are perhaps
warranted in saying that the immediate occasion of writing the book was
to show the historic origin of that festival--a festival mentioned in
the second book of Maccabees, under the title of _Mordecai's_ day (chap.
15:36), and observed, according to Josephus, by the Jews throughout the
whole world. Antiq., 11, 6. 13.

29. Among the various opinions respecting the Ahasuerus of this book,
the best sustained is that which identifies him with the celebrated
_Xerxes_ of profane history. With this agrees all that is said of the
splendor and extent of his dominions, extending "from India even unto
Ethiopia, over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces" (1:1), and of
his passionate, capricious, and sensual character.

To us, who are accustomed to a government of law, in which the
rulers are restrained from the exercise of arbitrary power, and
are kept under constant restraint by popular opinion, the
incidents recorded in this book seem very strange. But it gives
a true and faithful portraiture of the course of affairs at the
court of a Persian despot, where the monarch knows no law but
his own arbitrary will, suddenly elevates his favorites to the
highest places of power and trust, as suddenly consigns them to
the hand of the executioner, and gives himself up to the
unbridled indulgence of his passions. The history of Haman's
sudden rise and fall is that of many an oriental courtier since
his day. The Jews, we are told, "slew of their foes seventy and
five thousand." This was a very great slaughter; but we must
remember that it was distributed through all the provinces of
the kingdom. Ch. 9:16. The permission which they had received
was "in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand
for their life; to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all
the power of the people and province that would assault them,
both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a
prey" (ch. 8:11); all which, except the last clause, seems to
have been carried into execution. We are not required to
vindicate the wisdom of this severe decree, or to deny that the
Jews may have used to excess the terrible power thus conferred
upon them. On the side of God's providence, the vengeance that
fell upon the Jews' enemies was righteous; but on the side of
the human instrumentalities employed by him, there may have been