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 2:3

2:3 And let the king appoint officers throughout all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the attractive young women to Susa the citadel, to the harem ⁵  under the authority of Hegai, the king’s eunuch who oversees the women, and let him provide whatever cosmetics they desire. ⁶ 

Esther 2:8

2:8 It so happened that when the king’s edict and his law became known ⁷  many young women were taken to Susa the citadel to be placed under the authority of Hegai. Esther also was taken to the royal palace ⁸  to be under the authority of Hegai, who was overseeing the women.

Esther 4:8

4:8 He also gave him a written copy of the law that had been disseminated ⁹  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 ¹⁰  will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. ¹¹  If I perish, I perish!”

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 “the house of the women” (so KJV, ASV). So also in vv. 9, 11, 13, and 14.

⁶ tn Heb “their ointments”; cf. NIV, CEV, NLT “beauty treatments.”

⁹ tn Heb “were heard” (so NASB); NRSV “were (had been NIV) proclaimed.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the house of the king.” So also in vv. 9, 13. Cf. NLT “the king’s harem.”

¹³ tn Heb “given” (so KJV); NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT “issued”; NIV “published”; NAB “promulgated.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “I and my female attendants.” The translation reverses the order for stylistic reasons.

¹⁸ tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”