NOTES for Est 9:1-14
In the preceding chapters, we witnessed the Jews’ miraculous deliverance from the hands of their enemies as circumstances unfolded in astonishing and unexpected ways. But in the book’s final chapter, harsh historical reality comes to the fore. Those who have just been delivered now defend their right to exist with weapons in their hands and themselves become the destroyers of many, many people. The picture painted by the author of Esther is unattractive; even the fact that the book was written in the genre of a parable does not diminish this impression. We see at once how greatly the Old Covenant differs from the New. To a person of the Old Testament, what is happening is natural and comprehensible: if there is to be victory, it must necessarily be achieved through armed violence. And when we look at ourselves, it becomes clear how little modern humanity has advanced beyond the Old Testament way of life.