caprices of a besotted ruler. Yet, under a subsequent reign, this
paragon of villany met the fate he so justly deserved.
To come down to modern times, we need only refer to the sad end
of Cardinal Wolsey, the favorite of Henry the Eighth of England ; and
that of the duke of Somerset, another favorite of the same ruler. The
fate of Jane Shore, the beautiful mistress of king Edward IV., has
furnished the theme for a celebrated tragedy by Rowe ; tradition rep
resenting her as perishing of cold and hunger in a ditch, thenceforth
known as " Shoreditch." The axe of the executioner ended the earthly
career of the earl of Essex, and Sir Walter Raleigh, the favorites of
Elizabeth. He whom Shakespeare styles, " the deep-revolving, wily
Buckingham," after having assisted Richard III. in gaining the throne,
fell a victim to that monarch's jealousy. INIonmouth, the favorite of
Charles IL, was put to death by James II. Cardinal Richelieu, at one
time the favorite of Maria de' Medici, was afterward repudiated and
most bitterly hated by her. Necker, the able financier of Louis XVI.
of France, was driven with insult, abuse, and personal peril into retire
ment at Coppet in Switzerland, where he died.
Such are a few of the examples of the fate of royal favorites which
the annals of the past afford. Equally with the case of Haman, they
exemplify the freaks of fortune, and the caprices, ingratitude, and
cruelties of arbitrary power.

EXCURSUSES. 155
EXOUESUS L.
COURIERS.!
W^-} occurs four times in the Book of Esther, and always with the
article. The courier system was new in the time of Xerxes, and its
singularity gave it the article, just as the telegraph, the telephone, the
railroad have it with us. Xenophon (Cyropaedia, Book viii. chap. vi.
17) gives an .account of the instituting of the courier system which he
attributes to Cyrus the Great. Herodotus (Book viii. 98) tells how
Xerxes used couriers to convey to the Persians the fact of his defeat at
Salamis. He says that '• nothing mortal travels so fast as these Persian
messengers " ; also that the name by which they were called was
dyyapr]l6<s. Gibbon (Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, i. 63, 64)
says : '• Tbe advantage of receiving the earliest intelligence, and of convey
ing their orders with celerity, induced the emperors to establish throughout
their extensive dominions the regular institution of posts. Houses were
everywhere erected at the distance of five or six miles ; each of them
was constantly provided with forty horses, and by the help of these
relays it was easy to travel a hundred miles in a day along the Roman
roads. The use of the posts was allowed to those who claimed it by an
imperial mandate ; but though originally intended for the public ser
vice, it was sometimes indulged to the business or convenience of private
citizens." There were couriers upon foot and couriers upon horses. The
former were the Latin cursores, and these couriers were called by
the Greeks rjiJi,€poSp6p.oi. They were supposed to have the power to
run through the whole day. Livy (Hist., Bk. xxxi. c. 24) says of
them, ingens die uno cursu emetientes spatium. He seems to have
thought that they took their name from their being able to run a great
distance in a single day. Herodotus (Bk. vi. c. 105) says ; " The
generals sent off to Sparta a herald, one Pheidippides, who was by
birth an Athenian, and by profession and practice a trained runner
{rifiepoSpop-ov)." Plato (Protagoras, 336) says: "What you ask is as
great an impossibility to me as if you would have me run a race with
Crison of Himera, when in his prime, or with some one of the long or
day-course runners {¦fjp.epohpop.oi)."
The els'! are mentioned in 2 Sam. xv. 1 : " Absalom prepared him
chariots and horses, and fifty men (D^S'n) to run before him.'' The
royal messengers and body-guard of the Jewish kings were called niS"!
(2 Kings X. 25). 1 Esther viii. 10, 14.

156 EXCURSUSES.
EXOUESUS M.
COURSERS.'
The ir;";; were a superior breed of horses, famous for their great
speed. Gesenius (in Thesaurus) says : CSIJ equus generosicr et velocis-
simus. In 1 Kings iv. 28, Hi:") distinguuntur a n'^D^iO. Fuerst (He
brew Lexicon) says : ITS'! is a racer, a swift horse, a courser.
" Mules, the offspringof mares.'' ThisKalocus vexatissimus. D^r'^rirnx
signifies a kind of mules, filii equarum. Pliny (Nat. Hist., Vol. viii.
p. 44) says : ex asino et equa geniti sunt nobiliores quum qui ex equo
et asina. But compare Excursus A., sicb voce.
EXOUESUS N.
TRIBUTE.'
The subject of tribute furnishes an interesting study both as it relates
to the Jews and to the nations to whom they became tribute-payers. The
Hebrew word Da is usually derived from ODa , which means to wear or
waste away, because tribute is sure to waste away the people who pay
it. But Fuerst derives Da from an unused root DDa , which means to
divide or separate, then to number, measure, or distribute, e.g. a tax
(vid. Fuerst's Hebrew Lexicon). Gesenius derives it from coa , which
means to divide. In his Thesaurus he says : Nuper quidem Studerus
vulgarem derivationem a DCa ita explicuit, ut Da pr. sit contritio
virium, dein concr. contritus, substrains (quidni saltem confectus ? coll.
Da , Job vi. 14, nam ilia potestas in radice vix inest) ; sed nil dubito,
quin aliter judicasset vir doctissimus, si arctam necessitudinem inter vcc.
D3a , nt2:a et Da , ii&a reputasset. Thesaurus, sub voce. The LXX
render the verse (x. 1) Eypaij/e St 6 ^aa'iXev's IttI t-^v ^aaiXuav t^s re
y^9 Kttt T^; uaXaxrarjs.
There is no specific word for tribute. The idea is generic, being
embraced in eypaij/e. The Vulgate renders it (x. 1) : Rex vero Annerus
omnem terram, et cunctas maris insulas fecit tributarias. Here the
idea is generic also. So that the meaning of Da in x. 1 is indefinite
or all-embracing. Three kinds of tribute were common : (1) in money;
(2) in products ; (3) in bond-service, or personal labor. The word Da
in X. 1 includes them all.
The Jews were very poor tribute-payers to their conquerors. They
acknowledged no one as their sovereign but Jehovah. To him they
gave yearly their capitation-tax of half a shekel, as an acknowledgment
that he was king and they were his subjects. Even as late as the time
1 Esther viii. 10. 2 Esther x. 1.

EXCURSUSES. 157
of Christ the Jews asked : " What thinkest thou ? Is it lawful to give
tribute unto Caesar, or not" (Matt. xxii. 17) ? They had conscientioua
scruples about it, and they were ever a rebellious and stiff-necked peo
ple, as their conquerors were sure to find. The Hebrew word Da occurs
in the Old Testament twenty-four times, and is translated usually by
tribute. Three times it is rendered k'vy ; because it refers to the men
who were paying the tribute by personal service.
Herodotus tells us that Darius, the father of Xerxes, was the first
Persian king who levied a general tribute upon his subjects. " And
now, when his power was established firmly throughout all the king
doms, the first thing that he did was to set up a carving in stone, which
showed a man mounted upon a horse, with an inscription in these
words following : ' Darius, son of Hystaspes, by aid of his good horse'
(here followed the horse's name), and of his good groom Oebares, got
himself the kingdom of the Persians.' " This he set up in Persia ; and'
afterwards he proceeded to establish twenty governments of the kind'
which the Persians call satrapies, assigning to each its governor, and'
fixing the tribute which was to be paid him by the several nations. -
And generally he joined together in one satrapy the nations that were-
neighbors ; but sometimes he passed over the nearer tribes, and put iu'
their stead those who were more remote. The following is an account
of these governments, and of the yearly tribute which they paid to the •
king : " Such as brought their tribute in silver were ordered to pay
according to the Babylonian talent ; while the Euboic was the standard
measure for such as brought gold. Now the Babylonian talent con
tains seventy Euboic minae. During all the reign of Cyrus, and after
ward when Cambyses ruled, there were no fixed tributes, but the
nations severally brought gifts to the king. On account of this and
other like doings, the Persians say that Darius was a huckster, Cambyses
a master, and Cyrus a father ; for Darius looked to making a gain in .
everything, Cambyses was harsh and reckless, while Cyrus was gentle,
and procured them all manner of goods " (Herodotus, History, Bk. iii.
88, 89, Rawlinson's transl.). Herodotus proceeds to enumerate the
nations which compose each of the twenty satrapies, with the sum which
each paid. Then he says : " If the Babylonian money here spoken of
be reduced to- the Euboic scale, it will make nine thousand five hundred
and forty such talents ; and if the gold be reckoned at thirteen times
the worth of silver, the Indian gold-dust will come to four thousand six
hundred and eighty talents. Add these two amounts together, and the
whole revenue which came in to Darius, year by year, will be found to
be in Euboic money fourteen thousand five hundred and sixty talents,
not to mention parts of a talent."

158 EXCURSUSES.
" Such was the revenue which Darius derived from Asia and a small
part of Libya. Later in his reign the sum was increased by the tribute
of the islands, and of the nations of Europe as far as Thessaly. The
great king stores away the tribute which he receives after this fashion,
— he melts it down, and while it is in a liquid state runs it into earthen
vessels, which are afterwards removed, leaving the metal in a solid
mass. When money is wanted, he coins as much of this bullion as the
occasion requires.'' (Herodotus, iii. 95, 96, Rawlinson's transl.). Canon
Rawlinson remarks on the sum mentioned above : " Taking the lowest
estimate which his [Herodotus's] numbers allow, the annual revenue of
Persia was about three and a half millions of our [the English] money."
Three and a half million pounds sterling would be equal to seven
teen and a half million dollars. When we remember that ancient
money was worth — i.e. cost to obtain it, and had a purchasing power
— fifteen times as much as the same money now, we see that the annual
tribute paid to the great king amounted to the considerable sum of
two hundred and sixty-two million dollars in our time. Mr. Grote
reckons the sum of Darius's tribute as about one third larger than this
(vid. Grote's History of Greece, Vol. iii. p. 201). This immense sum
was designed to meet the expenses of the court in the time of peace.
The tribute referred to in the text (x. 1) was, doubtless, a heavy tax
laid upon all the countries subject to the rule of Xerxes, to repair the
losses sustained in the disastrous Grecian campaign.
In the tenth chamber of the palace at Khorsabad, M. Botta dis
covered sculptures and inscriptions which illustrate the method of
delivering the tribute which the people in the Assyrian and Persian
kingdoms paid their sovereigns. " The first eight persons on the upper
line to the right who follow Tartan, the chief of tribute, wear the close
turbans or caps, and are dressed in long tunics, with short outer gar
ments rounded at the corners and fringed, sometimes with a clasp at
the waist, and boots laced up in front  The first carries the model
of a city, indicative of his office of governor or sultan of a province.
These officers — apparently native chiefs of the subdued province or
city, NDJ^ia iiai'iJ, the Sultani Medinetha, of the court of Nebuchad
nezzar in the time of the prophet Daniel — were summoned, among
others, to come to the dedication of the image which that monarch had
set up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. This officer
is followed by three persons, the first two bearing two cups, the produce
or manufacture of the province ; and the third a sealed bag upon his
shoulders, containing the amount of tribute, either in gold-dust or
precious stones, furnished by the province of which the venerable per-

