The big picture
The Book of Esther closes in only three verses, but it deliberately returns to the empire that framed the opening. Ahasuerus still rules, lays tribute on the land and islands, and has acts of power recorded in the chronicles of Media and Persia. Mordecai’s advancement belongs in those records as well. He now stands next to the king, occupying a level of influence that recalls Haman’s earlier prominence without repeating Haman’s use of it. The final description turns from clothing, banquets, seals, and public ceremony to the direction of Mordecai’s work. He is great among the Jews, accepted among many of his brethren, seeking the welfare of his people and speaking peace. Esther therefore ends inside the same imperial order it began with, but with a markedly different use of proximity to power.
Central truth
Esther closes by turning deliverance into an annual communal memory through Purim, including gifts and care for the poor, while Mordecai’s greatness is measured by seeking his people’s welfare.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
Esther 10:1: “And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea.”
Slow down at the turning point
Esther 10:2: “And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in…”
Keep this word trail visible
king, Ahasuerus, Mordecai, accepted, acts, advanced
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
Esther 9:20-22
Mordecai writes the days down
Begin with the letters. Mordecai "wrote these things" and sent them to all the Jews "both nigh and far". The purpose is to "stablish" two days yearly, the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar. Explain stablish as establish, make fixed. Then read the reason in 9:22: the days of rest, the month "turned" from sorrow to joy. Point to the practices: feasting, joy, portions to one another, "gifts to the poor". Teach this first because it shows that deliverance is turned into a practice of memory that includes the needy.
Esther 9:23-26
The whole account in four verses
Read 9:23-26 as the book retelling itself in miniature: Haman's device, the cast lot, Esther's coming before the king, the device returning on his own head, the hanging. Then the name: "they called these days Purim after the name of Pur". Explain that this compressed account is how the feast carries its memory from year to year. Teach it here so learners see that the festival is a way of telling what happened to children who were not there.
Esther 9:27-28
Every generation, every family
Read the obligations slowly: the Jews "ordained, and took upon them", their seed, and "all such as joined themselves unto them". The days are to be kept every year, in every generation, family, province and city; they must not "fail", and their memorial must not "perish". Point out that the people themselves take this on. Explain memorial as remembrance kept alive. Teach this to show how seriously the Book of Esther treats memory, and how widely it draws the circle of those who keep it.
Esther 9:29-32
Esther's letter
Now Esther: "the queen, the daughter of Abihail", writes "with all authority" alongside Mordecai to confirm "this second letter of Purim". The letters go to 127 provinces "with words of peace and truth". The observance includes "the matters of the fastings and their cry", so the feast remembers the mourning of chapter 4 as well as the joy. Then "the decree of Esther confirmed these matters", written in the book. Teach this to show the orphan of chapter 2 now issuing decrees in her own name.
Esther 10:1-2
Back to the empire
Read 10:1: "the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea". Explain tribute as tax. After all the celebration, the book returns to the empire's ordinary business. The Jews are still in exile, under a Persian king who still taxes. Then 10:2 points to "the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia", a record we do not have. Teach this step so the class sees that deliverance came inside the empire, not by escaping it.
Esther 10:3
Greatness measured by welfare
End on the last verse and read it slowly. Mordecai is "next unto king Ahasuerus", great among the Jews, "accepted of the multitude of his brethren". Then the two phrases that close the book: "seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed". Explain wealth as welfare or good, not riches. Teach it last because the book chooses to end not on Mordecai's rank but on what he sought and spoke, and that is the note a lesson on Esther should leave in the room.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
"Purim is just a party."
The practices in 9:22 include feasting and joy, but also "sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor", and 9:31 adds "the matters of the fastings and their cry". Purim remembers deliverance, the mourning that preceded it, and the obligation to the needy. Jewish communities keep it to this day, reading the scroll of Esther aloud; speak of that observance with respect, and let learners see how much remembering is built into one festival.
"Christians must keep Purim," or, "Purim has nothing to do with Christians."
The text addresses "the Jews", "their seed", and "all such as joined themselves unto them" (9:27). It gives no instruction to the church, and Christian traditions differ on how they relate to Israel's feasts. The teacher's task is to teach what the text asks of whom, to honour Jewish observance, and to let learners draw out what the book shows about memory, gratitude and generosity, without settling the question of observance for the room.
"Mordecai and Esther made up a feast that God never commanded, so it does not count."
