Ester 1:17

1:17 For the matter concerning the queen will spread to all the women, leading them to treat their husbands with contempt, saying, ‘When King Ahasuerus gave orders to bring Queen Vashti into his presence, she would not come.’

Ester 4:4

4:4 When Esther’s female attendants and her eunuchs came and informed her about Mordecai’s behavior, ¹  the queen was overcome with anguish. Although she sent garments for Mordecai to put on so that he could remove his sackcloth, he would not accept them.

Ester 5:10

5:10 But Haman restrained himself and went on to his home.

He then sent for his friends to join him, ²  along with his wife Zeresh.

Ester 5:5

5:5 The king replied, “Find Haman quickly so that we can do as Esther requests.”

So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Ester 5:12

5:12 Haman said, “Furthermore, Queen Esther invited ³  only me to accompany the king to the banquet that she prepared! And also tomorrow I am invited ⁴  along with the king.

Ester 7:1

The King Has Haman Executed

7:1 So the king and Haman came to dine ⁵  with Queen Esther.

Ester 6:14

6:14 While they were still speaking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived. They quickly brought Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Ester 1:12

1:12 But Queen Vashti refused ⁶  to come at the king’s bidding ⁷  conveyed through the eunuchs. Then the king became extremely angry, and his rage consumed ⁸  him.

Ester 5:4

5:4 Esther replied, “If the king is so inclined, ⁹  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 ¹⁰  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 ¹¹  I will do as the king wishes. ¹² 

Ester 4:14

4:14 “Don’t imagine that because you are part of the king’s household you will be the one Jew ¹³  who will escape. If you keep quiet at this time, liberation and protection for the Jews will appear ¹⁴  from another source, ¹⁵  while you and your father’s household perish. It may very well be ¹⁶  that you have achieved royal status ¹⁷  for such a time as this!”

Ester 4:2

4:2 But he went no further than the king’s gate, for no one was permitted to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.

Ester 10:3

10:3 Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus. He was the highest-ranking ¹⁸  Jew, and he was admired by his numerous relatives. ¹⁹  He worked enthusiastically ²⁰  for the good of his people and was an advocate for the welfare of ²¹  all his descendants. ²² 

Ester 5:7

5:7 Esther responded, ²³  “My request and my petition is this:

Ester 1:11

1:11 to bring Queen Vashti into the king’s presence wearing her royal high turban. He wanted to show the people and the officials her beauty, for she was very attractive. ²⁴ 

Ester 5:2

5:2 When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she met with his approval. ²⁵  The king extended to Esther the gold scepter that was in his hand, and Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter.

Ester 8:12

8:12 This was to take place on a certain day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus – namely, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar).

Ester 3:7

3:7 In the first month (that is, the month of Nisan), in the twelfth year ²⁶  of King Ahasuerus’ reign, pur ²⁷  (that is, the lot) was cast before Haman in order to determine a day and a month. ²⁸  It turned out to be the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar). ²⁹ 

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 7:7-8

7:7 In rage the king arose from the banquet of wine and withdrew to the palace garden. Meanwhile, Haman stood to beg Queen Esther for his life, ³⁰  for he realized that the king had now determined a catastrophic end for him. ³¹ 

7:8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet of wine, Haman was throwing himself down ³²  on the couch where Esther was lying. ³³  The king exclaimed, “Will he also attempt to rape the queen while I am still in the building!”

As these words left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.

Ester 1:15

1:15 The king asked, ³⁴  “By law, ³⁵  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 8:7

8:7 King Ahasuerus replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Look, I have already given Haman’s estate to Esther, and he has been hanged on the gallows because he took hostile action ³⁶  against the Jews.

Ester 5:14

5:14 Haman’s ³⁷  wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows seventy-five feet ³⁸  high built, and in the morning tell the king that Mordecai should be hanged on it. Then go with the king to the banquet contented.” ³⁹ 

It seemed like a good idea to Haman, so he had the gallows built.

Ester 9:26

9:26 For this reason these days are known as Purim, after the name of pur.

