It was on the first day of the month of Nisan that Haman had cast the lot (Esther 3:7). A mere twelve days later, on the thirteenth day of the month, he put his plans into action. The date is significant, because on the very next day, the fourteenth of Nisan, the Jews would begin their Passover celebrations (Exodus 12:6; Leviticus 23:5). They would remember God’s mighty deeds when he had rescued them out of Egypt. Would this year’s celebrations be their last?
This time, it seemed that there was no way of escape for the Jews. The decree was sent to all the rulers in Persia, from the satraps (who each ruled over a large area of the empire) to the local nobles. It was also sent to the province of Judah, where people such as Nehemiah, Ezra, and Malachi might have lived at the time. All the letters carried the unmistakable signature of the king. The decree was irrevocable (see Esther 8:8).
12 Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king’s satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring.