But deeper thoughts must be stirred in devout hearts when brooding over the profound significance of the national festival. It celebrates a famous deliverance of the Jews from a fearful danger. Now deliverance is the keynote of Jewish history. This note was sounded as with a trumpet blast at the very birth of the nation, when, emerging from Egypt no better than a body of fugitive slaves, Israel was led through the Red Sea and Pharaoh's hosts with their horses and chariots were overwhelmed in the flood. The echo of the triumphant burst of praise that swelled out from the exodus pealed down the ages in the noblest songs of Hebrew Psalmists. Successive deliverances added volume to this richest note of Jewish poetry. In all who looked up to God as the Redeemer of Israel the music was inspired by profound thankfulness, by true religious adoration. And yet Purim never became the Eucharist of Israel. It never approached the solemn grandeur of Passover, that prince of festivals, in which the great primitive deliverance of Israel was celebrated with all the pomp and awe of its Divine associations. It was always in the main a secular festival, relegated to thelower plane of social and domestic entertainments, like an English bank-holiday. Still even on its own lines it could serve a serious purpose. When Israel is practically idolised by Israelites, when the glory of the nation is accepted as the highest ideal to work up to, the true religion of Israel is missed, because that is nothing less than the worship of God as He is revealed in Hebrew history. Nevertheless, in their right place, the privileges of the nation and its destinies may be made the grounds of very exalted aspirations. The nation is larger than the individual, larger than the family. An enthusiastic national spirit must exert an expansive influence on the narrow, cramped lives of the men and women whom it delivers from selfish, domestic, and parochial limitations. It was a liberal education for Jews to be taught to love their race, its history and its future. If—as seems probable—our Lord honoured the Feast of Purim by taking part in it,[268]He must have credited the national life of His people with a worthy mission. Himself the purest and best fruit of the stock of Israel, on the human side of His being, He realised in His own great mission of redemption the end for which God had repeatedly redeemed Israel. Thus He showed that God had saved His people, not simply for their own selfish satisfaction, but that through Christ they might carry salvation to the world.
Purged from its base associations of blood and cruelty, Purim may symbolise to us the triumph of the Church of Christ over her fiercest foes. The spirit of this triumph must be the very opposite of the spirit of wild vengeance exhibited by Mordecai and hispeople in their brief season of unwonted elation. The Israel of God can never conquer her enemies by force. The victory of the Church must be the victory of brotherly love, because brotherly love is the note of the true Church. But this victory Christ is winning throughout the ages, and the historical realisation of it is to us the Christian counterpart of the story of Esther.
[1]Josephus,Ant., XI. viii. 7.
[1]Josephus,Ant., XI. viii. 7.
[2]Neh. xii. 26 and 47.
[2]Neh. xii. 26 and 47.
[3]Allowing some months for the preparation of the expedition—and this we must do—we may safely say that it started in the year after the decree of Cyrus, which was issued inB.C.538.
[3]Allowing some months for the preparation of the expedition—and this we must do—we may safely say that it started in the year after the decree of Cyrus, which was issued inB.C.538.
[4]Ant., XI. i. 1, 2.
[4]Ant., XI. i. 1, 2.
[5]Gal. iv. 4.
[5]Gal. iv. 4.
[6]Jer. xxv. 11, 12.
[6]Jer. xxv. 11, 12.
[7]Jer. xxix. 10.
[7]Jer. xxix. 10.
[8]Jer. xxvii. 6.
[8]Jer. xxvii. 6.
[9]Rom. i. 19.
[9]Rom. i. 19.
[10]Acts x. 34, 35.
[10]Acts x. 34, 35.
[11]Hag. ii. 6-8.
[11]Hag. ii. 6-8.
[12]1 Esdras ii. 14.
[12]1 Esdras ii. 14.
[13]Ezra ii. 1.
[13]Ezra ii. 1.
[14]Tirshatha. Ezra ii. 63.
[14]Tirshatha. Ezra ii. 63.
[15]This name is a later form of "Joshua"; the older form of the name is used for the same person in Hag. i. 1, 14, and Zech. iii. 1.
[15]This name is a later form of "Joshua"; the older form of the name is used for the same person in Hag. i. 1, 14, and Zech. iii. 1.
[16]Of course the Nehemiah and Mordecai in this list are different persons from those who bear the same names in the Books of Nehemiah and Esther and belong to later dates.
