Esther 9:19
New International Version
That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.

New Living Translation
So to this day, rural Jews living in remote villages celebrate an annual festival and holiday on the appointed day in late winter, when they rejoice and send gifts of food to each other.

English Standard Version
Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another.

Berean Standard Bible
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.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
Therefore the Jews of the villages who dwelt in the unwalled towns celebrated the fourteenth day of the month of Adar with gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and for sending presents to one another.

New American Standard Bible
Therefore the Jews of the rural areas, who live in the rural towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a holiday for rejoicing and feasting and sending portions of food to one another.

NASB 1995
Therefore the Jews of the rural areas, who live in the rural towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a holiday for rejoicing and feasting and sending portions of food to one another.

NASB 1977
Therefore the Jews of the rural areas, who live in the rural towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a holiday for rejoicing and feasting and sending portions of food to one another.

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore the Jews of the rural areas, who live in the rural towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a holiday for gladness and feasting and sending portions of food to one another.

Amplified Bible
Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the rural [unwalled] towns, make the fourteenth day of the month of Adar a holiday for rejoicing and feasting and sending choice portions of food to one another.

Christian Standard Bible
This explains why the rural Jews who live in villages observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a time of rejoicing and feasting. It is a holiday when they send gifts to one another.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
This explains why the rural Jews who live in villages observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a time of rejoicing and feasting. It is a holiday when they send gifts to one another.

American Standard Version
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.

Contemporary English Version
This is why the Jews in the villages now celebrate on the fourteenth day of the month. It is a joyful holiday that they celebrate by feasting and sending gifts of food to each other.

English Revised Version
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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
That is why the Jews who live in the villages and in the unwalled towns make the fourteenth day of the month of Adar a holiday for feasting and celebration. They also send gifts of food to one another.

Good News Translation
This is why Jews who live in small towns observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a joyous holiday, a time for feasting and giving gifts of food to one another.

International Standard Version
Therefore the Jewish people in the rural areas who live in unwalled towns make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a holiday for joy and feasting, and people send presents to one another.

Majority Standard Bible
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.

NET Bible
This is why the Jews who are in the rural country--those who live in rural cities--set aside the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a holiday for happiness, banqueting, holiday, and sending gifts to one another.

New Heart English Bible
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 good day, and a day of sending presents of food to one another.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
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.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Therefore the Jews of the open places, who are dwelling in cities of the open places, are making the fourteenth day of the month of Adar—joy and banquet, and a good day, and of sending portions to one another.

Young's Literal Translation
Therefore the Jews of the villages, who are dwelling in cities of the villages, are making the fourteenth day of the month of Adar -- joy and banquet, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.

Smith's Literal Translation
For this the Jews of the villages and in cities of the open country making the fourteenth day to the month Adar, gladness and drinking, and a good day, and sending portions a man to his neighbor.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
But those Jews that dwelt in towns not walled and in villages, appointed the fourteenth day of the month Adar for banquets and gladness, so as to rejoice on that day, and send one another portions of their banquets and meats.

Catholic Public Domain Version
But in truth, those Jews who were staying in unwalled towns and villages, appointed the fourteenth day of the month Adar for celebration and gladness, so as to rejoice on that day and send one another portions of their feasts and their meals.

New American Bible
That is why the rural Jews, who dwell in villages, celebrate the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joyful banqueting, a holiday on which they send food to one another.

New Revised Standard Version
Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the open towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, a holiday on which they send gifts of food to one another.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Therefore the Jews who are scattered, who dwell in widely separated towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting and a good day, and send portions one to another.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Because of this, the outcast Jews, the scattered dwellers of towns, make merriment and feasting and a fine day on the fourteenth of Adar, and they send portions, each man to his neighbor.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
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.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
On this account then it is that the Jews dispersed in every foreign land keep the fourteenth of Adar as a holy day with joy, sending portions each to his neighbour.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Feast of Purim Instituted
18The 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. 19This 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. 20Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far,…

Cross References
Nehemiah 8:10
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.”

Deuteronomy 16:14-15
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. / For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place He will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that your joy will be complete.

1 Samuel 25:8
Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on the day of a feast. Please give whatever you can spare to your servants and to your son David.’”

2 Chronicles 30:21-23
The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and priests praised the LORD day after day, accompanied by loud instruments of praise to the LORD. / And Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who performed skillfully before the LORD. For seven days they ate their assigned portion, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the LORD, the God of their fathers. / The whole assembly agreed to observe seven more days, so they observed seven days with joy.

Psalm 118:24
This is the day that the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Exodus 12:14
And this day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD, as a permanent statute for the generations to come.

Leviticus 23:39-41
On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the produce of the land, you are to celebrate a feast to the LORD for seven days. There shall be complete rest on the first day and also on the eighth day. / On the first day you are to gather the fruit of majestic trees, the branches of palm trees, and the boughs of leafy trees and of willows of the brook. And you are to rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. / You are to celebrate this as a feast to the LORD for seven days each year. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come; you are to celebrate it in the seventh month.

2 Kings 23:21-23
The king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover of the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” / No such Passover had been observed from the days of the judges who had governed Israel through all the days of the kings of Israel and Judah. / But in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, this Passover was observed to the LORD in Jerusalem.

Isaiah 25:6
On this mountain the LORD of Hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all the peoples, a feast of aged wine, of choice meat, of finely aged wine.

Zechariah 8:19
“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: The fasts of the fourth, the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth months will become times of joy and gladness, cheerful feasts for the house of Judah. Therefore you are to love both truth and peace.”

John 16:20-22
Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. / A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. / So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

Romans 12:15
Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.

Philippians 4:4
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

1 Thessalonians 5:16
Rejoice at all times.

Luke 15:23-24
Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us feast and celebrate. / For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.


