Exposition on the Book of Esther

Expositio in Librum Esther (AD 836)

by Blessed Rabanus Maurus

Abbot of Fulda and Archbishop of Mainz (c. 780 – 856)

Translated from the Latin of Migne, Patrologia Latina vol. 109, cols. 635–670 — the Google Books scan of Migne, obtained from Documenta Catholica Omnia, read from the page images.

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE — READ THIS BEFORE THE TEXT.

This is not a first-in-English translation, and it is the only text in this library that is not. A published English translation of this work already exists — a free PDF by Peter Wyetzner (v. 1.1, December 2015), and a print-on-demand volume from another hand. This version was made for a different reason: as a test.

How it was made. 1. The Latin was read from the page images of Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 109, cols. 635–670 — a Google Books scan of the 1844 printing, which has no text layer. It was OCR'd as a scaffold and then read directly from the scans, because the OCR was unreliable (it silently dropped an entire chapter heading). 2. The translation was made BLIND. Wyetzner's translation was deliberately not consulted, and every web request during the work was domain-locked to the Latin archive so that no English rendering could surface even by accident. 3. Then the blind was lifted and the two were compared — against the Latin, by independent adjudicators instructed to hunt for errors in both.

What the comparison found, stated plainly: - On construal, this translation was the more accurate. At essentially every contested point of grammar and lexicon it read the Latin correctly where the published translation did not. - On completeness, it FAILED. It had dropped material — most seriously about a column of Migne in Chapter 9 (including Haman being compelled to proclaim Mordecai's honour), and some forty lines in Chapter 12 (including the passage in which the ten sons are actually hanged — in the chapter whose own title announces it). It had also truncated a quotation with an ellipsis and carried several wrong verse numbers. - Every one of those gaps has now been restored — translated afresh from the Migne page images, not taken from the other translation — and each restoration is marked as such where it occurs. - One clause defeated both translations in the same way (a ne-clause in the borrowed Gregory passage). That is flagged in place. Agreement between translators is not proof of correctness.

Honest caveat about the "blind." The translator is a language model. A published translation of this text may exist somewhere in its training data. It was not looked up and no English rendering was consulted at any stage — but that cannot be proved. Read the result as evidence that the Latin was construed correctly, not as evidence of independence.

Wyetzner's translation is his own work and is not reproduced here in any part. Anyone doing serious work on this text should consult it; it is more complete than this one was, and it was made by a human being who did not have the luxury of being corrected by a second translator.

The numbered footnotes are the translator's editorial notes, not Rabanus. They are the least reliable part of this document. At least one of them was substantially wrong and has been rewritten with the retraction left visible.

PREFACE

TO THE EMPRESS JUDITH

The book of Esther — which the Hebrews reckon among the Hagiographa — contains, in mystery, the sacraments of Christ and the Church in manifold ways. For Esther herself, in the type of the Church, delivers her people from peril; and, Haman being slain — whose name means iniquity — she hands down to those who come after a portion of the banquet, and a solemn day.

This book, indeed, the interpreter of sacred history [Jerome] asserts that he lifted out of the archives of the Hebrews and translated word for word, quite literally. Nevertheless, he did not altogether pass over the things which he found in the common edition; but, the Hebrew truth having been set out in full faith, the rest, which he found from outside, he appended by adding it near the end of the book.

But as for us: those things which were brought forth from the Hebrew fount, we have expounded in the allegorical sense. The rest, however — which were added over and above out of the language and letters of the Greeks, and marked beforehand with an obelus — we have passed over, and have not expounded; yet the studious reader, when he has well searched out what goes before, will be able to recognize their sense well enough.

But thou, O most noble Queen — when thou hast well recognized the divine sacraments in the things expounded — wilt rightly judge, in the rest, what ought to be thought.

May God Almighty, who raised up the mind of that queen to deliver her people from their calamities, deign to bring thee — labouring with a like zeal — to everlasting joys.¹

Chapter 1 — King Ahasuerus, and his most famous banquet

Of King Ahasuerus and his most famous banquet.

«In the days of Ahasuerus, who reigned from India even unto Ethiopia over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces: when he sat upon the throne of his kingdom…» [Esth 1:1–2]

The history of Esther is contained not only in the divine book, but also in the Antiquities of Josephus — though in some things they differ in the historical narration.

And this too is turned into a question: who that Ahasuerus was, who reigned from India unto Ethiopia over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces. For the aforesaid Josephus reports that he was Cyrus, the son of King Xerxes, who reigned in Persia after Darius his uncle. This Cyrus, then, he says was called Artaxerxes among the Greeks — who was surnamed Longimanus ["the Long-handed"], holding the kingdom forty years.

But I do not think that Esther was in that time — for Ezra would never have kept silence about her, who writes that at this time Ezra and Nehemiah returned from Babylon, and the things that followed thereupon which were done by them.

Eusebius, therefore, in his Chronicle, judged that this Ahasuerus was the one called Artaxerxes, who also reigned after Darius his uncle, surnamed Nothus, forty years.²

«Susa was the beginning of his kingdom.» [Esth 1:2]

Susa is the metropolis of Persia, which the historians say that the brother of Memnon founded. And it is called Susa because it overlooks the river Susis, where is the palace of Cyrus — of white and variegated stone, distinguished with golden columns and panelled ceilings and gems; containing also a likeness of the heaven, marked out beforehand with glittering stars, and other things beyond belief to human minds.

Where also the present king is related to have set forth a very great banquet, with grand apparatus and an abundance of riches, before the peoples subject to him. Whence there follows:

«In the third year, therefore, of his reign, he made a great banquet for all his princes and his servants — for the most valiant of the Persians and the illustrious of the Medes, and for the governors of the provinces before him — that he might show the riches of the glory of his kingdom, and the greatness and boasting of his power, for a long time, namely a hundred and eighty days.

«And when the days of the banquet were fulfilled, he invited all the people that were found in Susa, from the greatest to the least. And for seven days he commanded a banquet to be prepared in the vestibule of the garden and of the wood, which was planted with royal care and by hand.

«And there hung on every side tents of the colour of the air, and of linen and of hyacinth, held up by cords of fine linen and of purple, which were inserted into ivory rings and were held up by pillars of marble. Couches also of gold and silver were set in order upon a pavement strewn with emerald and Parian stone — which a painting adorned with wondrous variety.

«And they that were invited drank out of golden cups, and the meats were brought in dishes one after another. Wine also, as was worthy of royal magnificence, was set forth in abundance and of the choicest. Neither was there any to compel them to drink that were unwilling; but as the king had appointed, setting over every table one of his princes, that every man might take what he would.» [Esth 1:3–8]

This preparation of a most sumptuous banquet, although historically it may seem to display the pomp of riches and the luxury of delights of a powerful king, yet in a more sacred mystery it signifies the greatness of the spiritual riches of our most powerful King — that is, of Christ the Lord — and the excellence of those living treasures which he bountifully distributes to each one of his faithful, according to the measure of his own dispensation.

For that most wealthy king, entreated by the prayers of his most faithful wife, removed the destruction that hung over the Jews, which the wicked were plotting — and by this he is fitted, by a figure, to our Redeemer, who daily, being interceded with by the prayers of holy Church (who is his own most beloved bride), delivers his elect out of the hands of their enemies, and subjects their foes to a worthy vengeance.

But that Esther holds the type of the Church, no man doubts — nor is she to be called the bride of any other man, in any manner, than of Christ.

A defence of the method: why a wicked king may be the type of a just King

Wherefore let no one shrink from this interpretation on the ground that that historical king was treacherous⁵³ — as though for this reason he could in no way hold the type of the just King.

For we do not say that the treachery, or the sins, of any man — whether of a faithful man or even of a faithless one — express the acts of THIS King: "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth" [1 Pet 2:22]. "For what fellowship hath light with darkness? or what concord hath Christ with Belial?" [2 Cor 6:14–15].

But good deeds and just judgments, from whomsoever they come, are to be referred to none better than to HIM from whom is every good thing — of whom it is written: "He shall judge the world in equity, and the peoples in his truth" [Ps 9:8].

For just as the errors of the Gentiles and their impious deeds — so also the transgressions and sins of the faithful — do not easily agree with the truth by way of likeness.

Now we have said these things for this reason: because certain of the doctors transfer figurally to Christ and the Church what David did concerning Uriah and his wife.

What reason is there that a man should say that Moses' DOUBT at the water of contradiction, Aaron's FEIGNING in the making of the calf, Solomon's LUST, Hezekiah's ARROGANCE, Peter's DENIAL and Saul's BLASPHEMY, agree figurally with our Redeemer? And yet no man can rightly deny that their good deeds and their right doctrine furnished a very great testimony to him.

Whence no one ought to reprove us, that we compare the pious works and just judgments of a great king — by a certain likening — to the King and Judge of all ages: because whatever is good is HIS, and from him all iniquity flees away.

But if to anyone what we say seems incongruous, let him read Isaiah the prophet, who compared CYRUS, king of the Persians — a Gentile man — to our Redeemer, saying in the person of the Lord:

"I will give thee hidden treasures and the secret things of the hidden places, that thou mayest know that I am the Lord, who call thy name, the God of Israel; for my servant Jacob's sake, and Israel my elect; and I have called thee by thy name; I have likened thee, and thou hast not known me. I am the Lord, and there is none else; besides me there is no God. I have girded thee, and thou hast not known me." [Isa 45:3–5]

Let him read also the little works of the Fathers, who have said that the acts, or rather the fortunes, of reprobate kings — Saul and Jechoniah — figurally designate the most holy works of our Redeemer:

• Saul, namely, anointed as king, but justly slain for his own crimes — them interpreting it of the death of the guiltless King, Christ;
• and Jechoniah's translation from Judah into Babylon, which he underwent for his sins, they refer to the grace of the same our typical Redeemer — by which, the Jews being abandoned for their treachery, he deigned to pass over throughout the world to save the nations.

And the sayings or deeds of PHARAOH or of NEBUCHADNEZZAR they have handed down as to be understood typically OF THE ENEMY of the Church. For example: - Pharaoh commanded the male infants of the people of God to be drowned in the river, and the females to be kept alive — because the devil desires to extinguish in us the STRONG works, and to nourish the loose and the weak. - Likewise Nebuchadnezzar commanded all the peoples subject to him, when they heard the sound of the pipes and the musicians, to fall down and worship his statue — and the devil busies himself to bend the human race away from rectitude of mind by the sweetness of earthly pomp, and to lead it to a certain lust, which is "the service of idols" [Wis 14:27], and "to pervert the hearts of the deceived."

If, then, certain deeds — or even the just punishments — of the reprobate went before as a figure not only of evil men but also of good, why could not the good acts or sayings of good men, which are contained in the prophetic volume, prefigure the good deeds of those who came after?

For the power of sacred speech, as a certain man says, sometimes so narrates what is past that it expresses what is to come: so it approves the doer, that in the mystery it contradicts him; so it condemns the deed, that it persuades that this same thing is to be done mystically.

Likewise let us look at the little works of holy Augustine, who said that even the seven husbands of one woman who died without children — concerning whom the Sadducees, denying the resurrection, were tempting the Lord — had a certain figure of the ecclesiastical sacrament. And he taught that the woman, and her barrenness, and her death, and the death of the husbands themselves, were figures of memorable things — although neither the Lord himself nor any of the evangelists narrated this history in his own person, but the evangelists inserted into their own writings what impious men had brought forth with unspeakable mouth against the Lord, on account of the Lord's most sacred answer.

These things, therefore, and the like, when the faithful reader finds them in the sayings of the holy Fathers, let him not impute it to us if, after their likeness, we insert some such things into our own little works.³

The exposition proper

«In the third year, therefore, of his reign, King Ahasuerus made a great banquet for all his princes and his most valiant servants of the Persians and the Medes, that he might show the riches of the glory of his kingdom.» [Esth 1:3]

Since our Redeemer — whom Ahasuerus expresses both in name and in dignity (for the name is interpreted doorway, or my court) — being with the Father and the Holy Spirit the everlasting Emperor of man, in the THIRD age of this world laid open to the human race the sacrament of his Incarnation, and opened to us the entrance of life, and most abundantly ministered spiritual feasts to his faithful.

The FIRST age, therefore, was BEFORE THE LAW; the second, UNDER THE LAW; the third, UNDER GRACE — in which, namely, he prepared for all the nations the most sumptuous refreshment of the evangelical preaching and of his own Body and Blood.

The excellence of this banquet the Lord himself commended to us spiritually, in a mystery, in the parable of the Gospel — where he told of the king who made a marriage for his son [Matt 22:2], and of the great supper made by a man [Luke 14:16].⁴

«For seven days, therefore, the great king caused a banquet to be prepared in the vestibule of the garden and of the wood, which was planted with royal care and by hand.» [Esth 1:5]

Since our Redeemer, through the whole time of this life — which runs its course by the number SEVEN — in the present Church, in which each of the faithful prepares himself, by right faith and good works, for the entrance of paradise and of the heavenly kingdom, satisfies his elect with the food of the divine word and the feasts of the virtues; to the end that they may become fit in all things for the delights and the gladness of the kingdom above —

where the FRUIT-BEARING TREES are planted: that is, holy men, illustrious in good merits, who by the bounty of the divine gift display the beauty of holy conversation and of right doctrine.

«There hung on every side tents of the colour of the air, and of linen and of hyacinth» [Esth 1:6] — because there shines out the adornment of spiritual zeal, and the splendour of heavenly wisdom, with the brightness of the virtues, worthily standing fast in her for instruction.

The linen⁵⁴ colour also puts forward the appearance of gold (as some will have it), and is deservedly compared to the brightness of divine wisdom, which most excels in the cultivation and religion of piety.

