Ester 2:21

2:21 In those days while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan ¹  and Teresh, ²  two of the king’s eunuchs who protected the entrance, ³  became angry and plotted to assassinate ⁴  King Ahasuerus.

Amsal 14:17

14:17 A person who has a quick temper ⁵  does foolish things,

and a person with crafty schemes ⁶  is hated. ⁷ 

[2:21]  ¹ tn This individual is referred to as “Bigthana,” a variant spelling of the name, in Esth 6:2.

[2:21]  ² tc The LXX does not include the names “Bigthan and Teresh” here.

[2:21]  ³ tn Heb “guarders of the threshold”; NIV “who guarded the doorway.”

[2:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “sought to send a hand against”; CEV “decided to kill.”

[14:17]  ⁵ sn The proverb discusses two character traits that are distasteful to others – the quick tempered person (“short of anger” or impatient) and the crafty person (“man of devices”). C. H. Toy thinks that the proverb is antithetical and renders it “but a wise man endures” (Proverbs [ICC], 292). In other words, the quick-tempered person acts foolishly and loses people’s respect, but the wise man does not.

[14:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “a man of devices.”

[14:17]  ⁷ tc The LXX reads “endures” (from נָשָׂא, nasa’) rather than “is hated” (from שָׂנֵא, sane’). This change seems to have arisen on the assumption that a contrast was needed. It has: “a man of thought endures.” Other versions take מְזִמּוֹת (mÿzimmot) in a good sense; but antithetical parallelism is unwarranted here.