The Jews Authorized to Resist

81 On that day hath the king Ahasuerus given to Esther the queen the house of Haman, adversary of the Jews, and Mordecai hath come in before the king, for Esther hath declared what he 'is' to her, 2 and the king turneth aside his signet, that he hath caused to pass away from Haman, and giveth it to Mordecai, and Esther setteth Mordecai over the house of Haman.

3 And Esther addeth, and speaketh before the king, and falleth before his feet, and weepeth, and maketh supplication to him, to cause the evil of Haman the Agagite to pass away, and his device that he had devised against the Jews; 4 and the king holdeth out to Esther the golden sceptre, and Esther riseth, and standeth before the king, 5 and saith, 'If to the king 'it be' good, and if I have found grace before him, and the thing hath been right before the king, and I 'be' good in his eyes, let it be written to bring back the letters—a device of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite—that he wrote to destroy the Jews who 'are' in all provinces of the king, 6 for how do I endure when I have looked on the evil that doth find my people? and how do I endure when I have looked on the destruction of my kindred?' 7 And the king Ahasuerus saith to Esther the queen, and to Mordecai the Jew, 'Lo, the house of Haman I have given to Esther, and him they have hanged on the tree, because that he put forth his hand on the Jews, 8 and ye, write ye for the Jews, as 'it is' good in your eyes, in the name of the king, and seal with the signet of the king—for the writing that is written in the name of the king, and sealed with the signet of the king, there is none to turn back.' 9 And the scribes of the king are called, at that time, in the third month—it 'is' the month of Sivan—in the three and twentieth of it, and it is written, according to all that Mordecai hath commanded, unto the Jews, and unto the lieutenants, and the governors, and the heads of the provinces, that 'are' from Hodu even unto Cush, seven and twenty and a hundred provinces—province and province according to its writing, and people and people according to its tongue, and unto the Jews according to their writing, and according to their tongue.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Esther 8:1-9

Commentary on Esther 8:1-2

(Read Esther 8:1-2)

What Haman would have done mischief with, Esther will do good with. All the trust the king had reposed in Haman, he now placed in Mordecai: a happy change. See the vanity of laying up treasure upon earth; he that heapeth up riches, knoweth not who shall gather them. With what little pleasure, nay, with what constant vexation, would Haman have looked upon his estate, if he could have foreseen that Mordecai, the man he hated above all men in the world, should have rule over all that wherein he had laboured! It is our interest to make sure of those riches which will not be left behind, but which will go with us to another world.

Commentary on Esther 8:3-14

(Read Esther 8:3-14)

It was time to be earnest, when the church of God was at stake. Esther, though safe herself, fell down and begged for the deliverance of her people. We read of no tears when she begged for her own life, but although she was sure of that, she wept for her people. Tears of pity and tenderness are the most Christ-like. According to the constitution of the Persian government, no law or decree could be repealed or recalled. This is so far from speaking to the wisdom and honour of the Medes and Persians, that it clearly shows their pride and folly. This savours of that old presumption which ruined all, We will be as gods! It is God's prerogative not to repent, or to say what can never be altered or unsaid. Yet a way was found, by another decree, to authorize the Jews to stand upon their defence. The decree was published in the languages of all the provinces. Shall all the subjects of an earthly prince have his decrees in languages they understand, and shall God's oracles and laws be locked up from any of his servants in an unknown tongue?