Ester 1:21

1:21 The matter seemed appropriate to the king and the officials. So the king acted on the advice of Memucan.

Ester 9:20

9:20 Mordecai wrote these matters down and sent letters to all the Jews who were throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,

Ester 2:2

2:2 The king’s servants who attended him said, “Let a search be conducted in the king’s behalf for attractive young women. ¹ 

Ester 2:4

2:4 Let the young woman whom the king finds most attractive ²  become queen in place of Vashti.” This seemed like a good idea to the king, ³  so he acted accordingly.

Ester 2:9

2:9 This young woman pleased him, ⁴  and she found favor with him. He quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her rations; he also provided her with the seven specially chosen ⁵  young women who were from the palace. He then transferred her and her young women to the best quarters in the harem. ⁶ 

Ester 8:5

8:5 She said, “If the king is so inclined and if I have met with his approval and if the matter is agreeable to the king and if I am attractive to him, let an edict be written rescinding those recorded intentions of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, ⁷  which he wrote in order to destroy the Jews who are throughout all the king’s provinces.

Ester 1:19

1:19 If the king is so inclined, ⁸  let a royal edict go forth from him, and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media that cannot be repealed, ⁹  that Vashti ¹⁰  may not come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king convey her royalty to another ¹¹  who is more deserving than she. ¹² 

Ester 5:14

5:14 Haman’s ¹³  wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows seventy-five feet ¹⁴  high built, and in the morning tell the king that Mordecai should be hanged on it. Then go with the king to the banquet contented.” ¹⁵ 

It seemed like a good idea to Haman, so he had the gallows built.

Ester 8:8

8:8 Now you write in the king’s name whatever in your opinion is appropriate concerning the Jews and seal it with the king’s signet ring. Any decree that is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be rescinded.

Ester 3:8

3:8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a particular people ¹⁶  that is dispersed and spread among the inhabitants ¹⁷  throughout all the provinces of your kingdom whose laws differ from those of all other peoples. Furthermore, they do not observe the king’s laws. It is not appropriate for the king to provide a haven for them. ¹⁸ 

Ester 3:11

3:11 The king replied to Haman, “Keep your money, ¹⁹  and do with those people whatever you wish.” ²⁰ 

Ester 8:12

8:12 This was to take place on a certain day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus – namely, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar).

Ester 1:20

1:20 And let the king’s decision which he will enact be disseminated ²¹  throughout all his kingdom, vast though it is. ²²  Then all the women will give honor to their husbands, from the most prominent to the lowly.”

Ester 3:9

3:9 If the king is so inclined, ²³  let an edict be issued ²⁴  to destroy them. I will pay ten thousand talents of silver ²⁵  to be conveyed to the king’s treasuries for the officials who carry out this business.”

Ester 4:16

4:16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I ²⁶  will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. ²⁷  If I perish, I perish!”

Ester 7:3

7:3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have met with your approval, ²⁸  O king, and if the king is so inclined, grant me my life as my request, and my people as my petition.

Ester 4:11

4:11 “All the servants of the king and the people of the king’s provinces know that there is only one law applicable ²⁹  to any man or woman who comes uninvited to the king in the inner court – that person will be put to death, unless the king extends to him the gold scepter, permitting him to be spared. ³⁰  Now I have not been invited to come to the king for some thirty days!”

Ester 1:5

1:5 When those days ³¹  were completed, the king then provided a seven-day ³²  banquet for all the people who were present ³³  in Susa the citadel, for those of highest standing to the most lowly. ³⁴  It was held in the court located in the garden of the royal palace.

Ester 5:4

5:4 Esther replied, “If the king is so inclined, ³⁵  let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

Ester 7:4

7:4 For we have been sold ³⁶  – both I and my people – to destruction and to slaughter and to annihilation! If we had simply been sold as male and female slaves, I would have remained silent, for such distress would not have been sufficient for troubling the king.”

Ester 8:17

8:17 Throughout every province and throughout every city where the king’s edict and his law arrived, the Jews experienced happiness and joy, banquets and holidays. Many of the resident peoples ³⁷  pretended ³⁸  to be Jews, because the fear of the Jews had overcome them. ³⁹ 

Ester 9:13

9:13 Esther replied, “If the king is so inclined, let the Jews who are in Susa be permitted to act tomorrow also according to today’s law, and let them hang the ten sons of Haman on the gallows.”

Ester 9:18

The Origins of the Feast of Purim

9:18 But the Jews who were in Susa assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth days, and rested on the fifteenth, making it a day for banqueting and happiness.