«And these tents were stretched with cords of fine linen and of purple, and were held up by marble pillars» [Esth 1:6]:

• the FINE LINEN (byssus) signifies the mortification of the flesh;
• the PURPLE, the blood of martyrdom;
• the IVORY, chastity of body;
• and the MARBLE PILLARS, the steadfastness of the holy doctors.

Well, therefore, is it said that tents of divers colours were hung by cords of fine linen and purple, through ivory rings, upon marble pillars — because the beauty of holy Church, whether it lie in the meditation of wisdom or in the advance of the virtues through continence and chastity of body, ought to shine out — together with the dignity of martyrdom — in the doctors of the holy Gospel; and to come, as much by their word as by their example, to the knowledge of many, so that being instructed by these, stirred up and strengthened by these, they may duly attain to the court of the heavenly empire.

«There also couches of gold and silver were set in order upon a pavement strewn with emerald and Parian stone, which a painting adorned with wondrous variety» [Esth 1:6] — because the humility of the saints, adorned with the divers kinds of the various virtues, prepares for God's elect, in the meditation of the divine word and in the searching out of true wisdom, the inward quiet of contemplation.

Where the sweetness of the knowledge and love of God is most bountifully poured into them that seek him piously, by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Of which couch the Bride says in the Song of Songs: "Our bed is flowery" [Cant 1:15] — because assuredly all holy men, when they enjoy tranquillity of times and rest from the seasons of tribulation, then most of all give their spirit leisure for the sacred readings, for fastings, for prayers and the rest of the fruits; and then lift themselves the higher into the contemplation of things above, to gaze upon the glory of the divine majesty — since they get a season serene from outward occupations.

For the EMERALD is a gem so called from its exceeding greenness; and the PARIAN is a kind of the whitest marble. And aptly is the pavement said to be pictured with these two stones, where the couches were set: because by WHITENESS — that is, chastity of body — and by GREENNESS — that is, the good of a mind ever verdant in the grace of God — the foundation of humility is well built, where a fitting reward of eternal rest is prepared for every man.

Whence it is written: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" [Matt 5:3]. And: "He that shall humble himself shall be duly exalted" [Matt 23:12]. Hence the same Truth says elsewhere in the Gospel to the disciples: "Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest to your souls; for my yoke is sweet, and my burden light" [Matt 11:29–30].

«And they that were invited to the royal banquet drank out of golden cups» [Esth 1:7].

They drink out of golden cups, who draw divine wisdom out of the most precious sayings of the holy Gospel; and to these the meats are brought in divers vessels — who in the readings of the Law and the Prophets and the Apostles and the Evangelists have learned to receive the manifold feasts of spiritual doctrine, by which the souls are fattened that are nourished unto life eternal.

«Wine also, as was worthy of royal magnificence, was set forth in abundance and of the choicest to them that feasted» [Esth 1:7] — since the gift of heavenly grace is most bountifully bestowed upon each one of the faithful, according to the dispensation of the divine clemency and the distribution of the Holy Spirit — when, according to Paul's saying: "The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is given to us" [Rom 5:5]; and: "To every man is given the manifestation of the Spirit unto profit. To one indeed by the Spirit is given the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another faith in the same Spirit; to another the grace of healing in one Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another the discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another interpretation of speeches" [1 Cor 12:7–10].

But that it is last of all related that there was no one to compel them that were unwilling to drink — but, as the king had appointed, setting over every table one of his princes, that each might take what he would [Esth 1:8] — this signifies THE LIBERTY OF GRACE: where no man is forced against his will to receive the spiritual gift, but the ready WILL of each is sought — according to that testimony of the Lord, where he says: "He that can take it, let him take it" [Matt 19:12]. And likewise: "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments" [Matt 19:17]. And again: "If thou wilt," he says, "be perfect, go, sell all that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me" [Matt 19:21].⁵

Our King sets his doctors over the table of the sacred Scriptures, in the solemn and sacred banquet of holy Church, that they may dispense to each of the faithful the fitting doctrine, and may conform the preaching of the word to the quality of each man — so that from thence every man may take what he shall have seen to be possible and profitable for himself.

For with such great art must the voice of the teacher be tempered, that although the vices of the hearers be diverse, and though it be found suited to each one, yet it be not at variance with itself — so that it may pass through the midst of the passions by one course indeed, and yet, after the manner of a two-edged sword, cut the swellings of carnal thoughts from either side. Thus:

• so let humility be preached to the proud, that yet fear be not increased in the timid;
• so let authority be poured into the timid, that yet unbridled licence grow not in the proud;
• so let solicitude for good work be preached to the idle and sluggish, that yet an immoderate licence of action be not increased in the restless;
• so let a measure be set upon the restless, that yet a careless torpor come not upon the idle;
• so let wrath be extinguished in the impatient, that yet negligence grow not in the slack and gentle;
• so let the lukewarm be kindled to zeal, that yet fuel be not added to the fire of the wrathful;
• so let generosity in giving be poured into the tight-fisted, that yet thrift be not preached⁵⁵ to the prodigal — and yet that in the tight-fisted the guarding of things that must perish be not increased;
• so let marriage be praised to the incontinent, that yet the continent be not called back to luxury;
• so let the virginity of the body be praised to the continent, that yet fruitfulness of the flesh be not despised in the married;
• so are the good things to be preached, that the evil be not commended alongside them;
• so are the highest goods to be praised, that the lowest be not despised;
• so are the lowest to be nourished, LEST — while they are thought to suffice — there be no striving at all toward the highest.⁶

The faithful and prudent servant, therefore, who, appointed steward by his lord, gives to his fellow-servants their measure of wheat in due season, is praised by the Lord's own voice, and is promised to be set over all his lord's goods [Luke 12:42–44].

Whence it is needful that he who ministers the cups of the word should hold the rule of DISCRETION, to the end that from his ministry he may obtain praise and reward rather than loss and torment.⁷

Chapter 2 — Queen Vashti, who would not come when called

Of Queen Vashti, who, being called to the king, would not come; for which cause she was put down from her royal dignity and repudiated by her husband.

«Vashti the queen also made a banquet of the women in the palace, where King Ahasuerus was wont to abide.» [Esth 1:9]

What is expressed by Queen Vashti, if not THE JEWISH PEOPLE — which seemed, as it were, to have reigned as a queen, since it was found to be pre-eminent above the other nations in the worship of the one God?

She therefore made a banquet of the women, where the king was wont to abide — that is, in Jerusalem itself, where the temple of God and the Holy of Holies had been. She displayed her observance in the worship of the Law, or in the meditation of the sacred Scriptures — in which, granting to her own souls the knowledge of his divine power, she bestowed upon them the refreshment of spiritual knowledge.⁸

«And so on the seventh day, when the king was merrier than ordinary, and after very much drinking was well warmed with wine, he commanded Mehuman and Biztha and Harbona and Bigtha and Abagtha and Zethar and Charchas — the seven eunuchs that served in his presence — to bring in Queen Vashti before the king, with the crown set upon her head, that he might show her beauty to all the peoples and the princes: for she was exceeding beautiful. But she refused, and scorned to come at the king's commandment.» [Esth 1:10–12]

The SEVENTH DAY of the banquet signifies the fulness of the times, in which the Lord, being incarnate, made manifest with more abundant grace all the mysteries of the Law and the Prophets — by which, up to that point, the pious minds of religious men had been fed.

Of which fulness Paul, writing to the Galatians, says: "But when the fulness of time was come, God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons of God, God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying: Abba, Father" [Gal 4:4–6].

And well is it said that after very much drinking he was well warmed with wine — because he poured out abundant grace, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, into his disciples, through the coming of the Paraclete.

Of which wine we read in the Acts of the Apostles that, when the Holy Spirit came upon the hundred and twenty believers in the upper room of Sion, and the Jews reckoned them to be full of new wine, PETER answered, saying: "Ye men and brethren, these men are not drunk, as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken of by the prophet…" [Acts 2:13–16]⁹

…that which was spoken by the prophet JOEL: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith the Lord, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And upon my servants indeed and upon my handmaids will I pour out of my spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath" [Joel 2:28–30; Acts 2:16–19].

The sweetness of which wine the STEWARD OF THE FEAST tasted at the mystical marriage of the Gospel, and said to the bridegroom: "Every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good wine until now" [John 2:10].¹⁰

«The king therefore, in his merriment, commanded the seven eunuchs that served in his presence to bring in Queen Vashti before the king, with the crown set upon her head, that he might show her beauty to all the peoples» [Esth 1:10–11]:

Since our Redeemer Christ — that is, the Lord — directed the order of the holy preachers, filled with the grace of the SEVENFOLD Holy Spirit, to call the Jewish people to the spiritual banquet;

to the end that her comeliness and nobility — which she had by the prerogative of the Fathers, and by the knowledge of the Law and the Prophets and the cultivation of piety, which she had had before the Lord's coming, more renowned than the other nations — might be made known to the peoples of the whole world.

BUT SHE, not only despising the legates, but even spurning the command of the supreme King, scorned to come.

Which the Lord himself made known in the parables of the Gospel:

• when he declared that the clemency of the pious father, upon receiving back the penitent prodigal son, had killed the calf and set out a banquet — where THE ELDER SON, though he was earnestly entreated by his father, yet scorned to go in [Luke 15:25–28];
• and elsewhere, at the marriage which a king made for his son [Matt 22:2], and also at the great supper which a certain man is recorded to have made, and to have called many [Luke 14:16] — they who had been held back by the ambition of other things are described as unwilling to come; for which cause they were rejected by the just indignation of the supreme Householder, and others are recorded to have been substituted in their place.

THAT ELDER SON, therefore — the ancient people of the Synagogue, who is expressed in the person of Queen Vashti — refused to go out from his own dwelling; that is, to be torn away from the LETTER OF THE LAW.

But, content to live by his own judgment, sweating away in earthly desires — made an exile far from the fatherland of the Holy Spirit and from the counsel of the Father — always rigid and hard, most full of rancour and indignation — THIS is he who says: "I have bought a farm, and I must needs go out and see it: I pray thee, hold me excused" [Luke 14:18].

He who buys FIVE YOKE OF OXEN [Luke 14:19] — and is weighed down by the burden of the Law — enjoys to the full the pleasure of the earthly senses.

He who, having married a WIFE, cannot come to the marriage [Luke 14:20] — and, being made flesh, is by no means able to be one with the spirit.

To this man's person the labourers of that other parable also belong [Matt 20:1–16] — in which, at the first, third, sixth and ninth hour, men are sent to the vineyard with divers callings, and they are indignant that the labourers of the eleventh hour should be made equal to them.¹¹

But what the Scripture narrates concerning the contumacy of the most foolish queen Vashti, let us hear:

«Whereupon the king, being angry and inflamed with exceeding fury, asked the wise men, who according to the royal custom were always about him, and by whose counsel he did all things — knowers of the laws and rights of the ancients. Now the first and nearest were Carshena, and Shethar, and Admatha, and Tarshish, and Meres, and Marsana, and MEMUCAN — seven princes of the Persians and the Medes, who saw the face of the king, and were wont to sit first after him — to whose sentence Queen Vashti should be subject, because she would not do the commandment of King Ahasuerus which he had given her by the eunuchs.

«And Memucan answered, in the hearing of the king and of the princes: Queen Vashti hath not only wronged the king, but also all the princes and peoples that are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. For this deed of the queen will go abroad to all women, so that they will despise their husbands, and will say: King Ahasuerus commanded that Queen Vashti should come in to him, and she would not. And by this example all the wives of the princes of the Persians and the Medes will make light of the commandments of their husbands; wherefore the king's indignation is just.

«And if it please thee, let an edict go out from thy presence, and let it be written according to the law of the Persians and of the Medes, which it is unlawful to pass over — that Vashti come in no more to the king, but that ANOTHER, WHO IS BETTER THAN SHE, receive her kingdom.» [Esth 1:12–19]

What is it, that when Vashti grew proud, King Ahasuerus seeks the counsel of the seven wise men who by the royal custom were always at his side, and bids sentence be passed upon her — except that OUR SAVIOUR, THROUGH HIS DOCTORS, filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit (who strive always to stand by his presence with right faith and good works), pronounces sentence upon the contumacy of the Jewish people, whose guilt it is that calls down her punishment and damnation?

Namely, that she be cast out from the ROYAL BED — that is, from the fellowship of God, to which she had been ordained and chosen beforehand — and that ANOTHER, WHO IS BETTER THAN SHE (that is, THE CHURCH OF THE GENTILES), receive her place with sincere faith and full devotion.

That the Lord, then, was promised through the Law and the prophet, and destined by the counsel of the supreme Father, TO CALL JUDAEA — he himself shows in the Gospel, saying: "I am not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel" [Matt 15:24]; and likewise: "It is not good," he says, "to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs" [Matt 15:26] — but, the Gentile woman persisting in her petition, her great faith is deservedly praised by the Lord himself.

And elsewhere the faith of the CENTURION is preferred to the faith of the Jews, when he says: "Amen I say to you, that many shall come from the East and the West, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" [Matt 8:11–12].

Likewise elsewhere the Truth herself says to Jerusalem: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee — how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldest not! Behold, your house shall be left to you desolate" [Luke 13:34–35].

But concerning the CALLING OF THE GENTILES, after his resurrection, he thus commanded his disciples, saying: "Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world" [Matt 28:19–20].

Aptly also was the sentence upon Vashti promulgated THROUGH MEMUCAN — who is numbered LAST in the order of the seven wise men — by which is expressed THE PERSON OF PAUL THE APOSTLE, who was LAST called to the apostolate; through whom their treachery is duly cast in the teeth of the Jews.

