Bible Strands
Esther 9:18
The 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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the Jews in Susa immediately following the initial day of conflict, distinguishing their three-day sequence from the rest of the Jewish population. The account marks the conclusion of their localized fighting and the transition to their designated day of rest.
The words — נִקְהֲלוּ (nik.ha.Lu) translates literally as “they assembled,” and בִּ/שְלֹשָ֤ה עָשָׂר (bi/sh.lo.Shah 'a.Sar) means “on the thirteenth [day].” These terms specify a concentrated gathering rather than a widespread national event.
The thread — The text’s distinction between Susa and the countryside directly establishes the pattern later codified in Esther 9:21 as an annual observance on the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar. This local timeline also fulfills the petition recorded in Esther 9:13, which requested an additional day of action specifically for the capital.
Why it lands — The verse requires a reader to note the precise chronological boundary between fighting and feasting. It demands recognition that the holiday’s structure originates from recorded historical events rather than arbitrary decree.
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 Jews that were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
Cross-references
- Esther 9:21 to establish among them an annual celebration on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar
- Esther 9:1 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the king’s command and edict were to be executed. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but their plan was overturned and the Jews overpowered those who hated them.
- Esther 9:13 Esther replied, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out today’s edict, and may the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”
- Esther 9:15 On the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, the Jews in Susa came together again and put to death three hundred men there, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.
- Esther 9:11 On that day the number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king,