Ester 10:3

10:3 Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus. He was the highest-ranking ⁴⁰  Jew, and he was admired by his numerous relatives. ⁴¹  He worked enthusiastically ⁴²  for the good of his people and was an advocate for the welfare of ⁴³  all his descendants. ⁴⁴ 

Ester 3:13

3:13 Letters were sent by the runners to all the king’s provinces stating that ⁴⁵  they should destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, from youth to elderly, both women and children, ⁴⁶  on a particular day, namely the thirteenth day ⁴⁷  of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar), and to loot and plunder their possessions.

Ester 5:8

5:8 If I have found favor in the king’s sight and if the king is inclined ⁴⁸  to grant my request and perform my petition, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet that I will prepare for them. At that time ⁴⁹  I will do as the king wishes. ⁵⁰ 

Ester 3:12

3:12 So the royal scribes ⁵¹  were summoned in the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month. Everything Haman commanded was written to the king’s satraps ⁵²  and governors who were in every province and to the officials of every people, province by province according to its script and people by people according to its language. In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written and sealed with the king’s signet ring.

Ester 2:7

2:7 Now he was acting as the guardian ⁵³  of Hadassah ⁵⁴  (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, for neither her father nor her mother was alive. ⁵⁵  This young woman was very attractive and had a beautiful figure. ⁵⁶  When her father and mother died, Mordecai had raised her ⁵⁷  as if she were his own daughter.

Ester 3:7

3:7 In the first month (that is, the month of Nisan), in the twelfth year ⁵⁸  of King Ahasuerus’ reign, pur ⁵⁹  (that is, the lot) was cast before Haman in order to determine a day and a month. ⁶⁰  It turned out to be the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar). ⁶¹ 

Ester 6:10

6:10 The king then said to Haman, “Go quickly! Take the clothing and the horse, just as you have described, and do as you just indicated to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Don’t neglect ⁶²  a single thing of all that you have said.”

Ester 9:19

9:19 This is why the Jews who are in the rural country – those who live in rural cities – set aside the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a holiday for happiness, banqueting, holiday, and sending gifts to one another.

Ester 9:22

9:22 as the time when the Jews gave themselves rest from their enemies – the month when their trouble was turned to happiness and their mourning to a holiday. These were to be days of banqueting, happiness, sending gifts to one another, and providing for the poor.

[2:2]  ¹ tn Heb “young women, virgins, good of form.” The same phrase also occurs in v. 3.

[2:4]  ² tn Heb “who is good in the eyes of the king.”

[2:4]  ³ tn Heb “the matter was good in the eyes of the king.” Cf. TEV “The king thought this was good advice.”

[2:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “was good in his eyes”; NLT “Hegai was very impressed with Esther.”

[2:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “being looked at (with favor).”

[2:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “of the house of the women” (so KJV, ASV). So also in vv. 11, 13, 14.

[8:5]  ⁷ tc The LXX does not include the expression “the Agagite.”

[1:19]  ⁸ sn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; KJV “If it please the king.” Deferential language was common in ancient Near Eastern court language addressing a despot; it occurs often in Esther.

[1:19]  ⁹ sn Laws…that cannot be repealed. On the permanence of the laws of Media and Persia see also Esth 8:8 and Dan 6:8, 12, 15.

[1:19]  ¹⁰ sn Previously in this chapter the word “queen” accompanies Vashti’s name (cf. vv. 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17). But here, in anticipation of her demotion, the title is dropped.

[1:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “her neighbor”; NIV “someone else.”

[1:19]  ¹² tn Heb “who is better than she.” The reference is apparently to worthiness of the royal position as demonstrated by compliance with the king’s wishes, although the word טוֹב (tob, “good”) can also be used of physical beauty. Cf. NAB, NASB, NLT “more worthy than she.”

[5:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Haman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “fifty cubits.” Assuming a standard length for the cubit of about 18 inches (45 cm), this would be about seventy-five feet (22.5 meters), which is a surprisingly tall height for the gallows. Perhaps the number assumes the gallows was built on a large supporting platform or a natural hill for visual effect, in which case the structure itself may have been considerably smaller. Cf. NCV “a seventy-five foot platform”; CEV “a tower built about seventy-five feet high.”

[5:14]  ¹⁵ tn Or “joyful”; NRSV “in good spirits”; TEV “happy.”

[3:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “one people.” Note the subtle absence at this point of a specific mention of the Jewish people by name.

[3:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “peoples” (so NASB, NIV); NAB “nations”

[3:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to cause them to rest”; NASB “to let them remain”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “to tolerate them.”