For he says of himself: "But I am the least of the apostles" [1 Cor 15:9]. And elsewhere: "To me," he says, "the least of all the saints, is given this grace, to evangelize Christ among the Gentiles" [Eph 3:8].

He, therefore, when he had preached the word of God in the synagogue of the Jews with Barnabas his companion, and the Jews, filled with zeal, contradicted and blasphemed the things that were spoken by Paul, said to them steadfastly:

"To you it behoved us first to speak the word of God: but because you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, WE TURN TO THE GENTILES. For so the Lord hath commanded us: I have set thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be for salvation unto the utmost part of the earth. And the Gentiles hearing it were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as were preordained to eternal life believed." [Acts 13:46–48]¹²

Chapter 3 — The virgins gathered, and Esther among them

That at the command of King Ahasuerus, virgin maidens were gathered together out of divers provinces — among whom was ESTHER, the daughter of the brother of Mordecai the Jew, whom her uncle himself was rearing with diligent care.

«After this, when the indignation of King Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what she had suffered. And the king's servants and his ministers said: Let there be sought for the king young virgins, and let them bring them to the city of Susa, and deliver them into the house of the women, under the hand of HEGAI the eunuch, who is overseer and keeper of the king's women. And let them receive women's ornaments, and other things necessary for their uses. And whosoever among them all shall please the king's eyes, let her reign in Vashti's stead.» [Esth 2:1–4]

Judaea, therefore, being repulsed from the royal fellowship, the DIVERS NATIONS and the divers persons of the several peoples, from divers parts of the world, were led to the society of the royal dignity BY THE HOLY PREACHERS, who were the ministers of the evangelical word;

and they were delivered under the hand of HEGAI — who is interpreted hastening, or solemn — the overseer of the king's women: that is, UNDER THE CARE OF THE PASTORS AND RECTORS OF THE CHURCH, to whom is committed the keeping of the souls of the faithful, that these might furnish them, by word and by example, with whatever was needful for the cultivation of piety;

and so that whatsoever soul should please, with right faith and pure conscience, before the inward eyes of the breast, might be brought in — clean and holy — to the bridal chamber of the ETERNAL KING, in the room of the repudiated Vashti, the contumacious and the shameless.

«There was a man, a Jew, in the city of Susa, named MORDECAI, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of KISH, OF THE STOCK OF JEMINI [BENJAMIN] — who had been carried away from Jerusalem at the time that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon carried away Jechoniah king of Judah.

«He was the foster-father of HADASSAH, his brother's daughter — who by another name was called ESTHER — and she had lost both her parents. She was exceeding fair, and of a beautiful face. And her father and mother being dead, Mordecai adopted her for his daughter.

«And when the king's commandment was noised abroad, and according to his order many fair virgins were brought to Susa, and delivered to Hegai the eunuch — Esther also, among the other maidens, was delivered to him, to be kept in the number of the women. And she pleased him, and found favour in his sight. And he commanded the eunuch to hasten the women's ornaments, and to deliver to her her portions, and SEVEN OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MAIDENS OF THE KING'S HOUSE; and to adorn and deck out both her and her waiting-maids.» [Esth 2:5–9]

What is signified by ESTHER — who is interpreted the hidden one, and by another name was called Hadassah, that is, mercy — if not THE CHURCH OF THE GENTILES?

Who, in the hidden place of her own heart, pleases God because of the chastity of her faith; and finds mercy and grace before the eyes of God more than the Synagogue of the Jews — which, for the desert of its own impiety, is called by the prophet HOSEA "WITHOUT MERCY."

Her, therefore, the spiritual MORDECAI — because she had lost both her parents — adopted for his own daughter.

And what is signified by Mordecai, if not THE DOCTORS OF THE GENTILES? And most of all the blessed apostle PAUL — who also testifies that he is "of the stock of Jemini," that is, OF THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN.

To whom also, being converted by the call of God from a persecutor into an apostle, the CHURCH OF THE GENTILES was committed: and he, her father and mother being dead — that is, the error and superstition of the Gentiles — in a manner made her his own, when by the grace of baptism and the word of the Gospel he regenerated her as a daughter unto eternal salvation for the Almighty Father.

Whence he himself said to them: "Though you have many instructors, yet not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, by the Gospel, I have begotten you" [1 Cor 4:15].¹³

She, therefore, was once carried away into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon — when, through the devil, she was translated from the natural law and the worship of the one God into the confusion of idolatry.

But the divine mercy did not utterly forsake her; nay rather, through his own preachers he called her back again to the way of truth — who, having her care more diligently, brought her up in all piety, and justice, and truth.

To her HEGAI the eunuch — that is, THE MOST CHASTE ORDER OF PASTORS — preparing the women's ornaments (namely sound doctrine and the examples of good work) delivered her portions: that is, THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SCRIPTURES and honesty of manners.

To whom also he appointed SEVEN MOST BEAUTIFUL MAIDENS as her waiting-women — because he subjoined to her most healthful discipline the many persons of the faithful, regenerated by the grace of the SEVENFOLD Holy Spirit, and such as should follow after by good working;

that so, adorned by the progress of faith and by the splendour of all the virtues, she might be found in all things fit for the bed of the ETERNAL KING.

«She would not tell her people, nor her country; for Mordecai had charged her to say nothing at all of this matter.» [Esth 2:10]

For the Church of the Gentiles, instructed by the precepts of the holy doctors, WOULD NOT betray the place of her fatherland and of her people — because, cleansed by baptism from every stain of sins and from the filth of idolatry, she in no way any longer endures the reproach of her former impiety.

To her also the Lord gave commandment through the Prophet, saying: "Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear; and FORGET THY PEOPLE, AND THY FATHER'S HOUSE. For the King hath greatly desired thy beauty; for he is the Lord thy God" [Ps 45:10–11].¹⁴

Whence the Scripture follows on, showing forth, through the type of Mordecai, the diligence of the teachers, saying:

«He walked every day before the court of the house, in which the chosen virgins were kept — taking care for the welfare of Esther, and desiring to know what should befall her.» [Esth 2:11]

Because the holy doctors keep watch daily with vigilant care in the doctrine of the Gospel, that they may search out the faith and the working of the people committed to them: whether perchance they follow with intent mind the rule of right faith, by which eternal salvation is obtained; whether they have diligence in the care of God and in the observance of good works, by which the reward of the heavenly kingdom is earned in the life to come.

For no hour of this solicitude can be empty among those in whose hearts the ardour of right faith and the fire of divine love burns without ceasing.

Whence THE DOCTOR OF THE GENTILES, glorying in truthful words concerning his labours and the persecutions which he suffered for Christ, subjoined, saying: "Besides those things which are without, my daily instance, THE SOLICITUDE OF ALL THE CHURCHES. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is scandalized, and I am not on fire?" [2 Cor 11:28–29].

And to the Romans: "God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make a remembrance of you always in my prayers" [Rom 1:9].

Chapter 4 — Esther brought in to the king in her turn, and made queen

That Esther, according to the order of her turn, was brought in to the king; and, being loved by him above all women, was made queen.

«And when the time of every maiden came in order to go in to the king, after all had been done that belonged to the women's dress, the twelfth month was come round: so that for six months they were anointed with oil of myrrh, and for other six months they used certain perfumes and sweet spices.» [Esth 2:12]

What is it that the maidens who were to be brought in to the king's chamber were prepared for TWELVE MONTHS with oil and spices — so that for six months they should be anointed with OIL OF MYRRH (which is known to be of good odour), and for other six should use divers perfumes and spices — except that all souls which are invited to the receiving of holy baptism, and to the bridal chamber of the true Bridegroom, that is, of Christ the King, are perfectly steeped with OIL OF MYRRH — that is, WITH THE LIGHT OF FAITH AND THE RICHNESS OF LOVE — together with THE SPICES OF THE VIRTUES; to the end that they may deserve to be made worthy of his fellowship?

For what else do the holy preachers do, when they instruct their catechumens in the truth of the faith, but teach them to adorn that same faith with GOOD WORKS — so that by fastings, prayers and alms, and the rest of the works of the virtues, they may hasten to wash away the old filth of the old man, and to put on the comeliness of the new?

For so it is read in the Acts of the Apostles: that CORNELIUS the centurion FIRST pleased God by prayers and alms; and THEN, when Peter came, received the cleansing of baptism and the sanctification of the Holy Spirit [Acts 10:1–48].¹⁵

Whence there is subjoined:

«And going in to the king, whatsoever they asked to adorn themselves withal they received; and being decked out as it pleased them, they passed from the chamber of the women to the king's chamber.» [Esth 2:13]

For whatsoever soul strives to hasten to the bridal chamber of the heavenly Bridegroom receives from her own doctors the adornment worthy of this — whereby she shows herself the more devoted to the knowledge of the faith and to the understanding of the virtues; so that she may come, from the number of the competentes⁵⁶, through the entire faith and full confession of the Holy Trinity, to the receiving of the one baptism and the unction of the sacred chrism, where she is truly joined to the heavenly Bridegroom.

«She that went in at evening, went out in the morning, and thence she was conducted to the second house» [Esth 2:14], and the rest.

Mystically it shows that AFTER THE SETTING OF THE VICES the splendour of the virtues ought to rise — which will duly shine nowhere else than in the unity of holy Church.

But he who shall separate himself thence by any error and foulness of vices is reported, and deservedly, to be led away INTO THE SECOND HOUSE, where the king's concubines abode: because a fall from sound faith deserves not the ADVANCEMENT of honour, but its REPAIR⁵⁷; nor shall he any longer have the power of returning to our King in this manner — unless, being visited again by grace from above, he be restored by his own calling into the state of his former dignity.

«And when the time was gone about in order, the day was at hand when ESTHER, the daughter of Abihail the brother of Mordecai, whom he had adopted for his daughter, was to go in to the king. She sought not women's ornaments, but whatsoever Hegai the eunuch, the keeper of the virgins, would give her, that she took to adorn herself withal. For she was exceeding fair, and of incredible beauty, and seemed gracious and amiable to the eyes of all.» [Esth 2:15]

«And when the time was gone about,» he says — that is, THE FIVE AGES OF THE WORLD being passed, in which the offspring of the Fathers went before, and the institution of the Law flourished among the Jews — THE SIXTH AGE was at hand, with the coming of the Redeemer, in which the multitude of the nations was to be called by the Gospel.

For THEN, mystically, ESTHER — that is, THE CHURCH — was brought in from among the nations, by the apostolic preaching, to CHRIST THE KING, through the belief of sound faith and the sacrament of baptism: beautiful, and with the incredible beauty of the virtues, seeming gracious and amiable to the eyes of all.

Of which time the apostle Paul makes mention, writing to the Galatians thus: "After the fulness of time was come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, made under the law, that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might recover the adoption of sons" [Gal 4:4–5].

And to the Ephesians: "God, who is rich in mercy, for his exceeding charity wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ (by whose grace you are saved), and hath raised us up together, and hath made us sit together in the heavenly places, through Christ Jesus: that he might show in the ages to come the abundant riches of his grace, in his bounty towards us in Christ Jesus" [Eph 2:4–7].¹⁶

«She was brought therefore to the chamber of King Ahasuerus in the TENTH month, which is called TEBETH, in the SEVENTH year of his reign. And the king loved her more than all the women, and set the crown of the kingdom upon her head, and made her to reign in the place of Vashti.» [Esth 2:16–17]

For TEBETH is that month of the Hebrews which among the Greeks is Eudymos⁵⁸, and among the Latins JANUARY — in which the Lord, being incarnate, was circumcised on the eighth day; and, the Magi being led by the going-before of the star, was adored, now a little infant, and honoured with the gifts brought forth — gold, frankincense and myrrh — as GOD, MAN, and KING; in which also he was preached by John, and was baptized.

In the SEVENTH year of Ahasuerus, therefore, Esther came to the bed of the king. And the Church was brought and joined to Christ the King, in whom the grace of the SEVENFOLD Spirit abides unchangeably.

«Whom he loved more than all women» [Esth 2:17] — and she had grace and mercy before him above all women: that is, above all the nations of the earth.

«Upon whose head he set the crown of the kingdom» — when he took her to himself as consort of the kingdom.

«And he made her to reign in the place of Vashti» — that is, of the Synagogue of the Jews, WHICH, BY SPURNING AND CRUCIFYING OUR KING, LOST THE DIGNITY OF ITS HONOUR.

The excellence of this queen the Prophet beholds, and speaks to Christ the King, saying: "The queen stood at thy right hand in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety" [Ps 45:9]. And straightway, speaking to her, he subjoins: "Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear; and forget thy people, and thy father's house. For the King hath greatly desired thy comeliness; for he is the Lord thy God. And the daughters of Tyre shall adore him; all the rich among the people shall entreat thy countenance with gifts" [Ps 45:10–12].¹⁷

«And he commanded a most magnificent banquet to be prepared for all his princes and his servants, for the joining and marriage of Esther. And he gave rest to all the provinces, and bestowed gifts according to princely magnificence.» [Esth 2:18]

What is the most magnificent banquet, prepared for the marriage of Esther for all the princes and servants — but that FOR THE SPIRITUAL JOINING OF CHRIST AND THE CHURCH the greatest joy is celebrated in the whole round of the earth, by all, both greater and lesser?

For in this banquet not carnal feasts, but the SPIRITUAL feasts of wisdom and the virtues, are taken by them that feast worthily. Where all the faithful receive the most holy mysteries of the BODY AND BLOOD OF THE LORD, for the remedy of their salvation, in which stands the pasture of eternal life.

Our King gives rest to all the provinces, and bestows manifold gifts, when he frees them that believe on him from the burden of their sins, and enriches them with spiritual gifts.