The Book of Esther records Purim as established by letters, accepted by the people who "took upon them" (9:27), and confirmed by Esther's decree (9:32). It does not claim a direct command from God. Readers differ on what that means. What is clear is that the book itself is in Scripture and treats the feast as binding on those it addresses. Some readers compare John 10:22, where Jesus is present at another feast not commanded in the Law; offer that as a comparison, not a verdict.
"The book ends with Mordecai powerful, so the point is that God's people succeed."
The last verse measures Mordecai by what he sought, "the wealth of his people", and what he spoke, "peace to all his seed" (10:3). And 10:1 reminds the reader that the empire still taxes and the Jews are still in exile. Deliverance came within a foreign empire, not as an escape from it. Teach the book's ending as greatness used for others, not as a promise of worldly success.
Learning objectives
- Explain how Mordecai formalizes the annual observance of Purim.
- Identify the practices attached to the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar.
- Trace the name Purim back to Haman’s use of Pur.
- Explain Esther’s role in confirming the observance by written authority.
- Describe the tax notice and Mordecai’s rank in the closing chapter.
- Identify the final description of Mordecai’s service to his people.
Teacher preparation
- Read Esther 3:7 and 9:20–28 together so Purim’s name remains connected to Haman’s lot.
- Mark every action of remembrance: writing, keeping days, feasting, sending portions, gifts to the poor, and teaching descendants.
- Prepare to explain that "portions" are food gifts shared in celebration, distinct from gifts given to the poor.
- Note the two confirming letters in verses 29–32 and avoid reducing Purim to only a spontaneous feast.
- Read Esther 10:1–3 as the book’s final political frame, especially Mordecai’s rank and stated concern for his people.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Verses 20–22 prescribe annual days, feasting, portions, and gifts to the poor; verses 26–32 name Purim and confirm it; 10:2–3 describes Mordecai.
Scripture-supported
Esther 3:7 names the Pur cast before Haman, providing the direct background for the name explained in 9:26.
Strong inference
The observance deliberately transforms the memory of threatened annihilation into disciplined joy and generosity, though the text does not offer a theology of festivals in general.
Possible or traditional reading
Later Jewish Purim customs extend beyond the practices listed here; teach those as later tradition rather than wording supplied by Esther 9.
Limit
The passage establishes Purim for the Jewish people and does not command every later reader to observe it as a universal biblical feast.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. What practices does Mordecai attach to Purim in verses 20–22?
What a good answer contains
Keeping the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar "yearly" (9:21), as the days "wherein the Jews rested from their enemies", in "the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day", with "feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor" (9:22). A good answer keeps the gifts to the poor in the list. A weak answer reduces Purim to a party and loses both the remembrance and the care for the needy.
Show teacher guidance
Name annual observance, feasting, gladness, sending portions to one another, and gifts to the poor.
2. How do verses 24–26 retell Haman’s plan when explaining Purim?
What a good answer contains
As a compressed account for later readers. Haman, "the enemy of all the Jews", had devised to destroy them "and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them" (9:24). When Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that the wicked device "should return upon his own head", and that Haman and his sons be hanged (9:25). A good answer notices how the retelling makes Esther's approach the turning point. A weak answer misses that this is a summary made for remembering.
Show teacher guidance
They recall Haman’s plot, the casting of Pur, the king’s written response, and the return of his device upon himself.
3. Why is the name "Purim" plural in verse 26?
What a good answer contains
Verse 26 says simply, "they called these days Purim after the name of Pur". Pur is the lot of 3:7, and Purim names the days after it. A good answer stays there and connects the name to the lot Haman cast against the Jews, which now names their feast. Hebrew forms plurals this way, and the text gives no further explanation; a weak answer invents a meaning for the plural that the verse does not supply.
Show teacher guidance
The text says the days are called Purim after Pur; avoid inventing a grammatical explanation the passage does not provide.
4. How strongly does the chapter emphasize continuity across generations?
What a good answer contains
Very strongly. The Jews take it "upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail" (9:27), and the days are to be "remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city", not to "fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed" (9:28). A good answer counts the layers. A weak answer misses "all such as joined themselves unto them", which echoes 8:17.
Show teacher guidance
Use verses 27–28: the days are not to fail among the Jews nor their memorial perish from their seed.
