Esther 1:5

1:5 When those days ¹  were completed, the king then provided a seven-day ²  banquet for all the people who were present ³  in Susa the citadel, for those of highest standing to the most lowly. ⁴  It was held in the court located in the garden of the royal palace.

Esther 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.’

Esther 3:1-2

Haman Conspires to Destroy the Jews

3:1 Some time later ⁵  King Ahasuerus promoted ⁶  Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, exalting him and setting his position ⁷  above that of all the officials who were with him. 3:2 As a result, ⁸  all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate were bowing and paying homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded. However, Mordecai did not bow, ⁹  nor did he pay him homage.

Esther 4:1

Esther Decides to Risk Everything in order to Help Her People

4:1 Now when Mordecai became aware of all that had been done, he ¹⁰  tore his garments and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went out into the city, crying out in a loud ¹¹  and bitter voice.

Esther 4:3

4:3 Throughout each and every province where the king’s edict and law were announced ¹²  there was considerable ¹³  mourning among the Jews, along with fasting, weeping, and sorrow. ¹⁴  Sackcloth and ashes were characteristic ¹⁵  of many.

Esther 4:7

4:7 Then Mordecai related to him everything that had happened to him, even the specific amount of money that Haman had offered to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews to be destroyed.

Esther 5:11

5:11 Haman then recounted to them his fabulous wealth, ¹⁶  his many sons, ¹⁷  and how the king had magnified him and exalted him over the king’s other officials and servants.

Esther 5:14

5:14 Haman’s ¹⁸  wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows seventy-five feet ¹⁹  high built, and in the morning tell the king that Mordecai should be hanged on it. Then go with the king to the banquet contented.” ²⁰ 

It seemed like a good idea to Haman, so he had the gallows built.

Esther 6:10

6:10 The king then said to Haman, “Go quickly! Take the clothing and the horse, just as you have described, and do as you just indicated to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Don’t neglect ²¹  a single thing of all that you have said.”

Esther 9:26

9:26 For this reason these days are known as Purim, after the name of pur.

Esther 9:28

9:28 These days were to be remembered and to be celebrated in every generation and in every family, every province, and every city. The Jews were not to fail to observe these days of Purim; the remembrance of them was not to cease among their descendants.

Esther 10:2

10:2 Now all the actions carried out under his authority and his great achievements, along with an exact statement concerning the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king promoted, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia?

¹ 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.

² tc The LXX has ἕξ ({ex, “six”) instead of “seven.” Virtually all English versions follow the reading of the MT here, “seven.”

³ tn Heb “were found.”

⁴ tn Heb “from the great and unto the small.”

⁵ tn Heb “after these things” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV “After these events.”

⁶ tn Heb “made great”; NAB “raised…to high rank”; NIV “honored.”

⁷ tn Heb “chair”; KJV, NRSV “seat”; NASB “established his authority.”

⁹ tn Heb “and” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). Other modern English versions leave the conjunction untranslated here (NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

¹⁰ sn Mordecai did not bow. The reason for Mordecai’s refusal to bow before Haman is not clearly stated here. Certainly the Jews did not refuse to bow as a matter of principle, as though such an action somehow violated the second command of the Decalogue. Many biblical texts bear witness to their practice of falling prostrate before people of power and influence (e.g., 1 Sam 24:8; 2 Sam 14:4; 1 Kgs 1:16). Perhaps the issue here was that Haman was a descendant of the Amalekites, a people who had attacked Israel in an earlier age (see Exod 17:8-16; 1 Sam 15:17-20; Deut 25:17-19).

¹³ tn Heb “Mordecai.” The pronoun (“he”) was used in the translation for stylistic reasons. A repetition of the proper name here is redundant in terms of contemporary English style.

¹⁴ tn Heb “great.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “reached” (so NAB, NLT); KJV, NASB, NIV “came”; TEV “wherever the king’s proclamation was made known.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the Jews went into deep mourning.”

¹⁹ sn Although prayer is not specifically mentioned here, it is highly unlikely that appeals to God for help were not a part of this reaction to devastating news. As elsewhere in the book of Esther, the writer seems deliberately to keep religious actions in the background.

²⁰ tn Heb “were spread to many”; KJV, NIV “many (+ people NLT) lay in sackcloth and ashes.”

²¹ tn Heb “the glory of his riches” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “the splendor of his riches.”

²² sn According to Esth 9:10 Haman had ten sons.

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

²⁶ tn Heb “fifty cubits.” Assuming a standard length for the cubit of about 18 inches (45 cm), this would be about seventy-five feet (22.5 meters), which is a surprisingly tall height for the gallows. Perhaps the number assumes the gallows was built on a large supporting platform or a natural hill for visual effect, in which case the structure itself may have been considerably smaller. Cf. NCV “a seventy-five foot platform”; CEV “a tower built about seventy-five feet high.”

²⁷ tn Or “joyful”; NRSV “in good spirits”; TEV “happy.”

²⁹ tn Heb “do not let fall”; NASB “do not fall short.”