Daniel 6:12

6:12 So they approached the king and said to him, ¹  “Did you not issue an edict to the effect that for the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human other than to you, O king, would be thrown into a den of lions?” The king replied, “That is correct, ²  according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed.”

Daniel 6:15

6:15 Then those men came by collusion to the king and ³  said to him, ⁴  “Recall, ⁵  O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no edict or decree that the king issues can be changed.”

Esther 1:19

1:19 If the king is so inclined, ⁶  let a royal edict go forth from him, and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media that cannot be repealed, ⁷  that Vashti ⁸  may not come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king convey her royalty to another ⁹  who is more deserving than she. ¹⁰ 

Esther 8:3

8:3 Then Esther again spoke with the king, falling at his feet. She wept and begged him for mercy, that he might nullify the evil of Haman the Agagite which he had intended against the Jews. ¹¹ 

¹ tc The MT also has “about the edict of the king,” but this phrase is absent in the LXX and the Syriac. The present translation deletes the expression.

² tn Aram “the word is true.”

³ tc Theodotion lacks the words “came by collusion to the king and.”

⁴ tn Aram “the king.”

⁵ tn Aram “know”; NAB “Keep in mind”; NASB “Recognize”; NIV, NCV “Remember.”

⁶ 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.

⁷ sn Laws…that cannot be repealed.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.

⁸ 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.

⁹ tn Heb “her neighbor”; NIV “someone else.”

¹⁰ 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.”

¹¹ sn As in 7:4 Esther avoids implicating the king in this plot. Instead Haman is given sole responsibility for the plan to destroy the Jews.