Whence he himself says in the Gospel: "Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart; and you shall find rest to your souls" [Matt 11:28–29].

Of whom the Prophet also says: "Ascending on high, he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to men" [Ps 68:18]. To which the Apostle consequently added, saying: "And he gave some indeed apostles, and some prophets, and other some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: until we all meet into the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ" [Eph 4:11–13].

«And when the virgins were sought the SECOND time and gathered together, Mordecai abode at the king's gate; neither had Esther as yet declared her country and her people, according to the commandment of Mordecai. For whatsoever he commanded, Esther observed; and she did all things so as she was wont at that time when he brought her up a little one.» [Esth 2:19–20]

The virgins are sought a SECOND time and gathered — because it does not suffice our Lord Jesus Christ to associate to himself the primitive Church out of the Jews only, but he acquires to himself also, out of the GENTILES, through his preachers, a copious multitude of the faithful: so that OF BOTH PEOPLES there may be made ONE CATHOLIC CHURCH — his own most noble bride, "who hath not spot or wrinkle" [Eph 5:27].

Whence he himself says in the Gospel: "And other sheep I have that are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; AND THERE SHALL BE ONE FOLD AND ONE SHEPHERD" [John 10:16].¹⁸

«Mordecai,» he says, «abode at the king's gate» — because the holy doctors, abiding assiduously in the doctrine of the Gospel, call the nations to the entrance of faith and the sacrament of baptism.

And our Esther has not yet declared her country and her people, according to the commandment of the typical Mordecai — because, according to the doctrine of the faith, the Church of the saints does nothing at all through arrogance, but in a pure conscience humbly keeps all things that are commanded her by the evangelical sayings.

Of whom it is said through the Prophet: "All the glory of the king's daughter is FROM WITHIN" [Ps 45:13]. And the Apostle: "Our glory is this," he says, "the testimony of our conscience" [2 Cor 1:12].

Chapter 5 — The two eunuchs who sought to kill the king, betrayed by Mordecai

Of this: that two eunuchs, seeking to kill the king, were betrayed by Mordecai and worthily punished.

«At that time, therefore, when Mordecai abode at the king's gate, BAGATHAN and THARES, two of the king's eunuchs, who were porters and presided in the first entry of the palace, were angry; and they had a mind to rise up against the king and to kill him. Which was not hidden from Mordecai; and forthwith he told it to Queen Esther, and she to the king in Mordecai's name, who had reported the thing to her.» [Esth 2:21–22]

What is designated by these two eunuchs — who were the porters of the royal house, and presided in the first threshold of the palace — but THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES OF THE JEWS?

Of whom it is said, that HAVING THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE, they neither entered in themselves, nor suffered others to enter in [Luke 11:52].

These sought to rise up against the King and to slay him — because they, ever envying the doctrine and the virtues of the Saviour, lay in wait for him; and with the ministers of the Roman power they contrived how they might kill him.

Whence it is written in the Gospel that "the Pharisees going, consulted among themselves how to ensnare him in his speech; and they sent to him their disciples with the Herodians, saying: Master, we know that thou art a true speaker, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man; for thou dost not regard the person of men. Tell us therefore, what dost thou think: is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?" [Matt 22:15–17]

And elsewhere it is read, that "the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said: What do we, for this man doth many signs? If we let him alone so, all will believe in him; and the Romans will come and take away our place and nation" [John 11:47–48]. Whence after a little it is subjoined: "From that day therefore they devised to put him to death" [John 11:53].

THESE TWO PERSONS ISAIAH THE PROPHET MARKS IN THE TWO HOUSES, in which the incarnate Saviour was made "a stone of offence and a rock of scandal, and a snare and a ruin to the inhabitants of Jerusalem — whereupon very many of them shall stumble and fall, and shall be broken, and shall be snared, and shall be taken" [Isa 8:14–15].¹⁹

The wickedness of these eunuchs, therefore, OUR MORDECAI, perceiving it, betrays to the king through Esther — because the order of the preachers shows to the faithful, who are the members of Christ, that the deceits and depravity of their heart are to be guarded against.

And in these same two eunuchs the person of HERETICS AND SCHISMATICS may also be taken — who, carrying the poison of fraud and malice in their heart, diligently construct wicked counsels against the truth, how they may take it away from the hearts of them that believe, and in a manner slay Christ, who is the life of the faithful, IN THEM.

But the holy doctors, making manifest the iniquity of these men, bring the hiding-places of their errors out into the light — showing how the innocent are rescued from the death of the soul by God's judgment, and the guilty punished by a just vengeance, and the good rewarded with the fitting recompense of merit.

Whence it is subjoined:

«It was inquired into, and found out; and BOTH OF THEM WERE HANGED ON A GIBBET. And it was put in the histories, and recorded in the chronicles, before the king.» [Esth 2:23]

The BOOKS OF MEMORIALS, therefore, ARE THE VOLUMES OF THE TWO TESTAMENTS — in which are recorded what rewards remain in the future for the just for their good acts, and what punishments for the wicked for their sins.

Whence it is written in the Gospel: "The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, and then will he render to every man according to his works" [Matt 16:27]. And likewise: "These shall go," he says, "into everlasting punishment; but the just, into life everlasting" [Matt 25:46].

Hence also Paul, writing to the Romans, says: "For the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and injustice of those men that detain the truth of God in injustice… who will render to every man according to his works" [Rom 1:18; 2:6].²⁰

…who according to the patience of good work seek glory and honour and incorruption, eternal life; but to them that are contentious, and who obey not the truth but give credit to iniquity, wrath and indignation. Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that worketh evil [Rom 2:7–9].

Of which it is said also by Ezekiel: "The justice of the just shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. The soul that sinneth, the same shall die" [Ezek 18:20].

Of which the Psalmist likewise testifies, saying: "The eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and his ears unto their prayers; but the countenance of the Lord is against them that do evil things, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth" [Ps 34:15–16].

Chapter 6 — Haman, whom Mordecai would not adore, accuses the Jews

Haman — because Mordecai would not adore him — holding the race of the Jews in hatred, accused them to the king; whom the king commanded all to be slain in one day.

«After these things King Ahasuerus advanced HAMAN, the son of Hammedatha, WHO WAS OF THE STOCK OF AGAG; and he set his throne above all the princes that he had. And all the king's servants, that were in the doors of the palace, bent their knees and adored Haman, for so the emperor had commanded them: ONLY MORDECAI DID NOT BEND HIS KNEE, NOR ADORE HIM.» [Esth 3:1–2]

What is expressed by the proud HAMAN, but THE ARROGANCE OF THE POWERFUL OF THIS WORLD — who, abusing the benefits conferred upon them by the divine goodness, despise to have as companions in grace their own neighbours, whom they have as partners in nature?

Whence they wickedly strive to transfer to themselves the honour and reverence which they justly owed to God alone; and those who are unwilling to do this and to consent to it, they hunt with hatreds, persecute with torments, and endeavour to deliver over to death.

But the JUDGE ON HIGH — "who beholdeth the lowly, and knoweth the high afar off" [Ps 138:6], who knoweth the deceiver and him that is deceived — TURNS THE PAIN OF THE WICKED UPON THEIR OWN HEAD, AND THEIR INIQUITY COMES DOWN UPON THEIR OWN CROWN. The wicked are taken in their own snares; the just shall be delivered out of his distress, and the ungodly shall be delivered up for him [Ps 7:16; Prov 11:6, 8].²¹

And by this HAMAN THE AGAGITE — whom Josephus relates to have been descended of the stock of AMALEK — there may also be figured THE BLOODY PEOPLE OF THE JEWS, who killed the prophets, and feared not to slay the Lord of the prophets himself and his apostles:

who, losing the nobility of their race through their unbelief and the hardness of their mind, are called by ISAIAH "PRINCES OF SODOM" and "PEOPLE OF GOMORRAH" [Isa 1:10]; to whom it is said by Ezekiel: "Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite" [Ezek 16:3].

These, therefore, reckon the confessors of Christ as though they were enemies of the law of God. Whence they hasten to lay hands not only upon Mordecai — that is, upon the preachers of the Gospel — but even upon the whole catholic people, and to exterminate them from the present life. But the death with which they contrived to punish the innocent temporally, THEY THEMSELVES are compelled to endure WITHOUT END in their own souls, their own merits requiring it, and the just Judge repaying.²²

«And Haman said to King Ahasuerus: There is a people scattered through all the provinces, and separated one from another, using new laws and ceremonies, and moreover despising the king's ordinances. And thou knowest very well that it is not expedient for thy kingdom that it should grow insolent by licence. If it please thee, decree that they may be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents to thy treasurers.

«And the king took the ring that he used from his own hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha of the seed of Agag, the enemy of the Jews; and he said to him: As to the silver which thou promisest, keep it for thyself; and as to the people, do with them as it seemeth good to thee.» [Esth 3:8–11]

Haman, therefore, promising money of ten talents⁵⁹ to the king, sought the death of the Jews.

SO ALSO THE JEWISH PEOPLE, given over to the carnal observance of the ceremonies of the Law, and believing that by this they appeased God, PLOTTED THE DEATH OF THE TRUE CONFESSORS OF CHRIST — who, according to the evangelical doctrine, were rendering to God a spiritual service.

And as Haman, directing the letters, took care to fortify them with THE KING'S SEAL, that thereby he might the more easily fulfil his own wish — SO the treachery of the Jews, wrongly taking as testimony THE BOOKS OF THE DIVINE LAW (in which THE SEAL OF THE SUPREME KING is expressed — that is, in which the grace of the Holy Spirit is made manifest) to prove their own heresy, strove to reprove the conversion of the Gentiles to the fellowship of religion, and to condemn the Gospel of Christ as though it were contrary to the divine precepts.²³

Nor is this without mystery: that THE TWELFTH MONTH OF THE YEAR, WHICH IS CALLED ADAR, was appointed BY LOT for the slaughter of Israel.

But this signifies that the grace of Christ, which in the fulness of times was committed to the faithful, IS TO SUFFER A MIGHTY PERSECUTION IN THE WORLD THROUGH THE FAITHFUL IN THE LAST TIMES.

Of which the Doctor of the Gentiles also, writing to Timothy, says: "Know this, that in the last days shall come dangerous times. Men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, haughty, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, wicked, without affection, without peace, slanderers, incontinent, unmerciful, without kindness, traitors, stubborn, puffed up, lovers of pleasures more than of God: having an appearance indeed of godliness, but denying the power thereof" [2 Tim 3:1–5].

Hence also the Lord says in the Gospel: "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations; and then shall the consummation come" [Matt 24:14]. And a little after: "Then shall be great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be; and unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved" [Matt 24:21–22].²⁴

«And immediately the edict was hung up in Susa, THE KING AND HAMAN FEASTING, and all the Jews that were in the city WEEPING.» [Esth 3:15]

This is what the Saviour foretold to his disciples in the Gospel: "Amen, amen I say to you, that you shall lament and weep, but THE WORLD SHALL REJOICE; and you shall be made sorrowful, BUT YOUR SORROW SHALL BE TURNED INTO JOY" [John 16:20].²⁵

Whence let us see what the Scripture consequently narrates concerning Mordecai.

Chapter 7 — Mordecai clothed in sackcloth sends to Esther

That Mordecai, learning of it, was clothed in sackcloth, and sent to Esther, that she should make supplication before the king for the slaughter of the Jews.

«Which when Mordecai had heard, he rent his garments, and put on sackcloth, strewing ashes on his head; and in the street in the midst of the city he cried with a loud voice, showing the bitterness of his mind — and going on with this lamentation even to the gates of the palace. For it was not lawful for one clothed with sackcloth to enter the king's court.» [Esth 4:1–2]

Mordecai, hearing that the slaughter of the Jews was decreed by the imperial edicts, clothes himself in mourning garments; and in bitterness of mind and with wailing of voice he goes forward even to the doors of the palace —

when THE MASTERS OF THE CHURCH, hearing of the persecution of the princes of the earth which they desire to bring upon the innocent servants of Christ, LONG TO POUR OUT THEIR OWN NECESSITIES BEFORE THE SIGHT OF THE JUDGE ON HIGH — with fastings and alms, with vigils and prayers, with tears and compunction of heart, unto the secret places of heaven;

that BY THE DIGNITY AND THE PRAYERS OF THE TRUE QUEEN — that is, of holy Church, WHICH IN PART IS STILL A PILGRIM UPON EARTH, AND IN PART ALREADY REIGNS WITH THE LORD IN HEAVEN — they may deserve to be heard by the King of all ages.²⁶

Why the just King permits the innocent to be tormented

But if any man shall ask HOW IT BEFITS A MOST JUST KING TO INFLICT TORMENTS UPON THE INNOCENT — let him know that this proceeds NOT from the will of malice, but from THE NOD OF THE SUPREME COUNSEL.

For the divine Wisdom, which overcomes all malice, and "reacheth from end to end mightily, and ordereth all things sweetly" [Wis 8:1], herself doeth all things that she will, in heaven and in earth, in the sea and in all the deeps [Ps 135:6].

For by a just judgment it comes to pass that his faithful servants are delivered into the hands of persecutors — whether FOR THE EXPIATION OF SINS, or FOR THE CORRECTION OF MANNERS, or even FOR THE INCREASE OF MERITS AND THE MULTIPLICATION OF REWARDS — because, as the Prophet testifies: "The Lord is just in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him in truth. He will do the will of them that fear him, and he will hear their prayers, and save them" [Ps 145:17–19].

For the Lord did not deliver JOB into Satan's hands, at Satan's asking, THAT HE MIGHT PERISH — but that BY HIS HELP he might conquer the most wicked enemy, and so acquire for himself the palm of victory, and leave to his enemy the just penalty of his own malice.

