Esther 1:2

1:2 In those days, as King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa ¹  the citadel, ² 

Esther 9:11

9:11 On that same day the number of those killed in Susa the citadel was brought to the king’s attention.

Esther 9:14-15

9:14 So the king issued orders for this to be done. A law was passed in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged. 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.

Esther 2:5

2:5 Now there happened to be a Jewish man in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai. ³  He was the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjaminite,

Esther 3:15

3:15 The messengers ⁴  scurried forth ⁵  with the king’s order. ⁶  The edict was issued in Susa the citadel. While the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in an uproar! ⁷ 

Esther 8:14

8:14 The couriers who were riding the royal horses went forth with the king’s edict without delay. ⁸  And the law was presented in Susa the citadel as well.

Esther 1:5

1:5 When those days ⁹  were completed, the king then provided a seven-day ¹⁰  banquet for all the people who were present ¹¹  in Susa the citadel, for those of highest standing to the most lowly. ¹²  It was held in the court located in the garden of the royal palace.

Esther 4:8

4:8 He also gave him a written copy of the law that had been disseminated ¹³  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.

Esther 9:12-13

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.”

9:13 Esther replied, “If the king is so inclined, let the Jews who are in Susa be permitted to act tomorrow also according to today’s law, and let them hang the ten sons of Haman on the gallows.”

Esther 9:18

The Origins of the Feast of Purim

9:18 But the Jews who were in Susa assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth days, and rested on the fifteenth, making it a day for banqueting and happiness.

Esther 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 ¹⁴  will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. ¹⁵  If I perish, I perish!”

¹ tn Heb “Shushan” (so KJV, ASV). Most recent English versions render this as “Susa.”

² tn The Hebrew word בִּירָה (birah) can refer to a castle or palace or temple. Here it seems to have in mind that fortified part of the city that might be called an acropolis or citadel. Cf. KJV “palace”; NAB “stronghold”; NASB “capital”; NLT “fortress.”

³ sn Mordecai is a pagan name that reflects the name of the Babylonian deity Marduk. Probably many Jews of the period had two names, one for secular use and the other for use especially within the Jewish community. Mordecai’s Jewish name is not recorded in the biblical text.

⁵ tn Heb “runners.” So also in 8:10, 14. Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “couriers.”

⁶ tn Or “went forth in haste” (so ASV).

⁷ tn Heb “with the word of the king.”

⁸ sn The city of Susa was in an uproar. This final statement of v. 15 is a sad commentary on the pathetic disregard of despots for the human misery and suffering that they sometimes inflict on those who are helpless to resist their power. Here, while common people braced for the reckless loss of life and property that was about to begin, the perpetrators went about their mundane activities as though nothing of importance was happening.

⁷ tn Heb “making haste and hurrying”; KJV, ASV “being hastened and pressed.”

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ tc The LXX has ἕξ ({ex, “six”) instead of “seven.” Virtually all English versions follow the reading of the MT here, “seven.”

¹¹ tn Heb “were found.”

¹² tn Heb “from the great and unto the small.”

¹¹ tn Heb “given” (so KJV); NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT “issued”; NIV “published”; NAB “promulgated.”

¹³ tn Heb “I and my female attendants.” The translation reverses the order for stylistic reasons.

¹⁴ tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”