Reference: Purim
American
Lots, a Jewish festival instituted by Esther and Mordecai, during the reign of Ahasuerus king of Persia, in memory of the providential deliverance of the Jews from the malignant designs of Haman. The propriety of the name appears form the fact that the lot was cast in the presence of Haman for every day from the first month to the twelfth, before an auspicious day was found for destroying the Jews; and thus the superstition of Haman was made the means of giving them time to turn his devices against himself, Pr 16:33; Es 3:7; 9:20-32. This festival was preceded by a day of fasting, and was observed by reading the book of Esther publicly in the synagogues, and by private festivities, mutual presents, alms, plays, and self-indulgence. Some think it is alluded to in Joh 5:1. It is still observed by the Jews, in the month of March.
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In the first month (this the month Nisan,) in the twelfth year to the king Ahasuerus, he cast Pur (this is the lot) before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, this the twelfth the month Adar.
And Mordecai will write these words, and send letters to all the Jews that were in all the king Ahasuerus's provinces, near and far off, To set up to them to be doing the fourteenth day to the month Adar, and the fifteenth day in it, in every year and year, read more. As the days which the Jews rested in them from their enemies, and the month that was turned to them from grief to gladness, and from mourning to a good day, to make them days of drinking and gladness, and sending portions a man to his neighbor, and gifts to the needy. And the Jews admitting what they began to do, and what Mordecai wrote to them. For Haman son of Hammedatha the Amite, oppressing all the Jews, purposed against the Jews to destroy them, and he cast Pur (this the lot) to discomfit them and to destroy them; And in her coming before the king, he said by letter he will turn back his purpose of evil that he purposed against the Jews upon his head: and they hung him and his sons upon the tree. For this they called to these days Purim, for the name of Pur. For this upon all the words of this epistle, and What they saw upon this, and what came to them, The Jews set up and admitted upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all joining themselves to them, and they shall not pass by to be doing these two days according to their writing, and according to their time in every year and year; And these days being remembered and done in every generation and generation, family and family, province and province, city and city; and these days of the lots shall not pass by from the midst of the Jews, and their remembrance shall not be ended from their seed. And Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, will write with all power to set up the epistle of Purim, this second. And he will send the letter to all the Jews, to the seventy and twenty and a hundred provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, words of peace and truth, To set up these days of Purim in their times, as Mordecai the Jew set up to them, and Esther the queen, and as they set up for their souls and for their seed, the words of fastings and their cry: And the saying of Esther set up these words of Purim; and it was written in the book.
In the bosom he shall, cast the lot; and from Jehovah all his judgment
After these was the festival of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Fausets
(See ESTHER.) From a Persian word, "lots"; because Haman had east lots to find an auspicious day for destroying the Jews (Es 3:6-7; 9:24). The feast of Purim was kept on the 14th and 15th days of Adar. An introductory fast was subsequently appointed on the 13th, commemorating that of Esther and of the Jews by her desire before she ventured into Abasuerus' presence (Es 4:16). When the stars appear at the beginning of the 14th candles are lighted in joy, and the people assemble in the synagogue. Then the megillah "roll" of Esther is read through histrionically. On Haman's name being mentioned the congregation exclaim, "let his name be blotted out!" His sons' names are read in one enunciation to mark they were all hanged at once.
At the close of reading the megallah all cry out, "cursed be Haman, blessed be Mordecai; cursed be Zeresh (Haman's wife), blessed be Esther; cursed be all idolaters, blessed be all Israelites, and blessed be Harbonah who hanged Haman!" The repast at home is mainly milk and eggs. At morning service Ex 17:8-16, the doom of Amalek the people of Agag (1Sa 15:8), Haman's ancestor (Es 3:1), is read. Saturnalian-like drinking and acting, the men assuming women's attire (the Purim suspending the prohibition, De 22:5), and offerings for the poor, characterize the feast (Es 9:17-32). The feast began among the Jews of their own accord; Mordecai wrote confirming it, and Esther joined with him in "writing with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purlin."
(See JESUS CHRIST on "the feast of the Jews," Joh 5:1, not probably Purim (which the Vaticanus and the Alexandrinus manuscripts reading, "a," favors), but the Passover (which the Sinaiticus manuscript, "the," indicates).)
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And Amalek will come and will wage war with Israel, in Rephidim. And Moses will say to Joshua, Choose to us men, and go forth, wage war with Amalek: to-morrow I stand upon the head of the hill and the rod of God in my band. read more. And Joshua will do as Moses said to him to wage war with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron and Hur, went up to the head of the hill. And it was as Moses will lift up his hand, Israel prevailed: and as he will put down his hand and Amalek prevailed. And the hands of Moses were heavy; and they will take a stone and put under him, and he will sit upon it: and Aaron and Hur took hold upon his hands, one from here, and one from there; and his hands will be in firmness till the sun went forth. And Joshua will overthrow Amalek and his people with the mouth of the sword. And Jehovah will say to Moses, Write this a remembrance in the book, and set in the ears of Joshua: for wiping off I will wipe off the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens. And Moses will build an altar, and he will call its name, Jehovah my Standard. For he will say, Because the hand upon the throne of Jehovah, war to Jehovah with Amalek from generation to generation.