[3:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the silver is given to you”; NRSV “the money is given to you”; CEV “You can keep their money.” C. A. Moore (Esther [AB], 40) understands these words somewhat differently, taking them to imply acceptance of the money on Xerxes’ part. He translates, “Well, it’s your money.”

[3:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “according to what is good in your eyes”; NASB “do with them as you please.”

[1:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “heard”; KJV, NAB, NLT “published”; NIV, NRSV “proclaimed.”

[1:20]  ²² tc The phrase “vast though it is” is not included in the LXX, although it is retained by almost all English versions.

[3:9]  ²³ tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; KJV “If it please the king.”

[3:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “let it be written” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “let it be decreed.”

[3:9]  ²⁵ sn The enormity of the monetary sum referred to here can be grasped by comparing this amount (10,000 talents of silver) to the annual income of the empire, which according to Herodotus (Histories 3.95) was 14,500 Euboic talents. In other words Haman is offering the king a bribe equal to two-thirds of the royal income. Doubtless this huge sum of money was to come (in large measure) from the anticipated confiscation of Jewish property and assets once the Jews had been destroyed. That such a large sum of money is mentioned may indicate something of the economic standing of the Jewish population in the empire of King Ahasuerus.

[4:16]  ²⁶ tn Heb “I and my female attendants.” The translation reverses the order for stylistic reasons.

[4:16]  ²⁷ tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”

[7:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “If I have found grace in your eyes” (so also in 8:5); TEV “If it please Your Majesty.”

[4:11]  ²⁹ tn Heb “one is his law”; NASB “he (the king NIV) has but one law”

[4:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and he will live”; KJV, ASV “that he may live”; NIV “and spare his life.”

[1:5]  ³¹ tc The Hebrew text of Esther does not indicate why this elaborate show of wealth and power was undertaken. According to the LXX these were “the days of the wedding” (αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ γάμου, Jai Jhmerai tou gamou), presumably the king’s wedding. However, a number of scholars have called attention to the fact that this celebration takes place just shortly before Xerxes’ invasion of Greece. It is possible that the banquet was a rallying for the up-coming military effort. See Herodotus, Histories 7.8. There is no reason to adopt the longer reading of the LXX here.

[1:5]  ³² tc The LXX has ἕξ ({ex, “six”) instead of “seven.” Virtually all English versions follow the reading of the MT here, “seven.”

[1:5]  ³³ tn Heb “were found.”

[1:5]  ³⁴ tn Heb “from the great and unto the small.”

[5:4]  ³⁵ tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; NASB “If it please the king.”

[7:4]  ³⁶ sn The passive verb (“have been sold”) is noncommittal and nonaccusatory with regard to the king’s role in the decision to annihilate the Jews.

[8:17]  ³⁷ tn Heb “peoples of the land” (so NASB); NIV “people of other nationalities”; NRSV “peoples of the country.”

[8:17]  ³⁸ tn Heb “were becoming Jews”; NAB “embraced Judaism.” However, the Hitpael stem of the verb is sometimes used of a feigning action rather than a genuine one (see, e.g., 2 Sam 13:5, 6), which is the way the present translation understands the use of the word here (cf. NEB “professed themselves Jews”; NRSV “professed to be Jews”). This is the only occurrence of this verb in the Hebrew Bible, so there are no exact parallels. However, in the context of v. 17 the motivation of their conversion (Heb “the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them”) should not be overlooked. The LXX apparently understood the conversion described here to be genuine, since it adds the words “they were being circumcised and” before “they became Jews.”

[8:17]  ³⁹ tn Heb “had fallen upon them” (so NRSV); NIV “had seized them.”

[10:3]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “great among the Jews” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “preeminent among the Jews”; NRSV “powerful among the Jews.”

[10:3]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “brothers”; NASB “kinsmen”; NIV “fellow Jews.”

[10:3]  ⁴² tn Heb “he was seeking”; NAB “as the promoter of his people’s welfare.”

[10:3]  ⁴³ tn Heb “he was speaking peace to”; NRSV “and interceded for the welfare of.”

