Ester 1:8

1:8 There were no restrictions on the drinking, ¹  for the king had instructed all of his supervisors ²  that they should do as everyone so desired. ³ 

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 3:2

3:2 As a result, ⁴  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, ⁵  nor did he pay him homage.

Ester 8:2

8:2 The king then removed his signet ring (the very one he had taken back from Haman) and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther designated Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s estate.

[1:8]  ¹ tn Heb “the drinking was according to law; there was no one compelling.”

[1:8]  ² tn Heb “every chief of his house”; KJV “all the officers of his house”; NLT “his staff.”

[1:8]  ³ tn Heb “according to the desire of man and man.”

[3:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). Other modern English versions leave the conjunction untranslated here (NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

[3:2]  ⁵ 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).