Esther 1:12

1:12 But Queen Vashti refused ¹  to come at the king’s bidding ²  conveyed through the eunuchs. Then the king became extremely angry, and his rage consumed ³  him.

Esther 1:15

1:15 The king asked, ⁴  “By law, ⁵  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?”

Esther 1:18

1:18 And this very day the noble ladies of Persia and Media who have heard the matter concerning the queen will respond in the same way to all the royal officials, and there will be more than enough contempt and anger!

Esther 1:20

1:20 And let the king’s decision which he will enact be disseminated ⁶  throughout all his kingdom, vast though it is. ⁷  Then all the women will give honor to their husbands, from the most prominent to the lowly.”

Esther 2:4

2:4 Let the young woman whom the king finds most attractive ⁸  become queen in place of Vashti.” This seemed like a good idea to the king, ⁹  so he acted accordingly.

Esther 2:10

2:10 Now Esther had not disclosed her people or her lineage, ¹⁰  for Mordecai had instructed her not to do so. ¹¹ 

Esther 2:13

2:13 the woman would go to the king in the following way: Whatever she asked for would be provided for her to take with her from the harem to the royal palace.

Esther 3:3

3:3 Then the servants of the king who were at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why are you violating the king’s commandment?”

Esther 4:5

4:5 So Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been placed at her service, ¹²  and instructed him to find out the cause and reason for Mordecai’s behavior. ¹³ 

Esther 5:4-5

5:4 Esther replied, “If the king is so inclined, ¹⁴  let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.” 5:5 The king replied, “Find Haman quickly so that we can do as Esther requests.”

So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Esther 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.”

Esther 6:14

6:14 While they were still speaking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived. They quickly brought Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Esther 7:5

7:5 Then King Ahasuerus responded ¹⁵  to Queen Esther, “Who is this individual? Where is this person to be found who is presumptuous enough ¹⁶  to act in this way?”

Esther 8:2

8:2 The king then removed his signet ring (the very one he had taken back from Haman) and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther designated Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s estate.

Esther 8:6

8:6 For how can I watch the calamity that will befall my people, and how can I watch the destruction of my relatives?” ¹⁷ 

Esther 9:3

9:3 All the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and those who performed the king’s business were assisting the Jews, for the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them.

Esther 9:20

9:20 Mordecai wrote these matters down and sent letters to all the Jews who were throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,

¹ sn Refusal to obey the king was risky even for a queen in the ancient world. It is not clear why Vashti behaved so rashly and put herself in such danger. Apparently she anticipated humiliation of some kind and was unwilling to subject herself to it, in spite of the obvious dangers. There is no justification in the biblical text for an ancient Jewish targumic tradition that the king told her to appear before his guests dressed in nothing but her royal high turban, that is, essentially naked.

² tn Heb “at the word of the king”; NASB “at the king’s command.”

³ tn Heb “burned in him” (so KJV).

⁴ 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).

⁵ 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.

⁷ tn Heb “heard”; KJV, NAB, NLT “published”; NIV, NRSV “proclaimed.”

⁸ tc The phrase “vast though it is” is not included in the LXX, although it is retained by almost all English versions.

¹⁰ tn Heb “who is good in the eyes of the king.”

¹¹ tn Heb “the matter was good in the eyes of the king.” Cf. TEV “The king thought this was good advice.”

¹³ tn Cf. v. 20, where the same phrase occurs but with the word order reversed.

¹⁴ tn Heb “that she not tell” (NRSV similar); NASB “that she should not make them known.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “whom he caused to stand before her”; NASB “whom the king had appointed to attend her.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “concerning Mordecai, to know what this was, and why this was.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; NASB “If it please the king.”

²² tc The second occurrence of the Hebrew verb וַיּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”) in the MT should probably be disregarded. The repetition is unnecessary in the context and may be the result of dittography in the MT.

²³ tn Heb “has so filled his heart”; NAB “who has dared to do this.”

²⁵ tn Heb “my kindred” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NAB “my race”; NIV “my family”; NLT “my people and my family.”