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nine months before the time fixed for the execution of the first edict, the second one is issued, and expressed by the swiftest couriers throughout all the kingdom. Josephus, in his antiquities, (lib. xi: c. 6,) gives the words of the decree, which corroborate the truth of our text. But, contrary to the hopes of the Jews, and of the king and court, the day does not pass quietly. It is made, in spite of their wishes, a day of terrible vengeance. The Jews act strictly on the defensive. lay hand on such, and on such only, as sought their hurt. And no man could withstand them: for the fear of them fell upon all people. The cause of this fear is easily seen. The Jews had powerful friends at court. The king was on their side. The queen, being of their own blood, was, of course, on their side. And, no doubt also, the more intelligent among the Persians were now acquainted with the most remarkable portions of Jewish history, and knew how their God had helped them in days of old. And then there was a prestige— a moral-with the Hebrews that made them all-powerful. According to the king's commandment and decree, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is Adar, the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, though it was turned to the contrary, and the Jews everywhere prevailed over their enemies: On this day, the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities, throughout all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, and smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them. And all the rulers of the provinces, and the king's lieutenants, and deputies, and officers, helped the Jews; be

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cause the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. See Esth. ix: 1, 11. In the history of the slaughter, we find, among the slain, Haman's ten sons. It appears that the number of the slain, in the palace and city of Shushan, was reported to the king in the afternoon, or evening, for the purpose of enraging him against the Jews; but it had quite a contrary effect. For as the king is made acquainted with what had been done in the royal city, he "said unto Esther, the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan, the palace, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? Now, what is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee; or what is thy request further? and it shall be done." As if he had said, I am grieved that this has turned out to be so bloody an affair, but it is all owing to the malice of Haman and his partisans; and, if there is yet anything more that can be done in behalf of the Jews, to protect them against their enemies, I am

ready to have it done. And the queen said: "If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews, which are in Shushan, to do to-morrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows. And the king commanded it so to be done and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons. A little examination of the case will exonerate the queen from wanton cruelty in her request of the king. Haman's retainers have turned out to be more numerous and powerful than was expected. They are also found to be as dangerous to the state as they were to the Jews. They are the enemies of the queen, and are ready for a new

attack, which is to be apprehended the next day. Their cause is desperate. They must prevail or perish. Mordecai, no doubt, is fully informed of these facts, and has them communicated to the queen; and she knowing that many of Haman's friends have escaped the first day, and are only waiting for to-morrow, or for a good chance to attack and destroy the Jews, she desired the king to extend the decree another day; that is, that it might be lawful for the Jews to assemble and arm and defend themselves to-morrow, as they have done to-day, against those who may try to do them hurt.

But why must Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows? Are these ten other sons, or the same tha have been slain? Probably the same whose names are given in the previous verses; why then are they to be hanged, seeing they are already dead? It was a custom, both among the Jews and Persians, to hang the bodies of malefactors after they had been executed in some other way. This was intended, of course, to add to their infamy, and to make them a more conspicuous example of terror to all others. And, in this case, the infamy was the more terrible because they were hanged on their father's gallows; that is, the same he had made for Mordecai, but upon which he had himself been hanged. In comparatively modern times, and in Christian countries, we have read of martyrs, for the truth, being dug out of their graves, and their bones being burned. And besides, no doubt, it was designed, in this way, to give publicity to the fact that Haman's sons were all killed-that they were actually dead-and that, therefore, if any one pretends to be one of Haman's sons, and to excite rebellion, it could be easily

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shown that he was an impostor; for all of his sons were not only dead, but consigned to the deepest ignominy, which would not have been done if his friends had been sufficiently powerful to have prevented it. The people must have been deeply impressed with the hopelessness of Haman's cause, when they saw all his son's killed, and then hung one above another, all at one time, on the same gallows. Little did their father imagine that it was for this purpose he erected so high a gallows. The fifty cubits high did, however, serve all the better to make the certainty of his sons' death, and their ignominy, known throughout the royal city, and the vast empire. The first day, five hundred were killed in and near the palace, and the next, three hundred more, making eight hundred of Haman's friends and fellowconspirators that were killed during the two days of slaughter; and there can now be no mistake about the fate of his sons. There is no danger of any one of them again heading an insurrection.

And according to the king's decree, "the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand. But the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey." Verses 15 and 16 of the ninth chapter.

In regard to the great number slain, it must be remembered that the Persian empire was very large and populous, and that the numbers slain in battles in an

cient times were very great.* And then it is also to be remembered that the king's officers, rulers of the provinces, lieutenants and deputies, throughout all the provinces, helped the Israelites. Hebrew writers also contend that all these seventy-five thousand were Amalekites, and that in this slaughter was fulfilled the. prophecy of Balaam: "Amalek was the first of the nations, but his latter end shall be, that he perish forever.". It is true, that the prophets foretold the utter destruction of this people, and I know not that they were ever heard of after this slaughter. Numb. xxiv : 20; Exo. xvii: 14. It is clear also from the history, that the Jews' enemies were the aggressors. They acted only in self-defence. They lifted their hands only Haman's faction

against such as sought their hurt. ง were infatuated to their own destruction. They could not stand-not a man of them before the Jews. But if they had remained quiet, there is no probability that a hair of their head would have been touched. The Jews were conquerors, because they were on the right side, and God helped them. And though victory is often an accident, yet it is true that Providence helps the best disciplined and bravest troops. Trust in God does not excuse us from keeping our gunpowder dry. The Jews were numerous, and they were united. They stood together in all the cities for their lives, their wives and their little ones.

It is twice said in the text-that on the prey they laid not their hands. They were authorized by the decree to take the goods of their enemies that should be slain, but there is not a syllable to show that they

*See His. of ancient Persia published by Carters of New York.

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