EXCURSUSES. 159
son at the head of the procession was the sultan or governor ; or the
tribute may possibly be pieces of gold, such as Naaman, the captain ol
the king of Syria, brought as payment for his cure ; or such as Abra
ham paid for the cave of Machpelah, ' current money with the mer
chant'" (Bonomi, Nineveh and its Palaces, p. 172, revised ed. pp.
151, 152).
From the above we can see how humiliating was the process of
tribute-paying. No wonder that spirited and high-minded princes were
unwilling to undergo it, and used all the means at their command to be
independent. Every year they were not only to part with their treasure,
but to be put to shame in the presence of their hated conquerors. The
writer of this saw in the British Museum the black obelisk of Shalmanezer
IL, the inscriptions on which show the Shuites bringing from the
Euphrates elephant's tusks, staves of precious wood, bags of costly
metals, and other treasures as their tribute to the Assyrian king. On
another side of the same obelisk are carved an elephant and several
monkeys, which are being brought as tribute from some distant people.
The money paid for the support of the court, or central government,
was only a part of the tribute which the Persian subject was obliged to
pay. Over each of the satrapies, which varied in number from twenty
to twenty-nine, Darius placed a satrap, or supreme civil governor,
charged with the collection and transmission of the revenue, the admin
istration of justice, the maintenance of order, and the general super
vision of the territory. These satraps were nominated by the king at
his pleasure from any class of his subjects, and held office for no definite
term, but simply until recalled, being liable to deprivation or death at
any moment without other formality than the presentation of the royal
firman. While, however, they remained in office they were despotic
— they represented the great king, and were clothed with a portion of his
majesty — they had palaces {^acriXeia), courts, body-guards, parks, or
' paradises,' vast trains of eunuchs and attendants, well-filled seraglios.
They wielded the power of life and death. They assessed the tribute on
the several towns and villages within their jurisdiction at their pleasure,
and appointed deputies — called sometimes, like themselves, satraps —
over cities or districts within their province, whose office was regarded
as one of great dignity. They exacted from the provincials for their
own support and that of their court, over and above the tribute due to
the crown, whatever sum they regarded them as capable of furnishing.
Favors, and even justice, had to be purchased from them by gifts. They
were sometimes guilty of gross outrages on the persons and honor of
their subjects. Nothing restrained their tyranny but such sense of right

160 EXCURSUSES.
as they might happen to possess, and the fear of removal or execution,
if the voice of complaint reached the monarch (Rawlinson, Ane. Mon.,
Vol. iii. p. 418). "Persia paid no tribute, and was not counted as a
satrapy. Its inhabitants were, however, bound, when the king passed
through their country to bring him gifts according to their means"
(Rawlinson, Ane. Mon., Vol. iii. p. 420). " Persian subjects in many
parts of the Empire paid, besides their tribute, a water-rate, which is
expressly said to have been very productive. The rivers of the Em
pire were the king's ; and when water was required for irrigation, a
state officer superintended the opening of the sluices, and regulated the
amount of the precious fluid which might be drawn off by each tribe or
township. For the opening of the sluices a large sum was paid to the
officer, which found its way into the coffers of the state.
" Further, it appears that such things as fisheries — and if so, probably
salt-works, mines, quarries, and forests — were regarded as crown
property, and yielded large sums to the revenue. They appear to have
been farmed to responsible persons, who undertook to pay at a certain
fixed rate, and made what profit they could by the transaction. The
price of commodities thus farmed would be greatly enhanced to the
consumer " (Ibid., p. 422). "While the claims of the crown upon its
subjects were definite and could not be exceeded, the satrap was at lib
erty to make any exactions that he pleased beyond them. There is
every reason to believe that he received no stipend, and that, conse
quently, the burden of supporting him, his body-guard, and his court
was intended to fall on the province which had the benefit of his super
intendence. Like a Roman proconsul, he was to pay himself out of
the pockets of his subjects ; and like that class of persons, he took
care to pay himself highly. It has been calculated that one satrap of
Babylon drew from his province annually in actual coin a sum equal
to £100,000 [$500,000] of our money. We can scarcely doubt that
the claims made by the provincial governors were, on the average, at
least equal to those of the crown ; and they had the disadvantage of
being irregular, uncertain, and purely arbitrary " (Ibid., p. 423). Canon
Rawlinson estimates the population of the Persian empire during the
reigns of Darius Hystaspis and Xerxes I, at fifty millions of souls
(vid. his Ane. Mon., Vol. iii. p. 422, note).
Keil says : " The Persian empire, in its whole extent from India to
Ethiopia, must have contained a population of at least 100,000,000,
and the number of Jews in the realm must have amounted to from
two to three millions" (Keil, Commentary on the Book of Esther,
p. 308).

EXCURSUSES. 161

EXOUESUS 0.
THE UNWRITTEN NAME.
Tacitus tells us that at the funeral of Junia, the sister of Marcus
Brutus and the wife of Caius Cassius, the images of twenty of the most
illustrious Roman families were carried in the procession ; but the
images of Brutus and Cassius were left standing in their places, and
" for that very reason they shone with pre-eminent lustre.'' (Tacitus,
Annals iii. 76.)
Nowhere in the Book of Esther does any distinctive name of God
occur. Neither is any title of Deity found in Solomon's Song. We
read these books from beginning to end, and see traces of God, his love,
wisdom, power, yea, the marks of all his glorious attributes ; but no
divine appellation is there spelled out. This is a significant fact and
draws attention to these books.
Various reasons are given why in the Book of Esther there is no
mention of the divine name.
1. Some account for it by the low state of piety among the Jews
who remained in the land of their captivity.
God is to us what we are to him. If we seek him and honor him,
doing his will, often calling upon his name, he will reveal himself
unto us by clear and manifold tokens of his power and love. But if
we neglect him, walking in other counsel, seeking other objects, pre
ferring the creature before the Creator, then we lose the symbols, the
tokens of the Divine One, grope in darkness and fail to find the manifest
helps and encouragements which Abraham and Isaac, Moses and David,
Ezra and Nehemiah, enjoyed.
Mordecai and Esther, the principal characters in this book, perhaps
belonged to that class of Jews who preferred the luxuries and honors
of Persia to the self-denials and hardships of Palestine. They were
not, to an eminent degree, spiritually minded. Sixty years before the
transactions recorded in the Book of Esther, Zerubbabel had led back
to Palestine fifty thousand of his countrymen, rebuilt the temple, and
dedicated it to Jehovah. Read the account of this in the Book of Ezra,
and you discover no lack of the name of God there. Those Jews
openly and courageously walked with Jehovah, and they enjoyed all
the visible signs of his presence.
Twenty years after Esther had been made queen, Ezra received his
commission to go to Jerusalem, with a considerable company of Israel
ites, with the purpose of reforming the moral and religious customs
21

162 EXCURSUSES.
of the people. Jehovah is known and worshipped, in his distinctive
names, by those who composed this band. And thirteen years after
Chat, when Nehemiah, the devout statesman, went up to the dilapidated
capital of the land which above all others he loved, there is not any
thing to indicate that the God of his fathers was not addressed by all
his titles.
Some scholars claim that the Jews who remained in Persia did not
walk closely with God, did not serve him with holy boldness and zeal,
and therefore his name and special visible presence were not with them.
Some rabbis say that Mordecai wrote the Book of Esther, not men
tioning the name of God lest when the story should be read by heathen
lips the holy name of the Jews' God should be defiled. Not even the
Jews in Palestine ever pronounced the name Jehovah. They shrunk
with secret dread from having any of the titles of their Deity found in
the literature or conversation of the accursed nations.
We should state that there is in the Book of Esther no mention of
sacrifices ; of prayer ; of worship, other than fasting ; of the holy land ;
of the temple ; or of that patriotic feeling which is such a marked
feature in the Jewish character. Everything distinctively Jewish seems
to be sunk out of sight, and the writer is intent upon one thing — the
exhibition of a Providence which is ubiquitous, and adequate to the
needs of his people.
Bishop Wordsworth claims that we find a sufficient cause for conceal
ment of the divine name in the fact that the Jews who remained in
Persia loved Susa rather than Zion, " the courts of earthly princes
more than the church of the living God." They chose the path of ease
and selfish pleasure rather than the rugged and dangerous ways in
which the people of God have ever, in this their weary pilgrimage,
been called to walk. The Lord recompensed them according to their
righteousness. They did not profess him, and he withheld his glory
from them.
2. Another explanation of the absence of God's name from the
Book of Esther is that the book is a literal translation from the official
records of the Persian court.
If this were true, we should expect the book not only to breathe the
spirit, and abound in allusions to the customs, of the people to whom
the Jews were subject, but to retain their idioms and phraseology.
Canon Rawlinson has given a list of purely Persian words found in
the book. The entire document is transfused with the aroma of the
people over whom Xerxes proudly held sway.
This view of the origin of the book may enable us to explain some

EXCURSUSES. 163
things otherwise obscure ; but it is by no means the key that fits this
lock. The difficulties that it creates are more than those which it
removes. The official records of the Persian empire were written in
verse, and have the stamp of poetic rhythm. Were this book a literal
translation this element could not be concealed. We need not deny
that it is possible that God should excerpt from the diary of a volup
tuous and atrocious heathen monarch what he would put into his
volume as a part of his holy word, "profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness.'' A rose may be
plucked from a dunghill, and that rose may adorn the brow of a
queen. So the most useful lesson for the instruction of the church
may grow out of the conduct of notoriously wicked men. But a rose
is not a dunghill, nor is the Book of Esther necessarily a literal extract
from the official diary of Xerxes.
We have it on the highest authority, that " holy men of old spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost " ; and that " all scripture is
given by inspiration of God." Facts, nevertheless, may be derived
from any source. They may be recorded by a sacred penman, and
thus become a portion of the word which God has given to man.
There is no objection to the idea that whoever wrote this book had
the records of the Persian court before him when he wrote. There is
a marvellous historical accuracy and minuteness of detail in the book
which can best be explained in this way. But it scarcely harmonizes
with our ideas of inspiration and of the sacredness of the Bible to
think that one of its books was taken entire from the chronicles of
such a king as Xerxes.
3. The better and more probable explanation is that Mordecai or
Ezra, or some unknown devout Jew, was the author of the book ; and
that of design the name of God does not appear in it. God is in the
book. His overruling providence is apparent on every page. His
love for his people, his thwarting and punishing of them that hate
him and his are everywhere visible. The book thus considered is,
without a divine name written in it, in perfect harmony with the ways
and works of God.
Archbishop Trench says : " It was observed by one wise man to
another that his questions taught more than other people's answers."
And he adds : " The silence of Scripture is often more instructive than
the teaching of other books." One of the strongest proofs of the
inspiration of the Bible is its silence on many topics concerning which
an uninspired mind would have spoken. Robert Boyle says : " The
Scripture is like a dial, in which we are informed by the shadow as