[16]Of course the Nehemiah and Mordecai in this list are different persons from those who bear the same names in the Books of Nehemiah and Esther and belong to later dates.
[17]See Ezra i. 5.
[17]See Ezra i. 5.
[18]Luke ii. 36.
[18]Luke ii. 36.
[19]Ezek. xliv. 9-16.
[19]Ezek. xliv. 9-16.
[20]Psalm cxxvi. 1-3.
[20]Psalm cxxvi. 1-3.
[21]I.e., if the route was the usual one, by Tadmor (Palmyra). The easier but roundabout way by Aleppo would have occupied a still longer time.
[21]I.e., if the route was the usual one, by Tadmor (Palmyra). The easier but roundabout way by Aleppo would have occupied a still longer time.
[22]Ezra vii. 8, 9.
[22]Ezra vii. 8, 9.
[23]Neh. vii. 70-72.
[23]Neh. vii. 70-72.
[24]1 Esdras v. 47.
[24]1 Esdras v. 47.
[25]Matt. vi. 29.
[25]Matt. vi. 29.
[26]John iv. 21, 23.
[26]John iv. 21, 23.
[27]2 Kings xvii. 25-28.
[27]2 Kings xvii. 25-28.
[28]Ant., XII. v. 5.
[28]Ant., XII. v. 5.
[29]The "Osnappar" of Ezra iv. 10.
[29]The "Osnappar" of Ezra iv. 10.
[30]Isa. lvi. 7.
[30]Isa. lvi. 7.
[31]2 Kings xvii. 33.
[31]2 Kings xvii. 33.
[32]2 Kings xvii. 30, 31.
[32]2 Kings xvii. 30, 31.
[33]Hag. i. 1, ii. 9.
[33]Hag. i. 1, ii. 9.
[34]Joel ii. 28.
[34]Joel ii. 28.
[35]Hag. i. 5, 7.
[35]Hag. i. 5, 7.
[36]Hag. ii. 9.
[36]Hag. ii. 9.
[37]Hag. i. 1.
[37]Hag. i. 1.
[38]Hag. ii. 1seq.
[38]Hag. ii. 1seq.
[39]Psalm cxviii. 8, 9.
[39]Psalm cxviii. 8, 9.
[40]Zech. iv. 6, 7.
[40]Zech. iv. 6, 7.
[41]Ezra v. 3.
[41]Ezra v. 3.
[42]Ezra v. 4.
[42]Ezra v. 4.
[43]Ezra v. 5.
[43]Ezra v. 5.
[44]Gen. xvi. 13.
[44]Gen. xvi. 13.
[45]Luke xii. 7.
[45]Luke xii. 7.
[46]Ezra vi. 1.
[46]Ezra vi. 1.
[47]"Nineveh and Babylon," p. 345.
[47]"Nineveh and Babylon," p. 345.
[48]Bertheau-Ryssel, "Kurzgefasstes exegetisches Handbuch," p. 74.
[48]Bertheau-Ryssel, "Kurzgefasstes exegetisches Handbuch," p. 74.
[49]1 Kings vi. 2.
[49]1 Kings vi. 2.
[50]Ezra iv. 24, vi. 15.
[50]Ezra iv. 24, vi. 15.
[51]Ezra v. 8.
[51]Ezra v. 8.
[52]Ezra vi. 4.
[52]Ezra vi. 4.
[53]1 Kings vi. 36.
[53]1 Kings vi. 36.
[54]Ezra v. 9.
[54]Ezra v. 9.
[55]Ezra vi. 10.
[55]Ezra vi. 10.
[56]Herodotus, iii. 89.
[56]Herodotus, iii. 89.
[57]Sayce, Introduction, pp. 57, 58.
[57]Sayce, Introduction, pp. 57, 58.
[58]Ezra. vi. 11.
[58]Ezra. vi. 11.
[59]Herodotus, iii. 159.
[59]Herodotus, iii. 159.
[60]Ibid.
[60]Ibid.
[61]Ezra vi. 17.
[61]Ezra vi. 17.
[62]Zech. xiv. 21.
[62]Zech. xiv. 21.
[63]1 Kings viii. 63.
[63]1 Kings viii. 63.
[64]Ezra vi. 17.
[64]Ezra vi. 17.
[65]Ezra vi. 18.
[65]Ezra vi. 18.
[66]Ezra iii. 2.