The equipment of a man shall not be upon a woman, and a man shall not put on a woman's garment, for all doing these things are an abomination to Jehovah thy God.
And he will seize Agag, king of Amalek, living, and be exterminated all the people with the mouth of the sword.
After these words the king Ahasuerus magnified Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite; and he will lift him up and set his seat above all the chiefs that were with him.
And it will be despised in his eyes to stretch forth the hand against Mordecai alone; for they announced to him the people of Mordecai: and Haman will seek to destroy all the Jews which are in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus, the people of Mordecai. In the first month (this the month Nisan,) in the twelfth year to the king Ahasuerus, he cast Pur (this is the lot) before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, this the twelfth the month Adar.
Go collect together all the Jews being found in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and ye shall not eat and ye shall not drink three days, night and day also I and my maidens will fast thus and in this I will go in to the king which is not according to the edict; and according to that I perished, I perished.
In the thirteenth day to the month Adar, and resting in the fourteenth in it, and making it a day of drinking and gladness. And the Jews that were in Shushan were assembled in the thirteenth in it, and in the fourteenth in it; and resting in the fifteenth in it, and making it a day of drinking and gladness. read more. For this the Jews of the villages and in cities of the open country making the fourteenth day to the month Adar, gladness and drinking, and a good day, and sending portions a man to his neighbor. And Mordecai will write these words, and send letters to all the Jews that were in all the king Ahasuerus's provinces, near and far off, To set up to them to be doing the fourteenth day to the month Adar, and the fifteenth day in it, in every year and year, As the days which the Jews rested in them from their enemies, and the month that was turned to them from grief to gladness, and from mourning to a good day, to make them days of drinking and gladness, and sending portions a man to his neighbor, and gifts to the needy. And the Jews admitting what they began to do, and what Mordecai wrote to them. For Haman son of Hammedatha the Amite, oppressing all the Jews, purposed against the Jews to destroy them, and he cast Pur (this the lot) to discomfit them and to destroy them;
For Haman son of Hammedatha the Amite, oppressing all the Jews, purposed against the Jews to destroy them, and he cast Pur (this the lot) to discomfit them and to destroy them; And in her coming before the king, he said by letter he will turn back his purpose of evil that he purposed against the Jews upon his head: and they hung him and his sons upon the tree. read more. For this they called to these days Purim, for the name of Pur. For this upon all the words of this epistle, and What they saw upon this, and what came to them, The Jews set up and admitted upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all joining themselves to them, and they shall not pass by to be doing these two days according to their writing, and according to their time in every year and year; And these days being remembered and done in every generation and generation, family and family, province and province, city and city; and these days of the lots shall not pass by from the midst of the Jews, and their remembrance shall not be ended from their seed. And Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, will write with all power to set up the epistle of Purim, this second. And he will send the letter to all the Jews, to the seventy and twenty and a hundred provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, words of peace and truth, To set up these days of Purim in their times, as Mordecai the Jew set up to them, and Esther the queen, and as they set up for their souls and for their seed, the words of fastings and their cry: And the saying of Esther set up these words of Purim; and it was written in the book.
After these was the festival of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Hastings
PURIM
1. In the OT.
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In the first month (this the month Nisan,) in the twelfth year to the king Ahasuerus, he cast Pur (this is the lot) before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, this the twelfth the month Adar.
In the first month (this the month Nisan,) in the twelfth year to the king Ahasuerus, he cast Pur (this is the lot) before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, this the twelfth the month Adar.
And in every province and province the place where the word of the king and his edict coming, great mourning to the Jews, and fasting and weeping and wailing; sackcloth and ashes will be spread to many.