There was given to PAUL THE APOSTLE a sting of his flesh — an angel of Satan, namely, TO BUFFET HIM — to the end that STRENGTH MIGHT BE MADE PERFECT IN WEAKNESS [2 Cor 12:7–9].²⁷

Nor is this to be passed over in silence: that Mordecai, clothed in sackcloth, COULD NOT ENTER THE KING'S COURT, but came only as far as the doors of the palace — because NO MAN, WITH THE CORRUPTION OF THE PRESENT LIFE, CAN ENTER THE COURT OF THE HEAVENLY FATHERLAND.

But here, in the meanwhile, before the day of his last departure, every man ought TO KNOCK AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE KINGDOM by chastisement of the body and compunction of the heart — and so, after the going-out of death, to enter rejoicing into the paradise of the Lord.

«Esther therefore sent these words to Mordecai: Go and gather together all the Jews whom thou shalt find in Susa, and PRAY YE FOR ME. Neither eat nor drink for three days and three nights; and I with my handmaids will fast in like manner, and then I will go in to the king, AGAINST THE LAW, unbidden.» [Esth 4:15–16]

Mordecai prays with the Jews for Queen Esther; and in like manner the queen herself prays for Mordecai and the Jews — because THE MASTER OUGHT TO POUR OUT PRAYERS TO THE LORD FOR THE DISCIPLES, AND THE DISCIPLES FOR THEIR MASTERS, that the whole assembly of the faithful together — that is, the members with the whole body — may be kept unhurt by the piety from above.

Whence it is that Paul, writing to the Romans, relates that WITHOUT CEASING he makes remembrance of them in his prayers [Rom 1:9]; and he likewise beseeches those same Romans, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the charity of the Holy Spirit, THAT THEY HELP HIM IN THEIR PRAYERS, and pray for him to the Lord, that he may be delivered from the unbelievers that are in Judaea, and that his ministry which he carries to Jerusalem may be made acceptable to the saints [Rom 15:30–31].

Hence also it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, that when PETER was put in prison, PRAYER WAS MADE WITHOUT CEASING BY THE CHURCH TO THE LORD FOR HIM [Acts 12:5]. And he in like manner asks in his own Epistle, that the grace of God and peace be multiplied in the Church, and fulfilled in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ [2 Pet 1:2].

Chapter 8 — Esther goes in to the king and invites him and Haman to the banquet

Esther, having gone in to the king, invited him and Haman to a banquet.

«And ON THE THIRD DAY Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the court of the king's house, which was inward, over against the king's hall. And he sat upon his throne in the consistory of the palace, over against the door of the house.

«And when he saw Queen Esther standing, SHE PLEASED HIS EYES, AND HE HELD OUT TOWARD HER THE GOLDEN SCEPTRE WHICH HE HELD IN HIS HAND. AND SHE, DRAWING NEAR, KISSED THE TOP OF HIS SCEPTRE.

«And the king said to her: What wilt thou, Queen Esther? what is thy request? Though thou shouldst ask the half of my kingdom, it shall be given thee. But she answered: I beseech thee, come to me this day, and Haman with thee, to the banquet.» [Esth 5:1–4]

What is it that ON THE THIRD DAY Esther was clothed in royal garments — but that THE CHURCH OF THE GENTILES, IN THE THIRD AGE OF THE WORLD, that is, AFTER THE INCARNATION, THE PASSION AND THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST, in the sacraments of baptism, through the confession of the Holy Trinity, clothed herself with faith, hope and charity, and with the comeliness of all the virtues — that thereby she might be made worthy of the royal fellowship, glowing unceasingly with his surpassing love?

She stands in the court of the king's house which was inward, over against the king's hall — that is, IN THE PIOUS WORKING OF THE PRESENT LIFE, WHICH LOOKS TOWARD THE FUTURE RECOMPENSE IN HEAVEN — where the King of kings himself sits upon the throne on high, and assents to the prayers of them that cry piously to him.

The golden sceptre

WHO STRETCHES OUT TOWARD THIS QUEEN THE ROD WHICH HE HOLDS IN HIS HAND — WHEN HE SHOWS TO HER THE POWER OF HIS RULE, OR RATHER, THE CROSS OF HIS OWN PASSION:

BY WHICH HE ACQUIRED TO HIMSELF POWER IN HEAVEN, AND IN EARTH, AND UNDER THE EARTH — so that "in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, of things on earth, and of things under the earth" [Phil 2:10].

AND THIS ROD SHE LOVINGLY KISSES — that is, SHE VENERATES IT WITH ALL DEVOTION.²⁸

Whose petition the king himself promises he will assent to — as he says in the Gospel: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you" [Matt 7:7]. And likewise: "Ask," he says, "and you shall receive, that your joy may be full" [John 16:24].

For the FULL JOY of holy Church is bestowed nowhere else than in the receiving of the heavenly kingdom, where the happy queen shall reign for ever with Christ the King.

But she, being given the choice of her petition, INVITES HIM TO HER OWN BANQUET WHICH SHE HAD PREPARED FOR HIM — and this is understood as nothing better than THE FULL AND PERFECT DEVOTION OF HER OWN FAITH, on which the Inspector and Arbiter of all ages inwardly feeds.

To this refreshment — that is, TO THE COMMUNION OF SOUND FAITH — THE CHURCH INVITES NOT ONLY HER FRIENDS, BUT EVEN HER ENEMIES AND PERSECUTORS: namely PAGANS, JEWS AND HERETICS — that, the by-way of all error being forsaken, THEY MAY REJOICE TOGETHER IN THE ONE HOUSE OF THE CATHOLIC CONFESSION, FOR THE COMMON GOOD.²⁹

«And immediately the king said: Call ye Haman quickly, that he may obey Esther's will. So the king and Haman came to the banquet which the queen had prepared for them.» [Esth 5:5]

Note that the will of the inviting queen and the command of the bidding king AGREE.

But woe to him who comes with malice to the table of the Lord — who, having his heart polluted with hatred and an unclean conscience, fears not to enter unworthy to the banquet of the Lord! Who, though invited often, may come — yet, his own merits compelling, HE SHALL NOT ABIDE IN THE GLADNESS OF THEM THAT FEAST.

But when the king shall have come in, to see him there reclining NOT CLOTHED WITH A WEDDING GARMENT, he upbraids him with his own rashness; and, HIS HANDS AND FEET BEING BOUND, he commands him TO BE CAST INTO THE EXTERIOR DARKNESS [Matt 22:11–13] — where he shall justly be compelled to bear the harm of the deceit which he was wickedly preparing for the innocent, according to that saying of Solomon: "THE WICKED SHALL BE TAKEN IN THEIR OWN SNARES" [Prov 11:6].

And when the king a second time gave Esther the choice of her petition, she answered, saying:

«If I have found favour in the king's sight, and if it please the king to give me what I ask, and to fulfil my petition: let the king and Haman come to the banquet which I have prepared for them, and TO-MORROW I will open my mind to the king.» [Esth 5:8]

This DELAY IN ASKING is not to be reckoned to the vice of sloth, but to the virtue of PATIENCE — signifying without doubt that the reward for the just, and the punishment for sinners, is rather to be bestowed IN THE FUTURE.

For "TO-MORROW" is here understood of the time to come — as is that saying of the Gospel: "Be not solicitous for the morrow" [Matt 6:34]. And in Genesis, Jacob says to Laban: "TO-MORROW my justice shall answer for me" [Gen 30:33]. In Exodus also, where it is commanded concerning the eating of the paschal lamb, it is added: "Neither shall there remain anything of it until the morning" [Exod 12:10].

But when the day of the future judgment shall come, and the whole human race — the just, that is, together with sinners — shall be set before the presence of the supreme Judge: THEN shall it be revealed with what mind each man lived here; where the just are invited, by the sentence of the present Judge, to receive the kingdom of the heavenly fatherland, and sinners, together with the devil, are driven out to be punished in the torments of hell.

Chapter 9 — The king's sleepless night, and Mordecai honoured

Of this: that King Ahasuerus, having passed a sleepless night, commanded the histories and annals of former times to be brought to him; which being read before him, they came to the place where Mordecai had betrayed the eunuchs who lay in wait — for which the king, calling Haman, commanded that he be adorned with the royal robe and the diadem, and set upon the king's horse, and proclaimed through the city by Haman himself, the king's friend. Whence Haman returned home sorrowful.

«That night the king passed without sleep, and he commanded the histories and chronicles of former times to be brought him. And when they were reading them before him, they came to that place where it was written how Mordecai had discovered the treason of Bigthan and Teresh the eunuchs, who sought to kill King Ahasuerus.

«And when the king heard this, he said: What honour and reward hath Mordecai received for this fidelity? His servants and ministers said to him: He hath received no reward at all.» [Esth 6:1–3]

What is it that the king passed a sleepless night, but that which is written in the psalm: "Behold, he shall neither slumber nor sleep that keepeth Israel" [Ps 121:4]?

The histories and annals of former times are read before him — in which is contained the record of the faith and the good deeds of Mordecai — because THE KING OF SAINTS AND PRINCE OF THE KINGS OF THE EARTH, REMAINING THE SAME IN HIMSELF, BEHOLDS WITH ONE GAZE the courses of all times and the knowledge of every several act.

Nor is there with him anything that falls back into the past⁶⁰; but all things lie open in his sight AS PRESENT — of whom it is said by Jeremiah: "He that established all things, he is; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance; the Lord of hosts is his name" [Jer 10:16].

Whence also the Apostle says: "For in Christ Jesus there is not IS and WAS; but in him it is ALWAYS IS." And likewise: "Jesus Christ," he says, "yesterday, and to-day, and the same for ever" [Heb 13:8].³⁰

«And the king said: Who is in the court? Now Haman had come into the inner court of the king's house, to speak to the king that he might order Mordecai to be hanged upon the gibbet which was prepared for him.

«And when the king had said: Let him come in — and he was come in, the king said to him: What ought to be done to the man whom the king is desirous to honour?

«But Haman, thinking in his heart, and supposing that the king would honour no other but himself, answered: The man whom the king desireth to honour ought to be clothed with the king's apparel, and to be set upon the horse that the king rideth upon, AND TO HAVE THE ROYAL CROWN UPON HIS HEAD; and let the first of the king's princes and nobles hold his horse, and going through the street of the city, proclaim before him and say: Thus shall he be honoured, whomsoever the king hath a mind to honour.

«And the king said to him: Make haste, and taking the robe and the horse, do as thou hast spoken to Mordecai the Jew, who sitteth before the gates of the palace. Beware thou pass over any of those things which thou hast spoken.» [Esth 6:4–10]

Mordecai is commanded to be clothed with the royal garments, and to be set upon the horse of the king's own saddle, and to receive the royal diadem upon his head — and the first of the king's princes and nobles to hold his horse, and going through the street of the city to cry: "Thus shall he be honoured, whomsoever the king shall will to honour" —

since THE PREACHERS OF THE HOLY GOSPEL AND THE MASTERS OF THE CHURCH, illustrious with the cultivation of every virtue and the beauty of wisdom, and nobly honoured with the diadem of royal dignity (because they are the members of the supreme King), ARE COMMANDED TO ASCEND UPON THE ROYAL HORSE — THAT IS, UPON THE FAITHFUL PEOPLE, IN WHOSE HEARTS THE KING OF HEAVEN HIMSELF CONTINUALLY PRESIDES — and to preside over them and to rule.

Of which horses it is said to the Lord himself by HABAKKUK the prophet: "Ascending, thou shalt ascend upon thy horses; and thy horsemanship is salvation" [Hab 3:8].

To whom HAMAN — the spiritual enemy of the people of God — though unwilling, yet renders fitting obedience:

SINCE THE PERSECUTORS OF HOLY CHURCH, ALTHOUGH WITH AN UNDEVOTED MIND, ARE YET OFTEN COMPELLED BY THE NOD FROM ABOVE TO PROCLAIM THE PRAISES OF THE CHURCH BY TRUTHFUL TESTIMONY — BECAUSE, THE TRUTH BEING MADE MANIFEST, THEY ARE CONVICTED, AND CANNOT HIDE BY CONCEALMENT WHAT IS MANIFEST.³¹

«Mordecai returned to the gate of the palace; and Haman made haste to go into his house, mourning and having his head covered. And he told Zeresh his wife, and his friends, all that had befallen him.

«And the wise men whom he had in counsel, and his wife, answered him: IF MORDECAI BE OF THE SEED OF THE JEWS, BEFORE WHOM THOU HAST BEGUN TO FALL, THOU CANST NOT RESIST HIM, BUT THOU SHALT FALL IN HIS SIGHT.» [Esth 6:12–13]

THIS IS THE CHANGE OF THE RIGHT HAND OF THE MOST HIGH [Ps 77:10] — that he who lately boasted himself to be mighty above others, and glorious beyond all men, should suddenly be made viler than the rest and weaker than all.

Considering the greatness of which disposition, MARY THE MOTHER OF THE LORD says in the canticle of the Gospel:

"He hath shewed might in his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. HE HATH PUT DOWN THE MIGHTY FROM THEIR SEAT, AND HATH EXALTED THE HUMBLE. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent empty away." [Luke 1:51–53]

Of which it is said by Isaiah: "Lebanon shall be turned into Carmel, and Carmel shall be esteemed as a forest" [Isa 29:17].

Hence we see the contumacy of the Synagogue of the Jews crushed, and the humility of the Church of the Gentiles exalted.

Hence the persecutors of the Christian faith, who once like fierce lions tore the flock of Christ, are now destroyed and brought to nothing; and the confessors of Christ throughout the whole world are raised up in the state of sound faith, and lifted on high by the power of the virtues.