164 EXCURSUSES.
well as by the light." Archer Butler remarks about the Bible : '' What
we see is holy ; but what we see not is holier still."
Many a time to repress an unhallowed curiosity, or to exercise his
people's faith, or to vindicate his own prerogative, or, it may be, to
evolve his own plans into clearer and grander harmony, God throws
a veil about some important matter. There is, however, no conceal
ment in the Bible upon matters that concern personal duty and the
salvation of the soul. All those points are made as clear as noonday.
Uepentance of sin and faith in the Crucified One cannot be made simpler
or more radiant. Upon these things there is no theorizing, even. The
great duties of life are dogmatically asserted in the Bible. "Thou
shalt not kill." " Thou shalt not steal." The processes by which the
results are arrived at are not given. We cannot see the reasons of
things as they present themselves to the divine mind. And if this
book be God's word, it must have concealments in it, or it would not
have the seal of the All-wise One on it. A beautiful book of the
Bible, without the Divine name may yet have a Divine impress, even
as the diamond, the most resplendent thing in the mineral kingdom, has
that impress, though bearing no inscription telling its author.
The Bible is as remarkable for what is not written in it as for what
is written. This silence constitutes one of the most important elements
of grandeur in the word of God. " It is the glory of God to conceal a
thing" (Prov. xxv. 2). How many times Jesus charged his disciples
that they " should tell no man " that he was the Christ, or blazon abroad
his wonderful works. Is not this explanation of it found in the words
of Isaiah : " He shall not strive nor cry ; neither shall any man hear
his voice in the street " ? Are we not taught that one of the most
marked evidences of the Messiahship of Jesus was his silence ? The
Son of God did not shout and cry in the world. That was not the
evidence of his divinity. He came like the sunbeam, softly, silently,
gently on the world, and did his saving work. He came like the dew,
noiselessly blessing humanity ; not like the tempest with roaring winds,
or the riving lightning, or pealing thunder. The truly divine element
in God or man is the • silent one. Noise, display, demonstration,
parade are of the earth, earthy, or belong to the coarser forms of
selfishness. If we take the life of Christ as given to us by the evangelists and
consider it as one whole, how large a part of it is concealed ! Who can
tell the day of his birth ; the day of his baptism ; the exact time of
his entering upon his public ministry ; the number of parables or
discourses he spoke ; the number of miracles he wrought ; the

EXCURSUSES. Ig5
number of converts he made; the number in his audience on any
particular day ; the number of cities he visited ? Who can tell what
he did the first twelve years of his life ? Who can tell anything about
the eighteen years just preceding his entrance upon his public ministry?
No epoch in his life, except his passion, his resurrection, and ascension
is so designated that its precise anniversary can be determined. How
unlike many human biographies !
Then who can reproduce the stature, the mien, the features of Jesus ?
Raphael has done all that art can do to give us a picture of the Crucified
One ; but we have only the product of Raphael's imagination. Jesus
did not sit for his portrait, nor did artist carve his bust. Concealment
characterizes the life of the Son of Man.
These things being true we are not surprised to find two books of
Sacred Scripture in which the name of God does not appear. God
would have us love and reverence his character and delight in his
spiritual power and presence, rather than stand aghast before any sym
bol of himself expressed in letters.
Consider the rose that blossoms so beautifully at your feet. Yon
cannot spell out in letters the name of God on it ; but is not the wit
ness there ? Put it under the microscope ; is not its perfection of
parts divine ? Are not the tinting and scolloping divine ? Is not the
fragrance beyond what human skill can produce ? Is not the life-
principle in it superhuman ? It would be superfluous to write upon
the rose : God made me.
Consider the human hand, study its parts, its powers, its adaptations.
You cannot find the three letters " God" written there ; but how plainly
God is seen in the wisdom and benevolence displayed in the mechanism
of the hand. " For every house is builded by some man ; but he that
built all things is God " ( Heb. iii. 4 ).
We may, then, explain the absence of the name of God from the
book of Esther by design. It is thus in harmony with the ways and
the works of God.
4. Though the name of God is not written in letters in the Book
of Esther, his presence and power, all his adorable attributes, are
manifest in every part of it.
A kind and loving Father, caring for his children, comes to view at
every point. When his children are caught in the net which the
wicked have spread for them, he does not forsake them, but provides
means for their deliverance. Let the wickedness of the enemy rise to
: its greatest height, God rises up over his own loved ones as a wall of
: fire for their protection. He is ever on the side of virtue and innocence.

1G6 EXCURSUSES.
He turns the plots of the wicked to their own destruction. Haman is
hung on his own gallows, and Mordecai is rewarded for his bold stand
for the people of God.
In the whole annals of mankind you can find no passage of history,
profane or sacred, that in its spirit and atmosphere has more of God
in it than the Book of Esther. There is no need that the Almighty
One should proclaim his name, to be seen and felt in all the fulness of
his glory and power.
Read the story of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, omitting
the name of God. Is it needed there ? Do not the dp.eds proclaim
their Author ? When it reads ; God divided the Red sea ; God sent
manna to feed his people ; God caused the water to Qow out of the
rock, is there any need of the word "God" ? Can any but God perform
such things ?
So when, in this Book of Esther, we see a plot cunningly devised,
having on its side all the power and influence of the greatest worldly
empire then existing ; when we see the axe lifted over the neck of this
people, ready to fall and exterminate them ; yet a hand stretched out,
mighty enough and pitying enough to deliver them and turn what was
intended for their overthrow into the means of their glory, is there
any need of saying : God did this ? The protection, the wisdom, the
infinitude of holy attributes shining out on every page, tell who deliv
ered the endangered people. " The heavens declare the glory of God ;
and the firmament showeth his handiwork." But in this Book of
Esther God is declared more signally than in the heavens. Not only
wisdom, but love shines here. " God is love." We do not know that
love is displayed in the ordering of the planets. Wisdom and power
are visible in the hosts that deck our nightly sky. But the distinctive
attribute of our God is not seen in these works, as it is in the events
recorded in the book before us. From the first chapter to the last we
are made to wonder at the exhibition of a divine love, which is ever
present to guard and keep his chosen ones. Wherever pure, infinite
Love reveals her face, God, in all the plentitude of his being, is present.
5. From the literary character of the Bible, we should expect some
books, like this, to represent the anonymous style of composition.
One of the marvellous features of the Bible is its variety, the multi
plicity of forms in which it sets before us divine truth. Every enno
bling kind of poetry is found in the Bible. In it is history in all its
phases ; there are orations, epistles, hymns, sermons, parables, fables,
proverbs, prophecies, narratives, allegories, biographies, and dialogues ;
every literary device — such as acrostic, alliteration, and puns ; every

EXCURSUSES. 167
figure of rhetoric is found here. Among its authors are two kings,
two fishermen, one lawgiver, one judge, one premier, one governor,
' one priest, one farmer, one tent-maker, one publican, one physician,
more than one missionary, several prophets and poets. Women may
in a sense be reckoned among its authors. Every legitimate method
of attracting human attention is resorted to in God's word. No taste
which man should cultivate can fail of its needed food here.
Voltaire said of the Book of Ruth that for simplicity and grace there
was nothing in the ancient classics that equalled it. Many a youth
who has turned with dislike from the Assembly's Catechism has read
with avidity Pilgrim's Progress, though the latter teaches the same
doctrines as the former. Pilgrim's Progress presents the truth with
an appeal to the imagination. The names of the doctrines are not
, given, but the doctrines themselves are made most prominent. One
most effective way to inculcate doctrines is to conceal their titles.
Wherein is the charm of the Lord's prayer ? The word " God " is
not in it ; but the mercy and the love, the providing and delivering
compassion, of God are there. He sits enthroned in every clause of
it, and we think of nothing but God when we recite it. The power
of this prayer of prayers is in its laying aside the formal recognition of
Deity ; in its making no attempt to address the cold intellect of man ;
but in speaking at once to the heart in the language of man's needs.
In the words " Then shall enlargement and deliverance arise to the
Jews from another place," we find no title of Deity ; but who can read
the words in their connection without feeling that the idea of God is
prominent ? In the author's mind, " another place " was nothing less
than the throne of God. Here is the language of faith, which does not
care to syllable its object, but rather describes it by its bringing deliv
erance to an imperilled nation. One Jew speaking to another would
put no other interpretation on such words.
The first Book of Maccabees, consisting of sixteen chapters, has not
the name of God in it. It is a kind of theistic narrative, — the Deity
made much more prominent to the mind because he is not apparent
to sense.
De Quincy divides all literature into two classes, — literature of
knowledge and literature of power. The one is for construction, and
has to do with the thinking faculties ; the other is to move men, and
has to do with man's actions and moral nature. Milton's Paradise
Lost or Homer's Iliad does not prove anything. There is no demon
stration in them ; but they stir the souls of men. They speak to the
heart and fill the soul with quickening images. Longfellow's Psalm

168 EXCURSUSES.
of Life has been an inspiration to many a one whose dull intellect
would have slept till the crack of doom. " With the heart man
believeth unto righteousness." With the heart he grasps the noblest
and grandest facts of his being.
The Book of Esther is addressed to the heart of humanity. It does
not tell us in every verse, or in any verse, that God watches over and
protects his people ; but we see him doing it, and the impression is
made at every step, deep and strong, that we are reading a recital of
the deeds of him who inhabiteth eternity. Many a person who would
turn from the Book of Exodus as only simple prose, has opened the
Book of Esther and read it with avidity. His attention is riveted by a
series of events which are ascribed to no author, and the conviction is
forced upon him that none but God could work so marvellously.
The Jews rank this book next to the Pentateuch in importance. It
is a wonderful tragedy with the denouement averted. Jehovah is the
chief actor, all the more plainly seen because his name is not written.
One of the most attractive kinds of composition is that in which
actions are recorded, and from them the reader must spell out the
names of the actors. Much of the instruction of our Lord belongs to
this class. Turn the parable of the Prodigal Son into simple nar
rative. How you have shorn it of beauty and of strength ! As it
stands it is the " gospel within the gospel." The name of God does
not occur in it ; but we think of nothing but God as a loving and
merciful Father when we read it. So the Book of Esther is an Old
Testament parable, in which the concealments furnish one of the chief
attractions. We read it and spontaneously exclaim : How wonderfully
God interposed to save his people from the jaws of the devouring lion.
Then our faith in the divine love and protection is strengthened, and
we rejoice that " He who keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor
sleep." He is mighty to save all that put their trust in him.
6. An inspired book without the divine name suggests first, that
God is in many things where now we see him not !
How many of us receive blessings day by day, hour by hour, with
out remembering who is the author ! The water that we drink, who
created it ? We can analyze it — two parts of hydrogen to one of
oxygen ; but who could manufacture it to supply our homes ? The
air that we breathe ; how dependent we are on its quality and quan
tity. We can tell its constituents, but we could not supply ourselves
with it for one hour. The food that we eat is wrought into blood and
tissue and muscle by a force which neither the scalpel nor the micro
scope can detect.

