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Esther 9:21

Old Testament Historical ASV (1901)

What does Esther 9:21 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,
Esther 9:21 — American Standard Version

Context — Esther 9

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
18But the Jews that were in Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth [day] thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth [day] of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
19Therefore do the Jews of the villages, that dwell in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar [a day of] gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.
20And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far,
21to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,
22as the days wherein the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.
23And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;
24because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them;
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“To stablish this among them, etc.] That it might be a settled thing, and annually observed in all future generations, what they had now done: that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly; as the former had been observed by the Jews in the provinces, and both by those in Shushan, (<170917>Esther 9:17-19) as festivals in commemoration of their great deliverance; hence the fourteenth of Adar is called the day of Mordecai, being established by him; “And they ordained all with a common decree in no case to let that day pass without solemnity, but to celebrate the thirtieth day of the twelfth month, which in the Syrian tongue is called Adar,…”
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Sources and verification