Ester 3:2-6

3:2 As a result, ¹  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, ²  nor did he pay him homage.

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?” 3:4 And after they had spoken to him day after day ³  without his paying any attention to them, they informed Haman to see whether this attitude on Mordecai’s part would be permitted. ⁴  Furthermore, he had disclosed to them that he was a Jew. ⁵ 

3:5 When Haman saw that Mordecai was not bowing or paying homage to him, he ⁶  was filled with rage. 3:6 But the thought of striking out against ⁷  Mordecai alone was repugnant to him, for he had been informed ⁸  of the identity of Mordecai’s people. ⁹  So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews (that is, the people of Mordecai) ¹⁰  who were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Ester 10:3

10:3 Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus. He was the highest-ranking ¹¹  Jew, and he was admired by his numerous relatives. ¹²  He worked enthusiastically ¹³  for the good of his people and was an advocate for the welfare of ¹⁴  all his descendants. ¹⁵ 

[3:2]  ¹ tn Heb “and” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). Other modern English versions leave the conjunction untranslated here (NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

[3:2]  ² 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).

[3:4]  ³ sn Mordecai’s position in the service of the king brought him into regular contact with these royal officials. Because of this association the officials would have found ample opportunity to complain of Mordecai’s refusal to honor Haman by bowing down before him.

[3:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “Will the matters of Mordecai stand?”; NASB “to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand.”

[3:4]  ⁵ sn This disclosure of Jewish identity is a reversal of the practice mentioned in 1:10, 20.

[3:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “Haman.” The pronoun (“he”) was used in the translation for stylistic reasons. Repeating the proper name here is redundant according to contemporary English style, although the name is repeated in NASB and NRSV.

[3:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “to send a hand against”; KJV, NRSV “to lay hands on.”

[3:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “they had related to him.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a passive construction.

[3:6]  ⁹ tc The entire first half of the verse is not included in the LXX.

[3:6]  ¹⁰ tc This parenthetical phrase is not included in the LXX. Some scholars emend the MT reading עַם (’am, “people”) to עִם (’im, “with”), arguing that the phrase is awkwardly placed and syntactically inappropriate. While there is some truth to their complaint, the MT makes sufficient sense to be acceptable here, and is followed by most English versions.

[10:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “great among the Jews” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “preeminent among the Jews”; NRSV “powerful among the Jews.”

[10:3]  ¹² tn Heb “brothers”; NASB “kinsmen”; NIV “fellow Jews.”

[10:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “he was seeking”; NAB “as the promoter of his people’s welfare.”

[10:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he was speaking peace to”; NRSV “and interceded for the welfare of.”

[10:3]  ¹⁵ 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).