Ester 6:13

6:13 Haman then related to his wife Zeresh and to all his friends everything that had happened to him. These wise men, ⁴⁰  along with his wife Zeresh, said to him, “If indeed this Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is Jewish, ⁴¹  you will not prevail against him. No, you will surely fall before him!”

Ester 4:9

4:9 So Hathach returned and related Mordecai’s instructions ⁴²  to Esther.

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 ⁴³  and what might happen to her.

Ester 8:6

8:6 For how can I watch the calamity that will befall my people, and how can I watch the destruction of my relatives?” ⁴⁴ 

Ester 9:2

9:2 The Jews assembled themselves in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to strike out against those who were seeking their harm. No one was able to stand before them, for dread of them fell on all the peoples.

[4:4]  ¹ tn The words “about Mordecai’s behavior” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in translation for the sake of clarity. Cf. NIV, NLT “about Mordecai”; TEV, CEV “what Mordecai was doing.”

[5:10]  ² tn Heb “sent and brought.” The expression is probably a hendiadys (a figure of speech in which a single idea is expressed through two words or phrases), in which case the two verbs could be translated simply as “summoned” (so NAB) or “sent for” (NASB).

[5:12]  ³ tn Heb “caused to come”; KJV “did let no man come in…but myself.”

[5:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “called to her”; KJV “invited unto her”; NAB “I am to be her guest.”

[7:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “to drink”; NASB “to drink wine.” The expression is a metaphor for lavish feasting, cf. NRSV “to feast”; KJV “to banquet.”

[1:12]  ⁶ sn Refusal to obey the king was risky even for a queen in the ancient world. It is not clear why Vashti behaved so rashly and put herself in such danger. Apparently she anticipated humiliation of some kind and was unwilling to subject herself to it, in spite of the obvious dangers. There is no justification in the biblical text for an ancient Jewish targumic tradition that the king told her to appear before his guests dressed in nothing but her royal high turban, that is, essentially naked.

[1:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “at the word of the king”; NASB “at the king’s command.”

[1:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “burned in him” (so KJV).

[5:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; NASB “If it please the king.”

[5:8]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and tomorrow” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “and then.”

[5:8]  ¹² 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.”

[4:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “from all the Jews”; KJV “more than all the Jews”; NIV “you alone of all the Jews.”

[4:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “stand”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT “arise.”

[4:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “place” (so KJV, NIV, NLT); NRSV “from another quarter.” This is probably an oblique reference to help coming from God. D. J. A. Clines disagrees; in his view a contrast between deliverance by Esther and deliverance by God is inappropriate (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther [NCBC], 302). But Clines’ suggestion that perhaps the reference is to deliverance by Jewish officials or by armed Jewish revolt is less attractive than seeing this veiled reference as part of the literary strategy of the book, which deliberately keeps God’s providential dealings entirely in the background.

[4:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “And who knows whether” (so NASB). The question is one of hope, but free of presumption. Cf. Jonah 3:9.

[4:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “have come to the kingdom”; NRSV “to royal dignity”; NIV “to royal position”; NLT “have been elevated to the palace.”

[10:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “great among the Jews” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “preeminent among the Jews”; NRSV “powerful among the Jews.”

[10:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “brothers”; NASB “kinsmen”; NIV “fellow Jews.”

[10:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he was seeking”; NAB “as the promoter of his people’s welfare.”

[10:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “he was speaking peace to”; NRSV “and interceded for the welfare of.”

