Ester 6:1

The Turning Point: The King Honors Mordecai

6:1 Throughout that night the king was unable to sleep, ¹  so he asked for the book containing the historical records ²  to be brought. As the records ³  were being read in the king’s presence,

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 ⁴  will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. ⁵  If I perish, I perish!”

Ester 9:11

9:11 On that same day the number of those killed in Susa the citadel was brought to the king’s attention.

Ester 5:4

5:4 Esther replied, “If the king is so inclined, ⁶  let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

Ester 5:8

5:8 If I have found favor in the king’s sight and if the king is inclined ⁷  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 ⁸  I will do as the king wishes. ⁹ 

Ester 5:12

5:12 Haman said, “Furthermore, Queen Esther invited ¹⁰  only me to accompany the king to the banquet that she prepared! And also tomorrow I am invited ¹¹  along with the king.

Ester 2:14

2:14 In the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to a separate part ¹²  of the harem, to the authority of Shaashgaz the king’s eunuch who was overseeing the concubines. She would not go back to the king unless the king was pleased with her ¹³  and she was requested by name.

[6:1]  ¹ tn Heb “and the sleep of the king fled.” In place of the rather innocuous comment of the Hebrew text, the LXX reads here, “And the Lord removed the sleep from the king.” The Greek text thus understands the statement in a more overtly theological way than does the Hebrew text, although even in the Hebrew text there may be a hint of God’s providence at work in this matter. After all, this event is crucial to the later reversal of Haman’s plot to destroy the Jewish people, and a sympathetic reader is likely to look beyond the apparent coincidence.

[6:1]  ² tn Heb “the book of the remembrances of the accounts of the days”; NAB “the chronicle of notable events.”

[6:1]  ³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the records) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

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

[4:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”

[5:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; NASB “If it please the king.”

[5:8]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “and tomorrow” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “and then.”

[5:8]  ⁹ 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.”

[5:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “caused to come”; KJV “did let no man come in…but myself.”

[5:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “called to her”; KJV “invited unto her”; NAB “I am to be her guest.”

[2:14]  ¹² tn Heb “second.” The numerical adjective שֵׁנִי (sheniy, “second”) is difficult here. As a modifier for “house” in v. 14 the word would presumably refer to a second part of the harem, one which was under the supervision of a separate official. But in this case the definite article would be expected before “second” (cf. LXX τὸν δεύτερον, ton deuteron). Some scholars emend the text to שֵׁנִית (shenit, “a second time”), but this does not completely resolve the difficulty since the meaning remains unclear. The translation adopted above follows the LXX and understands the word to refer to a separate group of women in the king’s harem, a group housed apparently in a distinct part of the residence complex.

[2:14]  ¹³ tc The LXX does not include the words “was pleased with her.”