[66]Ezra iii. 2.
[67]Here, at Ezra vi. 18, the author drops the Aramaic language—which was introduced at iv. 8—and resumes the Hebrew. See page 71.
[67]Here, at Ezra vi. 18, the author drops the Aramaic language—which was introduced at iv. 8—and resumes the Hebrew. See page 71.
[68]Ezra vi. 21.
[68]Ezra vi. 21.
[69]1 Cor. v. 7.
[69]1 Cor. v. 7.
[70]James i. 27.
[70]James i. 27.
[71]Ezra vi. 22.
[71]Ezra vi. 22.
[72]Rawlinson, "Ezra and Nehemiah," p. 2.
[72]Rawlinson, "Ezra and Nehemiah," p. 2.
[73]Ezra vii. 1-10.
[73]Ezra vii. 1-10.
[74]Ezra vii. 11-26.
[74]Ezra vii. 11-26.
[75]Ezra vii. 27-ix.
[75]Ezra vii. 27-ix.
[76]Heb. i. 1.
[76]Heb. i. 1.
[77]Psalm xxxix. 3.
[77]Psalm xxxix. 3.
[78]Phil. iv. 8.
[78]Phil. iv. 8.
[79]Ezra vii. 6.
[79]Ezra vii. 6.
[80]Ezra v. 5.
[80]Ezra v. 5.
[81]Ezra vii. 26.
[81]Ezra vii. 26.
[82]Ezra vii. 14.
[82]Ezra vii. 14.
[83]Ezra. vii. 14.
[83]Ezra. vii. 14.
[84]Ezra vii. 23.
[84]Ezra vii. 23.
[85]Ezra vii. 27.
[85]Ezra vii. 27.
[86]Ezra vii. 28.
[86]Ezra vii. 28.
[87]Ezra vii. 14.
[87]Ezra vii. 14.
[88]Ezra vii. 25.
[88]Ezra vii. 25.
[89]Ibid.
[89]Ibid.
[90]The site of this town has not been identified. It could not have been far from Ahava.
[90]The site of this town has not been identified. It could not have been far from Ahava.
[91]Judges xx. 26.
[91]Judges xx. 26.
[92]1 Sam. vii. 6.
[92]1 Sam. vii. 6.
[93]2 Chron. xx. 3.
[93]2 Chron. xx. 3.
[94]Ezra viii. 31.
[94]Ezra viii. 31.
[95]Ezra viii. 22.
[95]Ezra viii. 22.
[96]Ezra. ix. 1.
[96]Ezra. ix. 1.
[97]Ezra ix. 6.
[97]Ezra ix. 6.
[98]Ibid.
[98]Ibid.
[99]Deut. xxi. 13.
[99]Deut. xxi. 13.
[100]Deut. xxiii. 1-8.
[100]Deut. xxiii. 1-8.
[101]Deut. vii. 3.
[101]Deut. vii. 3.
[102]Ezra vii. 14.
[102]Ezra vii. 14.
[103]Ezra ix. 11.
[103]Ezra ix. 11.
[104]Ezra ix. 8.
[104]Ezra ix. 8.
[105]Ezra ix. 15.
[105]Ezra ix. 15.
[106]Ezra ix. 15.
[106]Ezra ix. 15.
[107]Exod. xxxii. 31, 32.
[107]Exod. xxxii. 31, 32.
[108]1 John i. 9.
[108]1 John i. 9.
[109]Ezra x. 2.
[109]Ezra x. 2.
[110]Ezra ix. 15.
[110]Ezra ix. 15.
[111]Ezra x. 3.
[111]Ezra x. 3.
[112]Ezra ix. 4.
[112]Ezra ix. 4.
[113]Ezra x. 15.
[113]Ezra x. 15.
[114]Ezra x. 44.
[114]Ezra x. 44.
[115]Cor. vi. 14.
[115]Cor. vi. 14.
[116]Matt. x. 35.
[116]Matt. x. 35.
[117]Matt. x. 37.
[117]Matt. x. 37.
[118]Ezra iv. 12.
[118]Ezra iv. 12.
[119]Ezra iv. 6.
[119]Ezra iv. 6.
[120]Ezra iv. 7.
[120]Ezra iv. 7.
[121]Ezra iv. 10.
[121]Ezra iv. 10.
[122]Herodotus, i. 101.
[122]Herodotus, i. 101.
