Bible Commentary: Nehemiah 9 - Job 10

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Bible Commentary for Nehemiah 9 thru Job 10

Nehemiah Chapter 9

On the twentieth-fourth day of the seventh month the people again gathered together, this time wearing sackcloth with dust on their heads and fasting. Hearing the reading of the law had caused many of them to act to bring their lives in harmony with God’s word. After separating themselves from the foreigners who lived around them, they came and confessed their sins and those of their fathers. They continued to listen to the reading of the Book of the Law for three hours each day and then for another three hours, they confessed their sins and participated in the worship of Jehovah.

The Levites were in their places and they encouraged the people to stand up and praise Jehovah. A prayer was offered to Jehovah that outlined the history of His dealings with the nation of Israel. First and foremost, His holy name is to be blessed and exalted above all others. He is God alone, the maker of the heavens, the earth, the seas and everything that is in them and the life-giver. He chose Abram and brought him out of Ur and gave him the name, Abraham. Because of his faith, Jehovah concluded a covenant with him to give his descendants the land of Canaan and He has kept that promise. He saw the suffering of their forefathers and brought miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh and the people of Egypt because they had treated them arrogantly. He made a name for Himself at that time enabling them to pass through the Red Sea on dry ground but all the army of Pharaoh were drowned. He spoke to them from heaven when they were at Mount Sinai and gave them His regulation, laws, decrees and commands through Moses. He fed them bread from heaven and brought water from a rock. He then brought them to the land that He promised to give them.

They became arrogant and did not obey His commands. They became stiff-necked and decided to return to the slavery that they had been released from. But Jehovah is a forgiving God, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Even when they made an idol and worshipped it, committing many other blasphemies, Jehovah did not desert them.

Even while they wandered in the desert, Jehovah never ceased to guide them using a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night so that they would stay on the path. For forty years He sustained them in the desert, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet swell.

They defeated nations larger than they, capturing fortified cities and fertile lands. They took over homes filled with many good things having wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. Even so, they became disobedient and left His law and killed the prophets He sent to them to warn them. Then Jehovah allowed them to be oppressed by their enemy but as soon as they cried out to Him, He rescued them. But as soon as they were at rest they again turned to doing what was evil in His eyes.

Again and again Jehovah warned them to return to Him but they paid no attention. He was patient with them for many years admonished them through His prophets, but because of their stubbornness of their hearts, He handed them over to their neighbors. Even then Jehovah did not completely abandon them.

So now Jehovah, do not allow the hardship that have come upon us beginning with the days of the king of Assyria, the first to take us into captivity, seem as little in Your eyes. You have always acted faithfully while we, Your people, have not. Even while we were enjoying the goodness You provided in the land, we have not turned from our evil ways. But this day we are now slaves in the land that You gave to us. The kings that You put over us rule as they please over us. We are in great distress. So we are making a binding agreement in writing and our leaders, priests and Levites are affixing their seal to it.


Nehemiah Chapter 10

The names of the eighty-four Levites, priests and leaders of the people who sealed the agreement made by the people are listed in verses 1-27. This binding agreement that the people made with Jehovah to keep His laws was also enjoined with a curse and an oath. The people delineated the laws that they were bound by. They promised to:

1) refrain from giving their daughters in marriage to the peoples around them or taking their daughters for their sons

2) refrain from buying merchandise from sellers on the Sabbath or any other Holy Day

3) leave the land uncultivated in the seventh year

4) cancel all debt in the seventh year

5) assume the responsibility to support the service of the temple by giving a third of a shekel each year

6) make sure that there was sufficient wood to burn on the altar with each family bringing the contribution at their set time

7) bring the firstfruits of their crops and fruit trees

8) bring the first-born of their sons, cattle, herds and flocks to the priest ministering at the temple

9) bring to the priest the first of the ground meal, grain offering, wine and oil

10) bring the tithe of their crops to the Levites who collected them in all the towns. A priest was to accompany the Levites when they collected the tithes and a tenth of these tithes were to be given to the priest.

They vowed not to neglect the house of Jehovah.

Nehemiah Chapter 11

In chapter seven, Nehemiah registered the people by their genealogical record so that he could determine who would live in Jerusalem. The people now cast lots to bring one out of every ten persons from the towns of Judah and Benjamin to live in Jerusalem and the other nine would remain on the ancestral possession. Those selected from Judah were descendants of his sons, Perez and Shelah, and they numbered 468 men. There were 928 men chosen from the towns of Benjamin, nearly twice as many as from Judah. Many other men volunteered to live in Jerusalem.

There were 1,192 priests who would live in the city as well as 284 Levites, some who would do work outside the temple and others who would take the lead in the thanksgiving and prayer. The men who were assigned as gatekeepers needed to live in Jerusalem and 172 were chosen for this responsibility. The temple servants already lived near Jerusalem on the hill of Ophel. The chief of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi who was a descendant of Asaph and his descendants were the singers responsible for the service of the house of God. They lived in Jerusalem and King David had regulated their daily services.

The people in Judah had settled in their ancestral towns from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom. There are fifteen towns listed where the descendants of Benjamin settled. In Nehemiah’s census there appears to have been an excessive number of Levites living in Judah so some of their divisions were settled in Benjamin.

