Ester 1:8

1:8 There were no restrictions on the drinking, ¹  for the king had instructed all of his supervisors ²  that they should do as everyone so desired. ³ 

Ester 1:22

1:22 He sent letters throughout all the royal provinces, to each province according to its own script and to each people according to its own language, ⁴  that every man should be ruling his family ⁵  and should be speaking the language of his own people. ⁶ 

Ester 3:9

3:9 If the king is so inclined, ⁷  let an edict be issued ⁸  to destroy them. I will pay ten thousand talents of silver ⁹  to be conveyed to the king’s treasuries for the officials who carry out this business.”

Ester 5:5

5:5 The king replied, “Find Haman quickly so that we can do as Esther requests.”

So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Ester 8:3

8:3 Then Esther again spoke with the king, falling at his feet. She wept and begged him for mercy, that he might nullify the evil of Haman the Agagite which he had intended against the Jews. ¹⁰ 

[1:8]  ¹ tn Heb “the drinking was according to law; there was no one compelling.”

[1:8]  ² tn Heb “every chief of his house”; KJV “all the officers of his house”; NLT “his staff.”

[1:8]  ³ tn Heb “according to the desire of man and man.”

[1:22]  ⁴ sn For purposes of diplomacy and governmental communication throughout the far-flung regions of the Persian empire the Aramaic language was normally used. Educated people throughout the kingdom could be expected to have competence in this language. But in the situation described in v. 22 a variety of local languages are to be used, and not just Aramaic, so as to make the king’s edict understandable to the largest possible number of people.

[1:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “in his house”; NIV “over his own household.”

[1:22]  ⁶ tc The final prepositional phrase is not included in the LXX, and this shorter reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT). Some scholars suggest the phrase may be the result of dittography from the earlier phrase “to each people according to its language,” but this is not a necessary conclusion. The edict was apparently intended to reassert male prerogative with regard to two things (and not just one): sovereign and unquestioned leadership within the family unit, and the right of deciding which language was to be used in the home when a bilingual situation existed.

[3:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; KJV “If it please the king.”

[3:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “let it be written” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “let it be decreed.”

[3:9]  ⁹ 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.

[8:3]  ¹⁰ sn As in 7:4 Esther avoids implicating the king in this plot. Instead Haman is given sole responsibility for the plan to destroy the Jews.