Ester 1:17

1:17 For the matter concerning the queen will spread to all the women, leading them to treat their husbands with contempt, saying, ‘When King Ahasuerus gave orders to bring Queen Vashti into his presence, she would not come.’

Ester 3:2

3:2 As a result, ¹  all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate were bowing and paying homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded. However, Mordecai did not bow, ²  nor did he pay him homage.

Ester 3:4

3:4 And after they had spoken to him day after day ³  without his paying any attention to them, they informed Haman to see whether this attitude on Mordecai’s part would be permitted. ⁴  Furthermore, he had disclosed to them that he was a Jew. ⁵ 

Ester 4:5

4:5 So Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been placed at her service, ⁶  and instructed him to find out the cause and reason for Mordecai’s behavior. ⁷ 

Ester 4:7

4:7 Then Mordecai related to him everything that had happened to him, even the specific amount of money that Haman had offered to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews to be destroyed.

Ester 7:3

7:3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have met with your approval, ⁸  O king, and if the king is so inclined, grant me my life as my request, and my people as my petition.

[3:2]  ¹ tn Heb “and” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). Other modern English versions leave the conjunction untranslated here (NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

[3:2]  ² sn Mordecai did not bow. The reason for Mordecai’s refusal to bow before Haman is not clearly stated here. Certainly the Jews did not refuse to bow as a matter of principle, as though such an action somehow violated the second command of the Decalogue. Many biblical texts bear witness to their practice of falling prostrate before people of power and influence (e.g., 1 Sam 24:8; 2 Sam 14:4; 1 Kgs 1:16). Perhaps the issue here was that Haman was a descendant of the Amalekites, a people who had attacked Israel in an earlier age (see Exod 17:8-16; 1 Sam 15:17-20; Deut 25:17-19).

[3:4]  ³ sn Mordecai’s position in the service of the king brought him into regular contact with these royal officials. Because of this association the officials would have found ample opportunity to complain of Mordecai’s refusal to honor Haman by bowing down before him.

[3:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “Will the matters of Mordecai stand?”; NASB “to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand.”

[3:4]  ⁵ sn This disclosure of Jewish identity is a reversal of the practice mentioned in 1:10, 20.

[4:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “whom he caused to stand before her”; NASB “whom the king had appointed to attend her.”

[4:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “concerning Mordecai, to know what this was, and why this was.”

[7:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “If I have found grace in your eyes” (so also in 8:5); TEV “If it please Your Majesty.”