The Jews Destroy Their Enemies

91 And in the twelfth month—it 'is' the month of Adar—on the thirteenth day of it, in which the word of the king, even his law, hath come to be done, in the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to rule over them, and it is turned that the Jews rule over those hating them— 2 the Jews have been assembled in their cities, in all provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to put forth a hand on those seeking their evil, and no man hath stood in their presence, for their fear hath fallen on all the peoples. 3 And all heads of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the governors, and those doing the work that the king hath, are lifting up the Jews, for a fear of Mordecai hath fallen upon them; 4 for great 'is' Mordecai in the house of the king, and his fame is going into all the provinces, for the man Mordecai is going on and becoming great. 5 And the Jews smite among all their enemies—a smiting of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction—and do with those hating them according to their pleasure, 6 and in Shushan the palace have the Jews slain and destroyed five hundred men; 7 and Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha, 8 and Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha, 9 and Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vajezatha, 10 ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, adversary of the Jews, they have slain, and on the prey they have not put forth their hand. 11 On that day hath come the number of the slain in Shushan the palace before the king, 12 and the king saith to Esther the queen, 'In Shushan the palace have the Jews slain and destroyed five hundred men, and the ten sons of Haman; in the rest of the provinces of the king what have they done? and what 'is' thy petition? and it is given to thee; and what thy request again? and it is done.' 13 And Esther saith, 'If to the king 'it be' good, let it be given also to-morrow, to the Jews who 'are' in Shushan, to do according to the law of to-day; and the ten sons of Haman they hang on the tree.' 14 And the king saith—'to be done so;' and a law is given in Shushan, and the ten sons of Haman they have hanged. 15 And the Jews who 'are' in Shushan are assembled also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they slay in Shushan three hundred men, and on the prey they have not put forth their hand.

The Feast of Purim

16 And the rest of the Jews, who 'are' in the provinces of the king, have been assembled, even to stand for their life, and to rest from their enemies, and to slay among those hating them five and seventy thousand, and on the prey they have not put forth their hand; 17 on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, even to rest on the fourteenth of it, and to make it a day of banquet and of joy. 18 And the Jews who 'are' in Shushan have been assembled, on the thirteenth day of it, and on the fourteenth of it, even to rest on the fifteenth of it, and to make it a day of banquet and of joy. 19 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.

20 And Mordecai writeth these things, and sendeth letters unto all the Jews who 'are' in all provinces of the king Ahasuerus, who are near and who are far off, 21 to establish on them, to be keeping the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and the fifteenth day of it, in every year and year, 22 as days on which the Jews have rested from their enemies, and the month that hath been turned to them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning to a good day, to make them days of banquet and of joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the needy. 23 And the Jews have received that which they had begun to do, and that which Mordecai hath written unto them, 24 because Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, adversary of all the Jews, had devised concerning the Jews to destroy them, and had caused to fall Pur—that 'is' the lot—to crush them and to destroy them; 25 and in her coming in before the king, he said with the letter, 'Let his evil device that he devised against the Jews turn back upon his own head,' and they have hanged him and his sons on the tree, 26 therefore they have called these days Purim—by the name of the lot—therefore, because of all the words of this letter, and what they have seen concerning this, and what hath come unto them, 27 the Jews have established and received upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all those joined unto them, and it doth not pass away, to be keeping these two days according to their writing, and according to their season, in every year and year; 28 and these days are remembered and kept in every generation and generation, family and family, province and province, and city and city, and these days of Purim do not pass away from the midst of the Jews, and their memorial is not ended from their seed. 29 And Esther the queen, daughter of Abihail, writeth, and Mordecai the Jew, with all might, to establish this second letter of Purim, 30 and he sendeth letters unto all the Jews, unto the seven and twenty and a hundred provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus—words of peace and truth— 31 to establish these days of Purim, in their seasons, as Mordecai the Jew hath established on them, and Esther the queen, and as they had established on themselves, and on their seed—matters of the fastings, and of their cry. 32 And a saying of Esther hath established these matters of Purim, and it is written in the Book.

Mordecai's Greatness

101 And the king Ahasuerus setteth a tribute on the land and the isles of the sea; 2 and all the work of his strength, and his might, and the explanation of the greatness of Mordecai with which the king made him great, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew 'is' second to king Ahasuerus, and a great man of the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking good for his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.