5. What does Esther add in verses 29–32?
What a good answer contains
Esther writes too, in her own name and with full authority: "Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim" (9:29). The letters carry "words of peace and truth" (9:30), include "the matters of the fastings and their cry" (9:31), and "the decree of Esther confirmed these matters" (9:32). A good answer sees Esther's authority. A weak answer misses that fasting and lament are remembered with the feast.
Show teacher guidance
She and Mordecai write with authority to confirm Purim, including the matters of fasting and their cry.
6. How does Esther 10:3 define Mordecai’s greatness?
What a good answer contains
Not by rank alone. Mordecai was "next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed" (10:3). A good answer notes that wealth here means welfare or good, and that his greatness is measured by what he sought for others and by the trust of his brethren. A weak answer stops at "next unto king Ahasuerus" and misses the book's closing words.
Show teacher guidance
He is second to Ahasuerus, accepted among many brethren, seeking his people’s wealth and speaking peace to his seed.
Responsible application
Build memory into practice
Use Purim’s repeated days to design communal remembrance that includes action, not merely a statement that an event mattered.
Join celebration to generosity
Keep feasting, exchanged portions, and gifts to the poor together when discussing what mature communal joy looks like.
Measure leadership by welfare
Use Esther 10:3 to evaluate leadership language by whether authority is directed toward people’s good and durable peace.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
45 minutes
Write the days down
Read 9:20-22. Ask question one and take confusion one, listing every practice.
The account and the name
Read 9:23-26 beside 3:7. Ask questions two and three.
Every generation
Read 9:27-28. Ask question four and count the layers of 9:28 on the board.
Esther's letter
Read 9:29-32. Ask question five.
The last word
Read 10:1-3. Ask question six and take confusion four.
Handout
Read the key verse together, give out the sheet, and pray with thanks for deliverance.
90 minutes
How families remember
Ask how their family marks an important day year after year, and what is eaten or given. Keep answers short.
Write the days down
Read 9:20-22. Ask question one and take confusion one.
The account and the name
Read 9:23-26 beside 3:7. Ask questions two and three.
Every generation
Read 9:27-28 beside 8:17. Ask question four.
Esther's letter
Read 9:29-32 beside 4:16. Ask question five and note the fasting remembered.
Feasts and the church
Take confusions two and three, presenting each view fairly without settling it.
The last word
Read 10:1-3. Ask question six and take confusion four.
The whole book
Trace the reversals together: 3:15 and 8:15, 5:14 and 7:10, 4:3 and 9:22. Complete one application.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together, point to the take-home line, and pray for the poor in your community.
Adapting the lesson
Children
Tell children that after God's people were safe, Mordecai and Esther wrote letters telling everyone to have a happy day every year, to share food with friends and to give to poor people. Let the class prepare small food parcels, and decide together who could receive them. Make a simple shaker to use when Haman's name is read, as some Jewish children do, explaining that it is how they remember.
Youth
Ask how they would want something important in their life remembered in twenty years, and what practices would keep it alive. Read 9:27-28 and let them notice the layers. Talk about gifts to the poor as part of celebration, not an extra. Discuss the confusions about Christians and Purim respectfully and without mocking anyone's tradition.
Adults
Give time to the two letters, Esther's authority, and the place of fasting in the observance. Let the group discuss how Christians have related to Purim and other feasts, and keep the views fair. Trace the reversals of the whole book. Many adults have deliverances worth remembering; ask how they could mark one with generosity to the poor, as 9:22 does.
One to one
Read 9:22 and 10:3 together and ask what deliverance in their life they want to remember. Help them think of a practical way to mark it with others, including a gift to someone in need. If they hold authority, read 10:3 again and ask whose welfare they are seeking. Keep it concrete and close to their actual life.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
Esther 9:20–10:3
The passage in brief
Mordecai writes to Jews near and far, telling them to keep the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar every year as days of feasting and joy, sending food to one another and gifts to the poor. The feast is called Purim, after the lot Haman cast. The Jews commit themselves and their descendants to keep it in every generation. Esther writes with full authority to confirm it, including the fasting and lament. The book ends with Mordecai second to the king, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace.
A verse to keep
As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.
Esther 9:22 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What practices did Mordecai set for the days of Purim (9:22)?
Where does the name Purim come from (9:24-26)?
How does 10:3 describe Mordecai at the end of the book?
This week
Mark one deliverance in your life this month with a meal shared and a gift given to someone poor.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