[123]Gen. x. 2.
[123]Gen. x. 2.
[124]Gen. x. 10.
[124]Gen. x. 10.
[125]Herodotus, i. 125.
[125]Herodotus, i. 125.
[126]At Ezra vii. 1.
[126]At Ezra vii. 1.
[127]E.g., the Nehemiah of Ezra ii. 2, who is certainly another person.
[127]E.g., the Nehemiah of Ezra ii. 2, who is certainly another person.
[128]Neh. ii. 3.
[128]Neh. ii. 3.
[129]Neh. i. 1.
[129]Neh. i. 1.
[130]Neh. ii. 1.
[130]Neh. ii. 1.
[131]Neh. i. 2.
[131]Neh. i. 2.
[132]Neh. vii. 2.
[132]Neh. vii. 2.
[133]Josephus,Ant., XI. v. 6.
[133]Josephus,Ant., XI. v. 6.
[134]Neh. ii. 4.
[134]Neh. ii. 4.
[135]Neh. ii. 20.
[135]Neh. ii. 20.
[136]Ezra i. 2.
[136]Ezra i. 2.
[137]Ezra vi. 10.
[137]Ezra vi. 10.
[138]Ezra vii. 12, 21, 23.
[138]Ezra vii. 12, 21, 23.
[139]It is used by the chronicler, and it is found in Jonah and Daniel, and once even in our recension of Genesis (Gen. xxiv. 7).
[139]It is used by the chronicler, and it is found in Jonah and Daniel, and once even in our recension of Genesis (Gen. xxiv. 7).
[140]Neh. i. 5. See Deut. vii. 9.
[140]Neh. i. 5. See Deut. vii. 9.
[141]Neh. i. 6.
[141]Neh. i. 6.
[142]Matt. vi. 7.
[142]Matt. vi. 7.
[143]Ezra ix. 6-15.
[143]Ezra ix. 6-15.
[144]Troilus and Cressida, Act iii., Scene 3.
[144]Troilus and Cressida, Act iii., Scene 3.
[145]Neh. i. 7
[145]Neh. i. 7
[146]Luke xv. 18.
[146]Luke xv. 18.
[147]Neh. i. 10.
[147]Neh. i. 10.
[148]Neh. i. 11.
[148]Neh. i. 11.
[149]Neh. ii. 4.
[149]Neh. ii. 4.
[150]Neh. ii. 1.
[150]Neh. ii. 1.
[151]Neh. ii. 2.
[151]Neh. ii. 2.
[152]Neh. ii. 8.
[152]Neh. ii. 8.
[153]Jer. xlv. 5.
[153]Jer. xlv. 5.
[154]Ezra iv. 21.
[154]Ezra iv. 21.
[155]Ibid.
[155]Ibid.
[156]Psalm cxlvi. 3.
[156]Psalm cxlvi. 3.
[157]Rev. xii. 16.
[157]Rev. xii. 16.
[158]Neh. ii. 8.
[158]Neh. ii. 8.
[159]Ezra vii. 28.
[159]Ezra vii. 28.
[160]Neh. ii. 8.
[160]Neh. ii. 8.
[161]Neh. ii. 10.
[161]Neh. ii. 10.
[162]James i. 27.
[162]James i. 27.
[163]Neh. ii. 17, 18.
[163]Neh. ii. 17, 18.
[164]Gen. xxviii. 16.
[164]Gen. xxviii. 16.
[165]Isa. i. 3.
[165]Isa. i. 3.
[166]Neh. ii. 8.
[166]Neh. ii. 8.
[167]Psalm cxxii. 2, 3.
[167]Psalm cxxii. 2, 3.
[168]1 Cor. iii. 13.
[168]1 Cor. iii. 13.
[169]Prov. xxii. 1.
[169]Prov. xxii. 1.
[170]Neh. iii. 1.
[170]Neh. iii. 1.
[171]Neh. iii. 5.
[171]Neh. iii. 5.
[172]Neh. iii. 20.
[172]Neh. iii. 20.
[173]Neh. xi. 1.
[173]Neh. xi. 1.
[174]Neh. iii. 7.
[174]Neh. iii. 7.
[175]Neh. iii. 8.
[175]Neh. iii. 8.
[176]Neh. viii. 16.
[176]Neh. viii. 16.
[177]Neh. iii. 9.
[177]Neh. iii. 9.