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lon, both whose parents were dead, and she was brought up with her uncle Mordecai, for that was her uncle's name. This uncle was of the tribe of Benjamin, and was one of the principal persons among the Jews. Now it proved that this damsel, whose name was Esther, was the most beautiful of all the rest, and that the grace of her countenance drew the eyes of the spectators principally upon her: So she was committed to one of the eunuchs to take the care of her; and she was very exactly provided with sweet odours, in great plenty, and with costly ointments, such as her body required to be anointed with all; and this was used for six months by the virgins, who were in number four hundred. And when the eunuch thought the virgins had been sufficiently purified, in the fore-mentioned time, and were now fit to go to the king's bed, he sent one to be with the king every day. So when he had accompanied with her, he sent her back to the eunuch; and when Esther had come to him, he was pleased with her, and fell in love with the damsel, and married her, and made her his lawful wife, and kept a wedding feast for her on the twelfth month of the seventh year of his reign, which was called Adar. He also sent angari, as they are called, or messengers, unto every nation, and gave orders that they should keep a feast for his marriage, while he himself treated the Persians and the Medes, and the principal men of the nations, for a whole month, on account of this his marriage. Accordingly Esther came to his royal palace, and he set a diadem on her head: And thus was Esther married, without making known to the king what nation she was derived from. Her uncle also removed from Babylon to Shushan, and dwelt there, being every day about the palace, and enquiring how the damsel did, for he loved her as though she had been his own daugh

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3. Now the king had made * a law, that none of his own people should approach him unless he were called, when he sat upon his throne; and men, with axes in their hands, stood round about his throne, in order to punish such as approached to him without being called. However, the king sat with a golden sceptre in his hand, which he held out when he had a mind to save any one of those that approached to him without being called; and he who touched it was free from danger. But of this matter we have discoursed sufficiently.

*Herodotus says, that this law [against any one's coming uncalled to the kings of Persia when they were sitting on their thrones] was first enacted by Deioces, i. e. [by him who first withdrew the Medes from the dominion of the Assyrians, and himself first reigned over them.] Thus also, says Spanheim, stood guards, with their axes, about the throne of Tenus, or Tenudus, that the offender might by them be punished immediately.

4. Some time after this [two eunuchs] Bigthan and Teresh plotted against the king: and Barnabazus, the servant of one of the eunuchs, being by birth a Jew, was acquainted with their conspiracy, and discovered it to the queen's uncle; and Mordecai, by the means of Esther, made the conspirators known to the king. This troubled the king, but he discovered the truth, and banged the eunuchs upon a cross, while at that time he gave no reward to Mordecai, who had been the occasion of his preservation. He only bid the scribes to set down his name in the records, and bid him stay in the palace, as an intimate friend of the king's.

5. Now there was one Haman, the son of Amedatha, by birth an Amalekite, that used to go in to the king; and the foreigners and Persians worshipped him, as Artaxerxes had commanded that such honour should be paid to him; but Mordecai was so wise, and so observant of his own country's laws, that he would not worship the man. When Haman observed this, he enquired whence he came and when he understood that he was a Jew, he had indignation at him, and said within himself, That" whereas the Persians, who were "free men, worshipped him, this man, who was not better "than a slave, does not vouchsafe to do so.' And when he desired to punish Mordecai, he thought it too small a thing to request of the king that he alone might be punished; he rather determined to abolish the whole nation, for he was naturally an enemy to the Jews, because the nation of the Amalekites, of which he was, had been destroyed by them. Accordingly he came to the king, and accused them, saying, "There is a "certain wicked nation, and it is dispersed over all the habit"able earth that was under his dominion; a nation separate "from others, unsociable, neither admitting the same sort of "divine worship that others do, nor using laws like to the "laws of others; at enmity with thy people, and with all men, both in their manners and practices. Now if thou "wilt be a benefactor to thy subjects, thou wilt give order to "destroy them utterly, and not leave the least remains of them, nor preserve any of them either for slaves, or for "captives." But that the king might not be damnified by the loss of the tributes which the Jews paid him, Haman promis

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*Whether this adoration required of Mordecai to Haman were by him deemed too like the adoration due only to God, as Josephus seems here to think, as well as the Septuagint interpreters also, by their translation of Est. xiii. 12, 13, 14. or whether he thought he ought to pay no sort of adoration to an Amalekite, which nation had been such great sinners as to have been universally devoted to destruction by God himself, Exod. xvii. 14, 15, 16. 2 Sam. xv. 18. or whe ther both causes concurred, cannot now, I doubt, be entirely determined.

ed to give him out of his own estate forty thousand talents whensoever he pleased; and he said, he would pay this money very willingly, that the kingdom might be freed from such a misfortune.

