Ester 1:20

1:20 And let the king’s decision which he will enact be disseminated ¹  throughout all his kingdom, vast though it is. ²  Then all the women will give honor to their husbands, from the most prominent to the lowly.”

Ester 3:2

3:2 As a result, ³  all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate were bowing and paying homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded. However, Mordecai did not bow, ⁴  nor did he pay him homage.

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, ⁵  “Who is it that the king would want to honor more than me?”

[1:20]  ¹ tn Heb “heard”; KJV, NAB, NLT “published”; NIV, NRSV “proclaimed.”

[1:20]  ² tc The phrase “vast though it is” is not included in the LXX, although it is retained by almost all English versions.

[3:2]  ³ tn Heb “and” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). Other modern English versions leave the conjunction untranslated here (NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

[3:2]  ⁴ sn Mordecai did not bow. The reason for Mordecai’s refusal to bow before Haman is not clearly stated here. Certainly the Jews did not refuse to bow as a matter of principle, as though such an action somehow violated the second command of the Decalogue. Many biblical texts bear witness to their practice of falling prostrate before people of power and influence (e.g., 1 Sam 24:8; 2 Sam 14:4; 1 Kgs 1:16). Perhaps the issue here was that Haman was a descendant of the Amalekites, a people who had attacked Israel in an earlier age (see Exod 17:8-16; 1 Sam 15:17-20; Deut 25:17-19).

[6:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “said in his heart” (so ASV); NASB, NRSV “said to himself.”