THE HEAD IS TURNED INTO THE TAIL, AND THE TAIL INTO THE HEAD — because "Every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" [Luke 14:11].³²

The deeds of Mordecai are therefore recounted before this king — because the good works of the holy doctors shall never be given over to forgetfulness with him; but that is done which is written: "The just shall be in everlasting remembrance; he shall not fear the evil hearing" [Ps 112:6–7].

Chapter 10 — Haman hanged on the tree he had prepared for Mordecai

On the second day of the banquet, the queen making supplication for her people, HAMAN WAS HANGED UPON THE WOOD WHICH HE HAD PREPARED FOR MORDECAI.

«…that they should drink with the queen. And the king said to her also the second day, after he was warm with wine: What is thy petition, Esther, that it may be given thee? and what wilt thou have done? Although thou ask the half of my kingdom, thou shalt obtain it.

«And she answered him: If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please thee, GIVE ME MY LIFE, for which I ask, AND MY PEOPLE, for which I beseech thee. For we are given up, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. And would God we were sold for bondmen and bondwomen: the evil might be borne with, and I would have mourned in silence. But now WE HAVE AN ENEMY, WHOSE CRUELTY REDOUNDETH UPON THE KING.

«And King Ahasuerus answered and said: Who is this, and of what power, that he should do these things? And Esther said: IT IS THIS HAMAN THAT IS OUR ADVERSARY AND MOST WICKED ENEMY. Which he hearing, was forthwith astonished, not being able to bear the countenance of the king and of the queen.» [Esth 7:1–6]

Behold, now the second day of the banquet is at hand, where in like manner as before Haman comes, being called — but ESTHER MAKING HER PETITION MANIFEST, he departs thence condemned to punishment.

For this is why, in the Gospel, a DINNER is recorded as made by a man in one place, and a SUPPER in another — because THE DINNER SIGNIFIES THE PRESENT CHURCH, but THE SUPPER, THE ETERNAL AND LAST BANQUET. Whence, sinners being separated off, the good alone rejoice in the sight of their Creator.

For HAMAN — the spiritual one, and the enemy of the people of God — because he had not THE GARMENT OF CHARITY whereby he might be worthy of the royal banquet, felt the king to be angry with him. And when the king hastened out into the garden — that is, INVITING HIS ELECT TO THE DELIGHTS OF PARADISE — Haman strove to entreat the queen for his own safety, but in vain: because he found no opportune time for it.

FOR THEN IT IS ALREADY TOO LATE TO SEEK THE REMEDIES OF SALVATION, WHEN THE VENGEANCE OF PUNISHMENT IS AT HAND.

So also in the parable of the Gospel, at the coming of the Bridegroom, THE FOOLISH VIRGINS ask oil of the wise to refill their vessels, but they do not receive it. Whence, after the Bridegroom has entered to the marriage with the wise virgins and the door has been shut, they, being shut out and left outside, seek an entrance for themselves — which nevertheless they can by no means earn, because THEY DO NOT NOW FIND THE TIME OF MERCY, WHICH BEFORE THEY NEGLECTED TO SEEK BY WORTHY WORKS [Matt 25:1–12].

There, a man can no longer deserve of the Lord what he asks, who HERE would not hear what he commanded — who lost the fitting time of penance, and comes in vain before the gate of the kingdom with prayers.

Hence the Lord says by Solomon: "I called, and you refused; I stretched out my hand, and there was none that regarded. You have despised all my counsel, and have neglected my reprehensions. I ALSO WILL LAUGH IN YOUR DESTRUCTION, and will mock, when that shall come to you which you feared; when sudden calamity shall fall on you, and destruction as a tempest shall be at hand: THEN SHALL THEY CALL UPON ME, AND I WILL NOT HEAR; they shall rise in the morning, and shall not find me" [Prov 1:24–28].

«And when the king came back out of the garden into the place of the banquet, he found Haman was fallen upon the bed on which Esther lay; and he said: WILL HE ALSO FORCE THE QUEEN, IN MY PRESENCE, IN MY OWN HOUSE? The word was not yet gone out of the king's mouth, and immediately they covered his face.» [Esth 7:8]

For Haman's supplication to Queen Esther, before King Ahasuerus, WAS RECKONED FOR A CALUMNY — because, the day of judgment being at hand, THE PETITION OF THE WICKED IS NOT A PRAYER BUT AN IRRITATION.

Whence it is written in the psalm: "When he is judged, may he go out condemned; and MAY HIS PRAYER BE TURNED TO SIN" [Ps 109:7].

For THEN that oppression is cast in the teeth of them with which they before oppressed the humble, because the time of recompense is at hand. For then shall the damned be covered with the shame of their own sins — as it is written: "The confusion of their face shall cover them" — when they are dragged down to the darkness of Tartarus, that there they may be repaid with the fitting wage of their own works.

Whence also it is subjoined:

The gibbet, and the fifty cubits

«And HARBONA, one of the eunuchs that stood in waiting on the king, said: BEHOLD THE WOOD (lignum) WHICH HE HAD PREPARED FOR MORDECAI, who spoke for the king, STANDETH IN HAMAN'S HOUSE, BEING FIFTY CUBITS HIGH. And the king said to him: HANG HIM UPON IT.

«So Haman was hanged on the gibbet which he had prepared for Mordecai — AND THE KING'S WRATH CEASED.» [Esth 7:9–10]

It is written in the Proverbs: "He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and he that rolleth a stone, it shall return upon him" [Prov 26:27].

SO ALSO HAMAN WAS COMPELLED TO BEAR THE CROSS (crucem) WHICH HE HAD PREPARED FOR MORDECAI.

BUT IT MAY BE ASKED WHAT IT SIGNIFIES, THAT THIS CROSS IS READ TO HAVE BEEN MADE OF FIFTY CUBITS.

FOR THE LAW WAS GIVEN TO THE FORMER PEOPLE ON MOUNT SINAI ON THE FIFTIETH DAY AFTER THE IMMOLATION OF THE LAMB.

And because we have said above that Haman signified those very Jews who tumulted against Christ — who had been promised to them in the Law — and who persecuted his Church: THE LAW ITSELF, WHICH WAS GIVEN TO THEM FOR THE KEEPING OF LIFE, BECAME TO THEM THE CAUSE OF DEATH — because THROUGH IT they contrived to extinguish the name of Christ and to slay his confessors.

So that THEY WHO WISHED, BY THE LAW, UNJUSTLY TO OPPRESS THE INNOCENT, THEMSELVES BY IT RECEIVED THE SENTENCE OF A JUST JUDGMENT — of which it is said by Paul: "Whosoever have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law" [Rom 2:12].

And HARBONA the eunuch, who betrayed the cross itself that had been made, SIGNIFIES THE DOCTORS OF THE LAW — who made manifest, out of the reading of the Law itself, the deceit of the Jews and all the things they had done contrary to the divine precepts.

Whence MOSES, foreseeing in the spirit that they would be contemners and sacrilegious, foretold in the SONG OF DEUTERONOMY all the things that were to come upon the transgressors [Deut 32].

Hence also the Saviour says in the Gospel to those same Jews: "THINK NOT THAT I WILL ACCUSE YOU TO THE FATHER. THERE IS ONE THAT ACCUSETH YOU, MOSES, IN WHOM YOU TRUST. FOR IF YOU DID BELIEVE MOSES, YOU WOULD PERHAPS BELIEVE ME ALSO; FOR HE WROTE OF ME. BUT IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE HIS WRITINGS, HOW WILL YOU BELIEVE MY WORDS?" [John 5:45–47]³³

«And on that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman to Queen Esther…»

Chapter 11 — Mordecai set in Haman's place, and new letters sent for the safety of the Jews

That Mordecai is appointed in the place of Haman; and at the queen's suggestion letters are sent for the safety of the Jews.

«On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came in before the face of the king» [Esth 8:1], and the rest.

What is it that King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the adversary of the Jews — but that OUR TRUE KING AND LORD TRANSFERRED WHOLLY TO THE USE OF HOLY CHURCH every dignity and every honour which the former people had from the knowledge of the Law and the Prophets and from the worship of pious religion — after that people spurned the coming of the Mediator of God and men in the flesh, and would not receive his Gospel — so that she herself might possess the spiritual riches, and be made the most honourable keeper of all the virtues?

Whence it is written in the Proverbs: "The substance of the sinner is kept for the just" [Prov 13:22]. And the Lord says in the Gospel to those same Jews: "The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof" [Matt 21:43].

Hence again it is said by Solomon: "He that is good shall draw grace from the Lord" [Prov 12:2].

And this sentence may also be taken as spoken generally of the person of ALL THE PERSECUTORS OF THE CHURCH:

because whatsoever they brought forth by the study of wisdom or of useful disciplines; or whatsoever they discovered by searching out the honourableness of the virtues; AND MOREOVER WHATSOEVER THEY DEVISED IN THE MATTER OF PUNISHMENTS FOR THE TORMENTING OF THE MARTYRS —

THE WHOLE OF IT HAS BEEN TURNED, FOR THE FAITHFUL OF CHRIST, INTO THE INCREASE OF HONOUR AND OF GLORY.

Nor did anything remain to those unjust possessors of any good reward for their toil; but the whole was conferred upon these others, unto the fulness of their perfection.³⁴

Whence there follows concerning Mordecai, that he came in before the face of the king — because, holy Church praising and proclaiming the diligence of her own masters, THE HOLY DOCTORS THEMSELVES find copious grace before the sight of the Creator of all, for the labour they have spent in the nourishing of the faithful.

That also which is subjoined — that the king took the ring which he had received back from Haman, and delivered it to Mordecai [Esth 8:2] — mystically expresses that THE SEAL OF FAITH, which the treacherous Jews and all the persecutors of the name of Christ would not receive when it was offered them through the preaching of the Gospel, WAS TRANSFERRED, FOR THE SALVATION OF THE GENTILES, THROUGH THE APOSTLES OF CHRIST.

Esther therefore holds the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews — since the Church of Christ possesses the world, which was once the enemy of Christians.

And Mordecai goes in before the face of the king — since daily the souls of the saints are taken from the sojourning of the present life to the contemplation of the countenance of the Judge on high: the greatness of whose gladness NO END SEIZES UPON, but a perpetual glory grows for them daily, in the joy of eternal exultation.

«And Esther appointed Mordecai over her house.» [Esth 8:2] — Behold, Esther sets Mordecai over her house: because it pleases holy Church by this healthful counsel, that the multitude of the faithful should be established under the governance of holy preachers, to the end that by humility and obedience it may be made subject to the rule of chosen masters.

«And not content with these things, she fell down at the king's feet, and wept; and speaking to him, besought him that he would give order that the malice of Haman the Agagite, and his most wicked devices which he had invented against the Jews, should be of no effect.

«BUT HE, AS THE MANNER WAS, HELD OUT THE GOLDEN SCEPTRE WITH HIS HAND, WHICH WAS THE SIGN OF CLEMENCY. And she rose up and stood before him, and said: If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and my request be not disagreeable to him, I beseech thee that BY NEW LETTERS THE OLD LETTERS OF HAMAN — the traitor and enemy of the Jews, by which he had commanded that they should be destroyed in all the king's provinces — MAY BE CORRECTED. For how can I endure the murder and slaughter of my people?

«And King Ahasuerus answered Esther the queen and Mordecai the Jew: I have given Haman's house to Esther, AND HIM I HAVE COMMANDED TO BE FASTENED TO A CROSS (cruci), because he durst lay hands upon the Jews. Write therefore to the Jews as it pleaseth you, in the king's name, sealing the letters with my ring.» [Esth 8:3–8]

What is it that Esther falls at the king's feet and entreats him for the safety of her people — but that HOLY CHURCH DAILY, HUMBLY, BESEECHES THE OMNIPOTENT LORD, BY THE FAITH AND THE MYSTERIES OF THE INCARNATION OF THE ONLY-BEGOTTEN OF GOD, FOR THE SNATCHING AWAY OF HER OWN SONS — that by his grace the boldness of the enemies may be crushed, and out of their hands the innocence of the faithful may be delivered?

THE KING ON HIGH EXTENDS THE GOLDEN SCEPTRE TOWARD THE PETITIONING QUEEN — BECAUSE HE MIGHTILY BESTOWS UPON HER THE CLEMENCY OF HIS OWN PITY.

She asks that the old letters of the most wicked Haman be exchanged for new writings — because THIS IS THE ZEAL OF THE TRUE QUEEN: that every sect of error, and all the contrary machinations which the ancient enemy contrives through his ministers for the extinction of the people of God, SHOULD BE DRIVEN BACK AND BLOTTED OUT BY THE MOST HEALTHFUL DOCUMENTS OF THE GOSPEL.

The letters themselves, written in the king's name, are sealed with his ring — because the evangelical doctrine, which is preached in the name of Christ throughout the whole world, IS EVERYWHERE DECLARED TO BE CONFIRMED WITH THE SEAL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT; by whose gift the preachers themselves, filled with everlasting fortitude, appear unconquerable to all, and remain the most glorious triumphers over their enemies.³⁵

«Now it was the time of the third month, which is called SIVAN, on the three and twentieth day thereof, that the letters were written, as Mordecai had a mind, to the Jews, and to the princes, and to the deputies, and to the judges, who were over the hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India even unto Ethiopia — to province and province, to people and people, according to their languages and characters; and to the Jews, according as they could read and hear.

