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, ¹  along with his wife Zeresh, said to him, “If indeed this Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is Jewish, ²  you will not prevail against him. No, you will surely fall before him!”

Amsal 10:9

10:9 The one who conducts himself ³  in integrity ⁴  will live ⁵  securely,

but the one who behaves perversely ⁶  will be found out.

[6:13]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “from the seed of the Jews”; KJV, ASV similar.

[10:9]  ³ tn Heb “he who walks.” The idiom is used widely in both OT and NT for conduct, behavior, or lifestyle.

[10:9]  ⁴ sn “Integrity” here means “blameless” in conduct. Security follows integrity, because the lifestyle is blameless. The righteous is certain of the course to be followed and does not fear retribution from man or God.

[10:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “walks.”

[10:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “he who perverts his ways” (so NASB); NIV “who takes crooked paths” (NLT similar). The Piel participle מְעַקֵּשׁ (mÿ’aqqesh) means “make crooked; twisted; perverse.” It is stronger than simply taking crooked paths; it refers to perverting the ways. The one who is devious will not get away with it.