EXCURSUSES. 169
We are in this wonderful laboratory of God and witness his work
ing, but how little we are moved by it to own and bless the hand
divine by which all that we have and are consist ! The poet wrote :
'¦ An undevout astronomer is mad." Is it not madness, too, to live
in the midst of blessings innumerable and never adore the Giver?
The name of God is not written on the health which we enjoy, on
the business talents which we possess, on the social gifts with which we
are endowed, on the scholarship which we have, on the thousand com
forts and joys of our homes ; but their very nature proves them divine.
Unless gratitude and love are awakened in our hearts towards the all-
bountiful Giver of these benefactions, how can we hope to spend count
less ages with him, extolling his goodness and celebrating his praise ?
Secondly, is not a lesson suggested here with reference to the trials
and troubles of life ? "What a volume it would take to describe the
sorrows and griefs of some, whose hearts are bleeding as their eyes
run over these pages ! You look back over the past of your pilgrimage,
scanning it step by step, and all seems dark and gloomy. You try to
find some visible token of the Divine One in the discipline, the losses,
and disappointments which have come upon you. Your soul often
cries out : How long, 0 Lord, before these dark and unmeaning
calamities shall be past ?
Does not the Book of Esther cast a ray of light on your condition ?
What disasters were imminent to God's people at that time ! What
a huge, black cloud was ready to burst and pour all its contents ou
them ! "What sure and sudden destruction threatened the whole
Jewish people ! And how wonderfully the deliverance came ! As
you read the book no name of God appears ; but how manifest are
his saving love and power ! On every page we trace the workings'of
the divine hand, shaping all things for the rescue of them that love him.
In our trials, our misfortunes, and perplexities God is present. We
may not with the dull ear of sense hear his voice, or with the glazed
eyes of earth behold his glory ; but be is causing all things to work
together for the good of them that trust in him, and is transmuting
our sorrows into light and joy eternal. When on the other shore we
see as we are seen, it will be manifest to us that in these dark places
of our pilgrimage the presence and power of the Almighty One were
with us and it was his loving hand that guarded us. " The Lord is
"thy keeper." God is with us, though we see him not. When human
strength and wisdom fail us we can look up to the throne where the
ever-living and all-loving One sits, being assured that if we are his
children " enlargement and deliverance will arise " to us.
22

170 EXCURSUSES.
EXOUESUS P.
THE SEPTUAGINT ESTHER.
Since the Greek version of Esther contains remarkable additions
and variations frequently referred to in this volume, we have thought
best to give its English translation. A very exact rendering of the
Septuagint into our language is published by S. Bagster and Sons. As
this is easily accessible we have chosen to become indebted to that of
Charles Thomson. In doing so, we hope to call further attention to a
work of which American Bible scholars, at least, should not be ignorant,
— "The Old Covenant, commonly called the Old Testament, translated
from the Septuagint. By Charles Thomson, late Secretary of the Con
gress of the United States. Printed by Jane Aitkin. Philadelphia.
1808." Prof. Francis Bowen, in the Princeton Review for Jan. 1883,
has represented the excellences of this translation. As Thomson does
not give the additions, we have borrowed these from Bagster, and mark
them by brackets.
[In the second year of the reign of Artaxerxes the great king, on
the first day of Nisan, Mardochaeus the son of Jairus, the son of
Semeias, the son of Cisaeus, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Jew dwelling
in the city Susa, a great man, serving in the king's palace, saw a
vision. Now he was of the captivity which NabuchAdonosor king of
Babylon had carried captive from Jerusalem, with Jechonias the king
of Judea.
And this was his dream : Behold, voices and a noise, thunders and
earthquake, tumult upon the earth. And, behold, two great serpents
came forth, both ready for conflict, and there came from them a great
voice, and by their voice every nation was prepared for battle, even to
fight against the nation of the just. And, behold, a day of darkness
and blackness, tribulation and anguish, affliction and great tumult upon
the earth. And all the righteous nation was troubled, fearing their
own afflictions ; and they prepared to die, and cried to God : and from
their cry there came as it were a great river from a little fountain,
even much water. And light and the sun arose, and the lowly were
exalted, and devoured the honorable.
And Mardochaeus who had seen this vision and what God designed
to do, having awoke, kept it in his heart, and desired by all means to
interpret it, even till night. And Mardochaeus rested quiet in the
palace with Gabatha and Tharrha the king's two chamberlains, eunuchs
who guarded the palace. And he heard their reasonings and searched
out their plans, and learnt that they were preparing to lay hands on

EXCURSUSES. 171
king Artaxerxes : and he informed the king concerning them. And
the king examined the two chamberlains, and they confessed, and were
executed. And the king wrote these things for a memorial ; also Mar
dochaeus wrote concerning these matters. And the king commanded
Mardochaeus to attend in the palace, and gave him gifts for this service.
And Aman the son of Amadathes the Bugaean was honorable in the
sight of the king, and he endeavored to hurt Mardochaeus and his peo
ple, because of the two chamberlains of the king.]
I. After these things, in the days of Artaxerxes the same who
2 reigned from India, over a hundred aud twenty-seven provinces,
3 when Artaxerxes was settled on his throne in the city Susoi, in the
third year of his reign, he made an entertainment for his friends, both
for other nations, and for the nobles of the Persians and Medes, and
4 for the governors. And having after this displayed to them the
riches of his kingdom, and the transporting glory of his riches, for a
5 hundred and eighty days ; when the days of his marriage were ful
filled, the king made an entertainment for all the nations who were
6 in the city for six days, in the court of the royal palace, which was
adorned with painted hangings of cotton, extended with cords of
cotton and purple yarn, to capitals of gold and silver, on pillars of
1 parian marble and alabaster. The couches were of gold and silver,
on a pavement of smaragdine, pinine, and parian stone ; and their
covers were of gauze, painted with a variety of flowers, and roses
were scattered all around. The goblets of gold and silver, with a
small carbuncled cup to each, amounted in value to thirty thousand
talents. There was wine in abundance, and of a sweet quality, such as
8 the king himself drank. Now this entertainment was not according
to an established custom ; but the king would have it so, and he com
manded the stewards to comply with his pleasure, and that of the
9 guests. Astin the queen also made an entertainment for the women
10 in the royal palace, where king Artaxerxes was. And on the seventh
day, the king, in high good humor, ordered Aman and Bazan and
Tharra and Baraze and Zatholtha and Abataza and Tharaba, the seven
11 chamberlains who waited on king Artaxerxes, to bring the queen to
him to proclaim her queen, and crown her with a diadem, and show
her to the chiefs, and her beauty to the nations ; for she was beauti-
12 ful. But queen Astin hearkened not to him to come with the cham
berlains, at which the king was greatly offended and inflamed with
13 anger, and he said to his friends, Astin hath spoken so and so ; do
you therefore execute law and judgment, touching this matter.

172 EXCURSUSES.
11 Thereupon there came before him, Arkesaius and Sarsathaius and
Malisear the chiefs of the Persians and the Medes, who were near
15 the king, and had the flrst seats next to him ; and told him according
to the laws what ought to be done to queen Astin, because she had
16 not done what the king commanded by the chamberlains. And
Muchaius said to the king and to the chiefs. Queen Astin hath wronged,
17 not the king only, but also all the king's chiefs and leaders ; for he
hath told them the queen's conduct, and how she hath contradicted
18 the king. Therefore as she has contradicted the king Artaxerxes, so
will the rest of the ladies now, the wives of the Persian and Medean
princes, upon hearing what she hath said to the king, presume in like
19 manner to dishonor their husbands. If, therefore, it seemeth good
to the king, let him pass a royal decree, and let it be written accord-
20 ing to the laws of the Medes and Persians, and let him not alter it, nor
suffer the queen any more to approach him ; but let the king give
her royalty to another woman, better than her.(!) And let this edict
of the king be proclaimed, which if he cause to be done throughout his
kingdom, then will all the women, both rich and poor, pay respect
21 to their husbands. And the speech pleased the king and the princes ;
22 and the king did as Muchaius had spoken, and sent the decree
throughout the whole kingdom, into every province in the language
and writing thereof, that men might be feared by their own families.
II. After this when the king's wrath was appeased and he no more
remembered Astin, nor made any mention of what she had spoken,
2 and how he had condemned her ; the king's servants said. Let there
be sought for the king a virgin of unblemished chastity, and beauti-
3 ful ; and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his king
dom, and let them select and send to the city Susoi to the house of
the women, virgins remarkable for beauty ; and let them be delivered
to the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women ; and let the
4 things necessary for purification be given them. And let the woman
who shall please the king be made queen in the room of Astin. And
the proposal pleased the king, and he did so.
5 Now there was at the city of Susoi, a man, a Jew, whose name
was Mordecai. He was the son of Jairus, the son of Semeias, the
Ii son of Kisaius, of the tribe of Benjamin. He had been carried away
captive from Jerusalem among them whom Nabuchodonosor king of
7 Babylon had captivated. And this man had a foster child, a daughter
of Aminadab, his father's brother ; and her name was Esther. On
the decease of her parents he educated her to be a wife for himself.

EXCURSUSES. 173
8 But as the girl was beautiful, when the decree of the king was pub
lished, and many young women were brought to the city Susoi and
put under the care of Gai, Esther also was brought to Gai the keeper
9 of the women. And the young woman pleased him and found favor
in his sight, so that he hastened to give her the things for purification
and the allotted portion ; and seven waiting maids were assigned to
her out of tbe king's house ; and he treated her and ber maids cour-
10 teously in the house of the women. Now Esther did not disclose
ber family nor her country ; for Mordecai had charged her not to
11 tell. But Mordecai walked every day before the court of the
women's house to see what would happen to Esther.
12 Now the time for every young woman to go to the king was when
she bad completed twelve months; for thus were the days of their
' purification fulfilled. Six months they were anointed with oil of
myrrh, and six months with aromatics and lotions used by women.
13 Then she goeth in to the king. The keeper is to deliver her to
whomsoever the king ordereth to go with her from the women's
11 apartment to the king's house. In the evening she goeth in, and in
the morning goeth with all speed to the second house of the women,
which is under the care of Gai, the king's chamberlain, the keeper of
the women, and no more cometh to the king unless called for by name.
15 So when the time was fulfilled for Esther the daughter of Aminadab,
Mordecai's uncle, to go to the king, she neglected nothing which the
chamberlain the keeper of the women ordered her ; for Esther found
IS favor with all who saw her. And Esther went in to Artaxerxes the
king, in the twelfth month which is the month Adar, in the seventh
17 year of his reign. And the king was enamored of Esther, and she
18 found favor above all the virgins, so that he set the queen's crown on
her bead and made an entertainment for all his friends and poten
tates for seven days, and to celebrate the marriage of Esther he made
a release to those under his government.
19 Now Mordecai performed service in the court, and Esther had not
29 yet declared her family ; for Mordecai having charged her in this
manner to fear God and execute his commands as when she was
21 with him, Esther did not alter her conduct. And two of the king's
chamberlains, who were captains of Ids life-guard, being displeased
because Mordecai was promoted, sought to kill king Artaxerxes.
22 But the matter being made known to Mordecai, he informed Esther,
23 and she disclosed the conspiracy to the king; whereupon the king
having examined the chamberlains, caused them to be hanged, and
ordered a record to be made in the royal library with an encomium
on Mordecai's fidelity.