1 Chronicles 9:1-34 gives a more complete listing of the people who lived in Jerusalem than Nehemiah does in this chapter. There is some difference in the number of priests and gatekeepers. A more complete listing of the duties of the Levites is also found in the account in 1 Chronicles 9:28-32.

Nehemiah Chapter 12

Although there were twenty-four divisions of the priests set up by David, verses 1-7 lists the names of only twenty-two leaders of these divisions who returned from Babylon with Jeshua. Verses 12-21 lists only twenty divisions and their leaders during the days of high priest Joiakim, son of Jeshua. Verse 17 shows that two of the divisions came under the direction of one leader. The leaders of the two groups of Levitical singers who stood opposite each other in the service during the days of Jeshua are given in verses 8 and 9.

Verse 10 lists the high priestly line from Jeshua, whose father, Jehozadak, was deported to Babylon and his descendants through Jaddua. The high priestly line from Aaron to Jehozadak, whose father, Seraiah, was put to death by Nebuchadnezzar is found in 1 Chronicles 6:3-15. The high priest Seraiah is the one spoken of at Ezekiel 21:25-27 as “O slain, wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day has come.” (New American Standard)

During the days of Darius the Persian, thought to be Darius II, the names of the high priests listed in verse 10 were recorded. This may have been the last time the names of the priests were officially listed.

Nehemiah now prepared the people for the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. He brought all of the Levites to Jerusalem to participate in the celebration. When the priests and Levites had ceremonially cleansed themselves, they purified the people, the gates and the wall. Nehemiah then assigned the singers into two groups for giving thanks. One group, along with one-half of the leaders of Judah, moved in a possession in a southerly direction towards the Dung Gate and they would end up at the Water Gate. Ezra the scribe led this group. The other group went in the opposite direction and ended up at the Gate of the Guard. The singers then took their place in the temple and under the direction of Jezrehiah they gave thanks to Jehovah. Then the people rejoiced as they offered sacrifices to Jehovah because he had given them great joy. The sounds of their rejoicing could be heard for a great distance.

Nehemiah then appointed men to oversee the contributions that were brought to the storerooms, which the Law had prescribed for the priests, the Levites, the singers and the gatekeepers. The people had already pledged to restore these contributions after they heard the reading of the Law by Ezra. (Nehemiah 10:38, 39)

Nehemiah Chapter 13

The people were continually listening to the reading of the Law. During one of these reading they learned that Jehovah stated that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be accepted into the congregation of Israel as proselytes. The reason for this was that they had not treated Israel in a humane way when they came out of Egypt and were on their way to the land of Canaan. The Moabites even hired Balaam to put a curse on Israel. (Deuteronomy 23:4-6) So, at that time, the people excluded from Israel all who were of foreign descent.

Nehemiah left Jerusalem in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes to return to his duties to the king. Later, at an unspecified time, he requested that the king allow him to return to Jerusalem. Upon his return, he learned that Eliashib, the priest who was in charge of the storerooms at the temple, had provided Tobias with a very large room for his personal use. This is the same Tobias who had tried to stop the work of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 2:10, 19) This room had originally been used to store the tithes that were to be given to the priests, Levites, singers and gatekeepers. Nehemiah threw all of Tobias’ belongings out of this room, purified it and put the tithes back into it.

He also found that the Levites had not been given their portion of the tithes and so had had to return to cultivating their own fields to provide for themselves. The people had agreed on oath not to neglect the House of God but they had not kept that oath. So Nehemiah rebuked the officials and asked why had they allowed this neglect of the house of God to happen. He then had the Levites return to their service at the temple and he put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe and a Levite named Pedaiah in charge of the storerooms. These men were considered trustworthy and they would make sure that the Levites were given their portion of the offerings so that they could devote themselves to Jehovah’s service. Nehemiah requested that Jehovah would remember him for what he had done for His house and its services.

Nehemiah noticed that the people had reverted to doing work on the Sabbath in spite of their oath to consider this day as sacred. Again he had to rebuke the leaders for allowing this desecration to go on. They, as their forefathers had done, were stirring up Jehovah’s anger again. So Nehemiah ordered that the doors of the gates be closed when the Sabbath began and were not to be opened again until it was concluded. He even stationed some of his men at the gates to make certain that his orders were obeyed. Some of the merchants continued to carry on their activities outside the walls rather than return to their homes but Nehemiah threatened them with bodily harm if they did not leave and they finally did so. Then he commanded the gatekeepers to ceremonially cleanse themselves so that they could go back to their posts and keep the merchants out of the city on the Sabbath in order to keep this day holy.

He also observed that many men of Judah had broken their oath not to marry foreign women by again taking foreign wives during his absence and most of their children did not speak the Jewish language. Nehemiah became very angry with these men and made them swear an oath again in God’s name that they would not continue to sanction these mixed marriages for their children. It is not stated whether Nehemiah dissolved these marriages as Ezra had done, but more than likely did so. (Ezra 10:11) But in the instance where a son of the high priest Joiada had married a daughter of Sanballat, a man who had opposed Nehemiah’s work, Nehemiah drove him out from among the people. He then prayed that Jehovah would not forget what this priest had done in defiling the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood. Nehemiah then purified the priest and Levites of everything foreign and then he assigned them their duties. He also saw to it that there was sufficient wood for the burnt sacrifices and he made sure that the firstfruits were brought into the temple. His narrative ends with his requesting that Jehovah would remember him with favor.

