Esther connects the festival's name with the pur, or lot, cast by Haman. Mordecai's letters establish annual remembrance on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar.
Customs & Culture
Purim and Public Celebration
Purim commemorates the deliverance of the Jews described in Esther and is marked by feasting, gladness, gifts of food, and generosity to the poor.
Primary Scripture
Historical and Cultural Background
Biblical Examples
The book of Esther itself explains the origin and observance of Purim.
Biblical Significance
Purim illustrates how a historical deliverance became embedded in communal memory through an annual festival not instituted in the Torah.
Common Misconceptions
Later Purim customs should be distinguished from the practices explicitly described in Esther.
Historical Setting and Evidence
Culture: Judean/Jewish, Persian
Period: Persian Period, Hellenistic Period, Hasmonean Period, Roman / Second Temple Period
Evidence: Well Attested
Interpretive Importance: Major
The biblical account directly attests the festival's establishment; later observance is extensively documented.
Scripture References
Related Information
Sources
Esther 9