174 EXCURSUSES.
III. After these things king Artaxerxes honored Haman ol Ama-
2 dathus the Bongaian, and promoted him, and seated him first of all
his friends, so that all the court bowed down to him, for so the king
J had commanded to be done. But Mordecai did not bow down to him ;
whereupon they who were in the king's court said to him, Mordecai,
4 why transgressest thou the king's command. And when they spoke
to him daily and he hearkened not to them, they told Haman that
Mordecai disobeyed the king's commands. Now Jlordecai bad told
5 them that he was a Jew. So when Ilaman understood that Mor-
6 decai did not bow down to him, he was greatly inflamed with wrath,
and determined to destroy all the Jews throughout the whole king-
I dom of Artaxerxes. And having drawn up a decree in the twelfth
year of the reign of Artaxerxes, he cast lots for one day after another
and for one month after another so as to destroy the whole race of
8 Mordecai in one day. And the lot having fallen on the fourteenth
day of the month Adar, lie spoke to king Artaxerxes, saying. There
is a nation scattered among the nations throughout thy whole king
dom, whose laws differ from all the nations. And as they disobey
the king's laws and it is not expedient for the king to let them alone ;
9 if it seemeth good to the king, let him pass a decree to destroy them,
and I will subscribe ten thousand talents of silver to the king's
19 treasury. Thereupon the king taking off his ring gave it to Ilaman
11 to seal the writings against the Jews. And the king said to Haman,
12 Keep the money, and do with the nation what thou pleasest. So
the king's secretaries were convened on the thirteenth day of
the first month, and they wrote as Haman directed to the generals
and the governors in every province, from India to Ethiopia, a
hundred and twenty-seven provinces, and to the chiefs of the
nations, according to their dialect, in the name of king Artaxerxes,
13 and the decree was despatched by posts throughout the whole king
dom of Artaxerxes, to destroy the race of the Jews on a certain day
of the twelfth month which is Adar, and to make spoil of their goods.
[And the following is tlie copy of the letter : The great king
Artaxerxes writes thus to the rulers and inferior governors of a hun
dred and twenty-seven provinces, from India even to Ethiopia, who
hold authority under him. Ruling over many nations, and having
obtained dominion over the whole world, I was minded (not elated by
the confidence of power, but ever conducting myself with great moder
ation and with gentleness), to make the lives of my subjects continually
tranquil, desiring both to maintain the kingdom quiet and orderly to its

EXCURSUSES. 175
utmost limits, and to restore the peace desired by all men. But when
I had enquired of my counsellors how this should be brought to pass,
Aman, w ho excels in soundness of judgment among us, and has been
manifestly well inclined without wavering and with unshaken fidelity,
and has obtained the second post in the kingdom, informed us that a
certain ill-disposed people is mixed up with all the tribes throughout
the world, opposed in their laws to every other nation, and continually
neglecting the commands of the kings, so that the united government
blamelessly administered by us is not quietly established. Having
then conceived that this nation alone of all others is continually set in
opposition to every man, introducing as a change a foreign code of
laws, and injuriously plotting to accomplish the worst of evils against
our interests, and against the happy establishment of the monarchy;
we have accordingly appointed those who are signified to you in the
letters written by Aman, who is set over the public affairs and is our
second governor, to destroy them all utterly with their wives aud chil
dren by the swords of the enemies, without pitying or sparing any, on
the fourteenth day of the twelfth month Adar, of the present year ;
that the people aforetime and now ill-disposed io us, having been vio
lently consigned to death in one day, may hereafter secure to us con
tinually a well constituted and quiet state of affairs.^
Ii And copies of the decree were to be sent throughout every province,
15 and all the nations were ordered to be ready against that day. A nd
when the business was despatched at Susoi, the king and Haman sat
down to revel, but the city was struck with consternation.
IV. Now when Mordecai knew what was done, he rent his clothes
and put on sackcloth and strewed himself with ashes, and running
through the streets of the city, he cried with ix loud voice, A nation
2 is to be cut off, which hath committed no fault But when he came
to the king's gate, he stopped ; for it was not lawful for him to enter
3 the court in sackcloth and ashes. And in every country where the
writings were published there was a cry with lamentation and great
4 grief among the Jews, and they put on sackcloth and ashes. When
the queen's maids and chamberlains came in and told her, she was
troubled at the news, and sent to clothe IMordecai and to take away
5 his sackcloth from him ; but he would not be persuaded. Then
Esther called Achrathaius her chamberlain, who attended her, and
sent him to learn from Mordecai an exact state of the matter.
1 Whereupon Mordecai told him what was done, and the promise which
Haman had made to the king of ten thousand talents to the royal

176 EXCURSUSES.
8 treasury, that he might destroy the Jews ; and he gave him a copy
of the decree for their destruction which was published among the
Susians to show it to Esther, and told him that he charged her to go
in and supplicate the king and to entreat him for the people, calling
to mind the days of thy humiliation when thou wast brought up by
my bounty. Seeing Haman who is second to the king, hath spoken
against us to destroy us, call thou upon the Lord and speak to the
9 king for us, to deliver us from death. Accordingly, Achrathaius
19 went in and told her all these words. Thereupon Esther said to
him, Go to Mordecai, and tell hira, that all the nations of the king-
11 dom know, that no man or woman who shall go to the king into the
inner court without being sent for hath any security for life ; he
only can be saved to whom the king shall stretch forth the golden
sceptre. Now I have not been called to go to the king these thirty
12 days. When Achrathaius delivered this message of Esther to Mor-
13 decai, Mordecai said to him. Go say to her, Esther, do not flatter
thyself that thou alone of all the Jews in the kingdom shall escape.
14 Be assured, that if thou neglectest the present opportunity, help and
protection will come to the Jews from some other quarter ; but thou
and thy father's house shall be destroyed. Who knoweth but for
15 this very occasion thou hast been made queen. (?) Then Esther
16 sent back the messenger to Mordecai, saying. Go and assemble the
Jews who are at Susoi and fast for me. You must neither eat nor
drink for three days, night nor day ; and as for me, I and my maids
will fast likewise, and then I will go to the king contrary to law,
though perhaps I must die.
17 So Mordecai went and did as Esther commanded him.
[And he besought the Lord, making mention of all the works of the
Lord ; and he said. Lord God, King ruling over all, for all things are
in thy power, and there is n-^ one that shall oppose thee in thy purpose
to save Israel. For thou hast made the heaven and the earth, and
every wonderful thing in the world under heaven. And thou art Lord
of all, and there is no one who shall resist thee the Lord. Thou
knowest all things : thou knowest. Lord, that it is not in insolence,
nor haughtiness, nor love of glory that I have done this, to refuse
obeisance to the haughty Aman. For I would gladly have kissed the
soles of his feet for the safety of Israel. But I liave done this, that I
might not set the glory of man above the glory of God : and I will
not worship any one except thee, my Lord, and I will not do these
things in haughtiness. And now, 0 Lord God, the King, the God

EXCURSUSES. 177
of Abraam, spare thy people, for our enemies are looking upon us
to ov,r destruction, and they have desired to destroy thine ancient
inheritance. Do not overlook thy peculiar people, whom thou hast
redeemed for thyself out of the land of Egypt. Hearken to my
prayer, and be propitious to thine inheritance, and turn our mourn
ing into gladness, that we may live and sing praise to thy name, 0
Lord ; and do not utterly destroy the mouth of them that praise thee,
O Lord.
And all Israel cried with all their might, for their death was before
their eyes. And queen Esther betook herself for refuge to the Lord,
being taken as it were in tbe agony of death. And having taken olf
her glorious apparel, she put on garments of distress and mourning ;
and instead of grand perfumes she filled her head with ashes and dung,
and she greatly brought down her body, and she filled every place of
her gl.ad adorning with the torn curls of her hair.
And she besought the Lord God of Israel, and said, 0 my Lord,
thou alone art our king ; help me who am destitute, and have no helper
but thee, for my danger is near at hand. I have heard from my birth,
in the tribe of my kindred, that thou. Lord, tookest Israel out of all
the nations, and our fathers out of all their kindred for a perpetual
inheritance, and hast wrought for them all that thou hast said. And
now we have sinned before thee, and thou hast delivered us into the
hands of our enemies, because we honored their gods ; thou art
righteous, O Lord. But now they have not been contented with the
bitterness of our slavery, but have laid their hands on the hands of
their idols, in order to abolish the decree of thy mouth, and utterly to
destroy thine inheritance, and to stop the mouth of them that praise
thee, and to extinguish the glory of thine house and thine altar, and to
open the mouth of the Gentles to speak the praises of vanities, and in
order that a mortal king should be admired for ever.
O Lord, do not resign thy sceptre to them that are not, and let them
not laugh at our fall, but turn their counsel against themselves, and
make an example of him who has begun to injure us. Remember us,
0 Lord, manifest thyself in the time of our affliction, and encourage
me, O King of gods, and Ruler of all dominion. Put harmonious speech
into my mouth before the lion, and turn his heart to hate him that
fiwhts against us, to the utter destruction of him and of them that con-
sent with him. But deliver us by thine hand, and help me who am
destitute, and have none but thee, O Lord. Thou knowest all things,
and knowest that I hate the glory of transgressors, and that I abhor
the couch of the uncircumcised, and of every stranger. Thou knowest
23

178 EXCURSUSES.
my necessity, for I abhor the symbol of my proud station, which is
upon my head in the days of my splendor ; I abhor it as a menstrous
cloth, and I wear it not in the days of my tranquility. And. thy
handmaid has not eaten at the table of Aman, and I have not
honored the banquet of the king, neither have I drunk wine of liba
tions. Neither has thy handmaid rejoiced since the day of my pro
motion until now, except in thee, O Lord God of Abraam. O God,
who hast power over all, hearken to the voice of the desperate, and
deliver us from the hand of them that devise mischief ; and deliver me
from my fear.
And it came to pass on the third day, when she had ceased pray
ing, that she put off her mean dress, and put ou her glorious apparel.
And being splendidly arrayed, and having called upon God the
Overseer and Preserver of all things, she took her two maids, and she
leaned upon one, as a delicate female, and the other followed bearing
her train. And she was blooming in the perfection of her beauty;
aud her face was cheerful, as it were benevolent, but her heart was
straitened for fear. And having passed through all the doors, she
stood before the king: and he was sitting upon his royal throne, and
he had put ou all his glorious apparel, covered all over with gold and
precious stones, and was very terrible. And having raised his face
resplendent with glory, he looked with intense anger : and the queen
fell, and changed her color as she fainted ; and she bowed herself
upon the head of the maid that went before her. But God changed
the spirit of the king to gentleness, and in intense feeling he
sprang from off his throne, and took her into his arms, until she
recovered : and he comforted her with peaceable words, and said to
her. What is the matter, Esther ? I am thy brother ; be of good cheer,
thou shalt not die, for our command is openly declared to thee. Draw
nigh. Aud having raised the golden sceptre he laid it upon her neck, and
embraced her, and said. Speak to me. And she said to him, I saw
thee, my lord, as an angel of God, and my heart was troubled for fear
of thy glory ; for thou, my lord, art to be wondered at, and thy face is
full of grace. And while she was speaking, she fainted and fell. Then
the king was troubled, and all bis servants comforted her.]
V. And on the third day Esther put on her royal apparel and
stood in the inner court of the king's palace over against the king's
house, when the king was sitting on his royal throne, in the royal

EXCURSUSES. 179
i house, over against the gate. And when the king saw Esther stand
ing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight, and the king held
out to Esther the golden sceptre which was in his hand, and Esther
3 drew near and touched the top of the sceptre. And the king said.
What would queen Esther? And what is thy petition? To the
4 half of my kingdom it shall be granted thee. Thereupon Esther
said. To-day is my set day ; if, therefore, it seemeth good to the
king, let him come with Ilaman to the banquet which I will this day
5 prepare. And the king said, Call Ilaman quickly that we may do
6 as Esther hath said. So they both went to the banquet which
Esther had ordered. And at the banquet the king said to Esther,
7 What would queen Esther? Whatever thou askest shall be granted.
8 To which she replied, If 1 have found favor in the sight of the king,
let the king come again with Haman to-morrow to the banquet
which I will prepare for them, and to-morrow I will make my
9 request and my petition. Then Haman went out from the king
overjoyed and gladdened ; but upon seeing Mordecai the Jew in the
10 court, he was inflamed with great indignation. So going home, he
11 called his friends and his wife Zosara, and having displayed to them his
riches and the honor which the king had conferred on him ; how he had
promoted him to the highest rank and made him ruler of the kingdom,
12 the queen, said he, invited none to the banquet with the king, but only
13 me : and to-morrow I am invited ; but these things give me no pleasure,
14 when I see Mordecai tbe Jew in the court. Thereupon Zosara his wife
and bis friends said to him. Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made for
thee, and early in the morning speak to the king and let Mordecai be
hanged thereon, then go to the banquet with the king and take thy fill
of joy. And the thing pleased Haman. So the gallows was got ready.
VI. Now on that night the Lord removed sleep from the king,
therefore be ordered his attendants to bring the book of daily records,
2 and read to him ; and finding what was written concerning Mordecai,
how he had informed the king of the king's two chamberlains, when
they commanded the guard, and sought to lay hands on Artaxerxes,
3 the king said, What honor or favor did we confer on Mordecai ? To
4 which tbe king's servants re[flied, Thou hast conferred none. And
while the king was making inquiry concerning Mordecai's fidelity
behold Haman was in the court. And the king said. Who is in the
court ? Now Haman had come to speak to the king, th.at he might
order Mordecai to be hanged on the gallows which he had prepared.
S So the king's servants said. Behold Haman is standing in the court.