Nehemiah has been given high praises for the leadership qualities he displayed. He showed himself to be a man of responsibility, vision, prayer, action, cooperation, compassion and one who triumphed over difficulties. The nation needed such a leader to keep them moving forward so as not to revert to their former rebellious ways that had caused Jehovah to remove them from the land in the first place.

Nehemiah, as well as Ezra’s main concern for the people was that they would not act as they had in the past and so cause Jehovah to become angry with them and turn against them again. (Nehemiah13:17, 18; Ezra 9:14) Through the work of these two men and others, the nation survived to the coming of the messiah but was eventually destroyed because of not listening to the one who had been sent to save them.

The Book of Esther

Esther Chapter 1

In the third year of his reign, Xerxes, king of Persia, gave a banquet for all of his officials, including the military leaders, the princes and the nobles. During the 180 days of this banquet, he displayed all the wealth, splendor and glory of his kingdom and majesty. The NIV Bible Commentary, page 728, makes this observation regarding the length of time of this feast. It states: “For 180 days (six months) Xerxes displayed his vast wealth and royal regalia to his guests. A question has been raised as to whether the guests could have exercised their administrative duties and also all have been present during the entire 180 days or whether they might have come by rotation until all had experienced the king’s hospitality.” The Bible Knowledge Commentary of the Old Testament, page 703, adds concerning the reason for this gathering: “Though not stated, this banquet probably corresponds to the great feast Xerxes gave when he was planning to invade Greece. According to Herodotus it took Xerxes four years to get ready for the invasion he launched in 481. (Herodotus’ four years would extend from the beginning of Xerxes’ reign in 485.) No doubt the 180 days involved planning sessions in which all the provinces’ leaders were being prepared of the war effort, as well as being impressed with Xerxes’ wealth and splendor. The campaign was to be a costly affair.”

At the end of this period he gave a seven-day banquet in his enclosed garden where all of the people who were in this fortress, both great and small, were invited. The gardens were sumptuous and the table exquisitely set. Wine flowed freely, as the king was a very liberal person. His queen, Vashti, also, at this time, gave a banquet in the royal palace for the wives of the nobles and officials. The accuracy of the Book of Esther has been question by many because in Greek historical records, Xerxes’ queen is not called Vashti but Amestris. The footnote for verse 9 in the NIV Study Bible concludes that Amestris must be the “Greek version for the name Vashti.”

On the seventh day of the king’s banquet, he summoned his queen to appear before him in her royal raiment so he could show her off to his nobles and officials as she was very pleasing to look at. But she refused to come and this angered the king very much. He then spoke to his closest advisors concerning the matter of what to do about Queen Vashti as she had disobeyed a command of the king. Why would the king need to consult his advisers on what to do about his wife? The NIV Bible Commentary, Volume I, page 730, says this: “The king wanted to know what could be done legally to the queen for disobeying his command. It seems strange that he would have to consult others before dealing with a rebellious wife, but apparently the law protected her from his Caprice.” Further this source states: “Apparently there was no existing law to deal with the situation, hence the consultation between the king and his nobles

One of his advisors, Memucan, said that the queen’s conduct would have an effect on all the women in the province. They would follow her example and would despise their husbands as she had done and there would be no end of the disrespect. The king should issue a royal decree to be written in the laws of the Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. This edict of the king should be proclaimed throughout his entire realm so that all women will see that it was in their best interest to respect their husbands and the king should then find a replacement for her. The king followed his advice and he sent dispatches to each of the 127 provinces in their own language proclaiming that a man should be ruler over his own household.

Esther Chapter 2

When the king’s anger had subsided, his personal attendant suggested that he appoint a commission in each of the provinces to search for the most beautiful girls and bring them to Susa to become part of the harem under the charge of the king’s eunuch. They would be given the appropriate beauty treatments and the one that pleased the king the most should take Vashti’s place as queen.

There was a man named Mordecai who lived in Susa and was of the tribe of Benjamin. His family had been taken into exile when Nebuchadnezzar, in his seventh year as king, took Jehoiachin captive to Babylon along with all the important people in the city. (2 Kings 24:14) Mordecai had a cousin who was his ward as he had taken her into his home when her parents died. Her Persian name was Esther and she was among the women chosen to become a part of the king’s harem and Mordecai had told her not to reveal to anyone that she was a Jewess. The eunuch in charge of the harem was very pleased with her so that he began to treat her as special. He immediately provided her with the special beauty treatments that would take a year to complete. He also gave her the special food set aside for the harem, seven maids to attend her and the best living quarters in the harem. When a girl was ready to appear before the king, she was to be given whatever she desired to take with her, such as jewels or clothing. She would spend the night at the royal palace and when she returned the next morning, she would be taken to a different part of the harem because she was now a concubine of the king. She would not return to the king unless summoned by him. Esther was taken to the king in the tenth month of his seventh year of rule.

