Ester 3:13

3:13 Letters were sent by the runners to all the king’s provinces stating that ¹  they should destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, from youth to elderly, both women and children, ²  on a particular day, namely the thirteenth day ³  of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar), and to loot and plunder their possessions.

Ester 4:3

4:3 Throughout each and every province where the king’s edict and law were announced ⁴  there was considerable ⁵  mourning among the Jews, along with fasting, weeping, and sorrow. ⁶  Sackcloth and ashes were characteristic ⁷  of many.

Ester 9:6

9:6 In Susa the citadel the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men.

[3:13]  ¹ tn The words “stating that” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:13]  ² tn Heb “children and women.” The translation follows contemporary English idiom, which reverses the order.

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

[4:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “reached” (so NAB, NLT); KJV, NASB, NIV “came”; TEV “wherever the king’s proclamation was made known.”

[4:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the Jews went into deep mourning.”

[4:3]  ⁶ sn Although prayer is not specifically mentioned here, it is highly unlikely that appeals to God for help were not a part of this reaction to devastating news. As elsewhere in the book of Esther, the writer seems deliberately to keep religious actions in the background.

[4:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “were spread to many”; KJV, NIV “many (+ people NLT) lay in sackcloth and ashes.”