180 EXCURSUSES.
6 and the king said, Call him in. And the king said to Haman, Wliat
sliall I do to the man whom I wish to honor ? Upon this Haman
7 said to himself. Whom doth the king wish to honor but me ? So he
said to the king. With regard to the man whom the king wisheth to
8 honor, let the king's servants bring out the royal robes with which
9 the king is arrayed, and the horse on which the king rideth, and give
them to one cf the most honorable of the king's friends, and let him
array the man whom the king loveth and mount him on the horse,
and make proclamation through the street of the city saying, Thus
10 shall it be done to every man whom tbe king honoreth. Then the
king said to Ilaman, Thou hast spoken well. Do thou so to Mordecai
the Jew, who is an attendant in the court. Let nothing be omitted
11 of what thou hast spoken. So Ilaman took the robe and the horse.
and having arrayed Mordecai he mounted him on the horse, and
went through the street of the city and made proclamation, say
ing, Thus shall it be done to every man whom the king wishetli
12 to honor. Then Mordecai returned to the court, and Haman
13 went home in grief with his head covered. And when Haman
told his wife and his friends all that had happened to him ; his
friends and his wife said, If Mordecai be of the race of the Jews
tliy humiliation before him is begun. Thou shalt continue fall
ing, and shalt not be able to have thy revenge of him ; for with
14 him is the living God. And while they were speaking the cham
berlains came to hasten Haman to the banquet which Esther had
prepared. VII. And when the king came with Haman to the banquet with the
2 queen, the king said to Esther the second day at the banquet, What
is it queen Esther? What is thy request, and what thy petition ? to
3 the half of my kingdom it shall be granted thee. Thereupon she
in reply said, If I have found favor in the sight of the king, let my
life be granted at my request, and my people at my petition ; for I
4 and my people are sold to be destroyed. Had it been to be plun
dered and reduced to slavery — that we and our children should be
bondmen and bondwomen, I would have dissembled hearing it, for
5 the accuser is not worthy of the king's court. And the king said.
Who is he who hath dared to do such a thing ? To which Esther
6 replied. The adversary is Ilaman, this bad man. At this Haman
was struck with consternation for fear of the king and the queen.
7 Then tbe king rising from the banquet went into the garden, and
Haman supplicated the queen, for he saw himself in a desperate

EXCURSUSES. 181
S situation. And on the king's returning out of the garden as Haman
had prostrated himself on the sopha to supplicate the queen, the king
said, What ! would he offer violence to my wife in my house ? Upon
9 hearing this Haman was confounded. Then Bngathan one of the
chamberlains said to the king. Behold Haman hath prepared a gal
lows for Mordecai who spoke for the king. There is at Haman's
house a gallows actually erected fifty cubits high. Thereupon the
10 king said. Let him be hanged thereon. So Haman was hanged on
the gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai, and the king's
anger was appeased.
VIII. And on that same day the king made a present to Esther
of all that belonged to Haman the accuser. And the king sent for
2 Mordecai (for Esther told him that he was her kinsman) ; and the
king took the ring which he had taken back from Haman and gave
it to Mordecai, and Esther set him over all that belonged to Haman.
3 Then she spoke to the king again and fell at his feet and besought
him to avert the mischief of Haman, and what he had devised against
4 the Jews. And when the king stretched forth the golden sceptre to
5 Esther, she arose and stood near the king and said. If it seemeth
good to thee, and I have found favor, let despatches be sent to
reverse the letters sent by Haman, which were written to destroy the
6 Jews who are in thy kingdom. For how can I see the calamity of
my people ? or how can I survive the destruction of my kindred ?
7 Thereupon the king said to Esther, If I have given thee all the sub
stance of Haman, and to gratify thee have caused him to be hanged
on a gallows, because he laid his hands on the Jews, what more dost
8 thou desire ? Write ye yourselves what you please in my name, and
seal it with my ring. For what is written by the king's order, and
sealed with my ring cannot be reversed.
9 So the secretaries were convened in the first month which is
Nisan, on the three and twentieth day thereof in the same year, and
a letter was written to the Jews reciting all that had been given
in charge to the lieutenants and to the chief governors of the pro
vinces from India to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven provinces,
19 to every province as they could read it, then it was written by the
king's command and sealed with his ring (and these letters were sent
11 by posts), that he ordered them to use their own laws in every city,
12 and to assist each other, and to use their adversaries and them who
assaulted them aa they pleased, on a certain day, the thirteenth of the
twelfth month Adar, throughout the whole kingdom of Artaxerxes, —

182 EXCURSUSES.
[(v. 13, etc.). And the following is the copy of the letter of the
orders. The great king Artaxerxes sends greeting to the rulers of provinces
in a hundred and twenty-seven satrapies, from India to Ethiopia, even
to those who are faithful to our interests. Many who have been fre
quently honoured by the most abundant kindness of their benefactors
have conceived ambitious designs, and not only endeavor to hurt our
subjects, but moreover, not being able to bear prosperity, they also
endeavor to plot against their own benefactors. And they not only
would utterly abolish gratitude from among men, but also, elated by
the boastings of men who are strangers to all that is good, they suppose
that they shall escape the sin-hating vengeance of the ever-seeing God.
And oftentimes evil exhortation has made partakers of the guilt of
shedding innocent blood, and has involved in irremediable calamities,
many of those who were appointed to offices of authority, who had been
entrusted with the management of their friends' affairs ; while men by
the false sophistry of an evil disposition, have deceived the simple
candor of the ruling powers. And it is possible to see this, not so much
from more ancient traditionary accounts, as it is immediately in your
power to see it by examining what things have been wickedly per
petrated by the baseness of men unworthily holding power. And it is
right to take heed with regard to the future, that we may maintain the
government in undisturbed peace for all men, adopting needful changes,
and ever judging those cases which come under our notice, with truly
equitable decision.
For whereas Aman, a Macedonian, the son of Amadathes, in reality
an alien from the blood of the Persians, and differing widely from our
mild course of government, having been hospitably entertained by us,
obtained so large a share of our universal kindness as to be called our
father, and to continue the person next to the royal throne, reverenced
of all ; he, however, overcome by the pride of his station, endeavored to
deprive us of our dominion, and our life ; having by various and subtle
artifices demanded for destruction both Mardochaeus our deliverer and
perpetual benefactor, and Esther the blameless consort of our kingdom,
with their whole nation. For by these methods he thought, having
surprised us in a defenceless state, to transfer the dominion of the Per
sians to the Macedonians. But we find that the Jews who have been
consigned to destruction by the most abominable of men, are not male
factors, but living according to the justest laws, and being the sons of
the living God, the most high and mighty, who maintains the kingdom,
to us as well as to our forefathers, in the most excellent order.

EXCURSUSES. 183
Ye will therefore do well in refusing to obey the letters sent by
Aman the son of Amadathes, because he that has done these things
has been hanged with his whole family at the gates of Susa, Almighty
God having swiftly returned to him a worthy recompense. We enj'cin
you then, having openly published a copy of this letter in every place,
to give the Jews permission to use their own lawful customs, and to
strengthen them, that on the thirteenth of the twelfth month Adar, on
the self-same day, they may defend themselves against those who
attacked them in the time of affliction. For in the place of the
destruction of the chosen race. Almighty God has granted them this
time of gladness.
Do ye therefore also, among your notable feasts, keep a distinct day
with all festivity, that both now and hereafter it may bo a day of
deliverance to us and those who are well disposed toward the Persians,
but to those that plotted against us a memorial of destruction. And
every city and province collectively, which shall not do accordingly,
shall be consumed with vengeance by spear and fire ; it shall be made
not only inaccessible to men, but also most hateful to wild beasts and
birds forever.]
13 that these subsequent writings were to counterbalance the former
letter ; and that these counterbalancing writings should be exposed
to public view throughout the whole kingdom, that the Jews might
14 be ready against that day to combat their adversaries. So the horse-
15 men set out in all haste to execute the king's orders. And when
the decree was published at Susoi, Mordecai went forth, arrayed
in a royal robe, wearing a crown of gold and a turban of purple
16 cotton. And upon seeing him the inhabitants of Susoi rejoiced.
17 And among the Jews, there was light and joy in every city and
province where the decree was published. Wherever proclamation
was made, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, feasting and
mirth ; so that many of the nations were circumcised and became
Jews, for fear of the Jews.
IX. For in the twelfth month, on the thirteenth of the month
Adar, the letters of the king having arrived, they who assaulted the
Jews on that day were destroyed. For none withstood them, and
terror of them continued ; for the great lords and petty princes and
the king's secretaries honored the Jews ; for the dread of Mordecai
4 fell upon them ; for the decree of the king had caused his name to
be known throughout the whole kingdom.

