Ester 5:14

5:14 Haman’s ¹  wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows seventy-five feet ²  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.” ³ 

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

Ester 7:3

7:3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have met with your approval, ⁴  O king, and if the king is so inclined, grant me my life as my request, and my people as my petition.

Ester 9:13

9:13 Esther replied, “If the king is so inclined, let the Jews who are in Susa be permitted to act tomorrow also according to today’s law, and let them hang the ten sons of Haman on the gallows.”

[5:14]  ¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Haman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:14]  ² 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]  ³ tn Or “joyful”; NRSV “in good spirits”; TEV “happy.”

[7:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “If I have found grace in your eyes” (so also in 8:5); TEV “If it please Your Majesty.”