Treasury of Scripture

Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelled 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.

on the thirteenth.

Esther 9:1,11,13,15
Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;) …

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Adar Areas Dwell Dwelt Feasting Food Fourteenth Gladness Good Holiday Jews Live Month Portions Presents Rejoicing Sending Towns Unwalled Villages
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Adar Areas Dwell Dwelt Feasting Food Fourteenth Gladness Good Holiday Jews Live Month Portions Presents Rejoicing Sending Towns Unwalled Villages
Esther 9
1. The Jews slay their enemies, with the ten sons of Haman.
12. Xerxes, at the request of Esther,
14. grants another day of slaughter, and Haman's sons to be hanged.
20. The two days of Purim are instituted.














That is why
This phrase serves as a connective tissue linking the events described earlier in the chapter to the present verse. It indicates a cause-and-effect relationship, emphasizing the significance of the Jews' deliverance from their enemies. The phrase invites readers to reflect on the providential hand of God in orchestrating events for the preservation of His people, a recurring theme throughout the Book of Esther.

the rural Jews
The term "rural Jews" refers to those living outside the fortified cities, in the countryside or villages. Historically, these Jews were more vulnerable to attacks due to their lack of city walls for protection. This distinction highlights the widespread nature of the Jewish community and underscores the unity among them despite geographical differences. It also reflects the inclusivity of God's deliverance, reaching even the most isolated members of His people.

those living in the villages
This phrase further specifies the location of the rural Jews, emphasizing their lifestyle and community structure. Villages in ancient Persia were often small, close-knit communities where people relied heavily on one another for support and protection. The mention of villages underscores the communal aspect of Jewish life and the shared joy in their collective deliverance.

observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar
The fourteenth day of Adar is significant as it marks the day of rest and celebration following the Jews' victory over their enemies. Adar is the twelfth month in the Hebrew calendar, typically falling in February or March. This observance is a precursor to the festival of Purim, a time of remembrance and gratitude for God's intervention. The specific mention of the date highlights the importance of commemorating God's faithfulness in history.

as a day of joy and feasting
Joy and feasting are common biblical expressions of celebration and thanksgiving. In the context of Esther, they signify the reversal of fortune for the Jews, from mourning to gladness. Feasting is a tangible expression of gratitude and community, reflecting the biblical principle of rejoicing in God's provision and deliverance. This phrase invites believers to consider the importance of celebrating God's victories in their own lives.

a day for sending gifts to one another
The practice of sending gifts fosters community and strengthens bonds among the Jewish people. It is an expression of love, generosity, and unity, reflecting the biblical command to love one's neighbor. This tradition of gift-giving during Purim serves as a reminder of the importance of community support and the joy of sharing blessings with others. It encourages believers to cultivate a spirit of generosity and fellowship in their own communities.

(19) The Jews of the villages . . . the unwalled towns.--Virtually the same Hebrew word is used in both these cases (perazim, perazoth). The meaning is that of country towns, undefended by bulwarks, or, at any rate, not in the sense in which the capital would be. We find the word used in contrast with "fenced cities" in Deuteronomy 3:5.

Verse 19. - The Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns. Rather, "the Jews of the country, who dwelt in the country towns." There are places where the word translated "unwalled" connotes that idea - e.g. Ezekiel 38:11; Zechariah 2:8; but the main notion which it expresses is always that of a "country region." Here walls are not at all in the thought of the writer, who intends a contrast between the Jews of the metropolis and those of the provinces. Ecbatana and Babylon are "country towns" to a Jew of Susa, such as the writer. A good day. Compare Esther 8:17, with the comment. Sending portions one to another. Compare Nehemiah 8:10; and for the precept on which the practice was founded see Deuteronomy 16:14. In modern times the Jews keep up the practice, and on the 15th of Adar both interchange gifts, chiefly sweetmeats, and make liberal offerings for the poor (comp. ver. 22, ad fin.).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
This is why
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the rural
הַפְּרָזִ֗ים (hap·pə·rā·zîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 6521: Hamlet dweller

Jews,
הַיְּהוּדִ֣ים (hay·yə·hū·ḏîm)
Article | Noun - proper - masculine plural
Strong's 3064: Jews -- Jewish

who live
הַיֹּשְׁבִים֮ (hay·yō·šə·ḇîm)
Article | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

in the villages,
בְּעָרֵ֣י (bə·‘ā·rê)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 5892: Excitement

observe
עֹשִׂ֗ים (‘ō·śîm)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 6213: To do, make

the fourteenth day
אַרְבָּעָ֤ה (’ar·bā·‘āh)
Number - masculine singular
Strong's 702: Four

of the month
לְחֹ֣דֶשׁ (lə·ḥō·ḏeš)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 2320: The new moon, a month

of Adar
אֲדָ֔ר (’ă·ḏār)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 143: The twelfth month in the Jewish calendar

as a day
י֣וֹם (yō·wm)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3117: A day

of joy
שִׂמְחָ֥ה (śim·ḥāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8057: Blithesomeness, glee

and feasting.
וּמִשְׁתֶּ֖ה (ū·miš·teh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4960: Drink, drinking, a banquet, feast

It is a holiday
וְי֣וֹם (wə·yō·wm)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3117: A day

for sending
וּמִשְׁל֥וֹחַ (ū·miš·lō·w·aḥ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4916: A sending out, presentation, seizure

gifts
מָנ֖וֹת (mā·nō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 4490: Something weighed out, a division, a ration, a lot

to one
אִ֥ישׁ (’îš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

another.
לְרֵעֵֽהוּ׃ (lə·rê·‘ê·hū)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 7453: Friend, companion, fellow


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OT History: Esther 9:19 Therefore the Jews of the villages who (Est Esth. Es)
Esther 9:18
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