184 EXCURSUSES.
6 Now in the city Susoi, the Jews slew five hundred men, including
Pharsanes and Delphon, and Phasga and Pharadatha, and Barea
and Sarbaka, and Marmasima and Ruphaias, and Arsaius and Zabu-
thias, the ten sons of Ilaman of Amadathu the Bugaian, the enemy
11 of the Jews ; and rifled them. On that very day, when a return was
made to the king of the number slain at Susoi, the king said to
12 Esther, The Jews have slain in the city Susoi five hundred men, how
then, thinkest thou, have they behaved in the rest of the kingdom !
What therefore dost thou request farther, and it shall be granted
13 thee ? Thereupon Esther said to the king. Let the Jews be allowed
to use to-morrow in like manner, that they may hang np the ten sons
Ii of Haman. Accordingly he granted them leave to do so, and ordered
the bodies of the ten sons of Haman to be thrown out to the Jews to
15 be hanged up. So the Jews at Susoi assembled on the fourteenth
day of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men, but took no
spoil.
IB Now the rest of the Jews who were in the kingdom assembled
and assisted each other, and had rest from their enemies, for they
slew fifteen thousand of them on the thirteenth of the month Adar,
IT but took no spoil. And having rested on the fourteenth of the
month, they kept it as a day of rest, with joy and gladness.
18 But the Jews of Susoi having assembled on the fourteenth and then
19 rested, kept the fifteenth with joy and gladness. Therefore because
the Jews, who were scattered through all the distant provinces,
keep the fourteenth of the month Adar, as a holy day, with joy,
sending portions to one another, Mordecai wrote an account of these
matters in a book, and sent it to all the Jews who were in the king-
21 dom of Artaxerxes far and near, to set apart as holy days aud to
keep both the fourteenth and the fifteenth of the month Adar, for in
22 those days the Jews had rest from their enemies : And with regard to
the month Adar, in which they had a change from grief to joy, and
from sorrow to gladness, to keep the whole month as good days of wed-
23 dings and joy, sending portions to their friends and to the poor. And
24 the Jews took this upon them. As Mordecai wrote to them how
Haman of Amadathu, the Macedonian, warred against them — as
25 he made calculations and cast lots to destroy them, and as he went
to the king with an intention to hang Mordecai, but all the evils he
endeavored to bring on the Jews^ fell upon himself, and he and his
2C> sons were hanged ; therefore these days were called Phrouri, because
of the lots, which in their language are called Phrouri. On the
account of the things contained in that letter, and of all that they

EXCURSUSES. 185
27 suffered in consequence thereof, and all that happened to them, as
he instituted, so the Jews took upon themselves and their posterity,
and upon all that joined them, never to use them in any other man
ner. Therefore let these days be a lasting memorial from genera-
28 tion to generation, in every city, country, and province ; aud let
these days of Phrouri be kept forever ; and let the memorial of
them never perish from among their generations.
29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Aminadab, and Mordecai
the Jew, wrote all that they did, and a confirmation of the letter
39 respecting the Phrouri, which Mordecai and Esther the queen
enjoined on themselves, to their own prejudice, having at that time
established their counsel against their health. Thus did Esther
actually establish it, and it was written to be kept in remembrance.
X. Then the king laid a tribute upon the dominion, both of the
2 land and the sea. But with regard to his power and his valour and
the riches and the glory of his kingdom, behold they are written in
the book of the kings of the Persians and the Medes to be kept in
3 remembrance. Now Mordecai was viceroy of king Artaxerxes, aud
was great in the kingdom, and being honoured by the Jews and
beloved, he enforced the observance of their religion on all his
nation. [And Mardochaeus said. These things have been done of God. For
I remember the dream which I had concerning these matters ; for not
one particular of them has failed. There was the little fountain,
which became a river, and there was light, and the sun, and much
water. The river is Esther, whom the king married, and made queen.
And the two serpents are I and Aman. And the nations are those
nations that combined to destroy the name of the Jews. But as for
VD.J nation, this is Israel, even they that cried to God, and were
delivered ; for the Lord delivered his people, and the Lord rescued us
out of all these calamities ; and God wrought such signs and great
wonders as have not been done among the nations. Therefore did he
ordain two lots, one for the people of God, and one for all the other
nations. And these two lots came for an appointed season, and for a
day of judgment, before God, and for all the nations. And God
remembered his people, and vindicated his inheritance. And they
shall observe these days, in the month Adar, on the fourteenth and on
the fifteenth day of the month, with an assembly, and joy and gladness
before God, throughout the generations for ever among his people
Israel.

186 EXCURSUSES.
In the fourth year of the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, Dositheus,
who said that he was a priest and a Levite, and Ptolemy his son
brought in the published letter of Phrurae, which they said existed,
and which Lysimachus the son of Ptolemy, who was in Jerusalem,
had interpreted].

HEBREW lIsTDEX

1JN -jS
r-iax c-:B">yrnx c-'r-n-ctix
CIX^*? •,rx "'?¥"!>? Nnt3bnt5'ns xpr'i;;nn"ixx':ana-;-3n-.^a r-a
¦""? r'b^ira
'3-,-i5 1:5
-13'n
-a^ ^-an

PAGE.

PAGE

120 : -11!

113, 114,

116

120, 121 \t:-^-^_

92

94, 120 -nnti'

114

94, 120

1-^

113, 114,

116

71

r.^

34
94
n^'irn
29
52, 75
wh
29
92
c-iz'^n
47
94
"icsn
109
94, 156
nbar;
7
74
Tl^l'l
45,
109
66
".BBrt
89
137
mrian
88
133
¦|Bbu;n
109
104
¦'ni"
29
40
c-1??;!
88
88
i«?
88
32
Ts-it
91
92
- T
32
92
i]n
32
86
i!in
32
137
Dt^in
145
78
i'-'n
30
32
P?n
129
112, 116
isn
31
70
aori
73
97,98
raa
72
31, 104
nirau
145
31 n?aa
72
38
arj
41
, 51
86, 94
•^1
41
94
iT:
123,
129
31 ' ^i;^.
37
120
"^rr
123, 128,
129
70
"133
51
41
i==
137
47,88
i":?
48
41
CQ-;3
3
2,93
78
ans
120
188

HEBREW INDEX

PAGE.

PAGB.
ans
120
1?. ''?
86
^ra
34, 93, 94
Dta
34
nsai
112
r?
47, 122, 123
, 127, 128
Tjb"
91
nrs
75, 76
mbnb
128
mns
63,75
mfesB
7
11B
93
nj^na
29
c^"a
31
SPD^lB
158
O-B
93
rji-ia
109
cn-B
93
isia
137
c"'ctn'iQ
93
insia
137
CjPB
94, 121
¦la
66
npB
104, 108
a=a
156
¦?ajns
94
noaa
156
"-¦3
71
ansa
120
^?P
85
nija
41
>ia»p
88
oa
156
Bxn
60
Da
89, 156
157
¦jiraD-ai
109
ni^a
156
m-i
156
Bcr
156
¦n
77, 121
•^.'Ea
130
D"'S1
77, 155
n'sa T :
34
nss"!
110
IT "ica
38
isair
73, 152
ntnca
19
15'?;
94
ifenna
42
"iiaiis
111
C5":ra
139
¦,BTa
29
1.'??
38
nna
48
ms
84
^r;ir
114
¦jitniiis
121
mbuj
91
C^DID
156
¦'ID^a
158
¦nriD
114,
116
iaic
40
ninb
114,
116
^¦a-j
81
n-^tjb
114,
116
•iliaiu
10
BD
46
•j^n-a
152
ISO
119, 120,
121
^si;j''
45, 109
-.sb
75
an
32, 111,
112, 116
D"'D1'1D
34
c^"iis
76
Dinai;
38
-nia
76
•^5?
48, 49 1
xVn
123,
128, 129
inas
49
nbn
47, 123,
128, 129
n:BS
34
s^n
45, 109
ENGLISH INDEX.

Ahasuerus, identity of, 9, 10
Alabaster, 114,115,116
Alphabets, Persian and Hebrew, com
pared, 10,11,92,93,94
Akhasverosh, 11, 16, 17, 92
Anonjonous writings, 166
Arnold quoted, 119
Artabanus, advice, 20
Artakhshashta, 92
Artaxerxes Longimanus :
character, 14
not Ahasuerus, 14
Artaxerxes Ochus, 12
inscription by, 12
Attire, maidens', 43
Auguries and Omens, 50
Awnings, colors of, 32
materials, 32
not hangings, 31, 32
Babylon, palace of, 98
Bahat, 112, 113
Ballantine quoted, 119
Banquet, 30, 31, 44, 61, 68
Basalt, 115
Bayith, the, 99, 101, 102
Beecher, Prof. W. J., quoted, 3 7
Benefactors, royal, rewarded, 65
Berah, the, 30, 97, 98, 108
Bertheau quoted, 31, 89
Bethan, the, 99,101,102
Bible, authors of, 167
variety of, 166
Blue, a royal color, 113

Bonomi quoted, 109, 158, 159
Book of chronicles, 90
Book of records ; see " Daily affairs,
book of."
Boyle, E., quoted, 163
Brick, 111, 112, 113
Brutus and Cassius, 161
Buildings, arrangement of ; see " Top
ography and Buildings."
Bull, the Pope's, 143
Calvin quoted, 151
Cambyses, character, 157
not Ahasuerus, 11, 12
Castle, Shushan the, 29, 30
'Windsor, 98
Chaparing, 119
Chehl Minar, 97, 99, 100, 196
Concealment, the Divine, 164
the Saviour's, 164, 165
Couches, 33
Counsellors, 35, 36
Couriers, Grecian, 155
Jewish, 155
origin, 155
Roman, 155
swiftness, 155
use, 76, 77, 117, 155
Coursers, 156
Court, of the garden, 31
inner, 57, 59, 103, 104, 105
mode of access, 105, 106, 108
outer, 58, 65, 66, 107
Cross, original character, 123
189

190

ENGLISH INDEX.

Crown, 34, 35, 44, 66, 78
Crucifixion, among Romans, 124
Cuneiform alphabet, 92, 93
Cuneiform writing, 10, 75
Cursive writing, 75, 121
Curtius quoted, 48
Daily affairs, book of, 47, 64, 89, 90
Daniel, Tomb of, 111
Dar, 113, 114, 116
Darius Hystaspis, character, 157
history, 12, 13
Daryvush, 92
Davidson, Dr. S., quoted, 15
Days, lucky and unlucky, 50
Divine name omitted, 161
by design, 165
Drinking vessels, 33
Ebers quoted, 68
Esther, Book of:
addressed to race, 168
anonymous, 166
author, 21, 24, 162, 163
author's qualifications, 23, 24
chronology of, 9, 1 7
contributions to history, 18
date of, 9
design, 163, 165
divine attributes in, 165
divine name absent, 163, 165
estimation by Jews, 7, 8
excerpt from records, 162
geography of, 21
instructive, 169
non- Jewish character, 162
not poetry nor parable, 8
omissions of, 162
outline of, 25, 26, 27
practical teaching, 9
Providence of God in, 8, 163
Septuagint version of, 170
apocryphal additions to, 170,
174, 176, 182, 185
true to life, 8, 9
Esther, Queen, attendants, 56
banquet, 44

Esther, Queen, beauty of, winning, 60
courage, 59
edict of, 89
endowments, 74
fast of, 59
fear of, 57
genealogy, 18, 40, 41
grief of, 56
indignation, 69
modesty, 43, 44
name of, 40
nationality hidden, 41, 42
not revengeful, 83
obedience, 46
perseverance, 73
piety, degree of, 161
Eunuchs, character of, 34
treachery of, 46
Ewald, quoted, 131, 132, 133
Execution, early modes of, 47,63,122
Exodus of Israelites, 166
Ezra, Book of, 161

Fame,

81

Fasting, act of piety.

149

among Christians,

151

intention.

150
nature.
150
of Jews,
150
151
prayer in itself, 59,
149,
150
Fasting and crying, 87, 88, 89
Favorites, royal, fate of :
in English history,
154
in French history,
154
in Grecian history.
153
in Jewish history,
153
154
in Persian history,
153
in Roman history,
154
Fear, province of.
79
Felton, Prof. C. C, quoted,
151
Fergusson quoted.
109
Gate of the king, 45, 46, 102, 103,
107,108, 109
Gesenius quoted, 156
Gibbon quoted, 155
God, attributes visible, 165, 166
ENGLISH INDEX.