The king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women and he was very pleased with her so he chose her to be his queen. He put a royal crown on her head and gave a banquet in her honor. He also proclaimed a holiday throughout his realm and gave many gifts to his subjects.

In the NIV Bible Commentary, page 730, we are told this: “The king divorced Vashti in the third year of his reign (1:3) and did not marry Esther till the seventh year (2:16). Between the events of 1:3 and 2:16, Xerxes made his disastrous expedition to Greece. Returning from his naval defeat at Salamis 480 and his humiliating rout at Plataea in 479, he turned his thoughts to remarriage, through which he hoped to find solace.”

Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate when he learned of a plot to kill the king. He reported the information to Queen Esther and she informed the king of the plot giving the credit to Mordecai for uncovering the plot. An investigation was launched and the plot was found to be true. Two officials of the king were found guilty and were hung from poles. All of this and what Mordecai did was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king.

Esther Chapter 3

Haman, an Agagite was elevated by the king and given a seat of honor higher than all of his other nobles. We are not told what Haman did to attain this honor, but it was such that the king had decreed that all of the other nobles would bow before him and pay him honor. Everyone, that is, except Mordecai obeyed the king, he refused to do this. The footnote for verse 2 in the NIV Study Bible gives a possible explanation for this refusal. It reads: “The title “Agagite” could refer to some other immediate ancestor or to an unknown place; however, it is far more likely that it refers to Agag, king of Amalek (1 Sa 15:20). The Amalekites had attacked Israel after she fled from Egypt (Ex 17:8-16; 1 Sa 14:47-48); for this reason the Lord would ‘be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation’ (Ex 17:16).

When the officials could not get Mordecai to comply with the king’s wishes to honor Haman, they went to Haman to see if Mordecai would continue to get away with not obeying simple because he told them he was a Jew. Haman became enraged but rather than kill just one Jew, he saw a chance to rid the Persian Empire of all the Jews. The enmity between the Jews and the Amalekites is continuing as Jehovah had stated it would. In the first month, Nisan, in the twelfth year of Xerxes reign, they set a date for this extermination by casting lots. The lot fell on the twelfth month, Adar.

Haman then went to the king and told him that a certain people dispersed throughout his empire were different from all other peoples and they did not obey the king’s laws. The king should not allow these people to continue living in his realm. So if it pleased the king, let a decree be issued that they should be destroyed and he would personally put ten thousand talents of silver in the royal treasury to pay the men who carried out this order. The king was agreeable to do this and he gave Haman his signet ring to seal the order.

The NIV Bible Commentary, page 733, in addressing this large sum of money offered by Haman, says this: “The value of the silver was a fabulous sum, estimated to weigh approximately 375 tons. It has also been estimated to represent the equivalent of two thirds of the annual income of the Persian Empire. Perhaps Haman planned to acquire such a large sum by confiscating the Jews’ property.”

On the thirteenth day of Nisan, the royal secretaries were summoned and they wrote Haman’s orders in the language spoken in each of the provinces and sealed them with the king’s signet ring. The order stated that on the thirteenth day of Adar, all Jews, whether young or old, women or children, were to be put to death and their goods plundered. This edict was to be the law in all the provinces of Persia.

Esther Chapter 4

When Mordecai learned of this edict, he put on sackcloth and ashes and went into the city of Susa and stopped at the king’s gate because no one was allowed inside in mourning clothes. Jews everywhere began to fast and mourn when they learned about this order. Esther’s servants came and told her that Mordecai was standing outside the king’s gate in mourning clothes and she sent him some other clothes to put on so that he could come into the palace but he refused them. She then sent the king’s eunuch out to talk to Mordecai to learn what was troubling him. He told the eunuch all about Haman’s plot and about the money he had offered to pay for the destruction of the Jews. He also gave him a copy of the edict that had been posted in Susa to give to Esther.

He urged her to go before the king to plead for his life and the lives of her people. She sent word back saying that anyone who went into the king’s presence without being summoned would spell death for him unless the king spared his life by extending his scepter to him. Mordecai replied to her that if she remained silent, the Jews would be given relief from another source but it would not mean that she would escape death. She may have been put in the position of queen for the express purpose of helping in just such times as these. She then told Mordecai to have all the Jews in Susa fast for her for three days and nights and she would also do the same. Afterwards she would go to the king and if it meant her death, then so be it. Mordecai did as she suggested.

Esther Chapter 5

On the third day, Esther put on her royal robes and stood outside the king’s inner court. He was sitting on his throne facing the doorway and when he saw her standing there, he held out his gold scepter to her allowing her to enter before him. He asked her what request did she have that he could fulfill for her. She said to him that if it pleased him, she was inviting the king and Haman to a banquet on this day. The king was agreeable and he summoned Haman to come at once to the banquet.

While at the banquet, the king again asked Esther what was her petition to him and she said that if it pleased the king, let the king and Haman again come to a banquet the next day and she would answer the king’s question at that time.

