What Is Purim — Meaning Explained
Purim is the annual feast celebrating God's deliverance of the Jews from Haman's plot to destroy them, as recorded in the book of Esther.
Purim is the annual feast celebrating God's deliverance of the Jews from Haman's plot to destroy them, as recorded in the book of Esther.
"And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus... To establish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day." — Esther 9:20-22 (KJV)
What "What Is Purim?" Actually Means
Purim is named after the pur — the lot — that Haman cast to determine the day for destroying the Jews of Persia. When Queen Esther, herself a Jew, learned of the plot, she risked her life by approaching King Ahasuerus unbidden. Through her courage and Mordecai's wisdom, Haman was hanged on the very gallows he had prepared for Mordecai, and the Jews were granted the right to defend themselves. The thirteenth and fourteenth days of Adar became days of feasting and gladness. Esther 9 commands that Purim be observed 'throughout every generation' with gifts to the poor, feasting, and the reading of the book of Esther. Though not a biblical feast in the Levitical calendar, Purim is a powerful reminder that God sovereignly rules behind the scenes, raising up deliverers at the precise moment His people need them.
Anchor Verses (KJV)
Esther 9:20-22
"And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus... To establish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day."
Esther 4:14
"For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
Esther 9:28
"And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed."
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