Ester 7:5

7:5 Then King Ahasuerus responded ¹  to Queen Esther, “Who is this individual? Where is this person to be found who is presumptuous enough ²  to act in this way?”

Ester 6:3

6:3 The king asked, “What great honor ³  was bestowed on Mordecai because of this?” The king’s attendants who served him responded, “Not a thing was done for him.”

Ester 6:6

6:6 So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?” Haman thought to himself, ⁴  “Who is it that the king would want to honor more than me?”

Ester 6:4

6:4 Then the king said, “Who is that in the courtyard?” Now Haman had come to the outer courtyard of the palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had constructed for him.

Ester 5:3

5:3 The king said to her, “What is on your mind, ⁵  Queen Esther? What is your request? Even as much as half the kingdom will be given to you!”

Ester 4:5

4:5 So Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been placed at her service, ⁶  and instructed him to find out the cause and reason for Mordecai’s behavior. ⁷ 

Ester 7:2

7:2 On the second day of the banquet of wine the king asked Esther, “What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you. And what is your petition? Ask up to half the kingdom, and it shall be done!”

Ester 2:11

2:11 And day after day Mordecai used to walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem in order to learn how Esther was doing ⁸  and what might happen to her.

Ester 5:6-7

5:6 While at the banquet of wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your request? It shall be given to you. What is your petition? Ask for as much as half the kingdom, ⁹  and it shall be done!”

5:7 Esther responded, ¹⁰  “My request and my petition is this:

Ester 1:14-15

1:14 Those who were closest to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan. These men were the seven officials of Persia and Media who saw the king on a regular basis ¹¹  and had the most prominent offices ¹²  in the kingdom. 1:15 The king asked, ¹³  “By law, ¹⁴  what should be done to Queen Vashti in light of the fact that she has not obeyed the instructions of King Ahasuerus conveyed through the eunuchs?”

Ester 3:3

3:3 Then the servants of the king who were at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why are you violating the king’s commandment?”

Ester 3:13

3:13 Letters were sent by the runners to all the king’s provinces stating that ¹⁵  they should destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, from youth to elderly, both women and children, ¹⁶  on a particular day, namely the thirteenth day ¹⁷  of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar), and to loot and plunder their possessions.

Ester 1:13

1:13 The king then inquired of the wise men who were discerners of the times – for it was the royal custom to confer with all those who were proficient in laws and legalities. ¹⁸ 

[7:5]  ¹ tc The second occurrence of the Hebrew verb וַיּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”) in the MT should probably be disregarded. The repetition is unnecessary in the context and may be the result of dittography in the MT.

[7:5]  ² tn Heb “has so filled his heart”; NAB “who has dared to do this.”

[6:3]  ³ tn Heb “honor and greatness.” The expression is a hendiadys (see the note on 5:10 for an explanation of this figure).

[6:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “said in his heart” (so ASV); NASB, NRSV “said to himself.”

[5:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “What to you?”; NAB, NIV NRSV “What is it, Queen Esther?”

[4:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “whom he caused to stand before her”; NASB “whom the king had appointed to attend her.”

[4:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “concerning Mordecai, to know what this was, and why this was.”

[2:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “to know the peace of Esther.”

[5:6]  ⁹ sn As much as half the kingdom. Such a statement would no doubt have been understood for the exaggeration that it clearly was. Cf. the similar NT scene recorded in Mark 6:23, where Herod makes a similar promise to the daughter of Herodias. In that case the request was for the head of John the Baptist, which is a lot less than half the kingdom.

[5:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “answered and said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.

[1:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “seers of the face of the king”; NASB “who had access to the king’s presence.”

[1:14]  ¹² tn Heb “were sitting first”; NAB “held first rank in the realm.”

[1:15]  ¹³ tn These words are not present in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity (cf. NIV, NCV, CEV, NLT, all of which supply similar phrases).

[1:15]  ¹⁴ tc The location of the prepositional phrase “according to law” is somewhat unusual in the Hebrew text, but not so much so as to require emendation. Some scholars suggest deleting the phrase as an instance of dittography from the final part of the immediately preceding word in v. 14. Others suggest taking the phrase with the end of v. 14 rather than with v. 15. Both proposals, however, lack adequate justification.

[3:13]  ¹⁵ tn The words “stating that” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “children and women.” The translation follows contemporary English idiom, which reverses the order.

[3:13]  ¹⁷ tc The LXX does not include the words “on the thirteenth day.”

[1:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “judgment” (so KJV); NASB, NIV “justice”; NRSV “custom.”