Haman was well pleased with himself and when he arrived home, he boasted about all his wealth, his sons and about the honor that the king had bestowed upon him elevating him above all his other nobles. He was even favored by being the only other person that Queen Esther invited to her banquet along with the king. But Mordecai was the only blot on an otherwise happy outlook for him. So his wife suggested that he build a gallows seventy-five feet high and ask the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it. He liked that suggestion and he had it built.

Esther Chapter 6

That same night, the king could not sleep and he had the book that contained the chronicles of his rule written in it brought and read to him. When the section that recorded the incident of the men who had plotted to kill him was read to him, he asked what had been done for Mordecai who had exposed the plot. His attendant replied that nothing had been done for him. The king then wanted to know who was waiting in the court to see him and was told that Haman was standing there. Haman had come there to talk to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows he had built next to his house. The king then summoned him and asked him what should be done for the person that the king delights in. Haman was sure that the king was referring to him, so he said that this person should be clothed with a robe that the king had worn. He should be put on one of the king’s horses with a royal crest on its head and led through the streets by one of his most trusted princes who would proclaim for everyone to hear, ‘This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!’ The king then commanded that Haman do all that he had just suggested for Mordecai the Jew who was sitting in the king’s gate.

Haman did as the king had commanded him and he clothed Mordecai with the king’s robe, put him on the king’s horse and led him through the city proclaiming before him, “This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!” Afterwards he returned home molified and he told his wife and his friends what he had just done for Mordecai. His wife then told him that he was surely to come to ruin because of Mordecai. He was then summoned to Queen Esther’s banquet.

Esther Chapter 7

When the king and Haman were drinking wine at Queen Esther’s banquet, the king asked her again what her petition was. She replied that if she had found favor in his eyes, grant her her life and spare the lives of her people because they had been sold for destruction and annihilation. The king asked who the man was who would dare to do such a thing. She replied that it was Haman who by now was becoming terrified. The king was enraged and got up and went out into the palace garden. Haman then began to beg Esther for his life as he realized that the king had already decided his fate. When the king returned he found that Haman had fallen on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king then accused him of molesting the queen. The attendants grabbed Haman and covered his face because they knew that he was doomed. One of the eunuchs told the king that Haman had built a gallows next to his house for the purpose of hanging Mordecai. The king then told them to hang Haman from the gallows he had built.

Esther Chapter 8

King Xerxes then gave Haman’s property to Queen Esther and she appointed Mordecai as overseer of it. Mordecai had been brought before the king when Esther told him that he was related to her. The king then gave him Haman’s position of honor and his signet ring that he had taken back from Haman.

Esther again approached the king to plead with him to stop the plan devised by Haman to exterminate the Jews. The king allowed her to approach him and she asked that an order be written that would override the one written by Haman. The king told Esther and Mordecai to write another decree in the king’s name on behalf of the Jews and seal it with the king’s signet ring. The royal secretaries were summoned and they wrote what Mordecai told them to in the languages spoken by the people in the 127 provinces and in the language of the Jews.

The edict granted that Jews had the right to assemble and protect themselves. They could kill any that came against them to destroy them and they could also plunder the property of any that was an enemy of theirs. The edict was issued in the third month according to the Jewish calendar in order to give them sufficient time to prepare to defend themselves in the twelfth month when Haman’s edict would take effect. When Mordecai’s edict was circulated, there was joy among the Jews and they held celebrations. Many of other nationalities sided with the Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them all.

Esther Chapter 9

The thirteenth day of Adar came and the Jews were ready to defend themselves. Their enemies had hoped to overpower them but the Jews were prepared. They assembled in their cities and attacked all those who hated them. Even the nobles and officials of the king helped them because of Mordecai who had become very powerful. In the citadel of Susa, they killed five hundred men including the ten sons of Haman. However they did not take any plunder.

The king was acutely interested in how the Jews were faring so he asked Esther what news did she have of the Jews in the outlying provinces. He also wanted to know what he could do for her. She replied that she wanted the king to give the Jews another day in which to completely rid the city of Susa of their enemies and that he would hang the bodies of Haman’s ten sons on the gallows. The king agreed and an edict was issued to give the Jews the fourteenth day of Adar to fight their enemies. Haman’s ten sons were also hanged on the gallows. That day the Jews killed another three hundred of their enemies in the city of Susa but they did not take any plunder. They were not hoping to gain wealth from this fight as Haman had planned to do. They were fighting for relief from their enemies.

The Jews in the outlying provinces killed seventy-five thousand men on the thirteenth day of Adar and on the fourteenth day their fight was over so they celebrated on this day. But the Jews in the city of Susa had to continue their fight on the fourteenth day and were not able to rest until the fifteenth day of Adar. On this day, they celebrated their victory. That is why Jews who live in the rural areas observe the fourteenth day of Adar while those in the city observed the fifteenth day of Adar.

Mordecai issued an edict encouraging the Jews to celebrate annually these two days in Adar, as this is when they gained relief from their enemies. This was to be a time of feasting and joy and giving of presents of food to one another and to the poor. It became known as Purim (the name comes from pur or lot) because the lot had been cast by Haman to determine the date that the fight against the Jews was to commence. A second letter concerning Purim was written by Esther and Mordecai and was sent to all Jews in the Persian Empire so that it became an established law that they should observe these two days. Even down to this day the Jews still observe the feast of Purim.