For the Jews that were in Shushan will gather together also in the fourteenth day to the month Adar, and they will kill in Shushan three hundred men; and upon the prey they sent not the hand. And the rest of the Jews which were in the king's provinces gathered together and stood for their soul, and rested from their enemies, and slew among their enemies five and seventy thousand; and upon the prey they sent not their hand. read more. In the thirteenth day to the month Adar, and resting in the fourteenth in it, and making it a day of drinking and gladness. And the Jews that were in Shushan were assembled in the thirteenth in it, and in the fourteenth in it; and resting in the fifteenth in it, and making it a day of drinking and gladness. For this the Jews of the villages and in cities of the open country making the fourteenth day to the month Adar, gladness and drinking, and a good day, and sending portions a man to his neighbor. And Mordecai will write these words, and send letters to all the Jews that were in all the king Ahasuerus's provinces, near and far off, To set up to them to be doing the fourteenth day to the month Adar, and the fifteenth day in it, in every year and year, As the days which the Jews rested in them from their enemies, and the month that was turned to them from grief to gladness, and from mourning to a good day, to make them days of drinking and gladness, and sending portions a man to his neighbor, and gifts to the needy. And the Jews admitting what they began to do, and what Mordecai wrote to them. For Haman son of Hammedatha the Amite, oppressing all the Jews, purposed against the Jews to destroy them, and he cast Pur (this the lot) to discomfit them and to destroy them; And in her coming before the king, he said by letter he will turn back his purpose of evil that he purposed against the Jews upon his head: and they hung him and his sons upon the tree. For this they called to these days Purim, for the name of Pur. For this upon all the words of this epistle, and What they saw upon this, and what came to them,
For this they called to these days Purim, for the name of Pur. For this upon all the words of this epistle, and What they saw upon this, and what came to them, The Jews set up and admitted upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all joining themselves to them, and they shall not pass by to be doing these two days according to their writing, and according to their time in every year and year; read more. And these days being remembered and done in every generation and generation, family and family, province and province, city and city; and these days of the lots shall not pass by from the midst of the Jews, and their remembrance shall not be ended from their seed. And Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, will write with all power to set up the epistle of Purim, this second. And he will send the letter to all the Jews, to the seventy and twenty and a hundred provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, words of peace and truth, To set up these days of Purim in their times, as Mordecai the Jew set up to them, and Esther the queen, and as they set up for their souls and for their seed, the words of fastings and their cry:
To set up these days of Purim in their times, as Mordecai the Jew set up to them, and Esther the queen, and as they set up for their souls and for their seed, the words of fastings and their cry: And the saying of Esther set up these words of Purim; and it was written in the book.
After these was the festival of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Smith
Pu'rim
(lots), the annual festival instituted to commemorate the preservation of the Jews in Persia from the massacre with which they were threatened through the machinations of Haman.
... It was probably called Purim by the Jews in irony. Their great enemy Haman appears to have been very superstitious, and much given to casting lots.
They gave the name. Purim, or "Lots," to the commemorative festival because he had thrown lots to ascertain what day would be suspicious for him to carry into effect the bloody decree which the king had issued at his instance.
The festival lasted two days, and was regularly observed on the 14th and 15th of Adar. According to modern custom, as soon as the stars begin to appear, when the 14th of the month has commenced, candles are lighted up in token of rejoicing, and the people assemble in the synagogue. After a short prayer and thanksgiving, the reading of the book of Esther commences. The book is written in a peculiar manner, on a roll called "the Roll" (Megillah). When the reader comes to the name of Haman, the congregation cry out, "May his name be blotted out," or, "Let the name of the ungodly perish." When the Megillah is read through, the whole congregation exclaim, "Cursed be Haman; blessed be Mordecai; cursed be Zoresh (the wife of Haman); blessed be Esther; cursed be all idolaters; blessed be all Israelites, and blessed be Harbonah who hanged Haman." In the morning service in the synagogue, on the 14th, after the prayers, the passage is read from the law,
which relates the destruction of the Amalekites, the people of Agag,
the supposed ancestor of Haman.
The Megillah is then read again in the same manner. The 14th of Adar, as the very day of the deliverance of the Jews, is more solemnly kept than the 13th; but when the service in the synagogue is over, all give themselves up to merry making.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Amalek will come and will wage war with Israel, in Rephidim. And Moses will say to Joshua, Choose to us men, and go forth, wage war with Amalek: to-morrow I stand upon the head of the hill and the rod of God in my band. read more. And Joshua will do as Moses said to him to wage war with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron and Hur, went up to the head of the hill. And it was as Moses will lift up his hand, Israel prevailed: and as he will put down his hand and Amalek prevailed. And the hands of Moses were heavy; and they will take a stone and put under him, and he will sit upon it: and Aaron and Hur took hold upon his hands, one from here, and one from there; and his hands will be in firmness till the sun went forth. And Joshua will overthrow Amalek and his people with the mouth of the sword. And Jehovah will say to Moses, Write this a remembrance in the book, and set in the ears of Joshua: for wiping off I will wipe off the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens. And Moses will build an altar, and he will call its name, Jehovah my Standard. For he will say, Because the hand upon the throne of Jehovah, war to Jehovah with Amalek from generation to generation.
And he will seize Agag, king of Amalek, living, and be exterminated all the people with the mouth of the sword.
After these words the king Ahasuerus magnified Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite; and he will lift him up and set his seat above all the chiefs that were with him.
In the first month (this the month Nisan,) in the twelfth year to the king Ahasuerus, he cast Pur (this is the lot) before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, this the twelfth the month Adar.
And in the twelfth month (this the month Adar) in the thirteenth day in it, when the word of the king drew near, and his edict to do in the day that the enemies of the Jews expected to have power over them, (and it was turned that these Jews will have power over those hating them:)
For Haman son of Hammedatha the Amite, oppressing all the Jews, purposed against the Jews to destroy them, and he cast Pur (this the lot) to discomfit them and to destroy them;