What is the Feast of Purim?

Understanding Esther 9:28

Purim is the most festive and joyous holiday in the Jewish calendar — a celebration of national deliverance from genocide, rooted in the dramatic events of the book of Esther. The feast commemorates how Queen Esther and her cousin Mordecai thwarted Haman's plot to annihilate the Jewish people throughout the Persian Empire in the 5th century BC. It is a story of providence, courage, reversal, and the survival of God's people against impossible odds.

The Story Behind the Feast

The book of Esther tells the story in dramatic detail:

The setting. King Ahasuerus (usually identified with Xerxes I, reigned 486-465 BC) ruled the Persian Empire from his capital at Susa. His empire stretched from India to Ethiopia — 127 provinces encompassing millions of people, including a large Jewish diaspora community descended from those exiled by Babylon.

Esther becomes queen. When Queen Vashti was deposed for refusing to appear at the king's banquet (Esther 1), a search for a new queen brought Esther — a young Jewish woman raised by her cousin Mordecai — into the royal palace. She found favor with the king and was crowned queen. Critically, she concealed her Jewish identity on Mordecai's instructions (2:10).

Haman's plot. Haman the Agagite was promoted to the highest position in the Persian court. When Mordecai refused to bow to him (3:2) — likely because Haman was an Agagite, a descendant of the Amalekite king Agag, Israel's ancient enemy — Haman was enraged. But killing Mordecai alone was not enough: 'Having learned who Mordecai's people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai's people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus' (3:6).

Haman cast pur (lots) to determine the most auspicious date for the massacre. The lot fell on the 13th of Adar (3:7) — nearly a year away, which providentially gave time for the plot to be overturned. He then persuaded the king to issue a decree authorizing the destruction of all Jews in the empire: 'There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king's laws; it is not in the king's best interest to tolerate them' (3:8).

The decree was issued. Letters were sent throughout the empire authorizing the killing of all Jews — men, women, and children — on the 13th of Adar and the plundering of their property (3:13). It was an ancient decree of genocide.

Esther's intervention. Mordecai sent word to Esther, urging her to intercede with the king. Esther's response revealed the danger: anyone who approached the king without being summoned faced death, and she had not been called for thirty days (4:11). Mordecai's reply is the theological center of the book: 'Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?' (4:13-14).

Esther's decision was heroic: 'I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish' (4:16). She asked all Jews in Susa to fast for three days before her approach.

The great reversal. Through a series of events that read like a masterfully plotted thriller — Esther's two banquets, the king's sleepless night when he happened to read the chronicle recording Mordecai's service, the humiliation of Haman forced to honor Mordecai publicly — the plot was completely reversed.

Esther revealed her identity and Haman's plot to the king: 'If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life — this is my petition. And spare my people — this is my request. For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated' (7:3-4). The king was furious. Haman was hanged on the very gallows he had built for Mordecai (7:10).

Because Persian law did not allow a royal decree to be revoked, the king issued a new decree allowing the Jews to defend themselves (8:11). On the 13th of Adar, instead of being slaughtered, the Jews fought back and defeated their enemies (9:1-16). The celebration on the 14th and 15th of Adar became the feast of Purim.

The Name: Purim

The feast is named for the pur (lot) that Haman cast: 'Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word Pur' (Esther 9:26). The name is deeply ironic. Haman cast lots to determine the day of Jewish destruction; that very mechanism of chance became the name for the feast celebrating Jewish survival. What was meant as a tool of fate became a monument to providence.

How Purim Is Observed

The book of Esther prescribes specific observances, which have been elaborated over centuries of Jewish tradition:

Reading the Megillah (Esther scroll). The entire book of Esther is read aloud in synagogue on the evening and morning of Purim. This is the only occasion when the congregation actively interrupts Scripture reading — whenever Haman's name is read, the audience boos, stamps their feet, and shakes noisemakers (groggers/ra'ashanim) to drown out his name. This tradition expresses the joy of his defeat and the desire to 'blot out the memory of Amalek' (Deuteronomy 25:19).

Feasting and rejoicing. 'Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews... to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy' (9:20-22). Purim is a day of celebration — elaborate meals, wine, laughter, and gratitude.

Sending food gifts (mishloach manot). Jews send gifts of food to friends and neighbors: 'sending presents of food to one another' (9:22). This strengthens community bonds and ensures that everyone — including the poor — has provisions for the feast.

Gifts to the poor (matanot la'evyonim). 'And giving gifts to the poor' (9:22). Charity is a required element of the celebration. The rabbis taught that giving to the poor on Purim is even more important than the feast itself.

Costumes and plays. Jewish tradition developed the custom of wearing costumes and performing comedic plays (Purim spiels) that retell the Esther story. This tradition may reflect the theme of hiddenness and revelation in the book — Esther hiding her identity, God hiding behind events, and the truth eventually being unmasked.

Purim in Christian Theology

The hiddenness of God. The book of Esther is famous for never mentioning God by name — the only biblical book with this distinction. Yet God's providence saturates every scene: the timing of events, the 'coincidences' that save the Jews, Mordecai's words about deliverance arising 'from another place.' Purim celebrates a God who works behind the scenes, through ordinary events and human decisions, without spectacular miracles. This is how God most often operates in believers' lives — invisibly, but unmistakably.

The survival of God's people. Haman's plot was not merely political — it was an attempt to destroy the people through whom the Messiah would come. If Haman had succeeded, the line of David would have been wiped out and the promises of God voided. Purim celebrates the preservation of the messianic line. Every Christmas nativity scene exists because Esther said 'if I perish, I perish' and walked into the throne room.

Reversal as a divine pattern. The book of Esther is structured around dramatic reversals: Haman honored then hanged, Mordecai threatened then exalted, Jews condemned then victorious. This reversal pattern runs throughout Scripture — Joseph sold into slavery then ruling Egypt, Israel enslaved then freed, Jesus crucified then risen. God specializes in turning human evil into divine triumph. 'You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good' (Genesis 50:20).

Courage in crisis. Esther's decision to risk her life models the courage required of God's people in every generation. She did not know the outcome. She had no guarantee of safety. She acted in faith — and her courage saved a nation. 'For such a time as this' has become one of the most quoted phrases in Scripture, a reminder that God places people in positions of influence for purposes they may not understand until the critical moment arrives.

The date of Purim. Purim falls on the 14th of Adar in the Jewish calendar (typically February or March in the Gregorian calendar). In walled cities like Jerusalem, it is celebrated on the 15th of Adar (called Shushan Purim, after the walled city of Susa). Because the Jewish calendar is lunar, the date shifts each year relative to the solar calendar.

Purim remains one of the most beloved Jewish holidays — a day of unrestrained joy, generosity, community, and gratitude for the God who works in hidden ways to preserve His people against the forces that seek their destruction.