Esther Chapter 10

King Xerxes continued to grow rich as he imposed tribute throughout his empire. All of the great acts performed by the king and by Mordecai whom the king had given great power to and who was second in rank to the king are written in the annals of the kings of Persia and Media. The Jews held Mordecai in high esteem because he worked for the good of his people.

The Book of Job

Job Chapter 1

Job lived in the land of Uz, an area east of the Jordan River that was settled by Seir, the Horite before the Edomites took control of this land. He was an upright man with high moral standards, a man who feared God and was the most prominent man among his peers. He was materially wealthy, maybe more so than any other man, and had ten children, seven sons and three daughters. His sons would hold feasts in their homes and they would invite their sisters to join with them. When these feasts were finished, Job would offer burnt offerings in their behalf because he was concerned that if they had offended God in some way, he wanted to intercede on their behalf before God. This was something that he did on a regular basis.

We learn here that during one of the regular meetings that the angels had with Jehovah, Satan decided to attend. (1 Kings 22:19-22) Jehovah asked him where had he come from and Satan replied that he had been roaming throughout the earth. 1 Peter 5:8 describes Satan’s movements as being like those of a roaring lion who “prowls around looking for someone to devour.” This is the obvious meaning of his statement because Jehovah asks him if he had given any attention to Job. Jehovah refers to Job as ‘His servant’ and describes him as a man who was unlike any other man, blameless and upright, one who feared God and shunned evil. Satan certainly had turned his attention to Job because he claimed that Job had his own reasons for serving Him. God had blessed him in every way so that he was a very wealthy man and God had also put a hedge of protection around him, so under these circumstances, it was not likely that Job’s true motives could be made known. Satan then challenged God to remove his protection from Job and He would then be able to see that Job was no different than any other man. He would curse God to His face if he were made to suffer by losing all that he had. God accepted the challenge and gave Job into Satan’s hands with the restriction that he was not to physically harm Job. Satan then left the presence of Jehovah to plot his strategy.

One day when all of Job’s children were at the home of their oldest brother feasting and enjoying themselves, a messenger came to tell Job that a band of Sabeans had stolen all of his donkeys and oxen. Shortly another messenger came to tell Job that fire from heaven had killed all his sheep and the herdsmen. Then another came to tell Job that the Chaldeans had carried off all of his camels and had killed his servants who were caring for them. Still another came with the worse news of all, a strong wind had swept in from the desert, struck the house where his children were feasting and the house had collapsed on them, killing all of them.

Upon hearing this news, Job got up, tore his robes and shaved his head and then fell prostrate before Jehovah. From The Bible Knowledge Commentary of the Old Testament, page 720, we learn that “Job’s ‘tearing his robe’ symbolized inner turmoil and shock, while ‘shaving his head’ indicated the loss of his personal glory.” Job said before Jehovah that he recognized that everything that he had came from Him and He could give as well as take away and that His name should always be praised. Job did not sin by charging Jehovah with anything improper. Of course, this attitude did not sit very well with Satan.

Job Chapter 2

Satan now attends another meeting in heaven where Jehovah reminds him that, in spite of his efforts to blacken Job’s character, he has failed. Satan counters that Jehovah still had not given him enough latitude to be able to show what Job’s true character really was. He wants Jehovah to relax his restriction against his being able to cause physical harm to Job. He believes that if Job looses his health and thinks he is going to die, he will curse God because of this. Jehovah relents and allows him to touch Job’s flesh but he is not to take his life.

Satan then proceeds to cause Job to have painful sores or boils all over his body from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. As he sat in ashes, he would use a piece of broken pottery to scrape the running sores. Job may have used ashes to soothe his sores. The Bible Knowledge Commentary of the Old Testament, page 721 tells us this: “This disease, as attested by physicians today, matches the symptoms of Job’s afflictions - inflamed, ulcerous sores (2:7), itching (2:8), degenerative changes in facial skin (2:7, 12), loss of appetite (3:24), depression (3:24-25), loss of strength (6:11), worms in the boils (7:5), difficulty in breathing (9:18), darkness under the eyes (16:16), foul breath (19:17), loss of weight (19:20; 33:21), continual pain (30:17), restlessness (30:27), blackened skin, peeling skin and fever (30:30).”

Job’s wife could not empathize with him so she suggested that he curse God and die. She obviously believed that he would not recover from his affliction so why continue to suffer. He told her that she was talking like a foolish woman, or as one who was morally deficient. She had become embittered against God because of her losses, which was the opposite of Job’s viewpoint. But he recognized that if he accepted what was good from God he must also accept any trouble that came along with it. He did not sin against God in his words.

When three of Job’s friends heard about his problems, they came to see him in order to give comfort to him and to sympathize with him. When they saw him, they began to weep because he was so disfigured by this disease. They tore their robes and put dust on their heads because they were mourning for him. They sat with him for seven days saying nothing because they could see how much he was suffering.