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6. When Haman had made this petition, the king both forgave him the money, and granted him the men, to do what he would with them. So Haman, having gained what he desired, sent out immediately a decree, as from the king, to all nations, the contents whereof were these: " Artaxerxes the great king, to the rulers of the hundred twenty and seven "provinces, from India to Ethiopia, sends this writing: "Whereas I have governed many nations, and obtained the "dominion of all the habitable earth, according to my de"sire, and have not been obliged to do any thing that is in"solent or cruel to my subjects by such my power, but have "shewed myself mild and gentle, by taking care of their peace and good order, and have sought how they might "enjoy those blessings for all time to come: And whereas "I have been kindly informed by Haman, who, on account "of his prudence and justice, is the first in my esteem, and "in dignity, and only second to myself, for his fidelity and constant good-will to me, that there is an ill-natured nation intermixed with all mankind, that is averse to our laws, "and not subject to kings, and of a different conduct of life "from others, that hateth monarchy, and of a disposition that "is pernicious to our affairs, I give order that all these men, "of whom Haman, our second father, hath informed us, be "destroyed, with their wives and children, and that none of "them be spared, and that none prefer pity to them before "obedience to this decree. And this I will to be executed on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month of this present year, that so when all that have enmity to us are destroyed, " and this in one day, we may be allowed to lead the rest of our lives in peace hereafter." Now when this decree was brought to the cities, and to the country, all were ready for the destruction and entire abolishment of the Jews, against the day before-mentioned; and they were very hasty about it, at Shushan in particular. Accordingly the king and Haman spent their time in feasting together with good cheer and wine, but the city was in disorder.

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7. Now when Mordecai was informed of what was done, he rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth, and sprinkled ashes upon his head, and went about the city, crying out, That "a na"tion that had been injurious to no man, was to be destroyed." And he went on saying thus as far as to the king's palace, and there he stood, for it was not lawful for him to go into it in

that habit. The same thing was done by all the Jews that were in the several cities wherein this decree was published, with lamentation and mourning, on account of the calamities denounced against them. But as soon as certain persons had told the queen that Mordecai stood before the court in a mourning habit, she was disturbed at this report, and sent out such as should change his garments; but when he could not be induced to put off his sackcloth, because the sad occasion that forced him to put it on was not yet ceased, she called the eunuch Acratheus, for he was then present, and sent him to Mordecai, in order to know of him what sad accident had befallen him, for which he was in mourning, and would not put off the habit he had put on at her desire. Then did Mordecai inform the eunuch of the occasion of his mourning, and of the decree which was sent by the king into all the country, and of the promise of money whereby Haman bought the destruction of their nation. He also gave him a copy of what was proclaimed at Shushan, to be carried to Esther; and he charged her to petition the king about this matter, and not to think it a dishonourable thing in her to put on an humble habit, for the safety of her nation, wherein she might deprecate the ruin of the Jews, who were in danger of it; for that Haman, whose dignity was only inferior to that of the king's, had accused the Jews, and had irritated the king against them. When she was informed of this, she sent to Mordecai again, and told him that she was not called by the king, and that he who goes into him without being called, is to be slain, unless when he is willing to save any one, he holds out his golden sceptre to him; but that to whomsoever he does so, although he go in without being called, that person is so far from being slain, that he obtains pardon, and is entirely preserved. Now when the eunuch carried this message from Esther to Mordecai, he bade him also tell her that she must not only provide for her own preservation, but for the common preservation of her nation, for that if she now neglected this opportunity, there would certainly arise help to them from God some other way, but she and her father's house would be destroyed by those whom she now despised. But Esther sent the very same eunuch back to Mordecai [to desire him], to go to Shushan, and to gather the Jews that were there together to a congregation, and to fast, and abstain from all sorts of food on her account, and to let him know that] she with her maidens would do the same; and then she promised that she would go to the king, though it were against the law, and that if she must die for it, she would not refuse it.

8. Accordingly Mordecai did as Esther had enjoined him, and made the people fast; and he besought God, together with them, "Not to overlook his nation, particularly at this "time, when it was going to be destroyed, but that, as he

had often before provided for them, and forgiven when ❝ they had sinned, so he would now deliver them from that "destruction which was denounced against them; for al

though it was not all the nation that had offended, yet must "they so ingloriously be slain, and that he was himself the "occasion of the wrath of Haman, because, said he, I did "not worship him, nor could I endure to pay that honour to "him which I used to pay to thee, O Lord; for upon that "his anger hath he contrived this present mischief against "those that have not transgressed thy laws." The same supplications did the multitude put up; and entreated that God would provide for their deliverance, and free the Israelites that were in all the earth from this calamity which was now coming upon them, for they had it before their eyes, and expected its coming. Accordingly Esther made supplication to God after the manner of her country, by casting herself down upon the earth, and putting on her mourning garments, and bidding farewell to meat and drink, and all delicacies, for three days time; and she entreated God to have mercy upon her, and make her words appear persuasive to the king, and render her countenance more beautiful than it was before, that both by her words and beauty she might succeed, for the averting of the king's anger, in case he were at all irritated against her, and for the consolation of those of her own country, now they were in the utmost danger of perishing; as also that he would excite an hatred in the king against the enemies of the Jews, and those that had contrived their future destruction, if they proved to be contemned by him.

9. When Esther had used this supplication for three days, she put off those garments, and changed her habit, and adorned herself as became a queen, and took two of her hand-maids with her, the one of which supported her, as she gently leaned upon her, and the other followed after, and lifted up her large train (which swept along the ground,) with the extre mities of her fingers: And thus she came to the king, having a blushing redness in her countenance, with a pleasant agreeableness in her behaviour, yet did she go in to him with fear; and as soon as she was come over against him, as he was sitting on his throne, in his royal apparel, which was a garment interwoven with gold and precious stones, which made him. seem to her more terrible, especially when he looked at her somewhat severely, and with a countenance on fire with an

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