[10:3]  ²² sn A number of additions to the Book of Esther appear in the apocryphal (or deuterocanonical) writings. These additions supply further information about various scenes described in the canonical book and are interesting in their own right. However, they were never a part of the Hebrew Bible. The placement of this additional material in certain Greek manuscripts of the Book of Esther may be described as follows. At the beginning of Esther there is an account (= chapter 11) of a dream in which Mordecai is warned by God of a coming danger for the Jews. In this account two great dragons, representing Mordecai and Haman, prepare for conflict. But God responds to the prayers of his people, and the crisis is resolved. This account is followed by another one (= chapter 12) in which Mordecai is rewarded for disclosing a plot against the king’s life. After Esth 3:13 there is a copy of a letter from King Artaxerxes authorizing annihilation of the Jews (= chapter 13). After Esth 4:17 the account continues with a prayer of Mordecai (= part of chapter 13), followed by a prayer of Esther (= chapter 14), and an account which provides details about Esther’s appeal to the king in behalf of her people (= chapter 15). After Esth 8:12 there is a copy of a letter from King Artaxerxes in which he denounces Haman and his plot and authorizes his subjects to assist the Jews (= chapter 16). At the end of the book, following Esth 10:3, there is an addition which provides an interpretation to Mordecai’s dream, followed by a brief ascription of genuineness to the entire book (= chapter 11).

[5:7]  ²³ tn Heb “answered and said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.

[1:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “was good of appearance”; KJV “was fair to look on”; NAB “was lovely to behold.”

[5:2]  ²⁵ 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.”

[3:7]  ²⁶ sn This year would be ca. 474 b.c. The reference to first month and twelfth month indicate that about a year had elapsed between this determination and the anticipated execution.

[3:7]  ²⁷ tn The term פּוּר (pur, “lot”) is an Akkadian loanword; the narrator therefore explains it for his Hebrew readers (“that is, the lot”). It is from the plural form of this word (i.e., Purim) that the festival celebrating the deliverance of the Jews takes its name (cf. 9:24, 26, 28, 31).

[3:7]  ²⁸ tc The LXX adds the following words: “in order to destroy in one day the race of Mordecai, and the lot fell on the fourteenth day of the month.” The LXX reading is included by NAB.

[3:7]  tn Heb “from day to day and from month to month” (so KJV, NASB).

[3:7]  ²⁹ tn Since v. 7 seems to interrupt the flow of the narrative, many scholars have suggested that it is a late addition to the text. But there is not enough evidence to warrant such a conclusion. Even though its placement is somewhat awkward, the verse supplies to the reader an important piece of chronological information.

[7:7]  ³⁰ sn There is great irony here in that the man who set out to destroy all the Jews now finds himself begging for his own life from a Jew.

[7:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “for he saw that calamity was determined for him from the king”; NAB “the king had decided on his doom”; NRSV “the king had determined to destroy him.”

[7:8]  ³² tn Heb “falling”; NAB, NRSV “had (+ just TEV) thrown himself (+ down TEV).”

[7:8]  ³³ tn Heb “where Esther was” (so KJV, NASB). The term “lying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “was reclining.”

[1:15]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ 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.

[8:7]  ³⁶ tn Heb “sent forth his hand”; NAB, NIV “attacked”; NLT “tried to destroy.” Cf. 9:2.

[5:14]  ³⁷ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Haman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:14]  ³⁸ tn Heb “fifty cubits.” Assuming a standard length for the cubit of about 18 inches (45 cm), this would be about seventy-five feet (22.5 meters), which is a surprisingly tall height for the gallows. Perhaps the number assumes the gallows was built on a large supporting platform or a natural hill for visual effect, in which case the structure itself may have been considerably smaller. Cf. NCV “a seventy-five foot platform”; CEV “a tower built about seventy-five feet high.”

[5:14]  ³⁹ tn Or “joyful”; NRSV “in good spirits”; TEV “happy.”

[6:13]  ⁴⁰ tc Part of the Greek tradition and the Syriac Peshitta understand this word as “friends,” probably reading the Hebrew term רֲכָמָיו (rakhamayv, “his friends”) rather than the reading of the MT חֲכָמָיו (hakhamayv, “his wise men”). Cf. NLT “all his friends”; the two readings appear to be conflated by TEV as “those wise friends of his.”

[6:13]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “from the seed of the Jews”; KJV, ASV similar.

[4:9]  ⁴² tn Heb “the words of Mordecai” (so KJV); NIV, NRSV, CEV “what Mordecai had said”; NLT “with Mordecai’s message.”

[2:11]  ⁴³ tn Heb “to know the peace of Esther.”

[8:6]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “my kindred” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NAB “my race”; NIV “my family”; NLT “my people and my family.”