Ester 7:4

7:4 For we have been sold ¹  – both I and my people – to destruction and to slaughter and to annihilation! If we had simply been sold as male and female slaves, I would have remained silent, for such distress would not have been sufficient for troubling the king.”

Ester 9:10

9:10 the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not confiscate their property.

Ester 9:6

9:6 In Susa the citadel the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men.

Ester 1:22

1:22 He sent letters throughout all the royal provinces, to each province according to its own script and to each people according to its own language, ²  that every man should be ruling his family ³  and should be speaking the language of his own people. ⁴ 

Ester 9:15

9:15 The Jews who were in Susa then assembled on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they killed three hundred men in Susa. But they did not confiscate their property.

Ester 4:11

4:11 “All the servants of the king and the people of the king’s provinces know that there is only one law applicable ⁵  to any man or woman who comes uninvited to the king in the inner court – that person will be put to death, unless the king extends to him the gold scepter, permitting him to be spared. ⁶  Now I have not been invited to come to the king for some thirty days!”

Ester 9:7

9:7 In addition, they also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

Ester 9:12

9:12 Then the king said to Queen Esther, “In Susa the citadel the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman! What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? What is your request? It shall be given to you. What other petition do you have? It shall be done.”

Ester 9:4

9:4 Mordecai was of high rank ⁷  in the king’s palace, and word about him was spreading throughout all the provinces. His influence ⁸  continued to become greater and greater.

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 1:20

1:20 And let the king’s decision which he will enact be disseminated ⁹  throughout all his kingdom, vast though it is. ¹⁰  Then all the women will give honor to their husbands, from the most prominent to the lowly.”

Ester 5:11

5:11 Haman then recounted to them his fabulous wealth, ¹¹  his many sons, ¹²  and how the king had magnified him and exalted him over the king’s other officials and servants.

Ester 9:25

9:25 But when the matter came to the king’s attention, the king ¹³  gave written orders that Haman’s ¹⁴  evil intentions that he had devised against the Jews should fall on his own head. He and his sons were hanged on the gallows.

Ester 1:16

1:16 Memucan then replied to the king and the officials, “The wrong of Queen Vashti is not against the king alone, but against all the officials and all the people who are throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

[7:4]  ¹ sn The passive verb (“have been sold”) is noncommittal and nonaccusatory with regard to the king’s role in the decision to annihilate the Jews.

[1:22]  ² sn For purposes of diplomacy and governmental communication throughout the far-flung regions of the Persian empire the Aramaic language was normally used. Educated people throughout the kingdom could be expected to have competence in this language. But in the situation described in v. 22 a variety of local languages are to be used, and not just Aramaic, so as to make the king’s edict understandable to the largest possible number of people.

[1:22]  ³ tn Heb “in his house”; NIV “over his own household.”

[1:22]  ⁴ tc The final prepositional phrase is not included in the LXX, and this shorter reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT). Some scholars suggest the phrase may be the result of dittography from the earlier phrase “to each people according to its language,” but this is not a necessary conclusion. The edict was apparently intended to reassert male prerogative with regard to two things (and not just one): sovereign and unquestioned leadership within the family unit, and the right of deciding which language was to be used in the home when a bilingual situation existed.

[4:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “one is his law”; NASB “he (the king NIV) has but one law”

[4:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he will live”; KJV, ASV “that he may live”; NIV “and spare his life.”

[9:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “great”; NRSV “powerful”; NIV “prominent”; NCV “very important.”

[9:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “the man Mordecai” (so NASB, NRSV).

[1:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “heard”; KJV, NAB, NLT “published”; NIV, NRSV “proclaimed.”

[1:20]  ¹⁰ tc The phrase “vast though it is” is not included in the LXX, although it is retained by almost all English versions.

[5:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the glory of his riches” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “the splendor of his riches.”

[5:11]  ¹² sn According to Esth 9:10 Haman had ten sons.

[9:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Haman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.