Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them.
Parallel translations
- WEB The Jews struck all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they wanted to those who hated them.
- BSB The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did as they pleased to those who hated them.
- NKJV Thus the Jews defeated all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, with slaughter and destruction, and did what they pleased with those who hated them.
- NASB So the Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying; and they did as they pleased to those who hated them.
- NLT So the Jews went ahead on the appointed day and struck down their enemies with the sword. They killed and annihilated their enemies and did as they pleased with those who hated them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Jews strike down their enemies with the sword, dealing with those who hated them as they chose. Their self-defense brings decisive victory.
Overview
Acting within the king's decree, the Jews overcome those who had sought their destruction. The summary statement marks the success of the deliverance granted to them. The verse records the defeat of the persecutors, the just outcome of the reversal God brought about for His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Jer 18:21Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.
- Ps 18:34–40He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
- Ps 18:47–48It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.
- Ps 149:6–9Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;
- Ps 20:7–8Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
- 2 Th 1:6Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
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Christ at the center
Though God is never named, his hidden hand preserves the people from whom the Messiah will come — a deliverance 'for such a time as this' that anticipates the open deliverance of Christ.
How Esther 9:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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