Ester 2:9

2:9 This young woman pleased him, ¹  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 ²  young women who were from the palace. He then transferred her and her young women to the best quarters in the harem. ³ 

Ester 3:6

3:6 But the thought of striking out against ⁴  Mordecai alone was repugnant to him, for he had been informed ⁵  of the identity of Mordecai’s people. ⁶  So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews (that is, the people of Mordecai) ⁷  who were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Ester 5:2

5:2 When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she met with his approval. ⁸  The king extended to Esther the gold scepter that was in his hand, and Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter.

[2:9]  ¹ tn Heb “was good in his eyes”; NLT “Hegai was very impressed with Esther.”

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

[2:9]  ³ tn Heb “of the house of the women” (so KJV, ASV). So also in vv. 11, 13, 14.

[3:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “to send a hand against”; KJV, NRSV “to lay hands on.”

[3:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “they had related to him.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a passive construction.

[3:6]  ⁶ tc The entire first half of the verse is not included in the LXX.

[3:6]  ⁷ tc This parenthetical phrase is not included in the LXX. Some scholars emend the MT reading עַם (’am, “people”) to עִם (’im, “with”), arguing that the phrase is awkwardly placed and syntactically inappropriate. While there is some truth to their complaint, the MT makes sufficient sense to be acceptable here, and is followed by most English versions.

[5:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “she obtained grace in his eyes”; NASB “she obtained favor in his sight”; NIV “he was pleased with her”; NLT “he welcomed her.”