Ester 9:27

9:27 Therefore, because of the account found in this letter and what they had faced in this regard and what had happened to them, the Jews established as binding on themselves, their descendants, and all who joined their company that they should observe these two days without fail, just as written and at the appropriate time on an annual basis.

Ester 9:31

9:31 to establish these days of Purim in their proper times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established, and just as they had established both for themselves and their descendants, matters pertaining to fasting and lamentation.

Ester 1:7

1:7 Drinks ¹  were served in golden containers, all of which differed from one another. Royal wine was available in abundance at the king’s expense.

Ester 5:4

5:4 Esther replied, “If the king is so inclined, ²  let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

Ester 9:22

9:22 as the time when the Jews gave themselves rest from their enemies – the month when their trouble was turned to happiness and their mourning to a holiday. These were to be days of banqueting, happiness, sending gifts to one another, and providing for the poor.

Ester 5:8

5:8 If I have found favor in the king’s sight and if the king is inclined ³  to grant my request and perform my petition, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet that I will prepare for them. At that time ⁴  I will do as the king wishes. ⁵ 

Ester 4:14

4:14 “Don’t imagine that because you are part of the king’s household you will be the one Jew ⁶  who will escape. If you keep quiet at this time, liberation and protection for the Jews will appear ⁷  from another source, ⁸  while you and your father’s household perish. It may very well be ⁹  that you have achieved royal status ¹⁰  for such a time as this!”

Ester 3:8

3:8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a particular people ¹¹  that is dispersed and spread among the inhabitants ¹²  throughout all the provinces of your kingdom whose laws differ from those of all other peoples. Furthermore, they do not observe the king’s laws. It is not appropriate for the king to provide a haven for them. ¹³ 

Ester 10:3

10:3 Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus. He was the highest-ranking ¹⁴  Jew, and he was admired by his numerous relatives. ¹⁵  He worked enthusiastically ¹⁶  for the good of his people and was an advocate for the welfare of ¹⁷  all his descendants. ¹⁸ 

Ester 9:21

9:21 to have them observe the fourteenth and the fifteenth day of the month of Adar each year

Ester 6:3

6:3 The king asked, “What great honor ¹⁹  was bestowed on Mordecai because of this?” The king’s attendants who served him responded, “Not a thing was done for him.”

Ester 3:6

3:6 But the thought of striking out against ²⁰  Mordecai alone was repugnant to him, for he had been informed ²¹  of the identity of Mordecai’s people. ²²  So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews (that is, the people of Mordecai) ²³  who were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Ester 2:18

2:18 Then the king prepared a large banquet for all his officials and his servants – it was actually Esther’s banquet. He also set aside a holiday for the provinces, and he provided for offerings at the king’s expense. ²⁴ 

Ester 2:15

2:15 When it became the turn of Esther daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai (who had raised her as if she were his own daughter ²⁵ ) to go to the king, she did not request anything except what Hegai the king’s eunuch, who was overseer of the women, had recommended. Yet Esther met with the approval of all who saw her.

Ester 8:5

8:5 She said, “If the king is so inclined and if I have met with his approval and if the matter is agreeable to the king and if I am attractive to him, let an edict be written rescinding those recorded intentions of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, ²⁶  which he wrote in order to destroy the Jews who are throughout all the king’s provinces.

Ester 8:12

8:12 This was to take place on a certain day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus – namely, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar).

Ester 9:23

9:23 So the Jews committed themselves to continue what they had begun to do and to what Mordecai had written to them.

Ester 1:9

1:9 Queen Vashti ²⁷  also gave a banquet for the women in King Ahasuerus’ royal palace.

Ester 2:2

2:2 The king’s servants who attended him said, “Let a search be conducted in the king’s behalf for attractive young women. ²⁸ 

Ester 1:3

1:3 in the third ²⁹  year of his reign he provided a banquet for all his officials and his servants. The army ³⁰  of Persia and Media ³¹  was present, ³²  as well as the nobles and the officials of the provinces.

