PURIM (InIZ), the annual festival instituted by Mordecai, at the suggestion of Esther, to com memorate the wonderful deliverance of the Jews from the destruction with which they were threat. ened through the designs of Haman.
1. Name of the Festival and its Sistzi fieation. — The name (singular "In), which is derived from the Persian pare, cognate with pars, part, and which is explained in Esther (iii. 7 ; ix. 24) by the Hebrew 5fl1, lot, has been given to this fes tival because it records the casting of lots by Haman to ascertain when he should carry into effect the decree which the king issued for the extermination of the Jews (Esther ix. 24). The name which, as Schleusner (Lex. in LXX., s. v. and others rightly maintain, is a cor ruption of ‘Dot,pal, is the Greek pronunciation of the Hebrew term. In 2 Maccab. xv. 36, this festival is denominated MapSoxaFrciii)p,epa.
2. The mariner irz which it was and still is that the Bible tells us about it is that Mordecai ordered the i4th and 15th of Adar to be kept annually by the Jews, both nigh and afar, that these two days are to be made days of feasting and of joy as well as of interchange of presents and of sending gifts to the poor, and that the Jews agreed to continue to observe this festival every year in the same manner as they had begun it (Esther ix. 17-24). No further directions are given about its observance, and the Bible here, as else where, left the rites and ceremonies to develope themselves with the circumstances of the nation. The following is the mode in which this festival is kept at the present day. The day preceding the festival—i.e., the 13th of Adar—is kept as a fast day, and is called the Fast of Esther, nrIDN n+:3m, in accordance with the command of this Jewish queen (Esther iv. 5, 6) ; and sundry prayers expressive of repentance, humiliation, etc. (-11rp$D), are intro duced into the regular ritual for the day. As on all the fast days, Exod. xxxii. 11-14 ; xxxiv. 1, is read as the lesson from the Law, and Is. lv. 6 lvi. 9, as the Haphtara. If the r3th of Adar falls on a Sabbath, the fast takes place on the Thursday previous, as no fasting is allowed on this sacred day, nor on the preparation-day for the Sabbath. Some people fast three days, as Esther enjoined it at first. On the evening of this fast day—i.e. the 13th of Adar—the festival commences, when all the Israelites resort to the synagogue, and after the evening service the Book of Esther, called Kar" koxilv, the Megzila (rim, the Roll), is read by the prielector. Before commencing to read it he pro nounces the following benediction : 'Blessed art thou, 0 Lord our God, king of the universe, who hast sanctified us with thy commandments, and hast enjoined us to read the Megilla ! Blessed art thou, 0 Lord our God, king of the universe, who bast wrought miracles for our forefathers in those days. and at this time. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord Our God, king of the universe, who bast preserved us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season ! The Megilla is then read. As often as the reader pronounces the name of Haman, the congregation stamp on the floor, saying, Let his name be blotted out. The name of the wicked
shall rot !' whilst the children spring rattles. The passage in which the names of Haman and his sons occur (ix. 7-9) is read very rapidly, and if pos sible in one breath, to signify that they were all hung at the same time, the congregation stamping and rattling all the time. It is for this reason that this passage is written in the MSS. in larger let ters than the rest, and that the names are arranged under one another. After the Megilla is read through, the is pronounced by the reader, Blessed art thou, 0 Lord our God, king of the universe, who bast contended our con test, judged our cause, bast avenged our wrongs, requited all the enemies of our souls, and hast de livered us from our oppressors. Blessed art thou who bast delivered thy people from all their op pressors, thou Lord of salvation !' In the morning of the 14th of Adar the Jews again resort to the synagogue, insert several ap pointed prayers into the ordinary daily ritual ; Exod. xvii. 8-16 is read as the lesson from the Law, and the Megilla or the Book of Esther as the Haph tara, under the same circumstances as those of the previous evening. The rest of the festival is spent in great rejoicings, presents are sent backwards and forwards amongst friends and relations, and gifts are liberally forwarded to the poor.
From the canons which obtained in the time of Christ, we learn that the Megilla had to be written in Hebrew characters, on good parchment, and with ink (illishna, Megilla, ii. 2); that if the 14th of Adar fell on a Tuesday or Wednesday, the in habitants of villages read the Megilla on the Mon day in advance, or a Thursday, because the country people came to town to attend the markets and the synagogues in which the law was read and tribunals held (Afegilla, i. 1-3) ; that any one was qualified to read it except deaf people, fools, and minors (Ibid., ii. 4), and that it was lawful to read it in a foreign language to those who under stood foreign languages (Ibid ii. r). But though the Mishna allows it to be read in other languages, yet the Megilla is generally read in Hebrew, and Mr. S. Clark, the writer of the article PURIM in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, is certainly wrong when he says that the reader makes comments on particular passages,' as any one may convince him self by going to the synagogue on this festival. The rejoicings continue on the 15th, and the festival terminates on the evening of this day. During the whole of the festival the Jews may engage in trade, or any labour, if they are so inclined, as there is no prohibition against it. So popular was this festival in the days of Christ, that Josephus tells us, that even now, all the Jews that are in the habitable earth keep these days festivals, and send portions to one another' (Antiq. xi. 6. 13), and certainly its popularity has not diminished in the present day. For the much-disputed question whether gOpril T4111 qouSalcup in John v. I means the feast of Purim, we must refer to the commentaries on St. John's Gospel.—C. D. G.