Job Chapter 3

Job spoke first and he cursed the day that he was born. He desired that that day be swallowed in darkness and that God would not care about it. He even wanted the night when he was conceived to be excluded from the other days in the year, that no shout of joy be heard in it. Those whose job it was to curse days should curse this day. They should arouse Leviathan to swallow it up. Its morning stars should become dark and it should wait in vain for daylight nor see the first rays of dawn. Job says that if that day had not existed he would never have been born and would not have experienced trouble as he is doing now.

He asked why did he not die a stillborn, why was someone there to comfort and suckle him at his birth. He could now have been at peace, resting with those who have already died. Here even the wicked cease to have turmoil, captives now enjoy their ease because they no longer heard their slave driver’s shout and slaves were freed from their master’s shout.

Job now longs for death and he wonders why it does not come to one who is searching for it more than for hidden treasures, who will greet it with rejoicing and gladness. Why is a person who is bitter of spirit and does not want life forced to accept it? He has lost his appetite and his groans were as constant as running water. What he dreaded most had come upon him, he had lost all peace and quietness; there was only continual agitation.

Job Chapter 4

Eliphaz the Temanite now responds to Job’s words. He reminds Job of what he was in the past. He had instructed many, strengthened feeble hands, his words supported those who had stumbled, he had strengthened those with feeble knees. But he is now faced with some of the same problems he has helped others with and he is unable to benefit from the counsel he had given to others. He is a man who fears God so shouldn’t this be his confidence, or was Job’s reverence for God merely for outward appearance and had no real substance? He asks Job if anyone innocent had ever perished or any upright person destroyed? His observances have shown him that anyone suffering evil must himself have committed evil and they are the ones that God destroys. Even the fierce and mighty lion can be brought down.

He then relates to Job that he had a vision in which he received a divine message from God. The spirit told him that a man cannot be more righteous that God, that even the angels in heaven were subject to error and were not to be trusted. So how much less can a man who is made of dust be trusted especially as he can be crushed as easily as a moth. Man faces death constantly and when he dies whatever things of value he may possess are lost to him. And, for the most part, he dies without ever gaining wisdom. As far as Eliphaz was concerned, “to die without gaining wisdom was the ultimate disaster.” Bible Knowledge Commentary of the Old Testament, page 726

Job Chapter 5

He tells Job that there is no one who will answer him, certainly not one of the angels. Job’s vexations were not helpful to him but were more likely to be harmful. He then compares Job to a fool who may seem to have taken root but is soon cursed and his sons are crushed and his wealth is taken away. The source of Job’s affliction came from within him, not from any outward source. Now, if he were in Job’s shoes, he would appeal to God who always does everything right. He is benevolent, majestic, powerful, providing salvation to the needy and catching the wise in their own craftiness. Eliphaz shows by his words that he believes that Job has committed some deliberate sin. He tells him that God is disciplining him and he should accept this discipline in the spirit in which it is given because God will also bind up the wounds that he caused with consolation. He goes on to enumerate the blessings that Job would receive when he has developed the proper attitude and accepts his discipline. (Verses 19-25) He ends his counsel by saying to Job that his words had been thoroughly examined and carefully thought out and were therefore worthy of his giving his full attention to them.

Job Chapter 6

Job now replies to Eliphaz saying that if his vexations or anguish were weighed they would be heavier that the sand of the sea. God’s arrows were buried deep within him and his spirit continually drank their poison, therefore Job believes that he has good reason to complain. Animals do not cry out unless they are deprived of their sustenance. So he, being deprived of even the basics, was left with what was tasteless and unpalatable, those things that he considered loathsome.

Job is still desirous of death and wishes that God would at least grant that one hope. This would be something that would bring him comfort. His one consolation was that he had not denied the words of God. He does not have any hope of recovery so what does he have to look forward to?

Job then tells his friends that they are like a brook that is first dirty with melting ice and snow and then later dries up and becomes a waste and travelers become distressed searching its riverbeds looking for water. Instead of offering comfort to him they condemn him as a sinner and so cannot sympathize with him. He has not asked them for anything materially only that they would show him some kindness and loyalty in spite of what they thought he had done.

He was willing to listen to them if they could show him where he had erred. He was interested in hearing truth as he himself had spoken truth but they had treated his words as nothing but wind. He believes that it is their words that are specious and without merit. He views his friends as those who would take advantage of the helpless. He then pleads that they would reconsider their indictment of him as he was in the right. He had no reason to lie and he was still able to differentiate the perverse from the truth.

Job Chapter 7

Job knows that a man has to struggle all the while his is alive and is constantly looking for relief of some sort. He has been suffering for months; his nights are nothing but misery. When they come he longs for the day, as he cannot sleep. His flesh is full of worms and dust, his skin form scabs that eventually break and become running sores again. He sees his days as being numbered and without purpose.

Job now directs his words to God saying that he knows that life is short and that once he dies, he will not return to reclaim his possessions as he will have been forgotten. So he has to speak out now; he has to complain of his lot in life. Why is he being watched or restrained as though he was the sea or a whale that has to be controlled? He receives no comfort when in his bed because God sends him terrifying dreams and visions such that he prefers death rather than continuing to live. He despises his life and would not want to continue living; he only wants God to leave him alone with his meaningless life.

