8:1 On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the estate of Haman, that adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Now Mordecai had come before the king, for Esther had revealed how he was related to her. 

Haman was dead, but the decree against the Jews was a law of the Medes and Persians that could not be changed. The Persians deified their kings. Since the Persians thought that deified kings made perfect laws, then these laws could not be changed.

8:2 The king then removed his signet ring (the very one he had taken back from Haman) and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther designated Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s estate.

Xerxes now found out that Mordecai was the father who adopted Esther, so he gives Haman’s property to Mordecai. Mordecai was now one of the wealthiest men in Persia. 

Haman wanted to kill the Jews and take away their property. Instead, Haman was killed and his property was taken away and given to the Jew that he attempted to kill. Even in his death, he was experiencing the kind-for-kind curse of the Abrahamic Covenant.

8:3 Then Esther again spoke with the king, falling at his feet. She wept and begged him for mercy, that he might nullify the evil of Haman the Agagite which he had intended against the Jews.

This crying would not do any good. Even the King or Persian could not change his own law. 

8:4 When the king extended to Esther the gold scepter, she arose and stood before the king.

The King held out his scepter and allowed his wife to speak.

8:5 She said, “If the king is so inclined and if I have met with his approval and if the matter is agreeable to the king and if I am attractive to him, let an edict be written rescinding those recorded intentions of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which he wrote in order to destroy the Jews who are throughout all the king’s provinces.

Esther asked the King to rescind the order, but this was not allowed under Persian Law.

8:6 For how can I watch the calamity that will befall my people, and how can I watch the destruction of my relatives?”

This would be a terrible day for the Jews.

8:7 King Ahasuerus replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Look, I have already given Haman’s estate to Esther, and he has been hanged on the gallows because he took hostile action against the Jews.

This transfer of property would not save the lives of Esther, Mordecai, and the Jews living inside of Persian territory.

8:8 Now you write in the king’s name whatever in your opinion is appropriate concerning the Jews and seal it with the king’s signet ring. Any decree that is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be rescinded.

Mordecai was given permission to write out a new law in the king’s name.

8:9 The king’s scribes were quickly summoned—in the third month (that is, the month of Sivan), on the twenty-third day. They wrote out everything that Mordecai instructed to the Jews and to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces all the way from India to Ethiopia—a hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all—to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, and to the Jews according to their own script and their own language. 

The new law was written and translated into all of the languages of the Persian Empire.

8:10 Mordecai wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. He then sent letters by couriers on horses, who rode royal horses that were very swift. 

Mordecai sent the messages out quickly by utilizing the Persian pony express system. This message was sent to all 127 provinces of Persia by means of the Silk Road and the Mediterranean Sea.

8:11 The king thereby allowed the Jews who were in every city to assemble and to stand up for themselves—to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any army of whatever people or province that should become their adversaries, including their women and children, and to confiscate their property. 

If anyone attacked the Jews, then the Jews could assemble, defend themselves, and plunder the property of their attackers. Very few people would take this risk, because much of the Gentile population may have been aware of the cursing aspects of the Abrahamic Covenant.

8:12 This was to take place on a certain day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus—namely, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar). 

This attack by the Gentiles could only happen on one day, which was December 13. This may have been a Sabbath, or Friday the 13th. With Jews in every nation, this Friday the 13th tradition would later spread into all nations.

8:13 A copy of the edict was to be presented as law throughout each and every province and made known to all peoples, so that the Jews might be prepared on that day to avenge themselves from their enemies. 

This edict became official Persian law in all 127 Persian provinces.

8:14 The couriers who were riding the royal horses went forth with the king’s edict without delay. And the law was presented in Susa the citadel as well. 

The pony express delivered this new law throughout the Persian Empire. The Jews had eight months to assemble and begin preparations. The defensive army always possesses the advantage.

8:15 Now Mordecai went out from the king’s presence in purple and white royal attire, with a large golden crown and a purple linen mantle. The city of Susa shouted with joy.

Mordecai was no longer a man in sackcloth. He took over Persia as Prime Minister. He was in a position similar to that of Joseph and Daniel.

8:16 For the Jews there was radiant happiness and joyous honor.

All of these Jews were out of the land and out of the will of God, but they could read this text and know that God was still on their side. He was the Protecting Father who was watching over His children.

8:17 Throughout every province and throughout every city where the king’s edict and his law arrived, the Jews experienced happiness and joy, banquets and holidays. Many of the resident peoples pretended to be Jews, because the fear of the Jews had overcome them. 

The Hebrew word for “pretended to be Jews” is יָהַד (yahad), meaning to become Jewish. Many of the Gentiles saw the power of the one true God, so they became Jewish proselytes. The various multi-cultural populations of Persia realized that the God of the Jews greatly exceeded anything that the pantheon of Persian deities could offer, especially since Persia had recently lost to the Greeks.