PURIM pŏŏr’ ĭm, pyŏŏr’ ĭm (פּוּרִ֣ים, Heb. pl. of פּוּר֮, H7052; LXX Φρουραί). The Jewish festival observed on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar, the last month in the Heb. calendar, answering to February-March. Although the festival is not prescribed in the law of Moses or elsewhere in the OT, its origin is fully recorded in the Book of Esther (3:7; 9:24ff.). It is mentioned in the apocryphal books (Add. Esth. 10:10-13; 2 Macc. 15:36) and in Josephus (Jos. Antiq. XI. vi. 13).

The history of the festival is as follows. Haman the Agagite (1 Sam 15:8, 32) was the prime minister of King Xerxes of Persia, and an inveterate enemy of the Jews. After the deposition of Queen Vashti (Esth 1:9-12) Esther, adopted daughter of Mordecai, became queen. Haman plotted the annihilation of all the Jews of the realm. Superstitious as he was, he cast lots for the best time for the execution of his plan (3:7). The lot fell on the thirteenth day of Adar (3:12ff.). Through Mordecai’s loyalty to the king whereby he foiled a plot to assassinate the king, his wisdom in behalf of his people, Esther’s courage, and the fasting and prayers of the Jews, the diabolical scheme was frustrated, Israel was saved, and Haman with his ten sons was hanged on the gallows prepared for Mordecai. A new decree of Xerxes permitted the Jews to defend themselves against their enemies on the day they were to be destroyed. In the royal city of Shushan, another day—the fourteenth—was given the Jews to avenge themselves on their adversaries (9:11-16). Because of the deliverance, Mordecai urged the Jews to keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar as a memorial (9:20-22).

In Maccabean times (2 Macc 15:36) the feast was called “Mordecai’s day.” Josephus claimed that in his time all the Jews of the world kept the festival (Jos. Antiq. XI. vi. 13): “For this cause the Jews still keep the aforementioned days, and call them days of Purim.” The Talmud told those celebrating the feast to drink until they could no longer distinguish between “Cursed be Haman” and “Blessed be Mordecai.”

It has been suggested that the feast mentioned in John 5:1 was the Feast of Purim. This is opposed to the Jewish custom of celebrating Purim anywhere in the land; thus there was no need to go up to Jerusalem. Only at the time of the three pilgrimage feasts (Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles) was it obligatory on the Israelite to appear in Jerusalem (Deut 16:16).

Purim always has been popular among the Jews. On the thirteenth of Adar a fast is observed, called the Fast of Esther. That evening, the synagogue is frequented where after the evening service the Book of Esther is read. When the name of Haman is read, the congregation says in unison, “Let his name be blotted out.” The young add their part with noisemakers and Purim rattles. The public reader recites the names of Haman’s sons in one breath to convey the idea that they were hanged together. The next morning (the fourteenth of Adar) the congregation assembles again in the synagogue to conclude the formal religious exercises. The rest of the day is devoted to mirth and rejoicing. Large numbers of hymns have been composed for public service, also plays, dramas, and recitations. The theme of the festival has been rehearsed many times in the centuries of persecution in ancient and modern times. A prominent feature of the feast is sending food and gifts to the poor (Esth 9:19). Thus the observance of Purim through the centuries argues strongly for the historicity of the events recorded in the Book of Esther.

However, there have been and still are those who cast doubt on the reliability of the events recorded. It has been argued that the book is not historical and does not have even a historical kernel underlying the account (A Standard Bible Dictionary, 230, 231). J. C. Rylaarsdam (IDB, III, 968, 969) maintains that the ultimate sources of the account are not Jewish at all. It is rather a case where, in the flush of the Maccabean triumphs of the 2nd cent. b.c., the Jews revamped the drama into history. He feels that the names in the record point to a mythological legend about the victory of certain Babylonian deities. Attempts have been made by those who reject the historicity of the Book of Esther to find the origin of the Feast of Purim in a Maccabean, Persian, Parthian, Zoroastrian, Hellenic, or Babylonian source. They are mutually negating and lack conviction (HDB, IV, 174, 175). See Pur.

Bibliography H. Schauss, The Jewish Festivals (1938), 237-271; B. M. Edidin, Jewish Holidays and Festivals (1940), 117-130; J. H. Greenstone, Jewish Feasts and Fasts (1946); The Jewish People Past and Present, II (1948), 277-279; Jew Enc. X, 274-279.