Why would God give a human so much attention, examining him every morning and testing him every moment not leaving him for even an instant? If Job has sinned, what had he specifically done to God? Why wouldn’t He pardon Job’s offenses and forgive his sin? His very life was nearing its end and soon he will be out of God’s sight.

Job Chapter 8

Bildad the Shuhite now replies to Job. He compares Job’s words to a blustering wind and he implies that Job has accused God of being unjust. God is not one who perverts justice; He pays what is due the sin. He states that even Job’s children were given what they deserved for their sin. So if Job did not want to suffer the same fate as his children then he should plead with God, that is if he were as upright and pure as he believes himself to be, then God would act on his behalf and restore him to his rightful place. Even though he may be starting off with very little, his future would be very prosperous.

If Job would just give consideration to what former generations had learned, would they not be able to instruct him in the things that they came to understand, that the judgements of God followed the wicked. A person who opposes God can be likened to a papyrus that wilts when it is taken from its marshy environment or a reed that dies when taken from the water. The individual that forgets God cannot survive because what he puts his trust in is unstable, fragile and will not support him. God will not reject a blameless man nor will he strengthen an evil man. If Job would only admit his sin and turn to God, there was hope for him yet. Bildad had also concluded that Job was obviously not as godly as he claimed to be and so was acting the hypocrite.

Job Chapter 9

Job does not disagree with Bildad that God does not reject a blameless man but he counters with the thought that it is difficult for a mortal to be righteous before God, that is, in a legal sense. Job was seeking to vindicate himself before God because he did not believe that he had committed sins that would warrant the kind of punishment that he was receiving. But there did not appear to be any way that a mortal could meet with Him in a court of law to present his case before Him. If one wanted to dispute with Him, he would not be able to answer one question out of a thousand that He would ask. Who can dispute with One who moves mountains, or who can shake the earth from its place, or shuts off the light from the sun and the stars; He stretched out the heavens over the earth, and has created all the starry constellations seen by human eyes. He has done things that man cannot even fathom and miracles that cannot be counted. One cannot see Him with the eye nor can he be perceived. So how could anyone take anything from Him or ask what is He doing? So how is he to contend with Him, what words can he use to defend himself even though he is innocent? He could only plead for mercy from the judge.

According to The Bible Knowledge Commentary of the Old Testament, page 731, the reference to ‘the cohorts of Rahab’ in verse 13, “refers to the Babylonian creation myth in which Marduk defeated Tiamat (another name for Rahab, and for Leviathan; cf. Job 7:12) and then captured her helpers. Later Rahab became a nickname for Egypt (Pss. 87:4; 89:10; Isa. 30:7)”

Job continues that, in all likelihood, if he could summon Him to a court, he would not even get a hearing before God because God would likely crush him, He would multiply his wounds and overwhelmed him with misery. God is the stronger of the two so who could summon Him anyway. Even if Job got a chance to speak, his own mouth would probably condemn him even though he is innocent.

Job stills avows his innocence but he concludes that this does not count where God is concerned. He has imagined God to be indifferent to the despair of the innocent and indiscriminately destroys both the blameless and the wicked. He disagrees with his friends when they said that the righteous always prospers and the wicked always suffer. When a scourge brings death, does not the innocent despair, or when a land falls into the hands of the wicked, are not the judges blindfolded? In other words, the innocent do suffer and the wicked are sometimes victorious. If God is not responsible for these events, then who is?

Job realized that he did not have much hope of presenting his case before God because of the brevity of his life. Even if he decided to stop complaining and smiled, he would still have to face his suffering because God would still hold him guilty. Even if he were able to purge himself of his uncleanness, God was so against him that He would again plunge him into a cesspool. Job wanted someone who could mediate for him before God, who could convince God that he was innocent so that He would remove his terrors from Job and Job could speak up without fear, as he could not do now.

Job Chapter 10

Since Job is resigned to the fact that he can not have an arbitrator between himself and God then he must speak for himself. He would tell God not to condemn him before He lists the charges that He has against him. He would then ask God if he got some pleasure out of oppressing him, the work of His own hand. He would ask if He had eyes of flesh such that he needed to investigate him as a man would because he sees only outward appearances. Are His days numbered as those of a mortal man so that He needs to probe into Job’s sin?

Job recognized that God is the one who molded him so he wonders why He would now turn him back to dust so soon. Did He not initially pour him out like milk that curdles into cheese and give him skin and flesh and these were held together with bones and sinews? He gave Job life, showed him kindness and watched over his spirit. But Job felt that, secretly, in his heart, God had determined that if Job ever sinned, He would be watching so that his offences would not go unpunished. In Job’s mind, these were inconsistencies on the part of God.

Job said that God was stalking him like a lion so that he could display His awesome power against him. He brings new witnesses against him and increases His anger towards him sending His forces in waves against him. Job again desires that he were never born. He certainly would not have experienced the pain he is now going through. Since his few days are now almost over, if God would just turn away from him, he could have a moment’s peace before he goes to the grave where even light is darkness.


NOTE: All cited scriptures in this commentary are taken from the New International Version unless otherwise stated.

***©2005 by YORWW Congregation