Stephen's Defense

71 And the chief priest said, 'Are then these things so?' 2 and he said, 'Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken: The God of the glory did appear to our father Abraham, being in Mesopotamia, before his dwelling in Haran, 3 and He said to him, Go forth out of thy land, and out of thy kindred, and come to a land that I shall shew thee. 4 'Then having come forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, he dwelt in Haran, and from thence, after the death of his father, He did remove him to this land wherein ye now dwell, 5 and He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a footstep, and did promise to give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him—he having no child. 6 'And God spake thus, That his seed shall be sojourning in a strange land, and they shall cause it to serve, and shall do it evil four hundred years, 7 and the nation whom they shall serve I will judge, said God; and after these things they shall come forth and shall do Me service in this place. 8 'And He gave to him a covenant of circumcision, and so he begat Isaac, and did circumcise him on the eighth day, and Isaac 'begat' Jacob, and Jacob—the twelve patriarchs; 9 and the patriarchs, having been moved with jealousy, sold Joseph to Egypt, and God was with him, 10 and did deliver him out of all his tribulations, and gave him favour and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he did set him—governor over Egypt and all his house. 11 'And there came a dearth upon all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great tribulation, and our fathers were not finding sustenance, 12 and Jacob having heard that there was corn in Egypt, sent forth our fathers a first time; 13 and at the second time was Joseph made known to his brethren, and Joseph's kindred became manifest to Pharaoh, 14 and Joseph having sent, did call for his father Jacob, and all his kindred—with seventy and five souls— 15 and Jacob went down to Egypt, and died, himself and our fathers, 16 and they were carried over into Sychem, and were laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in money from the sons of Emmor, of Sychem.

17 'And according as the time of the promise was drawing nigh, which God did swear to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, 18 till another king rose, who had not known Joseph; 19 this one, having dealt subtilely with our kindred, did evil to our fathers, causing to expose their babes, that they might not live; 20 in which time Moses was born, and he was fair to God, and he was brought up three months in the house of his father; 21 and he having been exposed, the daughter of Pharaoh took him up, and did rear him to herself for a son;

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Acts 7:1-21

Commentary on Acts 7:1-16

(Read Acts 7:1-16)

Stephen was charged as a blasphemer of God, and an apostate from the church; therefore he shows that he is a son of Abraham, and values himself on it. The slow steps by which the promise made to Abraham advanced toward performance, plainly show that it had a spiritual meaning, and that the land intended was the heavenly. God owned Joseph in his troubles, and was with him by the power of his Spirit, both on his own mind by giving him comfort, and on those he was concerned with, by giving him favour in their eyes. Stephen reminds the Jews of their mean beginning as a check to priding themselves in the glories of that nation. Likewise of the wickedness of the patriarchs of their tribes, in envying their brother Joseph; and the same spirit was still working in them toward Christ and his ministers. The faith of the patriarchs, in desiring to be buried in the land of Canaan, plainly showed they had regard to the heavenly country. It is well to recur to the first rise of usages, or sentiments, which have been perverted. Would we know the nature and effects of justifying faith, we should study the character of the father of the faithful. His calling shows the power and freeness of Divine grace, and the nature of conversion. Here also we see that outward forms and distinctions are as nothing, compared with separation from the world, and devotedness to God.

Commentary on Acts 7:17-29

(Read Acts 7:17-29)

Let us not be discouraged at the slowness of the fulfilling of God's promises. Suffering times often are growing times with the church. God is preparing for his people's deliverance, when their day is darkest, and their distress deepest. Moses was exceeding fair, "fair toward God;" it is the beauty of holiness which is in God's sight of great price. He was wonderfully preserved in his infancy; for God will take special care of those of whom he designs to make special use. And did he thus protect the child Moses? Much more will he secure the interests of his holy child Jesus, from the enemies who are gathered together against him. They persecuted Stephen for disputing in defence of Christ and his gospel: in opposition to these they set up Moses and his law. They may understand, if they do not wilfully shut their eyes against the light, that God will, by this Jesus, deliver them out of a worse slavery than that of Egypt. Although men prolong their own miseries, yet the Lord will take care of his servants, and effect his own designs of mercy.