Ester 1:8

1:8 There were no restrictions on the drinking, ³³  for the king had instructed all of his supervisors ³⁴  that they should do as everyone so desired. ³⁵ 

Ester 5:7

5:7 Esther responded, ³⁶  “My request and my petition is this:

Ester 7:10

7:10 So they hanged Haman on the very gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. The king’s rage then abated.

Ester 1:5

1:5 When those days ³⁷  were completed, the king then provided a seven-day ³⁸  banquet for all the people who were present ³⁹  in Susa the citadel, for those of highest standing to the most lowly. ⁴⁰  It was held in the court located in the garden of the royal palace.

Ester 2:9

2:9 This young woman pleased him, ⁴¹  and she found favor with him. He quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her rations; he also provided her with the seven specially chosen ⁴²  young women who were from the palace. He then transferred her and her young women to the best quarters in the harem. ⁴³ 

Ester 3:13

3:13 Letters were sent by the runners to all the king’s provinces stating that ⁴⁴  they should destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, from youth to elderly, both women and children, ⁴⁵  on a particular day, namely the thirteenth day ⁴⁶  of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar), and to loot and plunder their possessions.

Ester 5:13

5:13 Yet all of this fails to satisfy me so long as I have to see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

Ester 4:8

4:8 He also gave him a written copy of the law that had been disseminated ⁴⁷  in Susa for their destruction so that he could show it to Esther and talk to her about it. He also gave instructions that she should go to the king to implore him and petition him on behalf of her people.

Ester 4:17

4:17 So Mordecai set out to do everything that Esther had instructed him.

Ester 8:9

8:9 The king’s scribes were quickly ⁴⁸  summoned – in the third month (that is, the month of Sivan), on the twenty-third day. ⁴⁹  They wrote out ⁵⁰  everything that Mordecai instructed to the Jews and to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces all the way from India to Ethiopia ⁵¹  – a hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all – to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, and to the Jews according to their own script and their own language.

Ester 1:1

The King Throws a Lavish Party

1:1 ⁵² The following events happened ⁵³  in the days of Ahasuerus. ⁵⁴  (I am referring to ⁵⁵  that Ahasuerus who used to rule over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces ⁵⁶  extending all the way from India to Ethiopia. ⁵⁷ )

Ester 1:15

1:15 The king asked, ⁵⁸  “By law, ⁵⁹  what should be done to Queen Vashti in light of the fact that she has not obeyed the instructions of King Ahasuerus conveyed through the eunuchs?”

Ester 5:12

5:12 Haman said, “Furthermore, Queen Esther invited ⁶⁰  only me to accompany the king to the banquet that she prepared! And also tomorrow I am invited ⁶¹  along with the king.

Ester 3:12

3:12 So the royal scribes ⁶²  were summoned in the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month. Everything Haman commanded was written to the king’s satraps ⁶³  and governors who were in every province and to the officials of every people, province by province according to its script and people by people according to its language. In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written and sealed with the king’s signet ring.

Ester 1:19

1:19 If the king is so inclined, ⁶⁴  let a royal edict go forth from him, and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media that cannot be repealed, ⁶⁵  that Vashti ⁶⁶  may not come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king convey her royalty to another ⁶⁷  who is more deserving than she. ⁶⁸ 

Ester 4:16

4:16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I ⁶⁹  will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. ⁷⁰  If I perish, I perish!”

Ester 7:4

7:4 For we have been sold ⁷¹  – 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 7:9

7:9 Harbona, ⁷²  one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Indeed, there is the gallows that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke out in the king’s behalf. It stands near Haman’s home and is seventy-five feet ⁷³  high.”

The king said, “Hang him on it!”

Ester 9:29

9:29 So Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with full authority to confirm this second ⁷⁴  letter about Purim.