«And these letters, which were sent in the king's name, were sealed with his ring, and sent by posts, who ran through all the provinces, TO PREVENT THE OLD LETTERS WITH NEW MESSAGES.» [Esth 8:9–10]

SIVAN is the month which among the Hebrews is third in order after Nisan — that is, which among the Greeks is called Thessari⁶¹, and among the Latins is named JUNE.

On the twenty-third day of this month new letters were written, according to Mordecai's dictation, TO CONFUTE THE OLD LETTERS OF HAMAN.

The significance of this thing is ready at hand: because THE DOCTRINE OF THE GOSPEL WAS SO COMPOSED by the writers of the New Testament, our Lord Jesus Christ mediating, that IN IT THE FAITH OF THE HOLY TRINITY MIGHT BE MOST FULLY EMBRACED; and that the whole perfection of the entire Decalogue might be shown to consist IN THE TWO PRECEPTS OF CHARITY.

And that same Scripture was directed BY POSTS — that is, BY THE HOLY PREACHERS — into the whole round of the earth: which the HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN PROVINCES that stood in the kingdom of Ahasuerus signify.

FOR THE NUMBER TEN, MULTIPLIED BY TWELVE, MAKES A HUNDRED AND TWENTY; AND IF SEVEN BE JOINED TO THESE, IT CONCLUDES THE FULNESS OF THE WHOLE SUM.

So also THE TRUE KEEPING OF THE DECALOGUE was insinuated, by the apostolic tradition, into all the parts of the world through the holy doctors — but THE GRACE OF THE SEVENFOLD SPIRIT was poured abroad in the hearts of the faithful.³⁶

Nor is this without mystery either: that the letters sent in the king's name and sealed with his ring are recorded as written ACCORDING TO THE CHARACTERS AND LANGUAGES OF THE SEVERAL NATIONS, so that every nation might be able to read and understand them.

BECAUSE THE DOCTRINE OF THE GOSPEL WAS SO ORDERED, that its first doctors, taught by the grace of the Holy Spirit, SHOULD FIRST SPEAK WITH THE VOICE OF THE TONGUES OF ALL MEN; and thereafter the word of faith should be sown, by their ministry, into all the parts of the round world.

As it is read in the Acts of the Apostles, that IN THE UPPER ROOM OF SION, THE SPIRIT THE PARACLETE, COMING ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST UPON THE HUNDRED AND TWENTY BELIEVERS IN THE APPEARANCE OF FIRE, gave them to speak the wonderful works of God IN THE TONGUES OF ALL NATIONS — so that they who had come together, hearing this, all marvelled with astonishment [Acts 2:1–12].³⁷

«To whom the king commanded that they should gather together the Jews through every city, and command them to be assembled in one, that they might stand for their lives, and should kill all their enemies with their wives and children and all their houses. And ONE DAY of revenge was appointed through all the provinces — to wit, THE THIRTEENTH OF THE TWELFTH MONTH, ADAR.» [Esth 8:11–12]

Our King, the Ruler indeed of heaven and earth, commands this through his own preachers to the TRUE Jews — that is, to his own confessors among all the nations — that, coming together into the unity of fellowship and peace, they should strive for the salvation of their souls; and should condemn all their enemies, as much the visible as the invisible: that is, THE FALSE JEWS, WHO ARE THE SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN [Rev 2:9], and pagans and incorrigible heretics, and the unclean spirits with all their impieties and depraved inventions.

Nor should they suffer any residue of these to remain — nay rather, THE WIVES AND CHILDREN, that is, CARNAL PLEASURE AND THE WORKS OF SIN, TOGETHER WITH THE HOUSES — that is, WITH THE AMBITION OF THE WORLD — let them utterly extinguish.

Hence it is that the Lord in the Law commanded the Israelites to slay and destroy in the land of promise the nations that were contrary to them. Hence also he charged that THE AMALEKITES afterward should be blotted out even to their utter destruction — because he wished to take from them every occasion of scandal.

Mindful of which thing the prophet says in the psalms: "In the morning I put to death all the sinners of the land, that I might cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord" [Ps 101:8].³⁸

Now the time in which this slaying of enemies was commanded to be done well accords with the mystery of this spiritual destruction — for THE TWELFTH MONTH OF THE HEBREWS, that is ADAR, expresses none other than THE LAST AGE OF THE WORLD, in which this spiritual war is waged, above all, by the soldiers of Christ.

And likewise THE THIRTEENTH DAY designates THE FAITH OF THE HOLY TRINITY together with THE KEEPING OF THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD — whereby all adversaries are duly overcome.³⁹

And what is subjoined — «AND THE EDICT OF THE KING HUNG UP IN SUSA» [Esth 8:13–14] — signifies that the empire of the heavenly King stands out and rules in the whole round of the earth: "in whose dominion all things are placed, and there is none that can resist his will" [Esth 13:9], and that WORLDLY ARROGANCE IS LAID LOW BENEATH HIS POWER.

Whence rightly is it said that the king's edict hung up IN SUSA — for Susa is interpreted horsemanship, or bearing back⁶². And in the end, THE PRIDE OF THE WORLD IS OVERCOME BY THE POWER OF GOD.

Hence it is that the Saviour says in the Gospel to his disciples: "In the world you shall have distress; but have confidence, I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD" [John 16:33].⁴⁰

Chapter 12 — The glory of Mordecai; the Jews avenge themselves; the ten sons of Haman hanged

Of the glory of Mordecai, and how the Jews avenged themselves of their enemies; and the ten sons of Haman hanged upon the gibbet.

«And Mordecai, going forth out of the palace and from the king's presence, SHONE IN ROYAL APPAREL — of hyacinth, namely, and of sky-blue — WEARING A GOLDEN CROWN ON HIS HEAD, and clothed with a cloak of silk and of purple. AND ALL THE CITY REJOICED AND WAS GLAD.» [Esth 8:15]

GREAT IS THE GLORY OF THE HOLY DOCTORS, that by their doctrine and exhortation, through the power of the King on high, the faithful overcome the cruelty of the most wicked enemy; and their reward abides thence, in the heavenly kingdom, of eternal blessedness and perpetual brightness — which the COLOUR OF HYACINTH and the SPLENDOUR OF GOLD are seen to figure.

And to the martyrs of Christ, for the shedding of their blood, ROYAL DIGNITY — to reign together with Christ the King — is repaid by that most just Rewarder in the citadel on high: of which thing THE NAMES OF PURPLE AND SILK bear the type. And the whole assembly of the saints shall together rejoice and be glad for this, in the Jerusalem above.

«But to the Jews A NEW LIGHT seemed to rise: joy, honour, and dancing. Among all peoples, cities and provinces, whithersoever the king's commandments came, there was wonderful rejoicing, feasts and banquets, and a festival day — insomuch that MANY OF OTHER NATIONS AND OF ANOTHER SECT JOINED THEMSELVES TO THEIR RELIGION AND CEREMONIES. For a great dread of the name of the Jews had fallen upon all.» [Esth 8:16–17]

Very many, therefore, OUT OF THE NUMBER OF THE GENTILES AND OF THE ENEMIES OF THE CHURCH — by the force, the wisdom, the constancy of the holy martyrs, and by the virtue of Christ shining out through them — FORSOOK IDOLATRY AND GENTILE SUPERSTITION, AND WERE CONVERTED TO THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

Which is hidden from none who read the passions and the triumphs of the martyrs. And thence, by God's mercy, the multitude of the faithful grows daily, and the folds of the Church are filled.

For the vigour of the Christian name stirs up TERROR in the unbelieving and JOY in them that believe, throughout the whole round of the earth. Of which it is said by the Psalmist: "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world be in awe of him" [Ps 33:8]. And likewise: "The just shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall hope in him; and all the upright of heart shall be praised" [Ps 64:10]. And the Apostle: "In the name of Jesus," he says, "let every knee bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; and let every tongue confess that the Lord Jesus is in the glory of God the Father" [Phil 2:10–11].⁴¹

«So on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which we have already said to be called Adar — WHEN THE SLAUGHTER OF ALL THE JEWS WAS PREPARED, and their enemies were greedy for their blood — THE CASE BEING TURNED THE OTHER WAY (versa vice), THE JEWS BEGAN TO HAVE THE UPPER HAND, and to avenge themselves of their adversaries.

«And they gathered themselves together through every city and town and place, to stretch forth their hands against their enemies and persecutors. AND NO MAN DURST RESIST THEM, for the fear of their greatness had pierced all the peoples.» [Esth 9:1–2]

The twelfth month, as was said above, signifies THE LAST AGE OF THE WORLD, when the Incarnation of the Redeemer was accomplished and the preaching of his Gospel was scattered through the whole world. And likewise the thirteenth day declares THE LIGHT OF FAITH AND OF GOOD WORKS, which by the evangelical preaching is daily fulfilled in the Church by the faithful.

«For in the twelfth month, on the thirteenth day of the month, when the slaughter was prepared for all the Jews and their enemies were greedy for their blood, THE CASE BEING TURNED THE OTHER WAY, THE JEWS THEMSELVES BEGAN TO HAVE THE UPPER HAND, and to avenge themselves of their adversaries» —

because THE ASSEMBLY OF THE FAITHFUL, in which is the true confession of right faith, although the enemies and persecutors of the name of Christ everywhere stir up persecutions against them and strive to crush them, YET THEY THEMSELVES, HELPED BY THE GRACE OF GOD AND STRENGTHENED WITH THE SHIELD OF FAITH AND THE ARMS OF JUSTICE, OVERCOME THEIR ADVERSARIES AND CARRY OFF THE TROPHY OF GLORY FROM THEM —

when, the spiritual wickednesses and the sowers of errors being driven back (who were seducing them through divers vices), THEY CONVERT THEM TO THE LIGHT OF FAITH AND MAKE THEM PARTAKERS OF THE GRACE OF CHRIST.⁴²

«AND NO MAN DURST RESIST THEM» [Esth 9:2] — because THE DREAD OF THE DIVINE MAJESTY, which is declared in the Church by the flashing of miracles, mightily shakes the hearts of carnal men, and compels them to yield to the word of God. Whereof it is fittingly subjoined:

«For the judges of the provinces, and the governors and the stewards, and every dignity that was set over every place and work, EXTOLLED THE JEWS FOR FEAR OF MORDECAI — whom they knew to be the prince of the palace, and to have much power. And the fame of his name increased daily, and flew abroad through the mouths of all.» [Esth 9:3–4]

Because THE PRAISEWORTHY ACTION OF THE HOLY DOCTORS, AND THE POWER OF THEIR VIRTUES, BESTOWS GREAT HONOUR AND REVERENCE UPON THE MULTITUDE OF THE FAITHFUL.

Whence it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, where the first preachers of the Gospel are read to have given their labour to the doctrine of the word of God and to healing: "And they were persevering in the doctrine of the apostles, and in the communication of the breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul; many wonders also and signs were done by the apostles in Jerusalem, and there was great fear in all" [Acts 2:42–43].

And likewise: "By the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. But of the rest no man durst join himself unto them; but the people magnified them" [Acts 5:12–13].⁴³

«And so the Jews smote their enemies with a great slaughter, and killed them, REPAYING TO THEM WHAT THEY HAD PREPARED TO DO TO THEM — insomuch that even in Susa they killed five hundred men, BESIDES THE TEN SONS OF HAMAN THE AGAGITE, the enemy of the Jews.» [Esth 9:5–10]

What is it that the Jews, pursuing their enemies, are read to have slain five hundred men in Susa, EXCEPT THE TEN SONS OF HAMAN, WHOM THEY FASTENED UPON GIBBETS?

— unless that not only among the Gentiles are all the workers of iniquity, who persevere in their malice and will not do penance for their sins, nor take care to receive the remission of their offences through the grace of the Holy Spirit, seen to be detestable and worthy of damnation to the people of God;

BUT ALSO THE CARNAL JEWS THEMSELVES — TRANSGRESSORS, NAMELY, OF THE DECALOGUE OF THE MOSAIC LAW — WHO BY THEIR TREACHERY CONTRACTED UPON THEMSELVES, IN HIS PASSION, THE GUILT OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST, ARE JUSTLY COMPELLED TO BEAR THE TORMENT OF HELL;

nor does anyone of the number of the elect deign to communicate with their wickedness, or to imitate their unspeakable acts.

Whence it is deservedly subjoined, that the Jews, when they had slain their enemies, WOULD NOT TOUCH OR TAKE ANY OF THE SPOILS OF THEIR SUBSTANCE [Esth 9:10].

«And forthwith the number of them that were killed in Susa was reported to the king; who said to the queen: The Jews have slain five hundred men in the city of Susa, besides the ten sons of Haman. How many dost thou think they have slain in all the provinces? What askest thou more, and what wilt thou have me to command to be done?

«And she answered: If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews to do to-morrow in Susa as they have done to-day; AND THAT THE TEN SONS OF HAMAN MAY BE HANGED UPON GIBBETS. And the king commanded that it should be so done.» [Esth 9:11–14]

This intention of Queen Esther — by which she strove mightily to pursue and to root out her enemies — EXPRESSES THE ZEAL AND THE DILIGENCE OF THE TRUE QUEEN, THAT IS, OF HOLY CHURCH: who without ceasing pursues her own enemies, and contends to lay them utterly low and to subject them to herself.

In whose voice it is said by the Psalmist: "I will pursue after my enemies, and overtake them; and I will not turn again till they are consumed. I will break them, and they shall not be able to stand" [Ps 18:37–38].

