Esther 9:5–10

The edict carried out

The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. 6 In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. 7 They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9Parmashta, Arisai, Ardai and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

Many people, including many Jewish writers, are distressed and question the morality of such slaughter. Especially disturbing is Esther’s request for another day to attack the enemies. As usual, the book of Esther offers no evaluation of the motives of the various participants. We need not assume that all who took part in the destruction of the enemies acted out of pure motives of self-defense. There may have been a vengeful spirit on the part of some of the Jews. On the other hand, the account demonstrates that the Jews tried to protect themselves from charges of malice and selfishness. They didn’t take any plunder from the victims, in order to protect themselves from charges of killing others simply to enrich themselves. There is no indication that they took advantage of the king’s permission to kill women and children. The text tries to emphasize that the Jewish attack on their enemies was a defensive attack: “to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies.” If the Jews did not strike their enemies at this time, the enemies might regain the king’s favor and recover their power to attack the Jews on another occasion. The Jews felt compelled to fight the battle to its conclusion while they had the upper hand.