John Gill Bible Commentary

Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting,.... Jarchi observes that those in the villages, who are they that do not dwell in walled towns, observed the fourteenth, and they in towns surrounded with walls the fifteenth, as Shushan; and this circumvallation, he says, must be what was from the days of Joshua; according to the Jewish canons, every place that was walled from the days of Joshua the son of Nun, whether in the land of Israel or out of it, though not now walled they read (i.e. the book of Esther) on the fifteenth of Adar, and this is called a walled town; but a place which was not walled in the days of Joshua, though now walled, they read in the fourteenth, and this is called a city; but the city Shushan, though it was not walled in the days of Joshua, they read on the fifteenth, because in it was done a miracle (m) and each of these was kept as a day of public rejoicing for their great deliverance and freedom from their enemies: and a good day: as the Jews usually call the several days of the passover, pentecost, and tabernacles: and of sending portions one to another: expressive of mutual joy, and congratulating one another upon the happiness they shared in; see Rev 11:10, and particularly this may respect sending gifts to the poor, who had not that to rejoice and make merry with others had; see Neh 8:10, though these seem to be distinct from them, Est 9:22. (m) Maimon. Hilchot. Megillah, c. 1. sect. 4. 5. T. Bab. Megillah, fol. 2. 2.