The festival of Purim is celebrated every year on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar and finds its roots in The Book of Esther.  It is the story of how the brave, brilliant, and beautiful Hadassah— renamed Esther— was instrumental in the thwarting of Haman’s genocidal plot to dispose and kill all the Jews in a single day.

The two-cent summary of the book:

King Ahasuerus of Persia (Xerxes I) was pissed off at Queen Vashti (who is a feminist badass) and had her killed. The king hosts a beauty pageant to find a new queen. Esther wins and becomes queen, but she has a secret: she is a Jewish, hence the name change (dun dun dun!!!!).

One of the nobles of the realm is an anti-Semitic prick named Haman. Haman gets a hard on for Mordechai, the leader of the Jews and Esther’s cousin, because Mordechai would not bow to Haman. Haman convinces the king to issue a decree to kill all the Jews on the 13th of Adar.

Mordechai comes up with a plan of salvation. Part one, he gets all the Jews to repent, fast, and pray to God. Part two, he convinces Esther (just barely) to speak up for her people. Esther barges into the king’s chamber, invites him and Haman to dinner, and through some fancy word play and manipulation, Esther reveals her Jewish identity and gets Haman killed and his kids killed. . To fill the power vacuum, Mordechai gets Haman’s job.

Sadly the king cannot take back his previous order to kill the Jews, however he passes a new decree saying that the Jews have the right to defend themselves against their enemies with the backing of the state (read: attack the Jews at your own peril). On the 13th of Adar, the Jews kicked butt and took names. On the 14th of Adar they rested and partied.

During the feast of Purim the community reads the Book of Esther, brings food and gifts to friends and those in need,and of course eats! At the celebration people often dress up in costumes as an homage to the disguise of Esther's identity. But they also boo, hiss, or jeer whenever Haman's name is read aloud.  These are activities some would reserve for children, but by no means is this limitation a necessity.

Especially as Haman's end was anything but appropriate for child consumption.

In regards to Haman's death, both the Ye Olde King James Version (KJV) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) render the beginning of the verse the same:

“So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai.”

For years this image of the text has dominated Christian flannel graph and children’s books whenever it is brought up. (Or maybe that was just our screwed up churches. At least they didn’t sugarcoat the Bible for us. If you’re going to refer to a horrible death, for some reason hanging is the way to go in colorful pastels).

However consider the NIV’s take on the text:

“So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai.”

(and to be fair, the NRSV contains a note that it should be rendered “on a tree” by “impalement”)

Clearly, hanging by the neck until dead, and having a sharpened, wide-perimeter stick shoveled up your anal cavity are two completely different ways of dying.  So from whence comes the discrepancy?

 As usual let’s turn to the Hebrew to examine the two words in dispute.

Gallows (KJV) / Pole (NIV)

The Hebrew word is עֵץ ’ets and it is the most often translated in the Bible as “tree,” “piece of wood,” or “pole.” The only examples of the word being translated as “gallows” appear in The Book of Esther and only in translations which have that image predetermined in the mind of the translators.

Hanged (KJV) / Impaled (NIV)

The Hebrew word תָּלָה talah is used here and is the source of complexity in interpreting the image of death.

The word translates most often in the Bible to mean “suspend” or “hang,” and there are numerous examples of people “hung” on ’ets throughout the OT (c.f. Gen 40:19, Deut 21:22, Josh 8:29, Josh 10:20, 1 Sam 31:10, and 2 Sam 21:12).

Scholars much more learned than us have spent a lifetime arguing what to make of these passages. The main reason is because there have been lengthy discussions about whether it is significant that some of the verses above are describing the postmortem states of a body, as opposed to the form of death meted out. In other words, the people were killed and then their bodies were either "hung" or "impaled" on an 'ets, rather than the hanging/impaling being the cause of death. Despite this, there is wide agreement that the concept of hanging with rope from the neck until dead (our modern concept of “hanging”) is not supported in the language or historically. Thus, “hung on a tree/stake” would be more accurate.

So where does all of this impaling talk come from? History.

The historical record is clear on this account:

rulers in the Ancient Near East liked to shove things up people’s butts when they were mad.

Okay, that might be a bit exaggerated, but not really. But documents and artwork show that the Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, and possibly the Hebrews all practiced impalement as a form of death sentence and/or a postmortem display (Later the Romans would adjust the methodology and crucifixion as we know it today came into vogue). The Persians also dabbled in anal entry executions: the ancient historian Herodotus records that after the Persian siege of Babylon ended, Darius impaled 3000 of the leading citizens, but was kind enough to let the rest of the people go free.

And it is within the Persian court of Xerxes I, the successor to Darius, that the story of Esther takes place. It is not likely that the vision of thousands of impaled bodies had slipped from Haman's memory when thinking of ways to kill the Jews.

Years ago a Jewish friend of ours described "all Jewish holidays" [her words] as "they tried to kill us. We survived. Let's party!" This sentiment is clearly shared by this song writer, as well as this one.

This idea is profound, not only for our Jewish brothers and sisters, but for all who claim the Hebrew Bible as part of their spiritual heritage (even if you call it the "Old Testament" without understanding how the two texts are different).

The Biblical narrative of Jews and Christians alike, the witness of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, is one of salvation.

Whether beautifully encapsulated in the "Song of Miriam" or the "Song of Mary," the story is the same: God is the mighty One who rescues (c.f. Judges 2:18, Psalm 18:2, Romans 1:16, 2 Timothy 4:18). A divine warrior on the battlefield (c.f. Exodus 15, Habakkuk 3, Deuteronomy. 33). A shepherd to lost sheep (Psalm 23, John 10:11). A family member ready to risk it all for the beloved (Hebrews 2:11).

No matter the situation, in Exodus or Exile, facing dysfunctional families or personal failures, wrestling with a disquiet in soul or spirit, the God of the Bible, the God of Purim calls us all to sing:

They tired to kill us. We're still here. Let's eat!

But what do we know: we made this game and you probably think we're going to Hell (Though we worship a God who can rescue us from that too).

HAPPY PURIM!