Ester 2:12

2:12 At the end of the twelve months that were required for the women, ⁷⁵  when the turn of each young woman arrived to go to King Ahasuerus – for in this way they had to fulfill their time of cosmetic treatment: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfume and various ointments used by women –

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 ⁷⁶  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. ⁷⁷  Now I have not been invited to come to the king for some thirty days!”

[1:7]  ¹ tn Heb “to cause to drink” (Hiphil infinitive construct of שָׁקָה, shaqah). As the etymology of the Hebrew word for “banquet” (מִשְׁתֶּה, mishteh, from שָׁתָה, shatah, “to drink”) hints, drinking was a prominent feature of ancient Near Eastern banquets.

[5:4]  ² tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; NASB “If it please the king.”

[5:8]  ³ tn Heb “if upon the king it is good.” Cf. the similar expression in v. 4, which also occurs in 7:3; 8:5; 9:13.

[5:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “and tomorrow” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “and then.”

[5:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will do according to the word of the king,” i.e., answer the question that he has posed. Cf. NCV “Then I will answer your question about what I want.”

[4:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “from all the Jews”; KJV “more than all the Jews”; NIV “you alone of all the Jews.”

[4:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “stand”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT “arise.”

[4:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “place” (so KJV, NIV, NLT); NRSV “from another quarter.” This is probably an oblique reference to help coming from God. D. J. A. Clines disagrees; in his view a contrast between deliverance by Esther and deliverance by God is inappropriate (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther [NCBC], 302). But Clines’ suggestion that perhaps the reference is to deliverance by Jewish officials or by armed Jewish revolt is less attractive than seeing this veiled reference as part of the literary strategy of the book, which deliberately keeps God’s providential dealings entirely in the background.

[4:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “And who knows whether” (so NASB). The question is one of hope, but free of presumption. Cf. Jonah 3:9.

[4:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “have come to the kingdom”; NRSV “to royal dignity”; NIV “to royal position”; NLT “have been elevated to the palace.”

[3:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “one people.” Note the subtle absence at this point of a specific mention of the Jewish people by name.

[3:8]  ¹² tn Heb “peoples” (so NASB, NIV); NAB “nations”

[3:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “to cause them to rest”; NASB “to let them remain”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “to tolerate them.”

[10:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “great among the Jews” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “preeminent among the Jews”; NRSV “powerful among the Jews.”

[10:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “brothers”; NASB “kinsmen”; NIV “fellow Jews.”

[10:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he was seeking”; NAB “as the promoter of his people’s welfare.”

[10:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he was speaking peace to”; NRSV “and interceded for the welfare of.”

[10:3]  ¹⁸ 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).

[6:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “honor and greatness.” The expression is a hendiadys (see the note on 5:10 for an explanation of this figure).

[3:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to send a hand against”; KJV, NRSV “to lay hands on.”

[3:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “they had related to him.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a passive construction.

[3:6]  ²² tc The entire first half of the verse is not included in the LXX.

[3:6]  ²³ 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.

[2:18]  ²⁴ tc The LXX does not include the words “and he provided for offerings at the king’s expense.”

[2:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “who had taken her to him as a daughter”; NRSV “who had adopted her as his own daughter.”

[8:5]  ²⁶ tc The LXX does not include the expression “the Agagite.”

[1:9]  ²⁷ sn Vashti is the name of Xerxes’ queen according to the Book of Esther. But in the Greek histories of this period the queen’s name is given as Amestris (e.g., Herodotus, Histories 9.108-13). The name Vashti does not seem to occur in the nonbiblical records from this period. Apparently the two women are not to be confused, but not enough is known about this period to reconcile completely the biblical and extrabiblical accounts.

[2:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “young women, virgins, good of form.” The same phrase also occurs in v. 3.

[1:3]  ²⁹ sn The third year of Xerxes’ reign would be ca. 483 b.c.