[10:3]  ⁴⁴ sn A number of additions to the Book of Esther appear in the apocryphal (or deuterocanonical) writings. These additions supply further information about various scenes described in the canonical book and are interesting in their own right. However, they were never a part of the Hebrew Bible. The placement of this additional material in certain Greek manuscripts of the Book of Esther may be described as follows. At the beginning of Esther there is an account (= chapter 11) of a dream in which Mordecai is warned by God of a coming danger for the Jews. In this account two great dragons, representing Mordecai and Haman, prepare for conflict. But God responds to the prayers of his people, and the crisis is resolved. This account is followed by another one (= chapter 12) in which Mordecai is rewarded for disclosing a plot against the king’s life. After Esth 3:13 there is a copy of a letter from King Artaxerxes authorizing annihilation of the Jews (= chapter 13). After Esth 4:17 the account continues with a prayer of Mordecai (= part of chapter 13), followed by a prayer of Esther (= chapter 14), and an account which provides details about Esther’s appeal to the king in behalf of her people (= chapter 15). After Esth 8:12 there is a copy of a letter from King Artaxerxes in which he denounces Haman and his plot and authorizes his subjects to assist the Jews (= chapter 16). At the end of the book, following Esth 10:3, there is an addition which provides an interpretation to Mordecai’s dream, followed by a brief ascription of genuineness to the entire book (= chapter 11).

[3:13]  ⁴⁵ tn The words “stating that” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:13]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “children and women.” The translation follows contemporary English idiom, which reverses the order.

[3:13]  ⁴⁷ tc The LXX does not include the words “on the thirteenth day.”

[5:8]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “if upon the king it is good.” Cf. the similar expression in v. 4, which also occurs in 7:3; 8:5; 9:13.

[5:8]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and tomorrow” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “and then.”

[5:8]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “I will do according to the word of the king,” i.e., answer the question that he has posed. Cf. NCV “Then I will answer your question about what I want.”

[3:12]  ⁵¹ tn Or “secretaries” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[3:12]  ⁵² tn Or “princes” (so NLT); CEV “highest officials.”

[2:7]  ⁵³ tn According to HALOT 64 s.v. II אמן the term אֹמֵן (’omen) means: (1) “attendant” of children (Num 11:12; Isa 49:23); (2) “guardian” (2 Kgs 10:1, 5; Esth 2:7); (3) “nurse-maid” (2 Sam 4:4; Ruth 4:16); and (4) “to look after” (Isa 60:4; Lam 4:5). Older lexicons did not distinguish this root from the homonym I אָמַן (’aman, “to support; to confirm”; cf. BDB 52 s.v. אָמַן). This is reflected in a number of translations by use of a phrase like “brought up” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NIV) or “bringing up” (NASB).

[2:7]  ⁵⁴ sn Hadassah is a Jewish name that probably means “myrtle”; the name Esther probably derives from the Persian word for “star,” although some scholars derive it from the name of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. Esther is not the only biblical character for whom two different names were used. Daniel (renamed Belteshazzar) and his three friends Hananiah (renamed Shadrach), Mishael (renamed Meshach), and Azariah (renamed Abednego) were also given different names by their captors.

[2:7]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “for there was not to her father or mother.” This is universally understood to mean Esther’s father and mother were no longer alive.

[2:7]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “beautiful of form.” The Hebrew noun תֹּאַר (to’ar, “form; shape”) is used elsewhere to describe the physical bodily shape of a beautiful woman (Gen 29:17; Deut 21:11; 1 Sam 25:3); see BDB 1061 s.v. Cf. TEV “had a good figure.”

[2:7]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “had taken her to him.” The Hebrew verb לָקַח (laqakh, “to take”) describes Mordecai adopting Esther and treating her like his own daughter: “to take as one’s own property” as a daughter (HALOT 534 s.v. I לקח 6).

[3:7]  ⁵⁸ sn This year would be ca. 474 b.c. The reference to first month and twelfth month indicate that about a year had elapsed between this determination and the anticipated execution.

[3:7]  ⁵⁹ tn The term פּוּר (pur, “lot”) is an Akkadian loanword; the narrator therefore explains it for his Hebrew readers (“that is, the lot”). It is from the plural form of this word (i.e., Purim) that the festival celebrating the deliverance of the Jews takes its name (cf. 9:24, 26, 28, 31).

[3:7]  ⁶⁰ tc The LXX adds the following words: “in order to destroy in one day the race of Mordecai, and the lot fell on the fourteenth day of the month.” The LXX reading is included by NAB.

[3:7]  tn Heb “from day to day and from month to month” (so KJV, NASB).

[3:7]  ⁶¹ tn Since v. 7 seems to interrupt the flow of the narrative, many scholars have suggested that it is a late addition to the text. But there is not enough evidence to warrant such a conclusion. Even though its placement is somewhat awkward, the verse supplies to the reader an important piece of chronological information.

[6:10]  ⁶² tn Heb “do not let fall”; NASB “do not fall short.”