She slew FIRST five hundred men in Susa, and THEN three hundred [Esth 9:15] —

because she shows to be worthy of everlasting death NOT ONLY those who will not do penance for their sins [the FIVE HUNDRED — they that are given over to the FIVE SENSES of the body], BUT ALSO THOSE WHO NEGLECT TO ADORN THE FAITH OF THE HOLY TRINITY WITH GOOD WORKS [the THREE HUNDRED].⁴⁴⁴⁵

«And in two days seventy-five thousand of their enemies were slain» [Esth 9:16] — whence it comes to pass that, as the Jews in TWO DAYS slew seventy-five thousand of their enemies, so BY THE INSTANCE AND ENDEAVOUR OF THE FAITHFUL all those enemies who, given over to THE FIVE SENSES OF THE BODY, savouring the law of God carnally, refuse to understand spiritually — by the SEVENFOLD grace of the Holy Spirit, full and perfect in spiritual doctrine — ARE TRULY OVERCOME AND LAID LOW BY THE CLARITY OF THE TWO TESTAMENTS.

Nor yet does any of them wish to touch anything of their substance — because the choosing of believers by no means consents to mingle itself with the wickedness of the lost; nay rather, in every way it renders itself alien and a stranger to their false dogmas and their wicked works.

Chapter 13 — That the days on which the Jews avenged themselves were reckoned among the solemn feasts

Of this: that those days on which the Jews avenged themselves were reckoned among the solemn days.

«Now the thirteenth day of the month Adar was the first day with them all of the slaughter, and on the fourteenth day they left off killing. WHICH THEY ORDAINED TO BE A HOLY DAY, so that therein they should always afterwards give themselves to feasts, to joy, and to banquets.

«But they that were in Susa, having been engaged in the slaughter on the thirteenth and fourteenth day of the same month, on the fifteenth day left off killing; and therefore they appointed THAT DAY to be a holy day of feasting and gladness.

«But those Jews that dwelt in the unwalled towns and villages appointed THE FOURTEENTH day of the month Adar for banquets and gladness, so that they rejoice therein, and send one another portions of their banquets and meats.» [Esth 9:17–19]

What is it that the Scripture relates that SOME of the Jews wrought the slaughter upon their enemies on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and on the fourteenth left off killing, and kept THIS as their solemn day; but that OTHERS, carrying on the slaying of their enemies for TWO days — that is, the thirteenth and the fourteenth of the said month — on the fifteenth day at last, abstaining from slaughter, solemnly rested?

— unless because SOME OF THE SAINTS, after the labours which they fulfilled in the service of God by right believing and good living, HAVE ALREADY, BEFORE THE TIME OF THE UNIVERSAL JUDGMENT, THE SABBATH-REST OF ETERNAL QUIET IN THEIR OWN HANDS;

BUT OTHERS, ENDURING IN THE FLESH EVEN UNTO THE LAST DAY OF THE RESURRECTION — all their enemies being thus overcome — ARE SUDDENLY CHANGED BY THE DIVINE POWER, and receive eternal rest and blessed immortality, as much in their souls as also in their bodies?

According to that saying of the Apostle, writing to the Corinthians: "Behold, I tell you a mystery: WE SHALL ALL INDEED RISE AGAIN, BUT WE SHALL NOT ALL BE CHANGED. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise again incorruptible, and WE SHALL BE CHANGED" [1 Cor 15:51–52].

And to the Thessalonians: "For this we say unto you in the word of the Lord, that we who are alive shall not go before them who have slept. For the Lord himself shall come down from heaven with commandment, and with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and THE DEAD WHO ARE IN CHRIST SHALL RISE FIRST. THEN WE WHO ARE ALIVE, WHO REMAIN, SHALL BE TAKEN UP TOGETHER WITH THEM IN THE CLOUDS TO MEET CHRIST, INTO THE AIR; AND SO SHALL WE BE ALWAYS WITH THE LORD" [1 Thess 4:15–17].⁴⁶

And the numbers themselves:

FOR THE FOURTEENTH NUMBER, WHICH CONTAINS SEVEN TWICE OVER, SIGNIFIES THE REST OF SOULS FROM EVERY LABOUR AND SOLICITUDE.

BUT THE FIFTEENTH, IN WHICH SEVEN AND EIGHT ARE CONTAINED TOGETHER, PREFIGURES THE FUTURE REST AND IMMORTALITY OF BOTH SOULS AND BODIES.

And so the multitude of the elect, after the labours of the present life are completed, and after the victory received over all their enemies, shall rejoice in the heavenly kingdom in eternal exultation and in mutual love. NOR SHALL THERE BE ANY END OF THIS JOY, because no sadness of labour shall thereafter succeed it.⁴⁷

«Mordecai therefore wrote all these things, and sent them comprised in letters to the Jews that abode in all the king's provinces, both those that lay near and those afar off — that they should receive THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH DAY of the month Adar for feasts, and every year celebrate them with solemn honour: BECAUSE ON THOSE DAYS THE JEWS REVENGED THEMSELVES OF THEIR ENEMIES, AND MOURNING AND SORROW WERE TURNED INTO MIRTH AND JOY [Esth 9:20–22]…

«…and that these should be days of feasting and gladness, and that they should send one to another portions of their banquets, and should give gifts to the poor.»

For always do all the faithful contend, by pious labour and good works and the bestowal of alms, that — according to what the evangelical and apostolic doctrine teaches — by FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY they may deserve to attain the entrance of eternal life; and may comfort, by consoling, both themselves and those obedient to them in the hardship of this present world:

so that, REJOICING IN HOPE, THEY MAY BE PATIENT IN TRIBULATIONS, MAY PRAY WITHOUT CEASING, MAY IN ALL THINGS GIVE THANKS [Rom 12:12; 1 Thess 5:17–18], and may commend their own contest to the faithful Lord with pious prayers, that by his help they may be rewarded with eternal blessedness.

The lot

«For HAMAN, the son of Hammedatha, of the race of Agag, the enemy and adversary of the Jews, devised evil against them, to kill them and destroy them; AND HE CAST PHUR, WHICH IN OUR TONGUE IS TURNED AS THE LOT.

«And afterwards Esther went in to the king, beseeching him that his endeavours might be made void by the king's letters, AND THAT THE EVIL WHICH HE HAD DEVISED AGAINST THE JEWS MIGHT RETURN UPON HIS OWN HEAD. And at length both he and his sons were fastened to a CROSS.

«And from that time these days were called PHURIM, that is, OF LOTS — because phur, that is, the LOT, WAS CAST INTO THE URN.» [Esth 9:24–26]

FOR OFTEN THE WICKED MAN'S OWN WISH COMES OUT OTHERWISE THAN HE HOPED IT WOULD FALL OUT FOR HIM; AND THE SNARE WHICH THEY SET TO DECEIVE OTHERS, THEY THEMSELVES ARE BOUND IN IT — as the Scripture shows, saying: "The wicked shall be taken in their own snares" [Prov 11:6]. And: "He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it" [Prov 26:27].

Whence also HAMAN, WHO PREFIGURES THE ENEMIES OF THE CHURCH, WAS COMPELLED HIMSELF TO BEAR THE DEATH WHICH HE HAD PREPARED FOR MORDECAI.

FOR THE LOT CAST INTO THE URN SIGNIFIES THE DISPOSING OF ANY MATTER WHATSOEVER IN THE MIND OF MAN — BUT ITS OUTCOME HANGS UPON THE DIVINE JUDGMENT.

Whence it is said by Solomon: "THE LOTS ARE CAST INTO THE LAP, BUT THEY ARE DISPOSED OF BY THE LORD" [Prov 16:33]. For the way of man is not in his own power [Jer 10:23]; nor is it of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy [Rom 9:16]. For all things obey at his nod, and he doeth whatsoever he will in heaven and in earth, in the sea and in all the deeps [Ps 135:6].⁴⁸

«The Jews took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all that had a mind to be joined to their religion, so that it should be lawful for none to pass these days without solemnity… These are the days which shall never be forgot; and which all provinces in the whole world shall celebrate throughout all generations. Neither is there any city wherein the days of PHURIM — that is, OF LOTS — are not observed by the Jews, and by their posterity, which is bound to these ceremonies.» [Esth 9:27–28]

THE DAYS OF LOTS, THEREFORE, IN WHICH GOD GIVES TO HIS TRUE CONFESSORS THE VICTORY OVER THEIR ENEMIES, ARE NEVER TO BE BLOTTED OUT BY ANY FORGETFULNESS, but are to be celebrated in the whole world through all generations — because THE MEMORY OF THE FUTURE REST OF SOULS AND OF THE RESURRECTION OF BODIES ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT MUST ALWAYS BE HELD, IN FIRM HOPE, AMONG ALL THE FAITHFUL.

Nor ought any of the Churches of Christ in the whole world to be without a share of this religion; but ever mindful of this most healthful rite, let her at all times prepare herself, and conform herself to the receiving of the good things to come — so that what she here celebrates in time, she may there possess perpetually, in faith and hope, in the very truth of the thing and in eternal blessedness.⁴⁹

And meanwhile, while we are in this pilgrimage, THE DILIGENCE OF THE DOCTORS AND THE INSTANCE OF THE CHURCH OUGHT TO WORK WITH US, IN DOCTRINE AND EXHORTATION, AFTER THE EXAMPLE OF ESTHER AND MORDECAI — that we may be always devoted to the celebrating and cultivating of this religion. Whereof it is subjoined:

«And Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote also A SECOND LETTER, that this day should be established with all diligence for the time to come. And they sent to all the Jews that were in the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of King Ahasuerus, THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE PEACE, AND RECEIVE THE TRUTH, observing the days of lots, and celebrating them with joy in their proper time: as Mordecai and Esther had appointed. And they received the things to be observed by themselves and by their seed — fastings, and cries, and the days of lots, and all things that are contained in the history of this book, which is called Esther.» [Esth 9:29–32]

FOR NECESSARY TO US IS THIS ADMONITION: THAT WE MAY ALWAYS HAVE IN OUR HEARTS CHRISTIAN PEACE, AND MAY RECEIVE THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL ITSELF — lest perchance, through discord and dissension, WE FALL INTO THE ERROR OF HERETICS, where there is no true salvation, but sure damnation and ruin.

Whence without doubt it is needful for all who acknowledge themselves regenerated in baptism, as sons to God the Father, out of the seed of the word of God, by the Church and by the ministry of the holy doctors:

• THAT THEY FAST PIOUSLY — that is, that they lead a pious life, chaste and continent;
• THAT THEY STIR UP THE CRIES OF THEIR PRAYERS AND OF THEIR DOCTRINES;
• AND THAT THEY CELEBRATE THE DAYS OF LOTS — THAT IS, OF THE VICTORY THAT IS TO COME — REVERENTLY AND WITH FIRM HOPE;
• AND THAT THEY OBSERVE, WITH SOUND FAITH AND GOOD WORKING, ALL THINGS THAT THE BOOK OF THE TWO TESTAMENTS CONTAINS.

Chapter 14 — King Ahasuerus makes all the isles tributary; where the history of Esther among the Hebrews has its end

That King Ahasuerus made all the islands tributary — WHERE THE HISTORY OF ESTHER AMONG THE HEBREWS HAS ITS END.⁵⁰

«But King Ahasuerus made all the land and all the islands of the sea tributary. And his strength and his empire, and the dignity and highness wherewith he exalted Mordecai, are written in the books of the Medes and Persians; and how Mordecai of the Jewish race was second after King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and acceptable to the people of his brethren — SEEKING THE GOOD OF HIS PEOPLE, AND SPEAKING THOSE THINGS WHICH WERE FOR THE PEACE OF HIS SEED.» [Esth 10:1–3]

What is it that it says King Ahasuerus made ALL THE LAND AND ALL THE ISLANDS OF THE SEA tributary — SINCE THAT HISTORICAL KING OF THE PERSIANS AND MEDES NEVER HAD ALL THE EARTH UNDER HIS DOMINION, NOR COULD HE MAKE ALL THE ISLANDS OF THE SEA TRIBUTARY, seeing that to the aforesaid islands and parts of the world not even the knowledge OF HIS NAME could reach?

BUT MORE TRULY DOES THIS SENTENCE EXPRESS OUR KING AND LORD CHRIST — WHOSE POWER IS IN HEAVEN, AND IN EARTH, AND IN THE SEA, AND IN ALL THE DEEPS:

WHO NAMED HIMSELF IN THE GOSPEL THE DOOR — BECAUSE THROUGH HIM WE HAVE THE ENTRANCE OF ETERNAL LIFE [John 10:9];

whom, according to the Psalmist's attestation: "all the round world of the kings of the earth shall adore. And all kings of the earth shall serve him; the kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents; the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts" [Ps 72:10–11].⁵¹

Of THIS King, therefore — his strength, and his empire, and his dignity, and his highness — how he exalted THE TRUE MORDECAI (that is, THE ASSEMBLY OF THE HOLY DOCTORS AND MASTERS OF THE CHURCH) before the Christian people: THE VOICES AND THE WRITINGS not of one nation of Judaea only, BUT OF ALL THE NATIONS, bear witness.

Who exalted his own elect from the beginning by the gift of his grace, and made them glorious and honourable in the sight of all peoples:

THESE SEEK THE GOOD OF THEIR PEOPLE, AND SPEAK THE THINGS THAT PERTAIN TO THE PEACE OF THEIR SEED — because, according to Isaiah's prophecy: "The watchmen of the Lord have lifted up their voice, and together shall they praise" [Isa 52:8]; whose "feet are beautiful, that preach peace, that preach good things" [Rom 10:15; Isa 52:7];

because they ever ask the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem [Ps 122:6]; and "their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring in the midst of peoples. ALL THAT SHALL SEE THEM SHALL KNOW THEM, THAT THESE ARE THE SEED WHICH THE LORD HATH BLESSED" [Isa 61:9].

END OF THE EXPOSITION ON THE BOOK OF ESTHER. 14 chapters.⁵²