Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the third month, that [is], the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth [day] thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which [are] from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.
Ver. 9. Then were the king's scribes called] This verse is noted to be the longest in all the Bible. It was Robert Stevens, the printer (I think), that first distinguished the Chapter s by verses; and this he hath done not so well in some places as were to be wished. These scribes were as ready at Mordecai's call as before they had been at Haman's, Esther 3:12, neither cared they much what they wrote, so that they might be sure it was the king's pleasure they should do it. As for their religion, it may seem to be the same with that of Gallio, the proconsul, Acts 18:17, a mere irreligion, their motto, Mihi placet quicquid Regi placet, Whatsoever pleaseth the king shall please me; and if their hearts could be ripped up, there would be found written therein, The god of this present world.
At that time] As soon as the word was out of the king's mouth; delay might have bred danger. Habent aulae suum cito, cito. Courtiers are quick of despatch, as they carefully observe their mollissima fandi tempera, so when once they have got a grant they lose no time, they know that opportunities are headlong, and once lost irrecoverable. Hannibal, when he could have taken Rome, would not; when he would, could not. Vincere scis Hannibal victoria uti nescis, said one to him (Plutarch). Mordecai made use of the present, the nick of time. Esther could tell him, by experience, that a well chosen season is the greatest advantage of an action, which, as it is seldom found in haste, so it is too often lost in delay. It is not for Mordecai to drive off any longer, the whole Church was in heaviness, and needed comfort; and some might be slain ere notice came to the contrary. Ad opera brevis hora ferendam est (Ovid. Metam. 1. 4).
In the third month] Two months and more the poor Jews lay under the sentence of death, in a forlorn condition. God loves to help such as are forsaken from their hopes, to help at a dead lift, to comfort the abject, 2 Corinthians 7:6. Though Jacob be a worm, yet God will not crush him, but cherish him. And "I will re store health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an outcast, saying, This is Zion whom no man seeketh after," Jeremiah 30:17. The seasonableness of God's mercies doth much commend them. These poor wretches cried, and the Lord heard them, and saved them out of all their troubles, Psalms 34:6 .
This is the month Sivan] That is, May, when all things are in their prime and pride, and the earth checkered and entrailed with variety, of flowers, and God is seen to be Magnus in minimis, great in the smallest creatures. Then did the Sun of righteousness arise to these afflicted exiles, with healing in his wings, Mal 4:2 like as the sunbeams did to the dry and cold earth, calling out the herbs and flowers, and healing those deformities that winter had brought upon it.
On the three and twentieth day thereof] The precise time is thus noted, not only to set forth the certainty and truth of the history, but also to let us see what was the present state of the Church, and what is God's usual dispensation and dealing with his people. For two months and more they were in a very low, and as it might seem, a lost condition. Now they have eight months' opertunity to breath and prepare themselves to their just and lawful defence yet they are not without various difficulties and discouragements, until God had given them a full and final victory over their enemies. The saints' prosperity here, like checker-work, is interwoven with fears and crosses. They must not look for a perpetual serenity till they come to heaven. I shall die in my nest, said Job; I shall never be moved, saith David. How apt are the holiest to be proud and secure, to settle upon their lees, unless God pour them from vessel to vessel! This the wise God well knoweth, and therefore exerciseth them with interchanges. See the circle that he goeth in with his Davids, Psalms 30:5,10, and reckon upon this, that if our sorrows be long, they are light, if sharper, the shorter; as thunder, the more violent, the less permanent.
Flebile principium melior fortuna sequetur.
Tears first followed by better fortune.
And it was written according to all that Moredecai commanded] Had he not been a man of singular parts he had not been fit for such a service. It could not otherwise be, but that many eyes were upon him, and some evil eyes, that would more curiously pry into his proceedings than Laban once did into Jacob's stuff. It behoved him, therefore, to look to his behaviour, and to weigh well his words in dictating such a ticklish edict as this to the king's secretaries. But God, who had called him to this high employment, did likewise gift him for it. He was with his mouth (as once with Moses, Exo 4:11), and taught him what he should say. There is no mouth into which God cannot put fit words: and how oft doth he choose the weak and unwise to confound the learned and mighty, as he did Balaam's ass to convince his master!
Unto the Jews] To them first, because they were in their deepest dumps, and stood in need of comfort. Go, tell my disciples and Peter; let him know with the first that I am risen, for he is in greatest heaviness.
And to the lieutenants, and the deputies, &c.] That they might know that the king's mind was altered, and that the Jews were now to be favoured and furthered in their just and necessary defence. The equity of this edict, so opposite to the former, they were not to dispute but to despatch. To argue or debate the business were presumption, proud curiosity; to search the reason thereof, to detract or disobey, high offence, equal to rebellion.
Unto every province according to the writing thereof] In their several characters, and manner of writing. The China and Japan writing is from the right hand to the left, but with the lines down the leaf, not crossing, &c.
And unto every people after their language] The whole earth was once of one language, lip, and speech, Genesis 11:1. This was the Hebrew tongue, called the Jews' language here, and more plainly, Isaiah 36:11 (though some fond men have given the seniority to other languages, many ages younger than the Hebrew). Ever since the building of Babel languages were confounded, and thereby a great labour laid upon the sons of men. The Hebrew doctors say, that thenceforth for one tongue there were seventy-two languages. Others think there were as many tongues as several kindreds and families; and these have multiplied also since that time exceedingly. It was Mordecai's care here, that all nations under the Persian dominion might have the king's edict in their various dialects, that so none might plead ignorance. It should be the magistrate's care that their people have the law of God, the Holy Scriptures, in a known language, since the ignorance thereof is destructive to the soul. This the pope denieth to those misled and muzzled souls, that are fast locked up in his dark dungeon; and giveth this bald reason, Ne sacra verba vilescerent, lest those holy words should be undervalued, and become too cheap. This is good Turkism; the Mahometans read their Koran (which is their Bible) in the Arabic (which is their learned) tongue, lest, if translated, it should be profaned by the vulgar.