Bible Strands
Esther 9:16
The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces also assembled to defend themselves and rid themselves of their enemies. They killed 75,000 who hated them, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The text records the actions of Jews in the royal provinces following the initial thirteenth-day conflict, occurring before the fourteenth-day rest.
The words — נִקְהֲל֣וּ (nik.ha.Lu) = they assembled; וְ/עָמֹ֣ד (ve./'a.Mod) = and/ they made a stand.
The thread — This defensive assembly mirrors the royal permission in Esther 8:11, echoes the provincial mobilization in Esther 9:2, and fulfills the covenant promise in Leviticus 26:7.
Why it lands — The text states the Jews killed 75,000 enemies while deliberately refusing plunder, demanding a reader acknowledge the distinction between justified defense and greed.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
But the other Jews that were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,
Cross-references
- Esther 8:11 By these letters the king permitted the Jews in each and every city the right to assemble and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province hostile to them, including women and children, and to plunder their possessions.
- Esther 9:2 In each of the provinces of King Xerxes, the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who sought to harm them. No man could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen upon all peoples.
- Leviticus 26:7 You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you.