[1:3]  ³⁰ tc Due to the large numbers of people implied, some scholars suggest that the original text may have read “leaders of the army” (cf. NAB “Persian and Median aristocracy”; NASB “the army officers”; NIV “the military leaders”). However, there is no textual evidence for this emendation, and the large numbers are not necessarily improbable.

[1:3]  ³¹ sn Unlike the Book of Daniel, the usual order for this expression in Esther is “Persia and Media” (cf. vv. 14, 18, 19). In Daniel the order is “Media and Persia,” indicating a time in their history when Media was in the ascendancy.

[1:3]  ³² sn The size of the banquet described here, the number of its invited guests, and the length of its duration, although certainly immense by any standard, are not without precedent in the ancient world. C. A. Moore documents a Persian banquet for 15,000 people and an Assyrian celebration with 69,574 guests (Esther [AB], 6).

[1:8]  ³³ tn Heb “the drinking was according to law; there was no one compelling.”

[1:8]  ³⁴ tn Heb “every chief of his house”; KJV “all the officers of his house”; NLT “his staff.”

[1:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “according to the desire of man and man.”

[5:7]  ³⁶ tn Heb “answered and said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.

[1:5]  ³⁷ tc The Hebrew text of Esther does not indicate why this elaborate show of wealth and power was undertaken. According to the LXX these were “the days of the wedding” (αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ γάμου, Jai Jhmerai tou gamou), presumably the king’s wedding. However, a number of scholars have called attention to the fact that this celebration takes place just shortly before Xerxes’ invasion of Greece. It is possible that the banquet was a rallying for the up-coming military effort. See Herodotus, Histories 7.8. There is no reason to adopt the longer reading of the LXX here.

[1:5]  ³⁸ tc The LXX has ἕξ ({ex, “six”) instead of “seven.” Virtually all English versions follow the reading of the MT here, “seven.”

[1:5]  ³⁹ tn Heb “were found.”

[1:5]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “from the great and unto the small.”

[2:9]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “was good in his eyes”; NLT “Hegai was very impressed with Esther.”

[2:9]  ⁴² tn Heb “being looked at (with favor).”

[2:9]  ⁴³ tn Heb “of the house of the women” (so KJV, ASV). So also in vv. 11, 13, 14.

[3:13]  ⁴⁴ tn The words “stating that” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:13]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “children and women.” The translation follows contemporary English idiom, which reverses the order.

[3:13]  ⁴⁶ tc The LXX does not include the words “on the thirteenth day.”

[4:8]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “given” (so KJV); NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT “issued”; NIV “published”; NAB “promulgated.”

[8:9]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “in that time”; NIV “At once.”

[8:9]  ⁴⁹ sn Cf. 3:12. Two months and ten days have passed since Haman’s edict to wipe out the Jews.

[8:9]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “it was written”; this passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[8:9]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “Cush” (so NIV), referring to the region of the upper Nile in Africa. Cf. KJV and most other English versions “Ethiopia.”

[1:1]  ⁵² sn In the English Bible Esther appears adjacent to Ezra-Nehemiah and with the historical books, but in the Hebrew Bible it is one of five short books (the so-called Megillot) that appear toward the end of the biblical writings. The canonicity of the book was questioned by some in ancient Judaism and early Christianity. It is one of five OT books that were at one time regarded as antilegomena (i.e., books “spoken against”). The problem with Esther was the absence of any direct mention of God. Some questioned whether a book that did not mention God could be considered sacred scripture. Attempts to resolve this by discovering the tetragrammaton (YHWH) encoded in the Hebrew text (e.g., in the initial letters of four consecutive words in the Hebrew text of Esth 5:4) are unconvincing, although they do illustrate how keenly the problem was felt by some. Martin Luther also questioned the canonicity of this book, objecting to certain parts of its content. Although no copy of Esther was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, this does not necessarily mean that the Qumran community did not regard it as canonical. It is possible that the absence of Esther from what has survived at Qumran is merely a coincidence. Although the book does not directly mention God, it would be difficult to read it without sensing the providence of God working in powerful, though at times subtle, ways to rescue his people from danger and possible extermination. The absence of mention of the name of God may be a deliberate part of the literary strategy of the writer.