191

God, concealments, 164
hidden in nature, 163
perceptible in objects, 165
presence unseen, 168
present in blessings, 169
present in trials, 169
response to man, 161
Godliness profitable, 91
" Good," range of term, 41, 51
Grief, Oriental expression of, 55
Greece, deliverance of, 20
Gury, J. P. quoted, 143
Haggadah, 139
Halachah, 139
Hall, Prof L H., quoted, 61
Haman, ambition of, 67
character, 47
descent, 47, 48
disappointment, 63, 67
downfall, 71
exaltation, 47
family of, 68
grief of, 6 7
house, ruin of, 71, 72
machination, 73
maUce of, 62, 71
offer of money, 51, 56
self-restraint, 62
sons of, 63, 81, 83
superstition, 50
terror of, 70
vengeance, 49
versatility, 66
Hanging, as impalement, 47, 122,
128, 129, 130
instances of, 128, 129
Hangings or curtains, 31, 108
Harbonah, suggestion of, 70
Harem, the Oriental, 102, 105, 106

the royal,
Hatach, character of,
Hebrew, derivation of term,
Hebrew, modern use,
Herodotus, quotations from,
48, 125, 155, 157, 158
Historiographers, royal, 64

9,45 57
49
139
15,19,

Homage, Oriental, 48
Horses, swift, 156
House of women ; see " 'Women, house
of."
Impalement, 26, 27, 47, 63, 70, 71,
83, 86, 125, 127, 129, 130
Impressment, 118, 119, 121
Inscriptions, 11, 97
Israelites, exodus of, 166
Jamieson, Dr., quoted, 152
Jesus, concealments of, 164, 165
silence of, 164
Jews, change of fortune, 80, 81
contentment of, 130, 131
deportations of, 40'
dispersion of, 51, 130
enterprise of, 132
fasts of, 150, 151
fidelity of, 132
forbearance of, 54, 82
in exile, 130
influence of, 133
invincible, 80
loyalty of, 51
mission of, 132, 133
moral progress of, 135
number of, 17, 160
obedience to Mordecai, 85
patriotism of, 130, 131
property confiscated, 52
separation of, 132
solidarity of, 86, 88
testimony of, for God, 133, 135
waning piety of, 162
weaned from idolatry, 133, 134
Keil quoted, 89, 160
Khshyarsha, 10, 11, 12, 16, 92
Khorsabad, inscriptions at, 158
King, gate of; see " Gate of the king."
King's Gate and the Courts, 102
Language, change of, 138
Languages, diversity of, 37, 38
Leonidas, impalement of, 125

192

ENGLISH INDEX.

Letters, early, sent, 120
translation of, 121, 122
Letters and Posts, 117
Limestone, blue, 113
white, 111
Literature, division of, 167
Loftus quoted, 96, 141, 145
Lord's Prayer, Divine name absent
from, 167
Lot, casting of, 50, 85, 86

Maccabees, Book of,
Magi, Maimonides quoted,
Malacliite,Mandate, Marble, black,
blue,red.

167 35 7
112, 113, 116 34
114, 116 32
116

white, 32, 111, 112, 115, 116
Massacre, of Mamelukes, 147
by Mithridates, 146
at Mount Lebanon, 148
of Nestorians, 148
at Scio, 147
of Saint Bartholomew's, 147
by Tamerlane, 146, 147
Materials, decay of, 100, 115
nature of, 116
Media and Persia, 90
Memucan, advice of, 36
Merrill, Dr. S. quoted, 37, 38, 122
Messages, transmission of, 118
Messengers, royal, 77
Meturi,eman, office of, 139
Midrash, 139
Mines, 160
Money, offer of, by Haman, 51
Persian, 51
Mordecai, adornment of, 78
care of Esther, 40, 42, 72
character of, 46
disregard for Haman, 49
distress, 55
elevation of, 72
excuse of, 49
genealogy of, 89

Mordecai, hopefiilness of, 58, 167
identity of, 39
influence of, 59, 85
informer, as, 46, 47, 64
messages of, 88
patriotism of, 90, 91
piety of, 161
popularity of, 90
position ot, 45
preacher, as, 91
self-control of, 46
time of, 39, 40
Mourning, Oriental, 55
Mules, 156
Name, the Divine, unspoken, 162
the Divine, wanting, 161, 165
reasons for absence, 161, 162,
163, 165, 166
The Unwritten, 161
Narrative, dramatic style of, 65
Nehemi.ih, piety of, 162
Nero, heartlessness of, 54, 55
News, collected, 82,118

Ointments, precious,
Onias, temple of.
Palace, garden of.
Papyrus,Parchment, Pashas,Pavement, colors of,
tesselated,

42,43 136 70
121121
53, 7,5, 76
33
111110

Pavement and Components, 110,116
Peg, see " Pin or peg."
Persepolis, palaces of, 100, 101
remains of, 46
Persia and Media, 37
Persian alphabet, 10, 92
banquets, 19,30,31
customs, 110
empire, extent of, 21, 23, 29, 118
empire, population of, 84, 160
Persi.in kings despotic, 77, 78
kings, divinity of, 74

ENGLISH INDEX.

193

Persian kings, ignorance of 72
post.ll system, 53, 117, 118
postal system for royal use, 118
post-routes, 119
post-routes in modern times, 119
records, in poetic form, 163
rivers, the king's, 160
Words and Names, 93
writing, 75
Persians, cruelty of, 54
inebriety of, 33, 68
monotheism of, 134
Piety, low state of, 161
Pillars, material of, 32
Pin or peg, 125,126,128,129
Plato quoted, 155
Polygamy, evils of, 37, 45
Pope's bull, 143
Posts, 76
Post-houses, 118
Postal system ; see " Persian postal
system."
Princes, 76
Prodig .1 Son, parable of, 168
Prometheus, fate of, 126
Promises, Oriental, 61
Property, crown, 160
Propylon, 46, 102, 103, 109
Proseuchae, 137
Providence of God, 50, 80
Power, delegated, 76
irresponsible, 78
military, 30
Purim, feast, 7, 20, 84, 85, 86, 87
letters of, 87
Quarries, crown property, 160
Queen Esther; see " Esdier, Queen."
Raleigh, Dr. A., quoted, 57, 60
Rawlinron, Canon, quoted, 39, 53, 64,
65, 74, 75,93,125, 158,160
Relief, 58
Request, Oriental mode of, 01
Rest, 44, 84
Retribution, 86
Revenue, farmed out, 160
25

Revenue, sources of, 160
Rivers, crown property, 160
Royal favorites ; see " Favorites,
royal."
Runners, 77, 117

Sackcloth and ashes,

55, 56

Salt-works,

160

Sandstone, red,

115

Satraps, extortion of.

160

grandeur of.

159

number of,

53, 157

office of, 53. 75, 159
power arbitrary, 159, 160
support of, 159, 160
Sceptre, character of, 151
Assyrian, 152, 153
Egyptian, 151
golden, the, 57, 60, 73, 106, 151
Grecian, 152
Jewish, 152, 153
Persian, 152
Sceptre-bearers, 60
Schultz quoted, 23, 89
Scribes, Jewish, 75
royal, 52, 75
Scripture, silence of, 163, 164
Seals ; see " Signet rings."
Self-defence, 77, 80, 81, 83
Septuagint Esther, translation of, 1 70
translator, 1 70
apocryphal additions, 1 70, 1 74,
176, 182, 185
Serpentine, 112
Shash, limestone. 111
Shushan, climate of, 96
fertility of, 96
great hall of, 96, 100, 102
importance of, 95
joy in, 78
mounds of, 96, 97
perplexity of, 55
population of, 81
site of, 95
Shushan the castle, 29, 98, 99
Signet-rings and Seals, 72,76,140,141
Assyrian, 145

194

ENGLISH INDEX.

Signet-rings, Babylonian, 145
Chaldean, 145, 146
cost, 143
Egyptian, 144, 145
Hebrew, 145
kinds of, 141
materials, 141
Persian, 52
Roman, 143
use, 140, 143
Signet, royal ; see " Signet-rings and
Sells."
Silence, of Bible, 164
instructive, 163
of Jesus, 164
Sochereth, 114
Stalagmite, 1 14
Stake, 123, 124
Strabo quoted, 1 00
Strangling, 129
Sublime Porte, 45
Susa ; see " Shushan.''
Synagogue, early origin of, 136, 137
the Great, 138
Synagogues, destruction of, 137
in Jerusalem, 137
in Rome, 137
Syro-Chaldaic, 139
Talents, amount of, 51
Targums, 139
Temple, loss of, 135
of Onias, 136
Topography and Buildings, 95
Tree, for impalement, 63
uses of term, 127, 128, 129
Trench, Archbishop, quoted, 163
Tribute, amount of, 157, 158
derivation of term, 89, 156
kinds of, 156, 159
levied by Darius, 157
mode of paying, 158, 159
paid by Jews, 156
Persia exempt from, 160

Tribute, repugnance to, 159
sources of, 89
Try whitt, quoted, 1 2
Ulai or Eulaeus, 95

"Van Lennep quoted.

140, 148

'Vashti, deposition of.

37, 38

disobedience of.

35

power of.

38

position at court.

34

¦Victims, number of.

81, 83, 84

"Virgins, gatherings of,

39, 41,45

Water-tax, Persian,

160

Wine, royal,

33

Wise men.

35

Woman's power,

37

right.

35

Women, house of.

39, 105, 106

ointments for.

42,43

Wordsworth, Bishop, quoted, 81

Writing, materials for.

121

Xerxes, attendants of, 38
brutality of, 54
character of, 15,54
empire, extent of ; see " Persian
empire, extent of"
excitement of, 69, 70
expedition against Greece, 19,
30,44
feast, purpose of, 19
fickleness and caprice, 68
fright, 20
greatness, 89, 90
gynecaeum, 39, 43
haste, 54, 78
identity with Ahasuenis, 15, 29
inscriptions naming, 11, 12
sleeplessness, 64

Zeresh, advice of,
prediction by,
Zerubbabel,

6368
161

THE PLATFORM AT PERSEPOLIS.
KEDUCED FEOM FLANDIN AND COSTE.
Explanation of general features.
1. The stairs on the left (west) lead from the plain to the Northem
Terrace, first upon which is the Propylon of Xerxes, then, far to the
right, the Eastern Propylon.
2. Returning to the left, a sculptured staircase leads to the higher
Central Terrace, first upon which is the famous Hall of Xerxes
(Chehl Minar) ; beyond this the Hall of a Hundred Columns ; in the
hill are excavations, perhaps for tombs.
3. Next, to the south, and in order from the left, are a cluster of
nameless ruins upon the edge, the Palace of Darius, a mound of
rubbish, the Central Edifice (or Propylon).
4. The last range of ruins begins, at the left, with the Southwest
Edifice, followed by the Palace of Xerxes upon a higher level, fronted
near one corner by a small Propylon at the head of stairs ; a mound
of rubbish follows, beyond which is the Southeast Edifice.
5. Directly in the rear of the Palace of Xerxes the level drops to
the Southern Terrace, upon which are no discoverable ruins.
The details may be better seen with a magnifying glass, and are
more fully explained in Eawlinson's Ancient Monarchies, (Dodd,
Mead, and Co's ed.), "VoL iii. pp. 270-312.
196

The HeliolypePriiiliiig U> Bustoit

most remarkable
MOUNDS OF SHUSH
 (ANCIENT SI/SAV- 

,3*

Th'i Klio^ePrmiing Co.Uustoii

TY LIBRARY

08837 4336