Esther 9:19

Joy Generosity

¹⁷ This was done on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested, making it a day of feasting and joy.

¹⁸ The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth days of the month. So they rested on the fifteenth day, making it a day of feasting and joy.

This is why the rural Jews, who live in the villages, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting. It is a holiday for sending gifts to one another.

²⁰ Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far,

²¹ to establish among them an annual celebration on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: This is why the rural Jews, who live in the villages, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting. It is a holiday for sending gifts to one another.
KJV: Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.
WEB: Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, a holiday, and a day of sending presents of food to one another.
ASV: Therefore 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.
DARBY: Therefore the Jews of the villages that dwell in the country towns make the fourteenth of the month Adar a day of joy and feasting, and a good day, and on which they send portions one to another.
BLB: Upon thus the Jews of the villages, the ones dwelling in the cities of the open country, were making the four [and] tenth day of the month of Adar for joy and feasting, and a good day, and sending portions, each man to his neighbor.

ÅB: Derfor høytideligholder jødene på landet - de som bor i landsbyene - den fjortende dag i måneden adar som en gledesdag med gjestebud og høytid, og på den sender de hverandre gaver av den mat de har laget til.
OTB: Derfor observerer jødene i de landlige områdene, som bor i landsbyer, den fjortende dagen i måneden Adar som en dag med glede og fest, en dag for å sende gaver av mat til hverandre.
B1930: Derfor høitideligholder jødene på landet - de som bor i landsbyene - den fjortende dag i måneden adar som en gledesdag med gjestebud og høitid, og på den sender de hverandre gaver av den mat de har laget til.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Esther 8:17
In every province and every city, wherever the king’s edict and decree reached, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many of the people of the land themselves became Jews, because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.
Read in context
Esther 9:22
as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to be days of feasting and joy, of sending gifts to one another and to the poor.
Read in context
Nehemiah 8:10–12
Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Read in context
Revelation 11:10
And those who dwell on the earth will gloat over them, and will celebrate and send one another gifts, because these two prophets had tormented them.
Read in context
Deuteronomy 16:14
And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.
Read in context
Deuteronomy 16:11
and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.
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Deuteronomy 3:5
All these cities were fortified with high walls and gates and bars, and there were many more unwalled villages.
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Luke 11:41
But give as alms the things that are within you, and you will see that everything is clean for you.
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