[1:1]  ⁵³ tn Heb “it came about”; KJV, ASV “Now it came to pass.”

[1:1]  ⁵⁴ tn Where the Hebrew text has “Ahasuerus” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV) in this book the LXX has “Artaxerxes.” The ruler mentioned in the Hebrew text is Xerxes I (ca. 486-465 B.C.), and a number of modern English versions use “Xerxes” (e.g., NIV, NCV, CEV, NLT).

[1:1]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “in the days of Ahasuerus, that Ahasuerus who used to rule…” The phrase “I am referring to” has been supplied to clarify the force of the third person masculine singular pronoun, which is functioning like a demonstrative pronoun.

[1:1]  ⁵⁶ sn The geographical extent of the Persian empire was vast. The division of Xerxes’ empire into 127 smaller provinces was apparently done for purposes of administrative efficiency.

[1:1]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “Cush” (so NIV, NCV; KJV “Ethiopia”) referring to the region of the upper Nile in Africa. India and Cush (i.e., Ethiopia) are both mentioned in a tablet taken from the foundation of Xerxes’ palace in Persepolis that describes the extent of this empire. See ANET 316-17.

[1:15]  ⁵⁸ tn These words are not present in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity (cf. NIV, NCV, CEV, NLT, all of which supply similar phrases).

[1:15]  ⁵⁹ tc The location of the prepositional phrase “according to law” is somewhat unusual in the Hebrew text, but not so much so as to require emendation. Some scholars suggest deleting the phrase as an instance of dittography from the final part of the immediately preceding word in v. 14. Others suggest taking the phrase with the end of v. 14 rather than with v. 15. Both proposals, however, lack adequate justification.

[5:12]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “caused to come”; KJV “did let no man come in…but myself.”

[5:12]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “called to her”; KJV “invited unto her”; NAB “I am to be her guest.”

[3:12]  ⁶² tn Or “secretaries” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[3:12]  ⁶³ tn Or “princes” (so NLT); CEV “highest officials.”

[1:19]  ⁶⁴ sn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; KJV “If it please the king.” Deferential language was common in ancient Near Eastern court language addressing a despot; it occurs often in Esther.

[1:19]  ⁶⁵ sn Laws…that cannot be repealed. On the permanence of the laws of Media and Persia see also Esth 8:8 and Dan 6:8, 12, 15.

[1:19]  ⁶⁶ sn Previously in this chapter the word “queen” accompanies Vashti’s name (cf. vv. 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17). But here, in anticipation of her demotion, the title is dropped.

[1:19]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “her neighbor”; NIV “someone else.”

[1:19]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “who is better than she.” The reference is apparently to worthiness of the royal position as demonstrated by compliance with the king’s wishes, although the word טוֹב (tob, “good”) can also be used of physical beauty. Cf. NAB, NASB, NLT “more worthy than she.”

[4:16]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “I and my female attendants.” The translation reverses the order for stylistic reasons.

[4:16]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”

[7:4]  ⁷¹ 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.

[7:9]  ⁷² sn Cf. 1:10, where Harbona is one of the seven eunuchs sent by the king to summon Queen Vashti to his banquet.

[7:9]  ⁷³ tn Heb “fifty cubits.” See the note on this expression in Esth 5:14.

[9:29]  ⁷⁴ tc The LXX and the Syriac Peshitta omit the word “second.”

[2:12]  ⁷⁵ tc The LXX does not include the words “that were required for the women.”

[2:12]  tn Heb “to be to her according to the law of the women”; NASB “under the regulations for the women.”

[4:11]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “one is his law”; NASB “he (the king NIV) has but one law”

[4:11]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “and he will live”; KJV, ASV “that he may live”; NIV “and spare his life.”